The latest quilt

I'm not really start my sewing activity yet, what I mean is sewing big project like I used to do such a making quilt , I sew some little thing that I'm not considering as a big one but I love to put some of my latest quilt from 2015 just to encourage me to make more and filled up my online store soon .  Oh, well .. where's the time goes ?

 

 

 

the blue quilt above is the latest quilt I made for a lady who loves blue and math.

Blue is not my thing,  it take me too long to decide what pattern I should choose  but I think I did good by choosing Irish chain pattern and using so many different kind of blue fabric to make look like a patchwork :)  

 

the other quilt I proud to show you is my *a very long over due* Swedish bloom quilt - it's really take forever to finish this one (I think 1 year to be exact ) . I don't know what I was thinking to make this so big, queen size ... doh ... anyway, this quilt won't go anywhere . I keep it and will giveaway to my daughter for her memory sake :)))  

 

That's all for now , I promise will show you more ... 

Happy Sewing

Saturday gateaway ...

 

Saturday is always become our (mother + daughter) fun time . Starting with an early morning routine, daughter practice gymnastic , mom chat with a good friend while waiting for daughter to finish her tumbling . And the next we always do is visiting library , we love our headquarter library . The place is so big, book shell after book shell ; reading area ; kids area ; computer area ; special interest area and so and so ...   aaah, what they don't have just café to get a cup of coffee ... I think that should be a good idea ... eeew.. may be not .. because people will split the coffee and make a mess here and there.

 

One of my daughter favorite spot is a giant purple been bag ; she loves read and lay down there .. its a nice comfy place while mom try to digging some interesting book, what else if not a cooking book though..

 

 

We always end up with piles of books , sometime movie to bring it home . The headquarter always provide plastic bag with special print out that we can get for free or purchase another bag for just $1 - well, since I crazy in love with hexagon patchwork lately, I made library bag for her ...

 

 

 

I saw this bag about year ago from Amy-Nana Company blog, she made the bag so beautiful, since than I keep on my mind, someday I must to make one for my daughter too.  And I did it !! I finished made on Saturday morning, right before we start our activity . She loves it ...  but I still thinking that is not the good one, I still need to practice more to make it even better.

 

 

 

That is our weekend gateway, how about you ?

 

 

 

 

Last Quilt

 

Phuiiih ... I feel relief , my quilt is done - and already on a lovely lady hand by now. This is my last quilt for 2013 - for now, at least a week my sewing room will be a quiet room . I need to dusting, cleaning, organizing around that room. I might start to sewing again soon.  I love the finish quilt, I can't believe my self , I did hand stich for this quilt.  I must be crazy.  For you who always say that you have no talent or can't sewing, please .. there is so many tutorial that you can follow , there is so many nice people out there will answer your question if you can't do it.  Trust me..
In fact you can find the tutorial for this quilt here: http://blueelephantstitches.blogspot.com/2012/01/granny-square-quilt-block-tutorial.html

I can't believe less than 10days before New Year 2014 !! where the times fly ?

See you again in 2014 - Thank you for all my reader who stop by here and read my stories .. I love you all .. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year..

Modern I Spy Quilt

 

This is a short posting before I become busy tomorrow preparing for Thanksgiving Day. :)

Finally I finished this quilt - it's a very long process and time consuming also too many individual blocks ; all together there is 80 blocks. And a hundreds of nice fabrics, some are rare fabrics, Japanese Fabrics, some even no longer in market. The fabrics are my collection , that I collected for so long, Ebay Auctions even gift from my nice flickr's friends. 

 

The picture below is one of my favorite block, a vintage fabric 'ginger pancake recipe'

I use Aneela Fabric's collection for backing, isn't look adorable ?

Please contact me if you like to order similar quilt like this. So far I work base on order only and not doing mass production .

**Quilt is Reserved**

The new blocks for my new quilt

 

I'm busy and having fun in the same time - sewing new blocks for my new quilt . I didn't know that can be so addictive ; piles after piles of blocks . Time consuming but again I just can't stop doing it. It's fun ..

Still need 20's more blocks to go - can't wait until the final result.

Quilt Love - for the love of blue

 

What made me busy lately ? yes.. right, made baby boy quilt .. !! I don't have many 'boy' color fabrics choice ; every time going to fabric store I always pick a kind of 'girly' fabrics and when I must to make for baby boy - it's not always easy to chose the fabrics. So many choice, too cute to ignore ...

 

Finally I chose 'a sea world' type fabric - ooh, I tell you .. I love it so much ; even the backing fabric choice .. The quilt size is 30x34 inch ; perfect size for baby quilt even for small kid. Since I had an extra left over fabric, I made a fabric basket too .. (thank you for my beloved friend, Chase to provide the tutorial)

 

What do you think ? isn't that cute .. ?

{the quilt is reserved ; ready for delivery}

 

** please contact me for custom order **

for the love of ruffle (skirt) :)

 

Today is the first day of school for my little one as 2nd grade student. I don't know who is more exciting when the school start begin ? her who will meet her new teacher ; the best teacher for year 2012 !! or me, who will stay home alone for awhile ? :)
This morning, she is so proud wearing a new skirt that I finished to make last night - a very simple ruffle skirt . The fabric is her choice - ice cream fabric from Jo-Ann Fabric Store !! - tough the fabric is yummy fabric for summer .. oh, no.. just realize that summer almost over :( 

 

While she is still at school - I grab my other fabric, sew.. sew .. sew ... 2 hours for another skirt ;not bad after all I think .. :) and still more skirt to come ..

I already sewing some of dressed for her, I just in love with gingham fabric lately - I using the pattern from Simplicity 3510 - the pattern it self no longer in market, but try your luck searching on ebay like I did - little bit pricey but always worth it when you see the result.

 

 

 

 

 

Summer Quilt Blanket

 

It took a long weeks, to finished this blanket .. I didn't feel to do anything for several weeks, just being lazy :(  In fact, this is a first time I did a hand stitching for top quilt.. Did you notice the leaf petal on the plain block ?  I like the result.  I think I will make another one , but I promise this time I will do it fast, before the plant season is coming, I will be busy working out door rather than sit and sewing.. well, we will see.

 

I don't bother to measure the finish size of quilt, it's quite big, thou. Perfect for summer picnic blanket. In fact the quilt is already on the hand of  a lovely nice lady :D - She was so happy with the quilt .

 

 

 

And for the weekend, I made 2 scrappy bucket for me and my daughter too, it was fun to grab of left over fabrics and create something cute like this. The big version is for me, I put a lot of stuff in there, and the small version is for my daughter, she loved carry here and there... She put her daily journal and crayons , she love to write everything she see while she sit in the car :D

If you like to make your own, please check the tutorial from my beloved talented Chase HERE (click)

 

 

 

cold weekend..

 

Already March second !! Still cold at STL - and just typical Saturday morning, my husband go for half day work, most the time just meet clients , and me must to take a little one for gymnastic class every Saturday morning.

Wake up early this morning my 6yo daughter said, "today is Dr. Seuss's Birthday and I want green egg for breakfast" *you might know book A Green Eggs And Ham- from Dr. Seuss* eeww...*  anyway, she made her own egg, 1 egg + 1 drop of blue food coloring , whisk very well = green egg. {ooh, my I forgot to take a picture} , oh yups.. she eat those green egg + 2 slice of bread and ready for gymnastic!

 

Yesterday she brought home , a change box as a part of Pennies for Patients Program. Which is the kids from her school will collecting spare change around the house and donating the money to support LLS's mission (Leukemia & Lymphoma Society) - mostly for kids with cancer.  And what make me proud is, she just 6yo and she already think one step ahead , if she can do a lot of chore and get paid for it, her box will fill up soon.  And she really did ..  make up her bed, clean her room, fold the clothes etc.  And she get pay for good cause  :)

What? Me ? during cold weekend ? is too cold to go outside, just reading some good books and flip sewing magazines I got several days ago. It's really good book, though..   The Japanese Sewing book I got from Joann's - on sale + commotion coupon, the final price was $7 ! And James Patterson novel (my favorite author) just 75cent from Thrift Store.

 

In fact, I have another reason to visit fabric store soon *I can't find exact coordinating fabric for binding and backing from my drawer* {really??, are you serious ? } - well, do you see my blankets ?? those are not finish, I don't have a fabrics .. ooh GOD ... ^_^

 

 

 

Have a nice weekend, every one. Thank you for stopping by . This is just my rambling..

Scrappy Trips Attack ...

 

Actually I'm in the middle of working with 'grey' colors fabric until some activity around quilters from around the world attract me. And I'm stop what I'm doing, and just looking to my fabrics stash and doing this..

Scrappy trips really get me .. I can't stop cutting 2,5inches blocks ; combine ; sewing .. no rule just sewing.. before I know my cutting table filled up with stack of blocks.  And for you who like to make for your own, here is a very useful tutorial can be found here:

http://quiltville.com/scrappytrips.shtml

Oh well, I will come back with the final result.. Happy Friday Everyone Thank you to stop by and check what on my blogs, you guys always "cheers" my days

A new stash ..

 

Christmas is just around the corner, and I've been busy doing some projects for a lady who came to our dinner party last week. She wants some of my craft works, well.. she said she is not rush - but I'd like to doing on schedule and not postpone the work especially working with a lovely fabrics. Who can resist this pile of fabric from heaven  LOL

I got this a new fabrics last Friday , oh..wow, they are just as beautiful as I can imagine when I saw for the first time from my flickr friends, Tasha.  She has so adorable fabric collections, that I will like do "fasting" - not shopping a new shoes to exchange with hers fabrics *grin*

Now, let me excuse my self back to my sewing machine.. and I will come back bring my food recipe tomorrow to share with you.ok.

xoxo

Friday Project .. done !!

 

Phuuuih.. finally, my 3 quilts blanket are done ! I just need to put my sewing label on it. I put them on listing at my new Facebook Pages, and I'm still thinking to create a new Etsy shop as soon as possible.. (well, if the customer take a whole blankets, the story will be different than :)  I gave you a sneak peek last Friday , and voila .. you can check the result at my pages here :

 

RUMAH MANIS HANDMADE

Anyway, now I have time to bake again .. my "cookies monster" member are craving for my cake .. 

Ubee Cake is an easy cake, eem.. a little trick for my hubby actually, he doesn't like taste of sweet potatoes - so, I just mixed the sweet potatoes into the cake batter .. No complain, and he ate almost half of portion of 9inches of cake LOL.
 

 

UBEE CAKE / Sweet Potatoes Cake
100 grams yellow sweet potatoes, wash, steamed, smashed.
75 grams lite coconut milk
75 grams butter, melted
10 yellow eggs
2 white eggs
125 grams granulated sugar
½ tsp salt
125 gram all purpose flour
¼ tsp baking powder
25 grams rice chocolate (meises)

1. Prepared the oven for 350 F -  greased 9 inches round baking pan. Set a side

2.Blend sweet potatoes and salt together, set a side. Add melted butter, mixed very well.

3. With hand mixer whisk eggs, sugar, salt until well corporate. Add flour and baking powder, stir with spatula. Add sweet potatoes mixture, once at the time – make it 3 times, mix well. at last, add rice chocolate, stir it.

4. Bake for about 35-40 minute or until the skewer comes clean when you poke in the middle of cake.

 

Here is some of finished project , some are reserved - I suggest you to check direct to my facebook pages for better view. And just e-mail me if you interest to get one , a very cute custom made for yourself, friends or your kid teacher maybe . I can make base on your own colors choice and theme :))
 

 

needle..stitches..baking..special day..

 

.

I'm doing hand quilting stitches, while baking a spekoek layer cake - the MUST cake I need to bake for a special day.

So, how do you like this handcraft so far ? .. this is my first time doing hand quilting, It's fun. I will come back to post the final result and the cake maybe .. :)

Late Bloomer - I'm not perfect series

Have you ever in situation that when you see around everybody looks are so perfect , lucky in life but you ?. Everyone looks so divine. They have many things in life, they are become a great author, have their own careers, and looks so brights !! I feel that way sometime (ok, alot)  and those feeling made me 'sad '. Not until I sat with an old lady, friend of mine a couple days ago - we had a cup coffee , chit chat for almost 2 hours . We felt comfort with each other, and share our stories together. The story of her's life made me almost cry - I feel that is too much for her to 'carry' herself. But I tell you, she is the strong woman I ever met.  I'm not gonna tell you, what kind of situation she has. But the point is : you can't always look up , you need to look down too, to see people who doesn't have a perfect life and those will make you feel like  a lucky person in the world who doesn't need to go through that situation.  That is for sure, comforting me that I can't be perfect because I am  what I am - be myself and feel blessing with things on my hand right now, I don't need to see how beautiful people grass is, I just need to trim my own grass and make them as beautiful as people yards :D

Anyway, what on the earth this pictures has thing to do with story above ? I tell you this one, may be I'm a late bloomer  ; I just start sewing, quilting, baking when my age is more than 40yo!!  LOL  - and this is my first time quilting ever, well, I made several projects before but typical of me cut..sew and set aside, never intend to finished it up.  But this project really make me happy ; and if you see carefully, the sewing line is not straight ; kind of mess up little bit - but after the project finish, the picnic blanket is look 'perfect' to me   LOL  - oh well, mommy try to make an adjustment  ^__^

Now you will see the related between story above and my quilting project !! You don't have to see one by one and will find un-perfect thing, just need to see overall finish product ..  so comfortable picnic blanket and ... looks good, *eeerrr.. stop talking now !*

Do you see in the bottom of blanket ? I borrow the sketch from my daughter drawing paper and transfer to fabric and did a little handstich. :)  

oh , Ms.D , I hope you like this picnic blanket and every time you see the bottom of blanket you will know who you looking at ?

NO BAKING TODAY : smocked sundress

I made this for my little girl friend, who celebrate 4yo Birthday yesterday.

I bought this fabric last year, after made 1 dress for my daughter and skirt for her and I still have bunch of left over fabric, so I decided  to make smocked sundress for my friend's daughter.  

I think she will like it. :)

Easy bittsy dress, no pattern necessary. Add 7 layer of smocked and little ban on the bottom.. 1hour sewing.. wuhuuu..

NO BAKING TODAY : Apron & Kitchen Towel

Some people try to get a perfect gift for friends and family during this month, I know must be giving you a little bit headache ^_^  . So why don't you try to make your own gift for someone you love ? An apron and matching kitchen towel, maybe is a good gift for them ? What you need is to buy a lovely fabric  like this . I called 'From Tokyo with Love Theme'.

Just a yard or less cotton fabric for an apron (I got from Jo-Ann Store ; about $8/yard) and half yard linen fabric for kitchen towel. I add a coffee pot hand stitches. Believe me, your friends or mom , will loves it. No pattern necessary , just using your imagination and 2 hours working with your sewing machine :)

And if you still lazy to make your own, send me message, I will love to do for you (and not expensive at all, just let me know your fav.colors or pattern) . A Custome made, is always makes me happy.

NOTE : both, an apron and kitchen towel are SOLD ! new collections will coming soon and I will put on my shop .. come back again, latter..  :)

NO BAKING TODAY : Jumper Linen

Oh NO !! Why I put this dress in cooking blog ? LOL .. oh well ; I tough is fun to put some of my activities beside baking and cooking too, after all this is RUMAH MANIS mean is everything happen at RUMAH MANIS (Sweet Home) is belong to this blog *silly explanation :P*

Anyway, I'm little bit busy to manage my time between, husband, kid, home, baking, cooking (thanks GOD, no garden now since fall season) , PTO, and sewing machine. NO..NO , I'm not a wonder woman ; but I Love to do many things. I always adore all creative people around me, how they can create a beautiful stuff from a piece of fabrics.

OK back to business, I made several dresses for my daughter ; surprising me that some of my friends love too .. so they start to order from me.

The first order came from friend who lives in Germany. Oh wow.. I'm so honor. I sew 4 collections first, and she loves all of them.. so this is one of my collection already SOLD !!

I didn't have chance to put on my online store yet, but I didn't mind.. I will make another one

This is an adorable, one of a kind, 100% linen fabric decorate with some handmade applique. A simple design can also be layered for colder weather with sweater, a shirt & pants or tights underneath. It will grow with your child & can be worn as a cute, swing shirt once the child outgrows it as a dress.

100% of my creations are completely handmade in a smoke-free home. So, don't hesitate to send me message if you like to get one too . :) I will be back with baking and cooking stuff tomorrow .. Have a wonderful weekend, everyone.

moody .. moody .. november

Moody person ! you can call me that :) yes, that's me ! today I want to do this, tomorrow I will forget and change with another project .. and always happen, until i realize the times flew away. For awhile I just forget about updating my blog, I did another project .. sewing my daughter clothes ! yeaaah.. not such a great result like I want, but I'm happy that I can do it. As always to trust yourself , you know more than you think can do

And Thank you for my beloved friends, Kris from Bake In Paris who always stopping by to say HI ! and he might be wonder, why no more a new recipe on my blog. :D actually i still do a lot of baking, but just not in the good mood to taking picture .. to cold to go outside and preparing prop and so on. Huhuhu.. November already, weather extremely goes crazy, today very cold, tomorrow can be hot. But what i remember about November is , we will have many celebration coming soon. hmm.. will tell you soon :)

For now, please enjoy my ultimate Mocha Coffee Tart ^_^ *yeaah, you won't believe how many times I bake this cake every month, for family, for friends, for party.. etc .. the cake is so moist and light, and the funny is , every time my friends comes over, and have this cake for dessert , they will forget that they are on diet.. bad..bad..bad :D ^LOL^

Mocha Coffee Tart
8 egg yolk
5 egg whites
125 gr butter, melted
100 gr all-purpose flour , shifting
175 gr granulated sugar
2 tbsp coffee espresso (i using nescafe) dissolved in 1 tbsp hot water
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp white milk powder
1 tbsp coffee liqueur
1/2 tbsp emulsifier - or substitute with 2 tbsp condense milk

Directions :

Arrange rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 2 8-inch cake pan with cooking spray and set aside.

In medium bowl, add melted butter with coffee liquid, set aside

Whisk together flours, baking powder and milk powder in a medium bowl, then sift ingredients through a fine mesh strainer.

Using electric mixer, mix together until double size : sugar, egg, emulsifier. Gradually add sifted dry ingredients and stir until just incorporated; do not over beat. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until cake has risen nicely and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely.

While cake is cooling, make the coffee butter frosting:

Coffee Butter Cream :
enough to cover 2 8-inch cake

100 gr salted butter
100 gr pure vegetable shortening - zero trans fat)
300 gr icing sugar / powder sugar

2 tbsp condensed milk
1 tbsp mocha paste
1 tsp coffee liqueur

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and beat with an electric hand mixer until soft and creamy. Spread frosting evenly over cake . And sprinkle with oven roasted peanuts along the side.

Taste must be good ...

Sometime I wonder, if I too 'hard' to my 3 years old daughter ? What I mean about 'hard' is : I don't want she make a mess a round, she need to learn to take responsibility for her own toys . After playing with her toys, she need to put everything back into her toy box. Well, sometime it works.. sometime not.. LOL. ^_^

Anyway, when she doing nice things, I like to give her compliment, such a baking cookies that she loves or another way, I sew a nice bag for her . To see smile on her face make me happy and forget about my backpain after pick-up all the toys

so, why don't you bake this for yourself too ? I promise you will love and wont stop until finish :D

Choco-Marshmallow Cookies

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
12 large marshmallows, cut in half horizontally

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg, milk, and vanilla, and beat until well combined. Add reserved flour mixture; mix on low speed until combined.

Using a tablespoon or 1 3/4-inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto ungreased baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake until cookies begin to spread and become firm, 10 to 12 minutes.
Remove baking sheets from oven, and place a marshmallow, cut-side down, in the center of each cookie, pressing down slightly. Return to oven, and continue baking until marshmallows begins to melt, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

Spread about 1 tablespoon of chocolate ganache over each marshmallow, starting in the center and continuing outward until marshmallow is covered.

Makes : 2 dozen cookies

Chocolate Ganache

1/2 cup heavy cream

5 1/3 oz dark chocolate

grate the chocolate and place it in a bowl. Heat the cream and bring ti a simmer. Stop and pour over the chocolate, let sit for 1 minute the mix together to get a smooth paste. Let cool before using.

Upss.. by the way, how do you like my bag ? lets going green, no more plastic bag please... :)

Don't STEAL the Images

Learning something new

Don't be confuse when you visit my blog, all sudden you find the craft pictures which is no related at all with baking or cooking passion like I did before. I've been away from cooking site, my daughter's site, face book and any social networking site for a while and find my self stucked in the small corner of my basement playing around with fabrics, threads, and felts.

Don't tell that I ever attend design school , NO! I just the person like to try many things and get bored pretty soon . LOL. As, I remember, my husband gave the sewing machine for my first time birthday in USA ! That was 5 years, and never open it ! ayayayayya.. Well, this activity helping me a lot, especially during the winter time like this. I rather stay home than driving around if not necessary. I can spend time with my daughter, I put the machine and all the stuff in the basement for my self and next put drawing table in other side of room for my daughter, so i still can watching her and play with her while I do sewing.

It's kind of tricky since I have no skill and experience of sewing . Just do base on my feeling, hahahahah.. don't tell my mom.. (she is a good seamstress and made many clothes for 3 of us while we were kids)

So far, the result made me happy and become my weekend activity. I made summer dress for my daughter but she couldn't wait to wear it. Here we go, meet the model ..

The next weekend I made 2 sides of apron, I love it.. and made another one for my friend daughter for her birthday present. Hm.. may be i need to open on-line store soon *sigh* too many plan ^_^

Do I still baking ? yes, I do.. but mostly just baking the simply things .. like this recipe, this snack become my husband favorite's snack too. let's try it.. very..very simple. So, I still can do sewing, playing with my kid and watching someone eating my snack ^LOL^

Sweet Almond Financier

Ingredients:
5 Tbs. unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup sifted confectioners' sugar

1⁄4 cup sifted all-purpose flour

1⁄2 cup almond flour

2 egg whites

Directions:
Preheat an oven to 425ºF.

Butter a 6-well silicone fluted tart mold and place on a baking sheet.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the 5 Tbs. butter until it starts to brown and gives off a nutty aroma, about 3 minutes.

Transfer to a small heatproof bowl and let cool. In a bowl, whisk together the confectioners' sugar, all-purpose flour and almond flour until combined. Add the egg whites and whisk until incorporated. Add the melted butter and whisk until smooth.

Divide the batter among the prepared wells and bake until the edges of the financiers are golden brown and the centers spring back when lightly touched, 15 to 20 minutes.

Immediately invert the mold onto a wire rack and remove the financiers, using a toothpick to gently loosen them, if needed. Let cool for 30 minutes before serving.