Red: dedicated to my domestic science teacher Miss Mamora.

My secondary school teachers, Mr. Johnson and Miss Mamora. At the right is me, you see my very beautiful Sarawak beads. (Photo taken in Dec 1999)

Making rosettes or “Yo-Yo” . A pair of very sharp scissors, a round shape like a can or CD disc to make your template. Trace out circles on fabric. Fold over/hem at the edge and make neat tiny running stitch to the entire edge. Gentle pull the thread to form gathers. You should get a round rosette. To the Chinese, you will think they look like Cha Siew Bao or Chinese roast buns.

When you have enough discs, join them side by side to get strips and lastly join the strips so each disc is attached at four ends.

I added a pair of reading glasses. When you reach half a century, you need glasses to make neat dainty stitches.

make tiny running stitch round the fabric before you pull the thread to make gathers.

Cut disc left, rosette right, the rosette is less than half the diameter.

Choose a not too stiff material. My friend's top was made with silk cotton. If you look at the red discs, the hole in the centre is too big. No good for quilts, but ok for making toys. The lime green and purple material is soft, so the gathering is done beautifully and the hole is very small. For the bigger disc, I made lace disc to cover the big hole. You can also make lace discs and use them to make hair accessories. These ones are experimental ones, it was more than 25 years ago when I last made them to make a clown.

  I have been wanting to make these discs since Christmas. My colleague wore this top to our Christmas function. At the collar of her top, were these disc. It brought me back to my childhood. Known in USA as yo-yo quilting or Japanese Fabric embroidery.

I dedicate this post to my domestic Science teacher Miss Ada Mamora.( The woman in the photo, taken with my British teacher Mr. Johnson during my 28th reunion of our fifth formers in 1999. )It was 26 year since I saw my teachers as I finished my form 6 in Methodist school in Sibu.

Miss Mamora taught me domestic science when I was 13. She taught me to make things made by hand.  We did fabric dying, cross stitch and others I couldn't name or forgotten.

She didn't teach me the above Japanese fabric embroidery. She taught my older sister, and I learn it from her. My sister made a clown in school. In 1985 I made one for my first baby who is now my 27th year old daughter.  It was one of it's kind and I was very proud of it. I had friends from all over the world and they had never seen something like that.

Going back to my colleague's top, I told her, I know how to make the discs. She was surprised because she had never heard anyone making them. Earlier this year, a student was wearing a dress with a few of these on the front of her dress. I was more determined to make it as I couldn't explain to my friends from Germany, England and Fiji. 

I asked my second daughter if she like a quilt made with these discs, since I had made a quilt for big daughter, and a cross stitch picture for my son.  It doesn't take a lot of time to make one disc, but it takes very meticulous and nimble fingers to make them, I will let you know if I do finish the quilt. You need to make thousands and thousands of these discs. So I am not very hopeful. Yo-yo quilts were very popular in the 1930′s and 1940′s.

If you have made something with these discs, I shall love to hear from you.


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Red: Rosehip

2014, I posted this as a birthday present for my niece's 21st.

2015

Rosehip taken in Pt Chevalier Auckland. A year ago, by accident, I found a certain person had stolen this photo plus another photo. When I found out that her photo looked like my photo, she accused me of being very proud.

If copying is the best form of flattery, I would have left it at that. I told her I would be happy if she just acknowledged that they were my photos. Initially she blocked me, and then came back apologizing profusely. I have not found more rosehip flowers as beautiful as this since then,

Rose hips are used for herbal teas, jam, jelly, syrup,rose hip soup, beverages, pies, bread, wine, and marmalade. They can also be eaten raw, like a berry, if care is used to avoid the hairs inside the fruit.

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Red: Margaret and Arlene

Yesterday I saw a land rover. I am fascinated about Land Rovers being able to go on water. I was going to write our family story. Today, I receive the photo of Margaret's second daughter Arlene's capping. It is timely to post this story again.

 My friend Jim has a box for us short people to jump into the jeep.

My sister Margaret, ( immediately younger than me by 2 and half years) was very very smart. When she was  about 4, she went to a Land Rover, and read "I and Rover." We laughed at her, instead of praising her, perhaps there were some sibling jealousy on my part. But Margaret has the last laugh. She was really very smart. She got a PhD from Lincoln University in New Zealand.

Margaret has been teaching at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Sarawak. On Sarawak Governor's birthday in 2010, on this occasion he gave honours to prominent people in the society. Margaret was awarded with a Pingat Bintang Kenyalang, an officer of the Order of the Star of Hornbill Sarawak by the Governor of Sarawak for services to education and community development on the occasion of his Excellency’s birthday. 

Our parents have passed on, otherwise, I am sure they would be very proud of her. We siblings rejoice with her achievement.

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Flowers: Peace lily

 Don't you think this Peace Lily is Fab? I love green flowers. I used to grow patches of it in NTU Singapore. Great for air filtering.

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Mocktail recipes and dry july

Mocktail recipes designed by Bedford & Soda for those parents wanting to go dry this July - some 

amazing images can be found here.

I chuckle to myself when I see the anti smoking ad where a father was  in an embarrassing situation after catching his son smoking when he himself was a smoker and his son followed his bad example.

Leading local relationship therapist Leanne French who says Kiwi parents who decide to have a booze-free month for Dry July will not only be raising funds for a good cause, but also demonstrating important qualities to their kids.

“Children need positive role models, and what could be better than showing your kids that you can give up something you enjoy for a month in order to help others,” explains French.“Not only that, but it also demonstrates the process of setting a goal, achieving it, and feeling good about yourself for having done that - something else children need to learn about.”

For two years, my very young, beautiful, talented, clever and kind niece Katie have stayed Dry for a month. It certainly was a very good sacrifice for a young person but she did it. I am sure it would have helped if she had the Mocktail recipes designed by Bedford & Soda.