Lazy zunday

Did nothing all morning :)
Had no energy to go out.
Plus this ongoing panic about MERS virus that is becoming more tiring  than worrying.
Tried to divert my mind into other positive things to get some motivation.

But later in the afternoon, I had the sudden urge to get some felt cloth and needles at a craft store.

I got these different colored threads from a friend last year.
I hope the sizes will fit for my project.

I am going to make a felt  Arabian Jasmine flower also known as Jasmine Sambac.
This one of the most fragrant and sweetest flower I have known.
A tiny beauty of white petals that starts to bloom at night exudes its fragrance that last for only a day.
Along with Ylang-ylang, Jasmine essential oil is also used in the world's most expensive perfumes.
Both of these flowers grow abundantly in the Philippines, where I grew up.
I used to make necklaces with Jasmine and Ylang-ylang would be the pendant.
I had no idea these flowers are used in making expensive perfume in other countries. I only knew these plants are used as medicinal plants for skin care and treating some minor ailments. And that Jasmine is the Philippine national flower.

As a little girl, flowers were just one of my playthings. Me and playmates get along when it comes to flowers. Some flowers were made into garlands, bracelets or hair pins. Some types of red and yellow flowers that stain were used to color our nails (our moms wont let us use their nail polish). We would pound the colored flowers to get the extract for staining our nails. Our moms would be hysterical because our clothes were stained as well.

I miss those days...
when computers and smartphone were unknown to man.
When neighborhood know each other. Majority were into gardening in their spare time. My yard had fruit-bearing trees such as mangoes, guavas, bananas, graviola (guabana or guyabano) and other tropical fruit; vegetables and flowering plants. With roaming ducks and chickens for a daily supply of fresh eggs.
My childhood is always reminiscent of warm and caring  people in harmony with nature.

Now, living in one of the biggest city in South Korea is an exact opposite.
Not much interaction with people as everybody is busy with their own lives and gadgets :)
I can only look at pictures of those blooms and tropical fruit in the internet.
I can't  grow them here, the way they grow in my country.

And there! I got the idea of making this Arabian Jasmine project.
I can grow it from felt, will not wilt, will not fade, ha ha ha!
I hope I could get this right, as I will be making it from scratch.
No pattern or whatsoever, I am going to draw it free hand.
I would be posting updates as soon as I can.

a somewhat boring day

At home today. 

Cleaning up and discarding things that no longer serve their purpose. 

And I found this felt rattle soccer ball  for babies. A project I made in a felt sewing class I attended in 2007. A beginner's project that I didn't need because my son was already in preschool that time. I thought I could give it to someone but I totally forgot about it.

Looking at it now, I was amazed how good I was in stitching. 

My vision was so good to be able to do these fine and almost perfect blanket stitches.

I   was always good in embroidery. My first stitches were running stitch, blanket stitch and outline stitch. 

My first projects were my baby brother's cloth diapers and  shirts. I used outline stitches to write his name on them. I was in 1st grade then.

I learned it from watching my mom.

She used to attend mothers' class in our community. 

Learning different things, such as embroidery, hair science, nail art and other things that most women are interested to. I would tag along and always had this curiosity to learn whatever she was learning. Her file of embroidery stitches all neatly arranged and labeled in a folder was practically in my head. By just looking at her file through the years, I had learned  

and  memorized almost all  embroidery stitches by the time I was 9.

It became my passion.

I made doll dresses for my sister. I did pillow cases, tote bags, hand towels, table napkins and hankies from scratch to finish. Mostly made of old clothes, flour sacks (made of muslin cloth) or any cloth I could find.

I made a whole set of pajamas when I was 15, a project at school. I got good grades :)

At 17, my passion was shifted to photography. That became my bread and butter for many years. I stopped in 1999, back in 2010 in a world of DSLR as a hobby.

Finding this soccer ball, I started to make this blog. 

I don't know what will happen next.

Maybe go back to felt or some other embroidery projects.

Or just plain sewing projects that don't require elaborate embroidery.

Maybe cloth menstrual pads to donate to girls in Haiti or Philippines.

I'm looking for any easy projects that will revive my old passion for cloth and stitches.

Any ideas?