The Amazing Quilter

My inspiration. She is a gift from God. I am in awe of her determination and not sitting around wasting time. Yes, she is my encourager.

"And if God can help me do it, He can help you do it.." ~ Diane Rose
"You can make something of your life or you can do nothing with it. It's up to you." ~Diane Rose
"The way I look at it, if I can do what I have done, without sight, how much can you do?" ~Diane Rose



She has her own website too @ http://www.theamazingquilter.com/

What's for dinner?

Have not been crafting so heres more food post.................A friend had introduced us to this restaurant a while back and we have become regulars ordering from them at least once a week. Our favourites are ......................... .......................Beef and Chinese Brocolli.............................................Snow Pea leave with garlic................

...........................Chicken Curry.......................

Baby Doll Dress

I came across the American Girl doll catalog and feel in love with this doll. Then at the fabric store a while back, I saw this pre-printed doll dress sold in a panel. It is ready to be cut out and sewn together. I thought it would be a really cute dress for my doll. The outfit that came with my doll was a pant and jacket set so she does not have an actual dress yet.

After having made dresses for myself, niece and friends children, I have to say I really enjoy making doll dress because they are much smaller in scale and therefore I can finish them in one weekend. The dress fits my doll really well too. I think she looks gorgeous.

New Drink Concoction

I like mixing my own concoction when the originals are too sweet or strong for me. During the holidays, we had bought quite a few bottles of the sparkling apple cider and I was trying to dilute the sweetness off so I hunt the fridge and found 'Lime' Bud Light and mixing it 1/2 & 1/2....tada......it was good..... the lime cuts into the sweetness just right. On a hot summer day, I think this would make for a good refreshing drink too.

Dim Sum

One of my favourite foods is 'Dim Sum' which are small portions of food eaten during morning tea or afternoon tea in China. But now in the US, restaurants are serving them primarily for lunch and some for dinner too. This is what we normally order for our Sunday lunch.

.....Shrimp dumplings wrapped in transparent skin (Har Gao) and Shrimp & Pork dumplings (Sui Mai)...these two are the most popular dim sums and they are offered pretty much in any dim sum restaurants...

...Pan fried rice noodles with bean sprouts, green onions and sometimes shrimp, egg, or beef

.....different type of Shrimp dumplings and Beef dumplings....these are unique to individual restaurants. Some may or maynot offer them and they may have their own recipes for them.

....Shrimp with Chives...this in one of my favourite.........

Origami

I had joined a group of ladies to an outing a few years back and we chanced upon this unique store that specialized in Japanese merchandise. While browsing around, this origami mobile caught my eye. I think this mobile was also responsible for the start of my investment into origami papers. Anyway, I didn't buy the mobile that day cos I was with friends and I really do not shop well with friends. For some reason, I always feel bad to keep my friends waiting. Also I need peace to shop and not be hurried so that's why I enjoy shopping alone. The one person I had fun shopping with was an ex colleague in China. She and I wore the same size clothes and are about the same height so that made shopping fun cos we would try on the same clothes to see who wore it better. That way we never had to wait for each other cos we were in the fitting room together laughing and giggling away if something does not fit well. Those were good times.
Anyway, at the back of my mind I had intended to visit this store when I get the chance and so I did and this time, I bought the mobile. I had so much fun digging into the origami papers and instructions. It brought me back to my younger school years. I also experimented with beads and that was a learning experience......the correct needles, threads, etc.... but it was good fun and I was glad to finish this project. Its now hanging in my study where I can enjoy it everyday.

Laughter is Best Medicine

1. A kindergarten pupil told his teacher he'd found a cat, but it was dead. 'How do you know that the cat was dead?' she asked her pupil. 'Because I pissed in its ear and it didn't move,'answered the child innocently. 'You did WHAT???' the teacher exclaimed in surprise. 'You know,' explained the boy, 'I leaned over and went 'Pssst!' and it didn't move.' **

2. An exasperated mother, whose son was always getting into mischief, finally asked him 'How do you expect to get into Heaven?' The boy thought it over and said, 'Well, I'll run in and out and in and out and keep slamming the door until St. Peter says, 'For Heaven's sake, Dylan, come in or stay out!''

3. One summer evening during a violent thunderstorm a mother was tucking her son into bed. She was about to turn off the light when he asked with a tremor in his voice, 'Mommy, will you sleep with me tonight?' The mother smiled and gave him a reassuring hug. 'I can't dear,' she said. 'I have to sleep in Daddy's room.' A long silence was broken at last by his shaky little voice; 'The big sissy.'

4. It was that time, during the Sunday morning service, for the children's sermon. All the children were invited to come forward. One little girl was wearing a particularly pretty dress and, as she sat down, the pastor leaned over and said, 'That is a very pretty dress. Is it your Easter Dress?' The little girl replied, directly into the pastor's clip-on microphone, 'Yes, and my Mom says it's a b-tch to iron.'

Lost and found

As I was looking thru some boxes in the storage, I found some of my old ceramic pieces I have painted some years ago. I kinda forgotten about them until I saw them again and wondered how I could have forgotten them.

I think maybe after having to move three times in three years, with all the packing and unpacking, I just completely didn't think of them. I am afraid what else I might find if I venture any further thru the boxes.

I know we gave away/sold at least half the content in our old house when we moved to Texas and then gave away some more when we moved into our new house but I am not sure why we still have so many boxes left....hmmm........oh well, we will just have to give away more should we have to move again.

Finished and Thankful

I so glad to finish this quilt on Dec 31 making this my last completed project for 2010. It will be in the mail hopefully by this weekend and reach him for Chinese New Year.
Looking back, I feel I had spent too much time on the internet researching/developing ideas and not enough time to actually try them out.
Instead of saying "I will or I should...", which we all know we will never do, I will instead be thankful and say "I get to...".
So this year ..... I get to..........
1. try out all the DVDs, softwares, books, patterns, fabrics and tools I have acquired.
2. spent more time to practise and play the piano and try to finish the pieces I have written and write new ones.
3. exercise daily when I am watching the evening news.
4. spent more time working on a game I have designed.

I am also thankful to receive this lovely clutch from Steffanie. It all started after I just got back from my vacation to Singapore and while there I bought a small purse closure amongst other things and after I got back, I was searching online for patterns to make the purse and tada.....I chanced upon her blog giveaway for a clutch that uses the same metal closure except much bigger. The clutch is beautiful and I love the color and fabric......you can see the difference in size here............I can't wait for the right opportunity to use it..........thanks steffanie

Happy New Year 2011

Bye Bye 2010. Hello 2011.

"Nian Nian Ru Yi".........May all my/your wishes come true year after year" Painted on a 6x6 tile, low fired.