Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best. -Henry van Dyke

Oh wow, thank you so much to the three people who have purchased from my little destash shop - I could not be more happy and grateful for your support! I also sold the version of Pinwheels in the House that I made for the Moda Bakeshop pattern yesterday to someone that I know (I wasn't even actively trying to sell it but she asked me if I had any baby quilts completed that she could give as a gift and that was the one she chose) - woot! Actually, talking about selling the original quilt from the pattern is a nice segue into...

Quilt by Michelle

Michelle from Lily Pad Quilts emailed me today to let me know that she had just completed her very first ever quilt using my Pinwheels in the House pattern! Didn't she do a fabulous job?! I'd be impressed even if this wasn't her first quilt - her colour choices are spectacular and if you enlarge the photos that she has in her blog post you can see what a lovely job she did at matching up corners and pieces. I have a feeling that Michelle is going to be life-long quilter! Remember, if you've made anything using one of my patterns or tutorials please feel free to email me a picture and I'll feature it here on the blog!

I have something very exciting and fun in store for y'all on Friday, so be sure to come back and check it out!

Some more destash!

Hey all! So I added a little more to my destash shop - thank you soooo much to the four people who have ordered so far, I really appreciate it!

There are currently two Flea Market Fancy bundles listed - Bundle One and Bundle Two - both have nice sized pieces as well as smaller pieces that are suitable for string quilts, stamp quilts, ticker tape quilts, or other small patchwork projects.

I have also listed a lot of Urban Chiks Blossom fat quarters and another lot of Fig Tree and Co. Mill House Inn which includes a charm pack, fat quarters, and other pieces.

I have not listed my Heather Ross Mendocino or the Tula Pink Neptune yet because a few people called dibs on them but if they decide not to purchase them I'll list them next. Aaaannnnddd, I still have some other scrap bundles to list too!

Thanks again for helping me with my little destash and fund-raising efforts - you guys rock!

A little de-stash going on...

Hey all! In an attempt to make a little money to help fund my trip to Salt Lake City in May for Spring Quilt Market I have decided to destash some of my hard to find and out of print fabrics. I'm pretty sad to see these babies go but it will be worth it when I get to see all of my super-awesome quilty friends, especially my "big sister" Jennifer. I have been saving up from working at the library, but as many of you may know, being a full-time graduate student is an expensive business!

Here is just a little taste of what I have up for grabs:

Heather Ross Spoonflower prints. These guys are each 1/4 yard across the width of fabric - aren't the gnomes just too cute?!

Denyse Schmidt Katie Jump Rope. The brown stripe is larger than a fat quarter, the two blue prints are about a fat quarter, and the green argyle is 15x22" and then some.

Tula Pink Full Moon Forest. Three fat quarters including the super-awesome aqua squirrels print!

This is just a little sampling of what is available in my little shop - currently there are other Heather Ross, Tula Pink, and Anna Maria Horner prints available and I still have more to add including some Tula Pink Neptune, Heather Ross Mendocino, and maybe even a little Flea Market Fancy (if I can get up the courage to let some of it go).

If you're interested come on over to Etsy and see my little destash (I'm sure Alex would appreciate it if some of the fabric were to get out)!

Be not simply good, be good for something. -Henry David Thoreau

Only three papers left to go and then I'm all done with my Masters degree - woot woot! I know it's still a bit to go but I am so excited to almost be finished and to graduate! I've also got some sewing projects up my sleeve but nothing I can show right now, so how about some completed knitting instead?

As I mentioned when I showed this project partway completed, I have a couple of girlfriends who are pregnant right now - I'm sure they know exactly who they are, but I'm not going to say right now so that at least there will be a bit of excitement when they receive their gifties in the mail.

First up is my Firefly Cascade - this one is knit with Spud & Chloë Sweater in Firely. I just love the colour so much and the leaves on the placket are just too too darling!

This is my Earthy Cascade - it's the same pattern as the cardigan above, but the yarn slightly lighter (worsted vs. aran weight). The colour is a bit off in the pictures above, it's a bit browner and the buttons are a very pretty lilac-grey. The yarn for this one is Cascade 220 Superwash in Walnut Heather; the leaves on the placket look a little different, but I think this is just because of the yarn I used.

I steam blocked both of them (my first time steam blocking) and I really like the way they turned out. I originally intended to steam block the Firefly because of the cotton content of the yarn, but, since I actually had them both done at the same time, steam blocked Earthy too - I love the fact that I didn't have to wait for them to dry, woot! Now I just need to package them up prettily and then they'll be off in the mail to their new homes.

I really do love making things for my friends and it has been so so nice to knit up these cute little cardigans because I know that someday pretty soon they'll be keeping some very special babies warm!

To unpathed waters, undreamed shores. -William Shakespeare

Wow! Where have the last few days gone?! I feel like the next month is just going to speed by and before I know it I'll be all done with school - craziness! Don't worry about me though, I have a ton of stuff on the go to keep me busy, notwithstanding the fact that I need to find a full-time job...oy!

Remember a few posts ago when I showed y'all the pincushion I made for my scrappy pincushion swap partner? Well she received it a few days ago and I received mine too!! Mine came from Lauree (locodowo on Flickr) - it's awesome (!) as are the little extras she included...

One of the things that was a little different about this round of the swap was that participants were asked to name one of their favourite movies that their partner could use for inspiration if they chose. One of my favouritest movies, and one that I thought would be awesome for crafty inspiration, is Penelope starring Christine Ricci. Lauree made the pincushion to resemble the stripes on Penelope's scarf and made the pins, modelling them after Penelope's piggy nose - eeekkk, so awesome! She also included the cute envelope-style needle book because she saw that I like to embroider.

By the way, have you guys seen Penelope? It really is a great movie and just has so much in it to tempt the imagination. I mean, really, just look at this poster!

And you should see Penelope's bedroom in the film - it is amazing! And, in case you needed anymore convincing, it also stars James McAvoy!

James McAvoy is awesome - one of the things that I think is pretty fun about him is that he's Scottish but I don't ever think I've seen him in a role with a Scottish accent (although he's done a lot of others), he's like the opposite of Sean Connery who is Scottish even when he's Russian (which is still better than Harrison Ford and his fake German accent)...anyhoo, yes, you must see Penelope!

Okay, time to get back to my knitting! Much love to all of you xoxo

Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hey all! How's everybody doing today? Things are busy busy around here as I'll be finishing up school at the beginning of April - finishing forever that is, can I get a woot woot?! I've been doing a little sewing and quilting, but most of what I'm working on can't be shared right now but I can share a gift I made for my friend Caitlin's birthday.

I made this pillow using some prints from Kate Spain's Fandango collection and a wee bit of Kona white. The pillow form itself measures 18x18" and I assembled, quilted, and made the envelope back using similar techniques as those I described in my Not Your Traditional Log Cabin Pillow tutorial. I didn't use a pattern for the front I just figured out the width I needed and then did a little math to create the staggered strips.

I also received a super awesome package in the mail from Aneela this week...

When I found out how much Aneela loved Moda's Hello Betty collection I sent her some of my stash and these fabrics were in the surprise package that she sent me back; aren't they awesome?! The top picture includes some Heather Ross, Munki Munki, Japanese cotton, and I think the floral is a Liberty print (or at least that's what it feels like to me)! The bottom picture shows cuts from Aneela's Sherbet Pips collection and I think yardage (and the rest of the pre-cuts) should be arriving in stores soon. I love absolutely everything that she sent along to me and can't wait to get working with them!

Okay, I have to leave for work in about five minutes and then tonight Alex and I are heading to the aforementioned Caitlin's birthday party - should be a great night! I hope you all have a lovely weekend and I'll be back soon!!

One pretty pincushion and a giveaway winner!

Hey all! How's everyone doing? It's been a busy week around here - I went back to school on Monday after having reading week last week (I'm actually done school in about a month...eeeekkkk!), I'm presenting on bibliophilia and collecting Lucy Maud Montgomery at an academic conference this weekend, and am knackered from designing and sewing up a storm. Would you like to see one of the little things I sewed up?

This little pincushion will be in the mail tomorrow (along with some little fabric treat) heading to my partner from the Scrappy Pincushion swap. I just love hexies and linen and Heather Bailey, and I really hope my partner likes these things too!

So... I bet you're wondering who won the Dream On giveaway, eh? Thanks everyone for your lovely comments by the way, they were all so nice and funnily enough every single one of my patterns and tutorials was named as a favourite (and a few of them were named many, many times)! Okay, right, the winner...

Woohoo! Congratulations Joanna! Send me your email and I'll put some Dream On in the mail for you!