Tuffets, tuffets, tuffets

My crafty group decided to create tuffets. Are you familiar with the rhyme, "Little Miss Muffet, sat on her tuffet...?" If not, it's a small stool, or a hassock. This isn't the first time members of our crafty group have created tuffets. In fact, several ladies created tuffets a couple of years ago but I didn't try one at that time.

The tuffet project gained steam again this year and so I finally joined in. Critical pieces necessary for the project include: 18" piece of wood with specific holes drilled, an 18" piece of pieced foam, hardware and legs. Beyond that, your choice of fabric, a pattern and lots of carbon paper. In addition you need muslin for the base. And, oh yes, a big space so everyone can start working on their tuffet together. Our place is perfect for this sort of thing because we have such an open space and little furniture. I drag my tables out of my sewing space along with my sewing machine and iron, etc., and we are all set- we have a classroom ! A couple of the ladies brought their machines along too. And several people brought cutting mats and rotary cutters with them.

You stack up pieces of muslin and trace on the pattern using back to back carbons between the muslin layers. I traced mine one at a time. I kept tearing through the pattern when I tried more layers. This is truly a group project! You need 8 of these patterned panels, you sew on the strips and then you sew the panels together.

I had my fabric choices so I was elected to "demo" the process. It was hard. Everyone was watching me intently. Two or three members of the group had made them before so they "taught" the rest of us.

One of my friends (Maboubeh) made more progress on hers than I did, despite the fact that I completed my first panel on the first day. Here are pictures I took of Maboubeh's tuffet progress. It's a really interesting process and once you've done it, it seems so much easier than before you started the project.

Looks like fun, doesn't it?

The hard steps are getting the center of the cover in the center of the foam, getting the side strips straight and then using the 10 inch needle to add the button!  Quilting gloves came in handy! Several people measured and re-measured to be sure the centering was perfect!

Here is mine!

One of our members left town this month. We had her goodbye party in June. She is not a die-hard sewer and was struggling a little. She said she couldn't finish it before the moving company packed up most of her belongings. We convinced her to let us finish it for her. Her tuffet traveled from our apartment to a friend's house and back to our apartment, then to another friend's for the finishing button step and then our driver Oky delivered it to her apartment on Friday, June 22. The last of her household contents were packed up on the following Monday. Whew! Her tuffet is on it's way to Bangkok!

I am now ready to make another one!

Under Construction/Renovation

Construction continues all around us but also in our apartment. The apartment above us had a problem in their kitchen sink line so they had to replace the pipes to unblock a plugged line.  Where are these pipes? In our ceilings! Holes all over. They worked on this all day. Meanwhile we couldn't use any water in the kitchen. The same family has trouble with their toilets. If the toilets are faulty, the people don't seem to notice but we hear continuously flushing toilets draining water down the pipes in the ceiling. It is a huge waste of water in a place without a lot of water. They must just not notice it.

And the construction has begun once again (following a break during Idul Fitri) on both sides of our apartment, though one project moves very slowly at the moment. We can see this construction project from the living room.

We'll keep you posted on this project as it moves along.

More Crafty Things

This is the first watercolor class I have taken. Well, to be honest, I might have taken a class as a child. I remember going to some sort of art classes at a museum when I was little. Anyway, here is my very first venture completed during a 2 hour basic, introductory watercolor painting class.

Here are my classmates with their roses! The one in the front row without a rose is the teacher. Two members of the class are also in my crafty group.

I will take another class in the fall if it is offered. I have so, so much to learn.

As I mentioned in the post about creating tuffets, occasionally my crafty group will work on a project at the same time. We are working on the tuffets but we are also working on a quilt. We are all working from the same pattern and plan, however, everyone puts their own twist on it with color selection and embroidery/applique choices. I am treating it as a sort of sampler as I continue learning embroidery. A lot of the embroidery, according to the pattern, is all done in the same stitch. I quickly got tired of that and began introducing additional stitches so I could learn them.

This quilt is a lap quilt I guess. There are 9 blocks and finished it is only 45" X 45". This photo still has the 3 inch wide off-white strips attached so I can use a hoop to embroider near the edge. They will come off before the panels are sewn together. Two done, a third at about 75%. Very pretty but time-consuming.

And another member of our little group of crafters is leaving town so I assisted in the creation of another mini-quilt. I really enjoy the fact that my friends are from all over. In this shot we have Indonesia, Australia, The Netherlands, Italy and the US. I am holding my phone and Yenny, far left, is pressing the button. Too funny!

Out and About

Ramadhan and the Idul Fitri (celebrating the end of Ramadhan) are a thing of the past.  Ramadhan is one month long and it is followed by 2 days of Idul Fitri. This year, as they do most years, the government extended the holiday to 10 days. It is to allow a better exodus to the villages as well as ensure all can go home safely.  Banks were closed for 2 weeks, though ATMs were "open" as long as they didn't run out of cash. Here are just a few images of holiday decor this month.

This one is a composite shot. The thing was massive and inside a mall. I couldn't get far enough away to get it all in one photo.

 Decorations for every holiday appear and disappear in the area surrounding our apartment.

In the mall we walk to on most Sundays they constructed an immense garden with benches and many spots for just the "perfect photo." The area was usually packed with people but we guess we didn't take any photos of the gardens. We were focused on the ceiling decor.

I've mentioned before that millions of people leave town for holidays in the 2 weeks surrounding Idul Fitri. As a result, on many days traffic is more normalized. We can travel around town fairly quickly if we time it right. Another potential side-benefit is that with fewer people the air is cleaner- well sometimes.Many days during the holiday were like this.

One day we had a lovely sunset.

And on another day we had honest to goodness blue skies for a few hours in the morning. I can't explain how it happened, but I definitely had to take a photo !

During previous Idul Fitri holidays we were able to see the ocean from our apartment (though you needed binoculars to confirm that is what it was), but that didn't happen this year. Too many days like the first photo.

Our peace lily on the balcony is blooming!

I don't really know why this seemed funny to me but I just had to snap a photo. There appeared to be a single loose or cracked marble section in the floor and there were 6 guys standing there discussing it.

These two photos were also taken during the Idul Fitri holiday. I saw this horse drawn cart very near our apartment. That is a rare sighting.

 I couldn't identify the brand of tire!

On a recent Saturday, during Idul Fitri when there are fewer people in town, we arrived at the zoo before 7 am and took a nice walk for 2-3 hours. Rather than a zoo, we like to think of it as a large green area in which to walk.

Not all of the walkways are as nice as this. This one is brand new!
This spotted deer was very interested in us. Perhaps some of the guests feed them?

In English, this sign says, " Please do not give any feed to any animals and don't throw anything into the cage because it is dangerous for the safety of the animals."

An elephant statue but real pelicans in this water feature.

A really interesting tree with fascinating root growth.

Just following the map...

We found a statue of Raden Salah- famous Indonesian painter. I've mentioned him before.

I am pretty sure this is a new area at the zoo for the giraffe. I don't remember seeing it before. It is possible, though, we just hadn't gotten to this part of the park.

I didn't do it, but look what I found at the zoo. The state owned water supply company's initials are PAM. I suspect this patch of cement was at one time a manhole cover.

One Saturday we went to the movies and B found a new friend in the lobby.

I am really impressed at seeing camp stools with dots! We spotted these somewhere (pun intended).

These mints looked interesting so we had to buy a pack.  Green tea mints with dragonfruit? As labeled? There was a noticeable mint, but the green tea was very minor and the dragonfruit really not there at all. The mints didn't have black dots either. I sort of expected that. We definitely fell for the advertising on the package.

And what about green drinks? We've got 'em!

First up is a green apple slush (next to a November sea breeze- I think it had cranberry juice and soda water with a third ingredient.

 And here is a kale, lime, banana, pineapple smoothie!