KAI NO KUCHI STITCH MARKER CASES

These are the "Kai no Kuchi" boxes that I made as stitch marker cases. I think they turned out to be very cute and with the needle case a good combination as a commodity.

これはステッチマーカーとして作った「貝の口」2個です。とてもかわいく、編み棒ケースと一緒に売れる商品として、いい組み合わせとなったと思いますね。

KNITTING NEEDLE CASE-SOLD!

This is the finished needle case. I thought this was a very creative idea and a sell-able item for my shop. I think I'll make another one to put in my shop!
これは完成品です。
とても創造的で実用的アイデアで、売れるものだと思ったので、もう一個作って、ネットショップに入れるつもりです。

Finally I completed the knitting needle case and listed it in my Etsy shop so that the lady can make the purchase. She bought it yesterday as she said she would and then she wanted me to add 2 matching jewelry boxes to her order of the needle case. She said that she could use them for storing her stitch markers.

やっと編み棒ケースの注文を仕上げて、買い手の方が購入できるように、ネットショップに追加しました。彼女はそれを昨日買ったのですが、その後はケースに合うような「貝の口」2個を注文に追加してもらいたかったのです。ステッチマーカー（目数リング）を入れるために使うと言われました。

A CUSTOM ORDER: KNITTING NEEDLES CASE

I started working on an unexpected custom order on Friday: A lady who bought 4 of my "Kai no Kuchi" boxes on Etsy wants me to make her a knitting needle case! She said that she liked the patchwork pen case in my shop and wanted me to modify it with green family colored fabrics to accomodate her 10" knitting needles! I got started right away!

金曜日に、思いがけない注文が入りました。Etsyにて「貝の口」を4個買ってくれた方は編み棒ケースを注文しました。うちのネットショップにあるペンケースを10"の編み棒が入れるようにみどり系の布で作ってもらいたいのです。もちろんすぐにこの仕事に取り掛かりました。

MY FABRIC HEAVEN

I go to Oklahoma City every Friday to meet my Japanese friends. Before I meet them I always stop at the Jo-Ann Fabrics at which I buy most of my fabrics. For me, it's like a fabric heaven! Besides this store, there are several quilt shops I like to go in Oklahoma City, but they generally have higher prices than these Jo-Ann chain stores. Still, I buy at them also. Fabric addiction is like nothing else. It's a new weakness for me, so I try not to go to shop so as not to buy any more fabrics. But it's still very hard not to go!

毎週の金曜日、日本人友達と会うためにオクラホマシティに行きます。家を早く出て、昼頃に彼らと会う前に、いつもJo-Ann Fabrics という布屋さんにも立ち寄るようにしています。布をほとんどこのお店で買っています。ここは私にとって布のパラダイスみたいなところです。このお店のほかに、別のキルトのお店もありますが、それらの値段は2倍高いですよ。それでもあそこでも買ってしまいます。布にはまってしまったら、やめられないのですよ。これは私の新弱点で、布を買わないようにお店に行かないようにしていますが、それも難しいですね。

I'M NO THE FP AGAIN ! FOR THE 2ND TIME TODAY!

I AM ON THE FP AGAIN!

A NEW BOX PURSE IN THE SPOTLIGHT!!

Tataaaamm! Here comes the new box purse! I just listed it in my Etsy shop! I wonder how many days it will stay in the shop!

PROGRESS ON THE BOX PURSE PROJECT 3

...and in the end sewn in the lining.

...made it into the box shape...

I have completed the box purse project. Yesterday, I chose the fabric to line inside, got the bias tape ready, sewn them on the edges...after that sewn in the zipper...and then little handles to both ends... and then ...

MY LABELS HAVE ARRIVED!!!

My fabric labels that I had ordered 2 weeks ago from my fellow Etsian madamehoux's Feyza's husband Fatih of hobbytime have arrived today!! I was a little anxious at the beginning. But they turned out to be very cute !! Thank you so much guys, Feyza and Fatih!

Over a lengthy phone conversation, we decided on what kind of design I want on my labels beside my name which was a cute primitive tulip group, and an evil eye! These fabric labels come like stickers on a A4 sheet. When you remove the labels from the paper, they're not sticky, so you can sew them easily on whatever you like. I lost no time sewing each label on the inside lining of the purses I made, and I liked very much how they looked inside the purses. The part I liked most is the running stitch-like borders of the labels. They acted like guidelines for sewing which is very nice.

MY SOURCES OF INSPIRATION

These are some of my Japanese patchwork magazines and books. I find my inspiration for my patchwork and quilting in them mostly. I think they're very fun to look at and easy to learn. It's so much easier to understand the drawings of the projects than the American ones. You don't have to know Japanese so that you can understand the patterns mostly. You can figure a lot out from the easy-to-understand drawings. That's why I like them so much and I don't swap them for anything with anybody!

I bought some of them online at http://www.amazon.co.jp/. But it's quite expensive to have them sent to outside of Japan. Generally you have to pay shipping twice as much as the book's price.

Fortunately I have some very good friends in Japan who kindly send me regularly these magazines. I swap American magazines and quilting fabrics with one of them who also is interested in patchwork and as for the other one, she is a quilter friend of mine whom I have been known since 2001. I drew lots of inspiration from her work in the course of time. And I have right now a bunch of really good quality Japanese patchwork fabrics thanks to them. :)

I choose my patchwork projects from these magazines. In the Japanese patchwork magazines there are not only quilted bed covers, but too many cute little quilted things such as purses, drawstring pouches, bags, wall quilts, wall pockets, fabric boxes and other functional daily goods you can use every day at your home.

I am not into big bed quilts. I have one, a patriotic colored bed quilt that my husband's old quilter friends had made for him in return for his help in cutting project fabrics into necessary parts of the quilt. Being a mathematician, maybe he was the most suitable person to do this job. :) And how many more bed quilts can I have? Of course beside it I have some storage problem. So, I like making practical small things.

これらは私のパッチワークキルトの雑誌や本です。キルトの霊感をこの雑誌から受けるのです。見るだけでも楽しく、アメリカの雑誌より図案が分かりやすく、日本語が分かる必要があまりないのです。ほとんど図案から分かることができます殻、大好きで、私にとって絶対交換できないものです。

一部を日本のアマゾンで買いました。しかし、日本から海外へ送ってもらうのは結構高いのです。ほとんど、本の価格より高い送料を支払わなければいけません。有難く、これらを日本から送ってくれる友達2人がいます。お返しにアメリカの雑誌や布を交換するか、時々自分が作ったキルト小物を贈るようにします。彼らのおかげで、今はかなりの日本布を持っています。

キルトプロジェクトをこの雑誌から選びます。この雑誌にはベッドキルトだけではなく、日常に使えるポーチやバッグ、ミニキルト、小物入れ、他のかわいいキルト小物がたくさんあります。

大きなベッドキルトに興味がありません。一枚持っています。これはずっと以前に主人がキルターの友達のためにパッチワークピースを切ってくれたので、お返しに彼のために一枚作ってくれたものです。彼は数学者ですから、この仕事をやる一番適当な人だったかもしれません。ともかく、何枚持つことができるでしょうかね？そして、収納問題もありますね。ということから、大きいものより小さなものを作るのが好きです。

TEST for CRAFTCULT FP TREASURY LISTS!

This is a test!

PROGRESS ON THE BOX PURSE PROJECT 2

I like tracing the hand quilting lines with my eyes! キルティングラインを目でたどりながらやるのが大好きです。

Last night I basted the top, quilt batting and muslin; then started quilting on the purse project. This is my favorite part of the process: Hand quilting which is like a therapy and very soothing for me. I don't think everyone likes this phase, but it's so much fun to hand quilt!

昨夜、キルトトップ、キルト綿と裏布をしつけかけて、キルティングをし始めたのです。これは一番好きな段階です。ハンド・キルティングは治療みたいなことで、やる時は気持ちがいいのですよ。みんなが好き訳ではないけど、手でキルティングすることはすごく楽しいですよ！

MY PHOTO BOOK HAS ARRIVED!

There is this wonderful photo storage site: http://www.kodakgallery.com/ that I had discovered in 2006. I have been a registered user of this site since 2006. You can store (it's not a photo editing site) your photos, order prints and other fancy things such as calendars and photo books that feature your photos online. I'm satisfied greatly with their service and I had ordered several calendars and prints in 3 years' time.

Last year prior to my first craft show, I wanted to order a mini photo book of my items in order to display at my booth. The first photo book (the indigo one in the above picture) I ordered turned out to be very cute! The second photo book of my most recent items I ordered last week has arrived today and I want to share this with you guys. :)

2006年に発見したこのすごいオンライン写真サイトhttp://www.kodakgallery.com/ではそれ以来登録されています。このサイトで写真を保管・共有・管理・焼き増し、カレンダーや写真ブックを注文できるサイトで、このサイトのサービスをすごく満足して利用しています。

去年、私の初めての手芸市の直前に、ブースでお客さんたちに見せるのに私の作品を含むミニ写真ブックを注文しました。このインジゴ青の最初の写真ブックはかわいいもので、好きでした。先週は、第一写真ブックに含まれていない作品を含む写真を使って写真ブックもう一冊作成して注文しました。それは今日届きました！

PROGRESS ON THE NEW PROJECT

I made some progress on the new purse project today. I completed joining and removed the paper pieces from the fabric hexagons. The next step is ironing and cutting the top according to pattern.

新しいポーチのプロジェクトに進歩を遂げました。つなぎ終えて、ペーパーピースを外しました。次の段階はアイロンがけ、そしてパターンどおりにカットすることです。

I Was on the FP Again!

Tonight at 10:45pm, my Nesting Fabric Bowls again made it to the Etsy FP! They were chosen by Etsy Admin and got an approximately 15 minutes' screen time (I'm not sure how long they were on the FP actually). When I refreshed the FP, they were already there! And this time I was in front of the computer screen the whole time. :) And I got 16 new item hearts and 13 shop hearts during this 15 minutes...but no sales unfortunately. :( Maybe next time! But it was very exciting!

A NEW PROJECT!

This arrangement is what I liked most. I changed some placements of the hexagon flowers, or the fabrics. I can't wait to see the finished top!

この配置は一番好きです。ヘキサゴン花の位置や布をだいぶ変えてみました。縫い終えるのは待ち遠しいです！

I started a new project of an another Hexagon Box Purse that I had sold 2 weeks ago. I love working with small hexagons. I cut hexagon pieces and put them aside; and when I have time I paper-piece them. These are the pieces that I pieced at the craft show while I was waiting for the customers. :) It's so much fun to place them randomly! The initial piece arrangement will change quite a bit during the sewing process.

2週間前にネットショップにて売れた、「ヘキサゴン箱形ポーチ」をもう一つ作り始めたのです。へキサゴン物を作るのが大好きです。ヘキサゴンカットしておいて、暇な時にピーシングをするのです。これらは3・28日の手芸市の時にお客さんたちを待つ間に作ったヘキサゴンピースです。ヘキサゴンをめちゃくちゃに配置するのはすごく楽しいのですよ！最初のピース配置は繋ぎ過程ではかなり変わるでしょう。

CUSTOM MADE CELL PHONE CASE FOR MY HUSBAND!

4/13: I sewed the velcro that I bought today. This is the finished soft case for hubby's cell phone. He is happy like a boy!

今日買ったマジックテープを縫い付けました。縫い終えたら、こんなものになりました。主人は子供みたいにハッピーなんで～す！

I got very strained to make him satisfied but I think he is happy about the end product! :) But I didn't have any black velcro for the closure of the case, so I have to go to the fabric shop to buy that tomorrow.

私が要件を満たすようにすごく緊張したのですが、彼は最終作品を手に取ったら満面に笑みを浮かべていました。ただ、黒のマジックテープを持っていなかったから、明日布屋さんまで買いに行かなければ行けません。

Yesterday, I started sewing a custom made soft case for my husband's new cell phone. He is a hard customer and he had specific requirements for his case. He wanted me to use crimson (OU's official color)-black fabrics and also quilt the official initials of Oklahoma University (OU) which he is a doctoral student at. He is crazy about his OU! He was so excited about the case that he even helped me a bit copying the initials on the tracing paper.

昨日、主人の新ケイタイ電話のためにソフトケースを縫い始めたのです。彼は満足しにくい顧客で、はっきりした要件を要求していました。布は深紅と黒色にならなければいけなく、彼が博士号申請者であるオクラホマ大学（OU)のイニシャルもほしがっていたのです。彼はOUが大好きです！あまりにも興奮していたので、イニシャルをトレーシングペーパーにコピーまでしてくれたのです！

NEW ITEM: BLUE PATCHWORK PURSE

This is a new listing in my shop which I added yesterday. It's a simple design I like very much. Click the title to go to the item's page!

このアイテムは昨日ショップに追加しました。簡単なパターンですが、大好きです。商品ページに行くのに、表題にクリックしてください。

I was on the FP Again!

This lovely treasury made by ISOT friend Sibel of ClariceInStore made to the FP today!! My Nesting Bowls was in it and I wasn't at home and missed it!!

今日、私の商品「入れ子茶碗」はもう一度Etsy.comのホームページに出現しました！残念ながら、その時、私は家にいなくて、この画面を見落としてしまいました！

MOTHER'S DAY SALE IN MY ETSY SHOP!

From today, I started the "Mother's Day SALE" in my ETSY shop: 15% OFF SALE ON ALL ITEMS UNTIL MOTHER'S DAY !! Please check it out by clicking the title!

私のEtsyのショップにて今日から「母の日」セールが始まりました。どの商品を買っていただいても「母の日」までに１５％OFFになりますよ！どうぞお覗きください。

An Amazing Work of Art I found in Dallas！

I found this amazing work of art in Dallas Quilt Show in March 14th. It pictures Burano Island in Venice and it's made of fabric! ! Can you believe it's something made of fabric?!

Please note that it's not something I made. :)

この作品をダラスキルトショーで見つけました。布でできていて、ヴェネツィアのブラノ島を描くキルトです！信じられますか？！私の作品ではないことを書いておきましょう。(^。^)

The Craft Show in March 28th

Here are some pictures of my booth at the craft show in March 28th.

It was my 4th and worst show ever. I couldn't sell a single item! Now they're all going to my Etsy shop!

We had a huge snowfall that day and this affected the crowd dramatically.

3月28日の手芸市でのブースの写真3枚です。何も売れなく、私の4番目で、そのなか最悪の手芸市でした。商品はすべてETSYのネットショップに入れてみます。

すごい大雪が降って、来る人がすごく少なかったのです。

I was on the FP, too! Finally!

I was on the Front Page of ETSY on March 23rd, 2009 for the first time through a Treasury titled "Turquoise" made by my dear friend Feyza of madamehoux and my small fabric bowl in the middle of the top row looked like this on the computer screen. It was a huge joy to see it on the FP!

私の作品、「布茶碗」は3月23日にETSY.COMのホームページに出現しました！それをパサコンの画面で見るのは大喜びでした！

I Joined the Blogspot, too!

This is my first attempt to create my own blog. I can't wait to see the results! Most of my friends have their own blogs and I envy them for this. I know it will be hard to find something to write every day, but at least I started one.:) Now it's time to get to find my way in this new world of blogging!

I'll try to post my quilted items and patchwork adventure here as soon as I can. You will find some of my favorite blogs and websites here in my blog.

Good luck to me in this new activity of my life!

日本のみなさん！インジのブログへようこそいらっしゃいませ！お立ち寄りいただいて、ありがとうございます！

やっと、自分のブログを開設できました。毎日書くことを思いつくのは大変かもしれませんが、ともかくブログをはじめたのは何よりです。

I'm attaching my beloved fabric evil eye colony for good luck! :)

(Nazar degmesin diye ilk resim olarak sevgili goz boncuklarimi ekliyorum! :) )

これからの幸運のため、私の大好きなお守りのキルト目玉の写真をここに添付します。