Illusion is the first of all pleasures. -Voltaire

Well hello everyone! Alex and I got back from Moncton, New Brunswick a few days ago and my is it hot here in Toronto! Depending on where the humidex is sitting and whether or not you're in the sun we are anywhere between 34 and 50 degrees Celsius (which for my American friends in between 92 and 122 degrees Fahrenheit); and no, we do not have air conditioning so as I am typing this there a rather noisy, slightly large standing fan pointed directly at me!

New Brunswick is lovely, although I didn't get to see much of it. We had a nice time, but the mosquitoes they have there are the size of cars...seriously. Alex and I only ended up with about an hour and a half to do some exploring for ourselves, but we did end up wondering along the boardwalk of the Petitcodiac River which runs straight through the city. Petitcodiac is one of the only rivers in North America that experiences a true tidal bore and the area in this picture is known as The Bend.

Alex and I also found a neat monument to the mayors, past and present, of Moncton. The man at the prow of the ship is the first mayor, and all the mayors names along with dates are inscribed along the side. And look, there's Alex!

If you'd like to see more pictures from our trip to Moncton - and a picture of Alex in his very dapper grey suit - check out my the Flickr album I made. Sorry, no pictures of me in the dress I wore to the wedding; it would seem as if only the professional photographer (Craig who was very awesome) has those.

I was put in charge of making Eric and Patti a card for their wedding - I had a hard time deciding exactly what I wanted to do. I knew that I wanted it to involve fabric (so obvious) and kept thinking about the few bunting cards I've made lately and the other bunting project which did not go so well (Dionne and I are extremely upset with either USPS or Canada Post we don't know which); I suddenly got the idea to make a little tiered cake out of fabric and to include bunting as well!

I love it! Alex didn't want it to be too girly (because his "brother's a boy" to which I responded "ya, but he's marrying a girl") but I wanted it to be bright and cheerful. I think it turned out pretty cool. I used very slim ribbon on the bottom of each tier to hide just those raw edges and to give it that little decorative edge they usually use between tiers on a cake - same idea I guess!

I realized while I was thinking about writing this post that I haven't shown any of my fabric finds in awhile, and since I can't show you any of the super-secret projects I've been working on (mostly in the design stage at this point),  I figured I could share a few of my most recent scores with you!

About a month or so ago The Workroom hosted a yard sale trunk show; they hold truck shows with local artists and crafters every so often and they are always very cool, but this one had the added bonus that each vendor also brought along supplies, ephemera, and vintage items that they no longer needed and sold those too! I scored large and got a bunch of yarn for $1 a skein, some very cool light green gingham oilcloth (and yes, I know it's not technically gingham when it's oilcloth, but you know what I mean), and some grey home dec weight Ikea fabric. But the biggest score was what I found at Patouche.

I scored this whole pile of Heather Ross's Mendocino for about $15 (I think)! There are only two prints in the stack at the back, but they're awesome! She also had a couple of stacks with the blue fabrics, but unfortunately I couldn't buy any. The lady who owns Patouche is super-awesome and was just so nice and friendly and I had a lovely time chatting with her about Quilt Market and the wonderful time I had there. You really, really need to check out Patouche if you have a child or know someone who does; they make the sweetest, but still most hip, clothing for kids (these pieces were leftovers from some very cute little toddler dresses). I found this absolutely magical Little Red Riding Hood cape and this simply awesome charcoal tweed peacoat - just wonderful!

Also recently, as some of you know, I had an interview for a second part-time job at a quilt shop (nope, haven't heard anything yet). This awesome store is called Sew Sisters and is owned by Judy who is a really nice lady. Of course, I couldn't leave the store after my interview without getting some stuff and ended up getting a bunch of fat quarters (including AMH Chocolate Lollipop for only $1.75), another Dolce charm pack, and this little bag of prettiness!

Many of you may not recognize what this is and there's a reason for that! This is Kate Spain's new line Fandango which isn't supposed to ship until August/September but somehow I ended up with a Moda scrap bag full of it! Oh ya, I feel soooo lucky! I tried to get a fat quarter bundle of this at sample spree but they were all gone by the time I made it to the Moda table. I dunno what I'm going to make with this yet, but trust me it'll be awesome!

Okay, I gotta go and keep designing but just so that you know I have a few tutorials in the works just for you guys (because you're awesome, aren't you?)! And my two-year blog anniversary is coming up in about ten days and I've got some surprises in store...and hey, if you'd like to donate a little giftie to giveaway during my anniversary party let me know and we'll chat!