My "House" wallet

I like houses. Every time I see someone making pachwork with houses I get excited. But I never dared to try it out; it just looked hard.

Then my teacher made a wallet. She showed it to me and I was determined to make it myself.

I used my leftover fabric from other projects. Plus some new ones. I wanted to do a "white" picket fence with applique, but I guess I am not that good just yet. So I gave up. This is supposed to be fun, not stressful. I wanted to applique the tree trunk too and then embroider the twigs and leaves. But it just didn't look right! So I took the trunk off again, and took Ian's suggestion... I embroidered the whole tree. The ending result, well, I just really love it!

I didn't draw any lines for the quilting. Lazy. I quilted a little moon on the side, but it's kinda hard to see. And the lines, well, I just did whatever I felt like, and it turned out pretty well for my taste.

As for the inside pockets and layers, I don't think I did a good job. It's pretty functional, but I think I would like something more. Well, more space for improvement, right?

Wild Ginger Flower

Wild ginger flower has always been one of my favorite flowers. Growing up, there was always a bush right outside my grandma's place. I loved standing next to the flowers, suck all the smell in.

I can remember when I was young, it was really cheap to buy them. My mom would always get a big bunch, put them in the house. At night, when we walk into the house, the smell of wild ginger flower would fill the house and wait for us.

We used to go visit an old family friend in a small mountain village. On the way to his place, there is a little stream on the road side, with wild ginger flowers growing all along it. One summer, when we came back for vacation, we stopped at the stream, took some roots and brought them over the South Africa with us. I planted them right outside my window, so I could see them whenever I felt homesick.

I don't think I've ever seen them in other countries. So the time I saw them outside the Sydney Opera House, I was so happy I couldn't stop talking about it.

After college, I came back to Taiwan. I don't see them as much any more, it seems. It feels like a part of my life was taken away from me. One day, we drove by the little stream again and I saw them. I asked my mom to stop the car and got the roots again.

I planted the roots right outside my bedroom window again. Two years later, I have my own little wild ginger flower garden. Whenver there's a breeze, we can always get a hint of the flower's scent.

I like to stand next to the flowers in the garden, suck the smell in. Just like what I did when I was young.