Happy Mothers Day!

we just got back from Sheffield..updates later..

hope it's not too late to wish all wonderful mommies - Happy Mothers Day! hope you all had a great one..

to my dear BBM friends many of whom are mommies-to-be : Happy Mothers Day to you too!
(Faie sempat la celebrate dgn Hannah eh? hehe...)

Mother's day gift from Daddy and Adam :) thank you sayang!

yahooo!

we're going to sheffield tonight!!!

it was our home for 4 years (well, separate homes at the time..heh) and i'm so thrilled to be going back there. so many memories we had over there...where we went to watch movies, where he asked me to go steady, our favourite restaurant, our uni departments, our old houses..

i wonder if much has changed..it has been 4 years since we were last there..

we're going to stay with mus and linda, 2 of our sheffield friends who also met in sheffield and got married. they're there for their PhD now..can't wait to meet them too...

(plus i heard sheffield has HobbyCraft now, an awesome crafting store...hehehe)


p/s: OMG doesn't my baby look so grown up in this pic...?? oh no...he's growing at rapid speed!!

Huge tote / diaper bag / fabric shopping bag

my bag is finished few days ago, already using it, just forgot to take pics..

i wanted a huge bag to use daily while i'm out with Adam for his daily activities at the children centres. should be big enough to fit his diapers, extra clothes, wipes, food, water bottle, camera etc and still have much more room left for any shopping i picked up on the way (along the way to the library/children centre there's a big market full of fresh fruits).

big tote with a pleated pocket outside. i just can't part with pleats..

i use the leftover binding from the quilt for the outside pocket

zipper pocket on the inside for the camera /any valuables

elastic pockets for water bottles etc

love how it turned out cos i love the fabric but it's a bit too floppy if it's empty. should've used some sewn in interfacing perhaps..

Haircut for the boys

We went to a hair salon near the flat yesterday so that hubby can get his hair trimmed. While we're there we decided to give Adam a haircut as well. Not too short, just a trim for both of them..

my handsome boys..muahs! love you both!

Adam sat on my lap and surprisingly stayed put during the haircut. when his daddy tried to cut it he was struggling so much it was a wonder he didn't get nicked in the ear. the stylist who did his hair was very clever, she cut very quickly and efficiently. i love the result!




siapa ckp adam look like a girl lagi..siap...hehe...

Adam the Ice Breaker and random pics

Do you know what’s the big difference from walking around alone and walking around wearing a baby around here?

spring is here

The way people behave and treat you. Yes, it is amazing what a little person can do. If I go out alone and bumps into anyone, the most that would happen is probably a smile and a ‘Morning’. But with Adam around smiling and being friendly, everyone, I mean everyone, suddenly drop their instinctive defences and just simply bond with complete strangers.

when elizabeth came to visit our house

Some people immediately ask his name, or how old he is. Some commented on his hair, or how pretty ‘she’ is (oh if I get a penny everytime I have to repeat ‘oh it’s ok, everyone mistakes him for a girl’ I’d be rich). Some touch his fingers or his jacket and started talking to him. Some played peekaboo. If he was crying and we’re in a crowded bus, there’s always someone who would entertain him until he stops crying. Some are bold enough to kiss him. If we’re at the shops, many would give him free food. Of course seats are always offered on the bus. Some people just suddenly started laughing at something he does, whisper to their partner and would later come and approach us.

homemade lasagne

Often our encounters would lead to actual meaningful conversations like how their daughter is living in Malaysia now or how their son is also the same age but not yet walking. I am constantly amazed at how Adam is able to break barriers between complete strangers.

I have a lot to learn from him, I do.

p/s: Adam is down with a viral infection. Took him to clinic today. the strange virus seems to attack at night only though. during the day he's active as normal, he cleaned and wiped and hoovered the house as usual today. last night however he hardly had any sleep because of cough and wheezing. tonight he seems to be a little better. hopefully he'll recover soon..

Creative Day @ Portman

They organised a Creative/Arts day yesterday at the Portman Centre. Not just for the kids..even mommies get to join in the fun...

there was a sewing station..

a jewelery making station

mask-making station

flower-making station

Adam had fun decorating cookies with yummy coloring and edible glitter..yum!

one of the staff offered to take care of Adam while i go and learn how to make flowers at the flower station. after a while she asked me if it's ok if adam had his face painted. i said ok, i was curious how Adam would react. He didn't see me, i just observe him from a distance.

first Naima got his hand painted. Adam just sat there relaxed. Then she got his face painted with a sponge. again he just sit quietly and read a book on his lap. Then she got the brushes out and started painting his face. I was so impressed by how good Adam was behaving on his own! i know the brush was prickly on his face but he still sat patiently! Good job Adam! so proud of him!

then he spotted me taking a video of him and started to get uneasy. hehe..so i picked him and he sat on my lap. barulah dia start nak garu muka la, nak turunla..hehe..rupanya adam good boy when mommy's not around huh? hehe..

let's see how he looked like when Naima is done painting his face..

tiger boy!!!

My quilt is done!

Do you think it matches my sofa? i love it! it's so cozy and warm and soft and perfect for snuggling on the couch when it's cold. for the quilt top i used the jelly roll from before (Moda's Ms Jump's Scrapbag). Didn't follow any pattern, just randomly attaching strips together. piecing the top was really simple and very soothing..

for the back, i used Amy Butler's Morning Glory. I'm a huge fan of Amy Butler and i was so thrilled when i found a great selection of her fabric. I kinda like the quilt back better than the top.

the binding i made from another Amy Butler fabric (forgot the name). I was surprised how easy it was to make cross grain binding. I'm not making bias binding again for straight binding, what a waste of time. the binding is stiched by hand on one side. i absolutely enjoyed sitting on the couch covered by the half finished quilt, slowly stiching the binding on. it was so calming. i think i might consider hand quilting next...although..hmm..i'm much too impatient for hand quilting probably...

the whole quilt is quilted using free-motion quilting with a technique called stipple quilting. the result is curly lines running through the quilt. i used the darning foot on my machine and the lines are drawn free-style and the stitch length and direction has to be controlled by the sewer. it was SOO difficult to do and was also very liberating. when i started i was upset and appalled by how horrible my stitching was. good thing is, i was using clear nylon quilting thread so you can't see the terrible lines. my husband said just relax and go with it. so after a while i just thought, whatever, i've already ruined the quilt as it is (it would've been impossible to tear out the thread by then) so i just forget about getting it perfect and just let it go. in the end i got a little better at it. the quilt as whole doesn't look too bad, cos you can hardly see the lines unless you grab it close to your face and really scrutinise. free motion quilting was actually fun, although it would take several more quilt before i could turn the conteng-conteng into real stipple.

believe it or not, the hardest part about quilting was the basting. what a surprise. when the quilt top is pieced, i taped the whole layers onto the floor like the pic above. then i have to do running stitches (jahit jelujur) all over, to hold the layers together temporarily before quilting them. it was so difficult! my fingers were bleeding! i had to have one finger wrapped with masking tape because it was hurting so much. my back was strained, my legs semut2 sbb kebas...urgh..

but the rest of the process was awesome! and the resulting quilt is so nice and cozy! hubby took a nap in the quilt right after i was finished..hehe...i'm looking forward to making another one. in the meantime i'm taking a break from quilting and making myself a bag...you know i love making bags :)

Adam @ 17 months

He can make this funny face .He made the face once, I laughed and said, ‘Adam, funny face!”. Days later I say funny face and he automatically made the face. I was surprised he picked it up. Can never underestimate what kids are capable of huh.

He does a fake laugh whenever he feels like it. Sometimes if he sees me and his daddy talking and laughing about something or laugh when watching tv, he does a fake laugh to join in the fun.

He finally kisses me willingly! I knew he understood what ‘kiss’ means but he’ll only do it once in a blue moon. But now whenever he’s feeling loving he’ll kiss all over! Tapi kiss dia weird, bukak mulut luas2 then say ‘AAaaaaa!!!” and smack on leaving your face wet. Kalau suruh salam pulak, dia kiss tgn kite (tapi tak hulur tgn dia)

He gets accidents a lot. Oh my…gives me a heart attack everytime. Lompat sana, panjat sini, guling sana, lari sini. Pastu benjol sana, luka sini. So hard to keep up with him. One time, I let him play with a roll of masking tape, I mean really, how can masking tape hurt you right? And yet and manage to get a little luka on his finger..

He understands most of what we say. Like, ‘makan’, ‘mandi’, ‘put on shoes’ etc. but he hasn’t spoken much yet. Tapi senangla nak communicate with him now.

His vocab includes;
-fish
-shuh = shoe
-nana = banana
-woof = dog
-ak ak = bird cos birds sini tak buat bunyi chip chip, more like ak! Ak!
-dadey = daddy
-mama = mummy
-suss = susu

He loves dogs. Here there are dogs everywhere so asal nampak je dia excited, ckp woof! kat dog tu..i think kalau dpt mesti dia peluk dog tu..

He loves to help me out with housework.

sibuk nak load the washing machine..pastu bila tgh wash sibuk ajak pegi tgk washing machine tu spinning..kadang kalau takde laundry dia amik plastic bags, newspapers, dishtowels bawak masuk dlm washing machine tu..hehehe...

suka sgt dia kalau dpt can main pots and pans. kasi senduk satu lama dia masak sorang2 atas lantai...

suka gak main lap2. kalau tak dpt dishtowel, curik mummy's fabric scraps and use it to wipe the furnitures...lawak betul la Adam..

alahai Adam...i love you so much! happy 17th month birthday!

some random photos

adam playing during our recent trip to the Transport Museum with the Portman Centre kids

our current favourite - homemade pizza

adam playing in the sandpit


the carboot sale on Saturdays is great. bring 5 quid and you can come home with your arms full..got lots of nice toys for Adam here..

an entry on sewing, finally!

I didn’t sew anything for a long while since we got here. In fact until a week ago my sewing machine has been still packed up in its box. I’ve been having trouble finding a decent fabric store in London. Somehow I was under the impression that London would have amazing fabric stores full of gorgeous fabrics like in the US. It turns out it’s rather difficult to find good fabric stores.

I’m keen to start quilting. Last Saturday I finally found a quilt store. But it’s in Zone 3, quite far from central London. It took us an hour on the tube to get there. But the fabrics were awesome.

Adam fell asleep on the way back

I’ve borrowed a book from the local library on quilting. Last night I started to work with the jelly roll (second pic). The colours are mostly dark reds, cream, brown – very autumn. I’m hoping it would go beautifully with our couch. I’m making a smallish nap quilt. I’ll blog about that later.

It’s rather tricky to squeeze some crafting time with Adam around. He wouldn’t let me near the machine. But I can sew at night or his naptime if I’m lucky.

Look at the fabrics, aren’t they pretty. I have them displayed on the top of the main heater, just so that I could stare at them all day. Sigh…