DIPSEWMANIAC

https://dipsewmaniac.wordpress.com/

Okay. I have been meaning to do this for long now. What with all the sewing and quilting and crafting that goes around in my life, I needed a separate place to store it all. Nope, Facebook was not the place.

  

And here it is. DIPSEWMANIAC – My world of sewing, quilting and crafting.

I will be updating the blog regularly. All about the weekend crafting that I do with Ri. About the sewing and quilting projects, WIPs and completed ones. I will try to include more DIYs and tutorials too. It will be more of a picture based blog, obviously.

Don’t worry, I will continue to update this blog too, with all the other stories about Ri, SSM and the house/kitchen ghost. J

So be nice, click on the link, go to DIPSEWMANIAC and browse through it.

You can also be wonderful and 'like' the posts, 'Pin' the pictures, drop in comments and share it away. Because every time you do any of those actions, you will be visited by unicorns, who will sprinkle some moon dust into your life to make it more magical.

See you again soon. Here and there.

Some days are happy and some days are not...

 

That is how I want to remember him always-blowing happy bubbles.

Nick died. 

I reached home on Friday and saw him lying peacefully at the bottom of his jar. He had been with us for almost nine months and, while many would say that he was just a fish, I couldn’t help but cry. I will miss him. He was a good fish, a good friend. I did not want to flush him off but wanted a proper burial for him.

The next morning was spent explaining death to Ri. And when he finally did and realised that Nick will not come back, even if we show him to a doctor like he suggested, he burst into tears saying he loved Nick and he wants him back. I was happy that the kid has his heart in place.

I wrapped Nick in a newspaper and asked SSM to go am bury him. (It is nice of SSM to oblige in spite of not really wanting to) Both Ri and I bid goodbye to him and prayed for him to be happy in fishy heaven. We watched from the veranda as SSM buried him. I shouted out to SSM to put some flowers there. He looked up and did a major eye roll (He was on an eye roll spree that day. I will come to more eye roll bit later) but he is a nice man so he did offer some flowers.

I told Ri that tonight when we all sleep, Nick will become a star and be happy up in the sky. We were fine then.

We decided to spend rest of the day crafting. So I made a kandil (lantern), SSM made a phanush (sky lantern) and Ri helped us with it. He also made a sort of a cardboard man. Cute.

And I did some sewing.

So I made this.

Tell me it looks lovely.

SSM: What is it?

Me: It is a book quilt? Isn’t it nice?

SSM: Erm, yes. Nice. But what exactly is it again?

Me: Sigh! Winters are coming, the books feel cold. They need a quilt too.

SSM: *Eye roll* (See, second time in the day) You got to be kidding me, right?

A warm and happy book

Me: No, I am serious. See, doesn’t the book look warm and cosy?

SSM: *Deep breath* Will you ever stop being crazy?

Me: What? This is an awesome creation, okay? And beside keeping the book warm, it has many other advantages.

SSM: Like?

Me: Like when I want to hide from people the book that I am reading.

SSM: Okaaaay. And why would you want to do that?

Me: Because people might want to steal it

SSM: *raised eyebrows* Yes?

Me: Or because I might be reading porn or worse, Durjoy Dutta. I wouldn’t want people to know that, right?

SSM: You know you are never going to use that thing, right?

Me: YOU ARE WRONG. I am going to read every book in that quilt for the rest of my life.

SSM: *Eye roll. Again.*

Because everyone needs a quilt

Please someone tell him that EVERYONE needs a quilt!

***

I miss Nick. :(

The 100th post and I have nothing to write.

Don't ask me why I have black ink on my thumbs. It will not make any sense.

This is my 100^th post and I don’t know what to write. 100 is huge; I wanted it to be super and then I have been at a loss about what to write.

My initial thought was to write a quilting post.

The first time ever that I heard about blogging was when I started searching the internet for quilting and sewing project, so it kind of seemed fair.

And then last month my Aunt (mother's sister), who made me fall in love with quilting, (I called her Mummy, everyone called her Mummy) passed away. Mummy was 86 and no, she was not old. She was a quilter and the best I have known. While I was probably her most pampered niece, the best gift that she ever gave me was quilting.

Yes, she was my inspiration for quilting. Seeing her quilt and seeing her quilts as a child was what drew me to this wonderful art of quilting. She was the only one in the family, I could discuss quilts with. Our last conversation too had been about the beauty of traditional Log Cabin quilts and how it was her favourite pattern.

 And so, her death brought in a huge void into my life. Until… Untill I realised that a quilter never dies.

Made by Mummy

I wake up each morning and there is the appliqué wall hanging that Mummy made, hanging on my bathroom door.

I open Ri’s cupboard to get him dressed and there is the quilted organiser that she gave me when Ri was born.

I get into the car and there is the lovely Log Cabin quilt she made that I use as a lap quilt every time the car gets cold. (That is almost all the time.)

Yes,  a quilter never dies. She lives through her art and the love that she has gifted you all the while. I know it is surreal, but she does live on.

This is the last wall hanging she made.

The beautiful trapunto quilting

***

Talking of surreal, I realised that I haven’t updated you guys about this story:

Remember the kitchen ghost, well, he seems to have moved in to my bathroom. And he has got friendlier and actually says “Hello” to me every time I am done peeing.

The first time I heard that deep hollow ‘hello’, almost in my ear, I must admit, I was pretty startled. I was brushing my teeth and I almost swallowed the toothpaste when I heard it.

The second time I heard him, it was past mid night. I opened the door; woke SSM up and asked if he heard anyone say ‘hello’. He grunted something which sounded like ‘Oh you are so kind’ and I felt really happy. I said thank you and went of to sleep. When I reminded him the next morning about how kind I was, he said that he had asked ‘are you out of your mind?’ (I don’t think he remembers. people usually do not remember what they say in their sleep.)

The next time, I was quite sure that it was my kitchen ghost because I hadn't felt his presence around the kitchen for a long time. And so, I started diligently replying to his greeting.

And then one day this happened.

Me: (walking out of the bathroom, turning back toward the bathroom) Hey there, hello to you too!

SSM: Erm… What was that?

Me: What?

SSM: I just heard you talk to… no one… in the bathroom.

Me: Oh, that. That is not no one. I was exchanging pleasantries with the bathroom ghost.

SSM: (after taking a deep breath and a long pause) You might want to explain.

Me: There is nothing to explain. There is this really nice ghost in the bathroom who, I think is in love with me, and says hello to me in a really sexy baritone. So I just think it is polite to reply.

SSM: Oh my God, you have completely lost it this time.

Me: What? No! Serious! He does. It is true.

A few days later SSM and I were in the bathroom together. (Groan, No! You perverts! He had done peeing and I had entered the bathroom to brush) And that is when the ghost greeted me again.

Me: (all excited) There! There! Did you hear that. Did you hear the ghost say ‘hello’.

SSM: Yes. Yes. I did. That… your ghost…is not a ghost. There is a problem in the cistern. It makes that sound few seconds after you've flushed. Did you not realise that all this while.

Me: That is a lie! Oh dear. The poor ghost lives in the cistern.

SSM: NO! There is no ghost. It is the sound the cistern makes. STOP IMAGINING THINGS!

Me: YOU ARE JUST JEALOUS THAT THE GHOST HAS A CRUSH ON ME! DAMN YOU!

SSM sighed and left. I am at peace with my ghost. I have kept this ghost stories book in the bathroom for him to read. Staying in the cistern can be quite boring. I also read it aloud to him some times. I think that makes him happy. His ‘hello’ definitely seems happier.

***

And talking about ghosts, I have to tell you guys that I have been extremely impressed by Facebook. Ever since I realised that Facebook can sense the presence of ghosts and spirits, my respect for Facebook has gone up drastically.

 I mean who could have thought that while I was trying to upload this picture on Facebook, it would actually ask me to tag a ghost in a banyan tree. Super impressed! I only wish it had done a face recognition and identified the ghost for me too. Tagging would have been easier. So I just ended up tagging it as Gechho Bhoot.

***

And so, since this is supposed to be my 100^th post, and I really had nothing much to write, I will just post this video of  Ri singing a song from the movie 'Patalghar'. I wish my blog a happy 100^th post.

And thank you, all my readers for loyally reading this crappy blog and showering so much love. I really love you all, much more than I love ghosts. (Okay, that last bit is a lie, but I do love you a lot)

When will people understand creativity?

I was sitting on the bed, reading. That is when SSM walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. (No, this is not an erotic post.) And then the following conversation took place.

SSM: You know, a funny thing just happened and I have a feeling you might have an explanation for it.

I looked up from the book and raised my eyebrows.

SSM: I had a bath and then I was wrapping the towel around my waist when I noticed that the towel does not seem to cover me up right. Please explain.

Me: Oh that; I cut it up.

SSM: You, what?

Me:  I cut up the towel. And you are right it is not covering you up properly. The thigh look sexy.

SSM: (with a deep breath) Why would you cut my towel?

Me: I needed it.

SSM: For what?

Me: To make a cover for the weighing scale.

SSM: Why my towel? And why on earth does the weighing scale need a cover. I mean you don’t even use the damn weighing scale.

Me: Exactly my point. Because I do not use it, it needs to be taken care of and hence the cover. And your towel was nice and soft; just exactly right for the weighing scale.

SSM: That makes no sense.

Me: It will once you see the cover... Check this out

SSM: Fat to Fit! How innovative!

Me: You know I am bad with blog titles. Stop sneering.

SSM: This is not a blog. What is wrong with you?

I grunted and got back to my book. SSM walked to the wardrobe.

SSM: Hey I can’t find my grey trousers.

Me: Do you ever find anything around the house.

SSM: No, seriously, I can’t find them.

Me: Oh, the grey one?

SSM: Yes

Me: The one you look really good in.

SSM: Seriously? You never told me that.

Me: Well, Yes, you did look very good in them

SSM: Did? You said that in past tense?

Me: Erm, the grey trousers… I cut 'em up.

SSM: WTF

Me: You know I saw this really awesome quilt design made out of old trousers. It was awesome. I just had to make it.

SSM: Those were not old trousers. They were good ones.

Me: Exactly, they will make a good quilt.

SSM: You are insane

Me: I know. Erm… by the way, I also cut up your brown trouser.

SSM: NO! WHAT! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?

Me: Relax. You will not be upset once you get a glimpse of the quilted bed sheet that I am making.

SSM: What the hell is that? Who is ever going to sleep on that?

Me: Arre, it is not made yet. This is just a bit of it. It will look awesome once made. And anyway one does not sleep on a bed sheet. One sleeps on a bed cover. (The last line was not part of the conversation but just a few days ago I went shopping for bed sheets, with a friend and that is where I learnt the difference between a bed sheet and a bedcover. So, I am just showing off my newly acquired knowledge. Ha!) 

SSM: Are you mad? ARE YOU MAD? ARE. YOU. MAD?

Me: Relax! Why are you getting so worked up? You have enough trousers and you will be buying more during Pujas. Come to think of it, I don’t have a single trouser in my wardrobe.

SSM: Yes, you don’t. And that is because... you do not wear them!

Me: I could wear a trouser if I had one.

SSM: (with a deep sigh) There is no point talking to you!

ME: You know, that towel is really not covering you up!

So she sews!

This post is just a sewing / quilting update. Stuff I have made in the last few months.

***

The Beads: Someone on the facebook quilting group posted this blogpost and then the urge to try making these beads was irresistible. Simply irresistible. So there. I made two of them. They are 'oh so lovely.' And already claimed by a dear friend.

Toran (Indian bunting): The same awesome quilter group keep coming up with quilting challenges. One such challenge was to make a toran. Here are the details. It seemed like a very interesting one and hence this elephant toran got made.

Blanket of love: Read this. It is for a cause and this is the quickest quilt I have made. The firstime that i worked on a log cabin and it has become my favourite pattern now.

Froggy and beach ball: The frog and the beach ball are actually very old toys that I made for Ri. they were among the first few things I made and I love them. I cannot remember where I got the frog pattern from. The beach ball was from my favourite Purlbee.

Butterflies: One day Ri and I were standing in the verandah watching a butterfly that had lost its way into our house. I asked Ri then if he would like to sleep on a pillow full of butterflies. All he had to say was 'yes' and I went snipity snip with my scissors on my fabrics. The paper cutouts were stuck on Ri's wardrobe and they looked lovely.

Kindle cover: New years and a bad fight with SSM earned my this kindle. :D Call me a freak, but the first thing i did with the kindle was make this cover, that very evening. One of the quickest and most favourite thing I ever made. I love it.

Lamp shade:  This one was totally experimental. And the experiment did not turn out too bad. I later wished I had used better, heavier fabric for the lamp shade but I really did not want to use the nice ones for and experiment. SO will have to make one again.

SSM's quilt: Remember this quilt? Remember? Remember? Yeah, I know it was long long ago. But I managed to complete it finally, and on a cold winter day too. So hey, not too bad huh!

The birthday bunting: Ri's third birthday. How could I not make him this colourful birthday bunting? :)

So that's it. I have been sewing it up pretty well.

About weeping willows, Pujo and quilting.

After a pre vacation post, I thought I would write a post about the vacation… Nah! Or a post about Pujo… Nah! Here I go and start writing about the quilt I completed. But, this post will have glimpses about my travel and Pujos may also just about get a mention.

Remember how I had started making a quilt for Ri centuries ago, I finally finished it. I had written about it here. And it had a mention here. (The second link is irrelevant, but hey, mera blog meri marzi, so well... :D)

Making the quilt was a fun experience. In the last update I had completed the quilt top and then it had been lying forlorn for quite a while in my ‘to do’ heap of fabrics. Yes, it’s quite a heap. Every time I promise myself that I will complete one before I begun something new, the fabrics and new project ideas stare at me with ‘puppy eyes’ and I can’t stop myself.

During my vacation to UK, I went quite bonkers at the sewing shops in Bedford. It was like getting lost in some magical land. Had it been my way, I would have liked to spend the entire holiday at the sewing and fabric shops. Okay, that's an exaggeration. Actually, it's not an exaggeration. I would have loved to spend my entire holiday in Bedford at the river side, reading and cycling, and at the sewing shop.
Yes, I am a weird kind of a traveller.

The sewing shop is filled with fabrics of various colours, shades, prints, textures and material. Threads- cotton and silk, and every colour ever imagined adorn the walls. It's one of the most vibrant places one could come across. It is what I imagine paradise to look like.

Two things that I carried back from the holiday were the memories of the sewing shops and the weeping willows by the embankment in Bedford.

Weeping willows - I recognised them the moment I set my eyes on them. And how couldn’t I. I mean, anyone, who has grown up on Enid Blyton would recognise the weeping willows. And I not just recognised them, but I grew ecstatic the moment I saw them. Weeping willows by the river side and BAM! I knew I loved the place.

So, well, when I got back to Kolkata, to Pujo in the air, to the almost ready pandals, to the vinyl hoardings for Pujo all over the city, people asked me, how was UK? – I replied, I loved Bedford. When they asked me, what did I get from there? – I replied, loads of fabric and sewing stuff. When they asked me, tell us about the trip. - I replied, Oh, Bedford is an awesome place. I simple loved it, lovely houses, river side and weeping willows. Oh, and it also has some awesome sewing shops. Finally they stopped asking me.

When I got back, the jet-lag actually helped. I spent the night peacefully, arranging my sewing cupboard with all the stuff I got.

And once that was done, the bug got me. I couldn’t wait to lay my hands on the sewing machine. It lured me with all the sensuality that it possessed but I needed peace and time to give both of us that satisfying experience. Four days, four long days is what we will have to wait for before the Pujo holidays began –  I explained, it understood.
 

Pujo holiday – sewing on my mind – I had decided to complete Ri’s quilt. The top was done. The backing I had not decided on. The batting is what I had got from the wonderful shop in Bedford.

So on day one of Pujo holidays – Saptami – I got all the fabrics out, racking my brains for the backing. I came across this one really old project I had started. The plan was to make a dotty appliqué quilt. I never really got my self to complete it. I didn’t like the way it had turned out and I had been meaning to use the seam-ripper on it for a while. So it was there lying shoved in a corner.

And then I had the brainwave (I am super smart at times) to use that as a backing. I tried it, it didn’t look too bad. I had to extend it from the sides and I used the fabric remaining from SSM’s quilt – the one you saw in the redundant link in the beginning. (It wasn’t really redundant, huh? – there I told you I am super smart.)I pieced the quilt together with the batting and left them for the day to get acquainted with each other.

Next day – Ashtami – I got the machine out first thing in the morning. Believe me; I could feel it tremble out of excitement as I touched it or maybe it was me... I set it up on the table before I went about the morning chores. I then got about completing the backing patchwork. Realisation - there is a certain thrill in making love to the sewing machine to the dhaak beats in the background.

I took a break only to not miss the awesome ashtami bhog. And then I began binding the quilt after having fixed it with tons of quilting pins. Let me tell you, batting is definitely not the best behaved thing in the universe. It did give me some trouble shuffling itself around. Slapping some stitches around did keep it quiet, though. And it was quite late when I finally finished sandwiching it between the top and the backing.
 

Navami – what was left now was to finish the edges off. I again rummaged around my stack and got leftover of the fabric I had used to make a dress for my younger niece. It was a lovely orange floral print over a grey background. Here I shall also be a show off and attach a picture of her wearing the dress (in Bedford).  Bwahahahaha! So, I had scraps of the fabric remaining and I decided to go ahead with it.

I made the bias strips with the fabric before I went downstairs to play Antakshri (which I won, in spite of the host (SSM) deliberately making it difficult for me) and divulging into a scrumptious lunch of pulav and mutton.

Back to the quilt, I had extra bit of the backing left toward the top and bottom end of the quilt, which I folded to cover up the quilt. I used the bias tape for the sides, and voila! we were done.
 

I was super happy with the way it turned out. Ri was very happy with it. The zigzags became a path for his cars and dotty that he is, he loved the dots. I was super duper happy that Ri was happy about it. And we ended having a happy, cuddly time inside it.

 

 

 

Idea for the dotty backing - here
Idea for the zig-zag quilt - here

Every quilt has a story.

So, it was ages ago when I posted about the "sunshine zig-zagquilt" for Ri. Well, no, I haven’t completed it yet. But I did finish the top and I am trying to figure out whether I should use a batting at all or just give it a back closure. Anyway, this is what the top looks like and Ri loves it.

 

And while I was at it, I also decided to make another quilt for SSM as a birthday quilt. Erm… birthday is over…the quilt isn’t. But hey, I did finish the top on his birthday. So we know that he will get it before winter sets in K

This was a super quick quilt I made and my first time ever at trying log blocks. Huge bi-coloured blocks. Once the blocks were made, I pieced them together only to realise they did not look quite right.

 

They seemed more like the blocks had woken up one night got gone out partying and got so drunk that they couldn’t find their way back and decided to lay down where ever they found some place. (I am quite sure they did that; weird things keep happening in this house)

 

 

SSM is a sober guy, really. Drunken blocks were seriously not for him. So I dismantled the blocks (Sigh! God bless seam rippers) and rearranged them. They looked abstemious now.

 

I would be using a batting for this quilt. SSM likes squashy cuddly accessories in bed with him…Ahem! J

 

For the batting I would be using a fleece blanket. (Thanks, Shilpa for the flannel/ fleece blanket idea. I agree it seems well behaved. I totally heart the quilts Shilpa makes.)

 

And I will finish both the quilts soon, real soon. J

Zig-Zag Quilt

They stared at me from the shelf. They were with many others. But they caught my eye. This is what happens every time I visit a fabric store. The fabrics keep staring at me like puss in boots and say, “Buy me. Buy me”. This time it was three of them, a solid red, a solid yellow and a printed orange fabric. They saw me, I saw them and it was love at first sight. I just knew I had to take them home with me. And so I did. That was a happy me. That was a happy them. I organised them in my sewing cupboard. (That’s probably the only place in my house that I keep organised.)

 

 A couple of weeks later as I was standing in front of the cupboard staring at it, my eyes fell on these three musketeers hiding behind stacks of fabric. I got them out. I smiled. They were inseparable. They complimented each other. I had to put them up together; together, to make them one.

 So out I got my cutting mat, my scissors, my rotary cutter (I abandon those who call my rotary cutter, pizza cutter) and a sheet of my white fabric. And then snip snip snip I started cutting them. First squares, and then into triangles. I did the same with the white fabric. Loads of triangle they were. They were in hundreds; all over the place; looking awesome. They were the colours of fire, of the sun, of life. It was magic. I was about to create magic.

 And then I started sewing. I sewed a red with a white; a yellow with a white; the print with a white; one white for each colour; one colour for each white. And slowly all the triangles were again joined into being squares. Squares, that were half white and half colour. Yes I was making a patchwork quilt – a zig-zag patchwork quilt. That was the only way of bringing the three fabrics together; of creating madness.

 

I had two designs in mind. One that I termed highway, and the other I termed my way. One was sorted; the other confused. One had a pattern; the other was methodical madness. Both-both were beautiful. They confused me. So I did what I would do if I was confused. I went for a poll on Facebook (Oh, I love social networking) and this is what the post looked like.

 

There was a fierce competition between the two. Loads of likes and loads of votes. And ultimately madness won. But it doesn’t matter. Ultimately the 3 fabrics get to be together. And with the chosen pattern, they get to be really close to each other.

 So that’s what I am going for finally. Pattern A – Taram param parammm.

 I shall post the picture of the completed ‘Sunshine Zig-Zag’ quilt once it’s done. Watch out for this space.