Lobster Brunch

How many ways can you eat a lobster? Find out at this ala carte buffet brunch. Besides lobster, also on the menu was foie gras, black cod, oyster, scallops, Wagyu oxtail, tuna and rabbit.

Lobster Tail Sashimi

 Lobster Claw Salad

Lobster Caesar Salad

Half Lobster Grilled with Herbs and Lemon Butter

I especially liked the Lobster Tail Sashimi and the Lobster Caesar Salad.

The Dining Room, Park Hyatt is on the 87th floor of the Shanghai World Financial Centre (SWFC). The building is 101 floors and stands 492m, The view of Pudong was fantastic but I loved how we almost looked down onto Jin Mao Tower. It was a surreal view. 

This is the view from ground level. SWFC is on the left and Jin Mao Tower is on the right.

Beaded Spider

Have you seen the beaded spider tutorial on Shawkl? Kathy so generously shared a tutorial for making a beaded spider. Thank you so much Kathy!

I had a fun time making these. I missed a couple of pearl beads in the smallest spider (see the last photo) but it was easy to remedy. Try it yourself.

Tsuru Loves Oats

Tsuru will eat oats from a spoon but not from her bowl. She seems to love it. Umi would not touch it at all but both seem to love chomping on bamboo leaves. What unusual food does your cat like?  

Christmas 2011 Snowflake #42

Four-arm snowflake or star? Myra Piper's pattern No. 7 on page 3. I used Size 40 threads with 1.5m on the shuttle for Round 1  and 2.5m for Round 2. Very quick to tat and less problem with chain length here than with snowflake #39.

Binding the Quilt

I finished quilting and decided not to do anymore on this.  Just the rectangles as an inner frame of each block. I thank you for all the helpful suggestions from the earlier post. And I did not rip out the sewing which created the puckering. Part of the learning experience, I guess.

The binding (2.5 inches folded into half) is the same fabric as the border. I machined the border on and not until I finish the 3rd side that I discovered I had sewn it all wrong. I sewed the folded edge with the quilt edge. Oh no!!! Had to take out the seam ripper and sat down on my sofa to unpick the stitches.

And that is what the photo of this post is all about. While I was ripping out the binding, Tsuru decided to get comfortable and had a cat nap on it. Could not resist taking a photo. Is she the first to sleep on the quilt?

 No, Umi had already slept on the pile on 2 separate nights. Now it needs a good cleaning and brushing with my lint removing brush. 

The same red border fabric was used for the binding. I wanted to make a nice quilt label but the thread kept breaking and so, improvisation was required. 

I know. I am giving away the quilt with all that puckering. They are good friends and I know they will accept that the quilt isn't perfect. I have brushed and washed the quilt and all rolled up ready to be given away. This quilt is done with imperfections but with lots of love. 

Pay It Forward

I decided to participate in this PIF from Lenhen of Little Jackdaw's Nest. If you would like to join in, be one of the first 3 to comment on this blog post and I will make a handmade gift for each and in turn, you pay it forward on your blog by making 3 handmade gifts too.

Would anyone like to play??

Test Tatting Cymbidiums

I was not only test tatting a new pattern for Margaret but trying out the Finca threads that Fox sent me here. Aren't these Cymbidium orchid blooms pretty.  Margaret saw that post and asked if I would like to tat her orchid bloom. Of course I would!!

The top photo shows my first attempts. You can see the lip is hanging because I did not tie it correctly. They were tatted in one round with crystals in Size 10 (fuchsia pink, ~1 inch across) and 40 threads (variegated, ~0.75 inch). In the subsequent blooms, I used rhinestones with the Finca Perle #16 threads (~0.6 inch) and Size 40 white (~0.75 inch).  I love the white blooms but the size of the Finca blooms in yellow and green are really cute. The pattern is pretty and fast to tat up. These were tatted in one night of watching TV. Thank you, Margaret, for letting me test it.

Now the Finca thread is a Perle cotton so I would say try not to use it for complicated patterns as the thread will not take too kindly to mistakes and unpicking. Otherwise it is fine. Thank you Fox for the samples. By the way the thread I sent Fox to try is the variegated pink one. I will leave it to her to tell you how much she liked it. 

Sunstone Necklace

I seem to love stones with that iridescent schiller as seen in sunstones, labradorites, moonstones and opals. I wired up these sunstone nuggets (~10mm across) with oval and diamond-shaped rings.  The necklace is about 44 inches and can be worn long or double layered.

Christmas 2011 Snowflake #41

I could not help myself. Gina, are you laughing at me? Refer..... here!

This measured up quite small, approximately 2 inches across. I really love the effect of tatting 1 ds in between the rings. This one is pattern No. 13 from Myra Piper's book on page 5. It needed about 2.5m on the shuttle.

Hankies for Threads Exchange

M and I agreed on an exchange. I was extremely pleased because I received these Lizbeth Size 80 threads with 2 Sewmate shuttles. M received embroidered hankies which I bought for her.

In my last online order of Lizbeth threads, one ball of Lizbeth Size 80 was included and tatting with it was a breeze. I told myself, I should only get more in my next order . . . next year. I do have storage boxes full of threads. Now I have more Lizbeth Size 80 and did not have to wait till next year. Thank you M.

P/S
Dear M, I hope you received my e-mails. Thanks so much for the exchange.

Machine Quilting Is Not Fun

That was my feeling when I was machine quilting this. I do not know what is wrong but puckering on the front was getting me down. I had to stop after outlining 8 blocks. In session 2 of quilting, I hoped it would be better. I did 14 blocks, it was slightly better but a couple of blocks were quite bad. Perhaps, I did not smoothen the quilt out properly during basting.

The only machine quilting that I did in my first quilt was sewing in the ditch. I had problems with puckering at the back but not the front. This time I decided to sew 1/4 inch in front of sewing line making an inner square and puckering/pleating was ocurring when I try to close up the square. I may have to rip off certain sewing lines. I still have 14 more squares. Session 3 of machine quilting must be better!

Wire WigJig Necklace

SS bought an Australian Beading magazine and thought I would love to make some of the pieces in there. She especially loved this design so I made it for her. I must say it looks even better on her. I met her for lunch today and we were both admiring how pretty it was on her. Now she wants a similar one in a different colour for her sister. I am more than happy to oblige. This necklace consists of 6+1 wire WigJig motifs (made with 20 gauge silver craft wire) and Swarovski crystals - eight helix purple velvet (6mm) and one baroque pendant crystal AB (16mm). Chain and toggle clasp are antique silver metal tone.

Tatting from Fox

These tatted motifs by Fox were received with the Finca threads. I wanted to show you these separately so you would not get distracted.

The first one, I think is tatted in silk or rayon threads. It feels silky.

Note the colour combination and beads in the 2nd motif. It is Fox's signature tatting. She picks the loveliest colour combination which I think, are quite usual. 

Thank you so much dear Fox.

Finca Threads

Fox of Tat-ology sent me these to try out. Of course she added some beads. I have not tatted with it yet but I will soon. This is Finca Perle #16. Thank you so much, Fox.

I seem to be on a tatting vacation. I have a few necklaces to make so tatting will have to wait. How do you like this photo. The threads seems to say "Tat me an orchid".

This is the cover from the July issue of Gardenwise - a magazine published by the Singapore Botanic Gardens. It is a photo of Cymbidium eburneum blooms from Myanmar.

Quartz Necklace

They look like ice nuggets strung on a chain. Simple, elegant and will dress up a dark coloured outfit or even on pastels or white. I guess it depends on what kind of look you want to achieve. You could also layer it with another necklace.

Pumpkin Dumpling

Would you assume this is sweet rather than savoury from its name? Is the pumpkin inside the dumpling or just incorporated in the skin and garnished on top? I think it is more of the latter. Even after tasting it, I was not quite sure. It was a nice chewy delicious prawn in each dumpling. Absolutely yummy!

Christmas 2011 Snowflake #40

I thought this was quite a pretty snowflake. This is Myra Piper pattern No. 46 on page 17. Round 2 required 2 shuttles. Very quick to tat too.

This is #40 of my snowflake challenge. It is also the number I set for myself to tat before Christmas. So from today, I can tat leisurely or not at all.

Tourmaline Necklace

The tourmaline beads were acquired a few years back and I never got around to using them. I raided my stash of stones and made a few long necklaces. This measures about 50 inches in total and can be worn single, double or triple layered (if you have a small neck like this body form).

This is a multi-coloured stone. It is wired in 14K gold filled wire, fancy chain, and a lobster claw clasp.  The tourmaline beads are about 10-12mm in length, slightly faceted but with inclusions.

Quilt Top and Back Done

I thought I pinned the strips in the correct order before I started sewing. I must have flipped one of the strips. Too late to change it now. I also added in the red borders and mitered the corners. I had to look up some videos on YouTube to do the mitered corners as I could not remember how. It went well.

This is the back of the quilt. I had to go to the shop to get more fabrics for the back. I had a 'fun' time cutting the fabric along its length. Now to sandwich the cotton batting in between and do some quilting before the binding.

While I was trying to get the whole quilt top (72 x 72 inches) into my camera frame, I did not notice Tsuru sneaking onto the quilt. The other day when I was assembling the strips, Umi was skating across the floor and messing up the strips. She had to be told off twice before she stopped.

And . . . More Belles

What am I going to do with all these? Well, Christmas presents of course.

An elegant black in Size 20 with a citrine briolette, Swarovski glass pearl and Delica beads.

This one is tatted in Lizbeth 40 Easter Eggs (#159) with Swarovski glass pearl, crystal and Delica beads.

One in Lizbeth 40 Country Grape Medium (#637) with Swarovski glass pearl, crystal and Delica beads.

Another in Lizbeth 20 Gold (#611) with Swarovski crystals and Delica beads.

This one is in Lizbeth 40 Autumn Spice (#136) with Swarovski glass pearl, crystal and Delica beads.

As a pair of earrings in Guttermann Sulky Rayon 30 (Col 1220, 100% viscose) with Swarovski pearls, crystals and Delica beads.

More Belles

Belle is a pattern from Marilee Rockley from her book Up and Tat 'Em. I love this pattern and have made them before here and here. 

I made this for a friend in Lizbeth 40 Carribean (#122) with Swarovski crystals.

And I continued to make more belles in different colours and bead/crystal combination. Hope you enjoy the photos.

This is to be a pair of earrings in white Size 40 threads with rose quartz briolettes and Swarovski glass pearls.

This one is tatted in Lizbeth Size 20 Mocha Brown Medium (#691) with a smoky quartz twist briolette and a Swarovski glass pearl.

This one is in Coats Size 40 shade 700 with Swarovski crystals.

More Belles tomorrow . . .  I just had too much fun matching thread, beads, crystals and gemstones.