13 Woodhouse Road: December 2012

Monday, December 31, 2012

My Wishlist!

Of course! The new year, among other things, also brings my Birthday!!!

The end of the year reminded me that I haven't put up my birthday wishlist yet! I'm here to rectify the mistake!!! :)

So whats on my list this year?

#1 : An exercise equipment

But I guess this one will be coming true in a few days. Mom's sending me her motorized treadmill! It should be here by tomorrow morning! Yay!

#2 : A good phone!

My current one if good too, but I'm so ready for an upgrade! Personally I love Sony Experia! And I'd also like a 3G card to go with it!

# 3 : An iPad

I dont care if it is 2/3/4/mini or whatever! And ipad is an ipad!LOL

#4 : A GREAT Camera

My current one is good, but it has a kind of step-sisterish relationship with my computer! I'd love to have a camera that can directly upload stuff to the internet for a change!

#5 : A Bernina 7 Series Machine

Okay, I know this is going a bit too far... But it is a wish list after all... A girl can always dream!

Now these are all BIG (okay HUGE) gifts... But there are some small ones that I'd love too!

#1 : Fabric

Can you ever have enough?
I'd love me some Echino (anytime, you need not wait for my birthday for that)
The fall 2012 collection looks awesome

Some Architextures (You haven't forgotten that I'm an Architect, have you?)

Or you could order any of the newest released bundles!

Just sayin...

#2 Books
I ALWAYS love books...

Here are some on my wishlist currently

Floral Dimensions by Pauline Ineson

Modern Patchwork by Elizabeth Hartman

Modern Quilting Designs by Bethany Pease

Quilting Lione + Color by Yoshiko Jinzenji

Modern Quilts from the blogging universe

In the Studio with Angela Walters

Transparency Quilts

Masters : Art Quilts : Vol 1

Masters : Art Quilts : Vol 2

I'd also like some fun things this year...

Maybe some new puzzles (jig saws)
Or this kit!

I love the shop name : Tappu ki Dukaan (Tappu's shop)

And if possible maybe an extra month in the year so that time comes to a standstill and I can do whatever I want!

Whats on your wishlist???

I make this list every year not because I expect anyone to buy me all the stuff but because I enjoy making the list as much as I'd enjoy if I actually received any of it as a gift! :)

A wordless Good bye to 2012

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

The year that was!!! And the year that will be!

I can say that the year has been that of learning...

Here are a few things hat I learnt...

1. Trust people with caution. I do not say that do not trust them at all, you'll never make friends that way. But know them better before you trust them! I learnt it the hard way...

2. Believe in yourself! No matter what others say. You will be able to do things if you believe in yourself! Trust yourself, be a little more lenient... Overlook small flaws and work on the major ones!

3. Explore, experiment & experience! Explore new avenues, new areas that you never did before. Experiment with your skills, you'll be amazed at your results! And Experience the wonders of life when you do these things!

4. Forgive & Forget! Learn to forgive people and forget the bad things they said/did to you! Look for the good in mankind. And you'll be much happier! Everybody deserves a second chance!

5. Smile - a lot! When you're feeling low - Smile. When somebody hurts you - Smile. when you feel defeated - Smile! Know what??? Its infectious! It can even stop an argument!!!

6. Spend more time with your children! Listen to the little things they tell you. Its fun. I make Aadi stand in front of me, facing me - hugging me - on the scooter when I drop him off to his class. We talk about his day for the journey and we both love those 15 mins!

7. Have a long term goal and break it into smaller ones! Breaking up your long term goal into smaller ones will make it easy to achieve! It will also give you a sense of completion!

2012 also saw me emerge as a better quilter, I believe. I have tackled stuff that would have scared me. And conquered my fears!

It is also the year of my biggest achievement so far! My portrait Quilt!!!

I'm really looking forward to 2013!

Why? Its "MY" year! 2013 @ 13 Woodhouse Road!!!

What are my plans for the new year?

I have a simple three-point plan for the new year!

Grow. Reduce. Maintain.

I would like my skills and abilities to grow.
You will see quite a lot of this on the blog!

I want to work on reducing my stress as well as my weight! (I guess weight reduction is on my perpetual to-do list!)

I want to maintain what I have achieved on my home front! I am currently at a "happy" stage as a wife as well as a mother! And I would like to work on maintaining it!

I'm taking the first step towards growing!
I'm hosting a "Self Portrait Quilt Along" right at the beginning of the new year.
Here's the form to fill to sign up.

Fill the form and then join the Facebook group.

I will be posting the general instructions for the quilt on my blog. And I will be emailing specific instructions to all the individual users depending on the method they choose to use and the photos they select.

Find it intimidating? We are going to be a huge support group cheering on each other as we work. There will be lots of help. And I'm working on having prizes in the end too!

Join in!!!

What are your plans for the new year? Start by selecting a photo you want to immortalize and hop on the ride. We'll all help each other to stay afloat!

Here's the schedule.

1. Sign ups and Picture Selection - up to 31st Dec

2. List of supplies - 1st Jan

3. Picture Preparation - 7th Jan to 12th Jan

4. Fabric Selection - 14th Jan to 19th Jan

5. Fusing - 21st Jan to 31st Jan

6. Sewing - 1st Feb - 9th Feb

7. Quilting -11th Feb - 23rd Feb

8. Finish & Show off! - 25th Feb - 28th Feb

Hop on, join the fun!

Cheers!!!

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Coco parra!

I'm at a flea market today...

In Pune ...

I booked a stall along with 2 friends and we're planning to have fun!

There's live music and much more...

About selling, it will be wonderful if I manage to at least break even!

But I do not have high hopes...

This is the first time I'm exhibiting my products in Pune...

I have brought along the portrait quilt and will be taking custom orders for them!

If you are in Pune today, do drop in...

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

The Portrait Quilt : A Final Reveal

It was a hundred years ago that the story of this quilt actually started...

It is the story of Krishnaji Shripad Dandekar - or Dada-ajoba (Big grandfather) to our family now.

In a small town, Sangli there lived a young man who was a mechanic and repaired bicycles (there were so few cars then). One day he fell down into a well and broke his leg. After that he could not go back to be a mechanic - the medical treatments were not yet so advanced and a fracture meant a broken bone for life!

But he did not give up! He was strong, not strong physically, but by nature...

He decided to start his own business. He was innovative when he decided to start selling lantern glass! Typically an oil lantern glass would break pretty often and people would rather not buy the whole lantern just for that! He found a place on Ganpati Road (now a bustling main commercial street in the town, but then a small lane that went to the city temple.) an sat on it with his small "shop"

But soon the business grew. He made a lot of additions to it. He built a house - a two-storeyed house - at the very place he used to sit on a piece of burlap.

During the independence struggle, his son became a freedom fighter. He was even imprisoned at times. But Dada-ajoba never let his spirit die.

Soon after India became independent. It was a moment of joy and celebration for the entire country. But almost immediately after it, Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated. The culprit was Nathuram Godse. This caused a communal violence all over India and Dada-ajoba's house was burnt down. It must have been a traumatic event, but Dada-ajoba just became even more stronger. Looking at the still smouldering ashes he decided to build a three storeyed house in its place! AND HE DID!

He worked harder (not to forget that he was almost 45 years older than he must have been when he started his business) and built a three storeyed house in the very place! The house stands tall and proud today as a salute to the hard work, innovation and never-say-die spirit of the person who built it!

I am proud to be a part of this family. Every true Dandekar has the traits of Dada-ajoba. Today the business has grown many-folds - we have come a long way from selling lantern glass. We sell building materials, generator sets, cement, steel, agriculatural products and now - Laptops! But the streak of character remains. And I feel that it is due to that character that "Dandekar = trust" equation exists. We have loyal customers who have been with us for 2 generations , or more!

Next year - 2013 - we will be celebrating the centenary of our business : M/s P. K. Dandekar. I had always admired dada-ajoba and wanted to do my little bit in paying respect to him...

I decided to make a portrait quilt to celebrate his spirit!

This was a daunting project. I was perpetually scared I might not be able to do it right. I was scared that it might end up looking totally different. But I decided to give it a try nevertheless!

And here's the result... My first (there will be many more to come, I'm sure) portrait quilt!

I raw edge appliqued all the pieces together to make this one... I used about 15 different fabrics in shades of grey for it. I used Kona Cotton (a half yard bundle of Silent Cinema), Bella Solids (assorted) and local cotton fabric.

The fusing was done using Pellon Fusible # 805

I top stitched the pieces down first and then quilted it with lines that I'd have done the sketch with.

I used Aurifil thread to quilt it. #2615 for quilting the background, # 2605, # 2612, # 2630 and #2620 for top stitching the pieces and #2692 for the sketching line - quilting (all wt 50). In the entire process of going through multiple layers - I also used Pellon to baste the quilt so the layers were : Fused piece (sometimes more than 3 overlapping each other) - Pellon - back fabric - pellon - batting - pellon - backing - there were only 2 incidents where the thread broke! And both the times the needle broke maybe because i was tugging the piece while quilting!

I quilted it on my Emily! (Bernina 330) And she sure did a great job!

Quilt stats :

Quilt Size : 32.5 " x 48"
# of pieces fused : 3488+
Batting : Cotton
Techniques used : Raw Edge applique and Free motion quilting.

I'd love to make many more portrait quilts. Making this quilt was a satisfaction in itself. It made me think, as I traced, cut and fused each piece about myself and I feel I learnt a lot from the process.

I'd really like to thank Sandra Bruce for being the inspiration to make this quilt. Had it not been for you, I would not even have attempted it!

:)

Yes, I'm proud to have made this!
Proud to be a part of the Dandekar family!

Cheers!!!

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Know Thy Machine : Grand Finale Winners

At last...

The last post in the series - Know thy Machine!

Before I announce the winners, I'd like to thank everyone who has been an immense help!

Thank you Kimberly, Sandy and Erin for being the sponsors!

Thank you Emily for your wonderful help! I love the fact that you're always there to help me in ANYTHING that I do! Love you, girl!

Thanks to all the participants of the blog hop! As a token of thanks each of you has been given a bonus entry!

Thanks to my family and friends for understanding the importance of what I want to do and for bearing my whims (they do that all the time, this time the reason just has a new name... ;))

And most important, Thank you to all my readers! You just make it all worthwhile! Your comments give me the inspiration to do something new every time!

And the winners!

#1 : Winner of the $100 Gift Certificate from Fat Quarter Shop is

You will shortly receive an email from Fat Quarter Shop!

#2 : Winner of the $30 Store Credit from Wrapped in Fabric is

Please contact Sandy (I will also send her an email) for your store Credit!

And # 3 : Winner of the Pellon Gift Package (US Only) is

Email me your address so that I can forward it to Erin!

Congratulations to all the winners!

Cheers!

Friday, December 7, 2012

The Portrait Quilt : Update

My portrait quilt is on its way to finishing!

You cannot imaging how happy I am!

Here's how far I have come

And the BEST part! He resembles DH's great grandfather! PHEW! I was so scared it might not look like him... I was a nervous wreck, even putting aside the work for a while... Scared that it might look just totally different and I'll disappoint everyone, including myself!

But I am a happy girl now!

What next?

Tomorrow I plan to start quilting this one! I am planning to get a smaller sized photo copy of the picture and mark the quilting lines on it and use that as a reference...

I have one question though, I am planning to directly quilt it without sewing down the pieces individually... That means that I cannot pin baste it... So if I apply the Pellon to the background fabric and fuse it to the cotton batting will it work? I have never done this before... Do you guys think It will work? Or will it be too much of glue and cause problems when I quilt?

Hoping to see some answers by tomorrow morning...

Thanks!

Cheers!!!

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Happy Little Pouch Blog Hop!

Today I'm happy to be invited to join a blog hop by Emily and Elaine...

The Happy Little Pouch Blog Hop!

What a fun hop at an apt time! I think all of us are looking for small projects to make for Christmas gifts!

They have both featured some of the most wonderful tutorials out there and have challenged each other to make some lovely pouches!

Hop over to their blogs for a treat!!!

Emily : Mommy's Naptime
Elaine : Dashasel Sews

Today, I'll be doing an eye-candy post for my Samosa pouches!

Also I'm making the tutorial available in a pdf format so that you all can access it whenever you need!

Here is a link to the pdf file!

I made a zillion of these pouches for my recent Craft fair...

And one you get the hang of it, they are pretty easy...

I know a lot of you love their name...

Here's what a Samosa looks like

And it is my all time favorite snack... EVER! I cannot make it, like many things in the kitchen I cannot make... But I get delicious ones at a shop just around my block... Infact that's where I'm heading to right after I finish writing this post!

And for all those who cannot help but fall in love with this yummy 3 dimensional Indian snack but cannot find it around you, here's a recipe to make your own!

Note : Do not think about Calories when you're eating this! You're disqualified to eat a Samosa if you even peep at the # of calories in it! If you'd like to burn off the calories follow every Samosa that you eat with 29 Samosa wristlets and nobody needs to know anything... ;)

Ingredients:

For Cover:
1 cup all purpose flour (Maida)
Water to Knead dough
2tbsp oil
Little salt
1/4th tsp. Ajwain (optional)

For Stuffing:
3-4 Potatoes (boiled, peeled & mashed)
1/2 cup Green Peas (boiled)
1-2 Green Chilies (finely chopped)
1/2tsp Ginger (crushed)
1tbsp coriander finely chopped
Few chopped Cashews (optional)
Few Raisins (optional)
1/2tsp Garam masala
Salt to taste
Red chili powder to taste
1/2 tsp. Dry Mango powder( Amchur) (optional)

How to make samosa:

For Cover:

Mix all the ingredients (salt, oil, ajwain) except water.
Add a little water at a time.
Pat and knead well for several times into a soft pliable dough.
Cover it with moist Muslin cloth and keep aside for 15 minutes.

For Stuffing :

In a bowl add mashed potatoes and all dry masalas (salt, chili powder, mango powder, garam masala) and green chilles, ginger and Mix well.
Add green peas, cashews and raisins and mix well.
Add coriander and keep aside.

To Proceed :

Make small rolls of dough and roll it into a 4"-5" diameter circle.
Cut it into two parts like semi-circle.
Now take one semi circle and fold it like a cone. Use water while doing so.
Place a spoon of filling in the cone and seal the third side using a drop of water.
Heat oil in a kadhai and deep fry till golden brown (fry on a medium flame).
Serve samosa hot with hari chutney, tamarind chutney.

With the pattern and the recipe I think I just doubled your fun! Dont forget to email me pictures of your Samosas... Both the edible and the non-edible ones! I'd love to feature them here!

Cheers!!!