Miss Print

The Holiday Sewing Finishes!

2012-01-23T13:39:00.000-05:00

Hey y'all! How are you guys doing? I am back as promised with some more of my holiday finishes - unfortunately, this year I wasn't able to get as many sewing projects done as I would have liked. I had grand plans for all the little things I was going to make people but in the end that just did not happen this year. However, I was able to finish one project for my Mum for Christmas - which was very important because I know how much she enjoys receiving handmade from me - and since I had Alex covered with the hat I knit him, I was able to give handmade to the two very-most-important people on my list!

Alex and I hoarded our pennies together to buy my Mum the Kobo Vox for Christmas - the Vox is a tablet and e-reader that runs on the Android platform. I think (for my non-Canadian readers out there) that the Vox would be most comparable to the Kindle Fire in terms of what it can do. It is full-colour, has a built in web browser, and since it's Android you can download apps from the store for free (I totally got my Mum hooked on Angry Birds)!

The handmade gift for my Mum was a case for her new Vox! I used this tutorial from Amber over at One Shabby Chick but resized it to fit the Vox - the original tutorial was written for the iPad but the Vox is shorter in both length and width (7" screen versus 9.7" on the iPad) and is a little thicker. I figured out the measurements and am very happy with the fit!

For the outer fabric I used this Books print from the David Textiles collection The Grand Tour by Victoria and Albert (most people refer to this collection as "Venice") which was done in conjunction with the V&A museum, and for the lining I used Kona Medium Grey. My Mum adores both the Vox and the case, and carries both with her every day - this makes me very happy!

I also completed this custom order for a lady that my Mum works with. She saw the coffee sleeve that I made for my Mum last year and requested five to use as stocking stuffers. The coffee sleeves are based on my own template, as I like mine to be wider and I've found that all of the templates I've looked at have been for narrower sleeves. Some of the fabrics were chosen based on things I was told about the people receiving them, but for two of them I was told to just go with what I like.

I found a couple of really great crafty books yesterday at my local store and I will be sharing them with you soon! If you live in Toronto head to the BMV on Bloor soon - the craft section is totally stacked right now!

Holiday Knitting Finishes and a Winner!

2012-01-17T09:22:00.002-05:00

Hey y'all! Hmmm, seems like I'm only just now getting around to posting some the things I made for the holidays! Today I've got a couple of knitting finishes and I'll share the sewing finishes later - how does that sound?

I made this hat for Alex for Christmas using the Regular Guy Beanie pattern by Chuck Wright, which is a free download on Ravelry. I decided that Alex needed just a plain, neutral-coloured toque that he could throw on and wear with whatever, whenever. I changed the pattern slightly to make it larger and you can see my pattern notes here on my Ravelry.

This is what happens when you're a librarian who is also a knitter and has to work on the weekend! Alex picked out the yarn himself a few months ago - it's Alpaca Love in Cobblestone from Debbie Stoller's Stitch Nation collection (80% wool, 20% alpaca). Since Alex picked out the yarn and I was scared he would recognize it, and since he always asks me what I'm working on, I couldn't knit the hat at home. It took two weeks of subway trips to and from work (when I could get a seat - I do not knitting while standing up on the TTC as that could lead to serious bodily injury) and some occasional lunchtime knitting to get this little guy done! Definitely wouldn't take that long if you were able to knit it out in the open and not in secret!

Next up is the gift I made Barb, Alex's mum, for Hanukkah - the Damson shawl by Ysolda Teague! This pattern is available in Ysolda's book Whimsical Little Knits 2 or can be downloaded as a stand-alone pattern from Ravelry (I have the book and love it)! This was my first shawl and there was some frustrated ripping out, but I like the way it ended up. The only thing I'm sad about is that I don't have a better picture - unfortunately I kept forgetting to take pictures of it on the weekend when it was sunny and only snapped this the night before it was gifted.

For the shawl I used Malabrigo Sock in Persia, which I got from Eat.Sleep.Knit - I saw "got" because I didn't purchase this skein but rather won it from one of the scratch cards that they always include (coolest thing ever by the way!). I picked both the base and the colourway but I must say that when this skein arrived I was a little disappointed - the base is absolutely lovely and with really generous yardage but I find (especially with the finer yarns) that Malabrigo's colours vary wildly! The picture for this colourway shows much more turquoise-green, and way less dark green and brown (this includes both the picture on their website and the picture on Eat.Sleep.Knit). Such is the way of hand-dyed yarns of course, but I find that Malabrigo tends be more widely varied than those from other hand-dyers.

So I guess you'd like to know who won the Kate Spain Good Fortune FE bundle, hmmmm?! Without further ado the winner is...

Taryn of from Pixels to Patchwork

Congratulations Taryn! Send me an email with you address and FQS will get your bundle out to you. I must admit that I'm a little jealous of your win... who am I kidding - I'm jealous every time someone wins something from FQS off my blog because for the most part I don't have any of the fabric myself! Sad but true.

It's Giveaway Time - Kate Spain's Good Fortune!

2012-01-09T15:45:00.002-05:00

Hey all! So it's that time again - we've got another giveaway sponsored by the oh-so-very cool Fat Quarter Shop! This time around we're giving away a fat eighth bundle of Good Fortune, Kate Spain's new collection for Moda...that's right, isn't it awesome?!

It's so pretty! I'm especially in love with the greys and dark purples! This little - or not so little - bundle includes 36 fat eighths from the collection and judging by the colours I think this would pair really nicely with Kate's previous collection Terrain - which I was just playing with last night!

Yummy...

Okay, so I guess you want to know how to enter, right? You have two chances but please be sure to leave separate comments for each entry. Here's what you've got to do:

1. Leave a comment letting my know which downloadable

PDF pattern that FQS carries is your favourite.

2. Leave another comment if you are a follower of my blog.

That's it! Two easy-peasy ways to enter! I will close the comments in a week (on the 16th) and announce the winner here on the blog. International entries are, as always, welcome! Also, please remember that I have comment moderation enabled so if you don't see your comment right away it just means that I haven't had the chance to approve it yet (duplicate comments will be deleted).

Man guys, I'm super-jealous of whoever wins right now - I want some of this gorgeous fabric for my very own! Good luck everyone - you're all winners in my mind *wink*!

*the giveaway is now closed*

Tal's Habitat of Love

2012-01-04T23:33:00.000-05:00

So my friends Jackie and Ben (who both attended "library school" and worked with me) had a little baby boy at the end of November. His name is Tallis - Tal for short - and I finally got to meet him tonight! Knowing that he was coming along I started thinking about making a quilt to welcome him to the world; initially I started with working out a design (as I usually do) but that just was not working, so I jumped to thinking about fabric instead. Originally I thought that I would use "typical boy" colours and go with lots of blues and greens, maybe mixed with some grey, but then I decided to be a little more adventurous and settled on using pieces from Habitat by Jay McCarroll which had been sent to me by Free Spirit for the MQG challenge.

This is what I came up with! I went for a modified plus design that integrated various shades of grey - in this case Kona Charcoal, Coal, and Medium Grey - and also negative space. I could have made a standard plus quilt just using the Habitat fabrics, but I really wanted to do something different that was maybe more unexpected.

I took this little quilt (hmmm, forgot to measure it but I'd say it's about 42x47" or so) over tonight and I am so glad that Jackie and Ben liked it! Considering the fact that Ben mentioned awhile ago that his favourite quilt I've made was Sullivan's Steps, I was little worried that there might be too much pink (although I don't subscribe to the notion that boys can't have pink) or modern-ness for them, but it all worked out since they thought it was a-okay.

I used 100% unbleached, organic cotton for the batting, and quilted it with straight lines on the diagonal. The binding is also Kona Medium Grey. The backing is a solid piece of Kona Stone and I cut a label from the yard I had printed through Spoonflower to label it with.

This is one of the quilts that I mentioned in my last post was finished in November, so I am also super-glad that I finally got around to taking pictures of it before giving it away! Let me just say that working full-time during the winter means that it is dark when I leave for work and dark when I get home - not so good for picture taking! I'm hoping that in this new year I can be more organized with getting pictures done on the weekends, as long as the weather agrees with me that is!

2011: A Stitchy Year in Review

2012-01-02T09:01:00.001-05:00

2011: A Stitchy Year in Review

Here's a little mosaic of some of the things that I made in 2011. There are a few things that are not included in the above, including two quilts that were completed in November which I only (finally) took pictures of yesterday, a couple of knitting projects that haven't been featured on the blog yet, Hanukkah/Christmas gifts, and a few other small things.

Every year lots of bloggers/Flickrers make these mosaics with a little help from the mosaic maker, so if you've made one let me know about it! Post me a link back to your blog post or Flickr picture featuring your mosaic - I'd love to see them!

Knitting in Action!

2011-12-31T08:36:00.000-05:00

On Monday, while watching the entire first three (last three? the original three?) Star Wars movies on Blu-Ray (what is wrong with you George Lucas changing the movies like that?!) I finally started knitting the Aidez Cardigan! I bought the yarn almost a year ago and have finally now cast on!

I'm using Cascade Ecological Wool in Tarnish (colour #8049). Eco is 100% undyed sheep's wool and is so squishy and springy - I just love it! It's so fun thinking that this is the actual colour of the sheep the wool came from - he must have been one nice lookin' sheep! This yarn was picked up from The Knit Cafe here in Toronto which is a pretty rockin' yarn shop!

On Monday night I tweeted the above picture of the start of the back of the cardigan. It is done in pieces (back, two fronts, and two arms) and then seamed together in the end. Did I mention that this is a free pattern from Berroco? And hey look, a little peek of my new Munki Munki pyjamas that Alex gave me for Hanukkah!

Tuesday morning/afternoon (with a Banana Republic and Over Easy break with Alex in between) I watched some full-length Miss Marple movies that my Mum gave me for Christmas and continued to knit! The colour is off in these pictures because they were taken with the lamp beside me on - the colour is much closer to the first pictures of just the yarn on it's own. It's a really pretty mid-grey with little bits of brown highlight. The cables on this cardi are just awesome and I could knit them forever! Luckily this wool is pretty bulky (it's a heavy Aran/light bulky weight) so the knitting is going pretty fast.

I'm a bit further along up the back now and I can not wait to be done and show the finished product to you guys! I know this is going to be a cardi I'll wear all the time.

Rav'd here: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/KayePrince/aidez

Reflections + Predictions

2011-12-28T21:09:00.004-05:00

Hey all! So how were your holidays? Did you eat too much and get the gifties you wanted? Were you driven crazy by your family or spend some time just relaxing? We celebrate Chrismukkah around here (that's both Hanukkah and Christmas for those of you not down with the lingo) and we had quite the time! I'll be back with some pictures of gifts both given and received very soon but for right now I wanted to share a little something else. Every year Sew, Mama, Sew asks bloggers and crafty peeps to share their sewing industry reflections on the past year and predictions for the upcoming year and I thought I'd take part! Oh, before beginning I'd also like to give a big shout-out to Melanie of A Sewing Journal who used my Countdown-to-Christmas Advent Calendar as one of her examples for "unexpected colour" in the article she wrote for SMS called Sewing Trends ~ Holiday Colour - thanks Melanie!

Looking back at the 2011 sewing scene, what trends stand out in your mind?
I've noticed, especially in the last few months, an eruption of more neutral coloured projects - think quilts in shades of white and creams or greys and cross stitch all done in one neutral colour (like blackwork). With many of these projects the fabrics aren't necessarily strictly neutral but can often be lightly washed shade of peony or lilac or mint. Solids have obviously been big this year and I think they'll be sticking around for awhile. I've also noticed a surge in complex paper pieced blocks - many of these seem to be inspired by Japanese quilting books and templates while still more are designed and drawn by the quilters themselves - amazing! The use of different basecloths for quilts - linen and voile for example - also seemed to be pretty popular.

What were some of your favorite things related to sewing this past year?
I loved seeing the start of something wonderful like Sewing Summit even if I couldn't actually attend myself. I did get to talk a little bit about it with Erin and Amy when I saw them at Quilt Market in Salt Lake City in the spring and I was so proud of them and happy for them that they started something so wonderful. Seeing all the blog posts and tweets and pictures afterwards made me extremely happy and grateful that our community was getting together and sharing with each other in a space that we could call our own. I'm not gonna lie, I was totally jealous afterwards that I couldn't afford to attend because I would have loved to have had the opportunity to hang out with all my sewing peeps, take the classes and workshops, and just be part of something that seemed so magical.

Life Quilt made by me

What did you make that you’re most proud of?
Well geez, that's a hard question! I've made a number of things this year that I really loved and that were hard to let go of - let's face it I rarely make things for myself - but I think that the thing I'm most proud of may not be the best technically, and it may not be the biggest thing I've made this year, but it was made to bring a little sunshine and hope to someones day - the Life Quilt. You can read a bit about the Life Quilt in this post. There actually is another huge quilt project, that I am keeping for myself, that I am hugely proud of but I haven't had the chance to blog about it yet so we'll discuss that in the new year!

Sewing Circle Pillow by Jenib320 on Flickr

What sewn projects have you seen this year that you absolutely love?
There have been so many! I am constantly inspired by the fabric selections and patterns people have chosen, and the risks they have taken! I am in love with this little piece of magic by doe-c-doe, Jeni's Sewing Circle pillow, Corey's Door block from the Ringo Pie Bee (amazing!), Quirky Granola Girl's Ski Sweater block, lizzie_broderie's Camelot Quilt, Nicole's Snow Owl pillow, good-ness's mini tribute to Japan, the Go Anywhere Bag pattern by Anna at Noodlehead, all of Angela's Swoon blocks (and her feet!), and so so so many more!

mini quilt as a tribute to Japan by good-ness on Flickr

Do you have a favourite sewing book or pattern from the past year to recommend?
There are a few actually but one book that really stands out in my mind is Natural Patchwork by Suzuko Koseki; also Scandinavian Stitches by Kajsa Wikman which actually came out in late 2010 but was enjoyed very much this year! Pattern wise I enjoyed many that were featured in Fat Quarterly and most all of the xStitch patterns from The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery - such awesome, fun designs!

Are there any trends you’re over and done with?
Hmmmm, that's a hard one since I never want to "get a hate on" about anything that someone else loves, but I would say that I am kinda over the whole owl-on-everything phenomenon. I mean, really, I love owls and I use them sparingly in my own work (this kind of hearkens back to a Hemingway quote that Alex and I think is hilarious) but they do not need to be on everything. But as Amanda Carestio said in her post for SMS sometimes you think you're over something and then you see it done in a new and fun way and you're all like 'holy cow that is the most amazing thing I've seen in a long time', so you never know!

Jennifer and I in the shark cage at the Mall of America

What are your thoughts about social media? How is it going for you? What do you love or hate?
I do love social media, but I must say that sometimes keeping up can be really overwhelming! I don't tweet, or pin, or roam around on Flickr as much as I used to - there is so much to see and talk about, but if I tried to keep up with it all I would never get any of my own creating done! I don't like the fact that some people have turned their entire use of social media into a vehicle for selling or for hating (um, really, that's not cool); I don't like that because of social media interactions some people feel left out or like they're not in the same league as other bloggers/designers/makers. I do however love the fact that I have met many of my life-long friends through social media - without social media there would be no Jennifer and Kaye inside of a shark cage at the Mall of America *wink*! Without social media there wouldn't be a Toronto Modern Quilt Guild and I wouldn't have the opportunity to meet so many awesome, creative people in real life.

Did you have a favourite fabric collection or print in 2011?
Oh, now that's another hard one! There have been some really fun collections this year but I didn't really buy very much. I absolutely adored Tula Pink's Prince Charming, Lotta Jansdotter's Echo, and Jenean Morrison's Silent Cinema (which is such a lovely, muted collection - I have a whole FQ bundle and am going to turn it into something really special I think).

Little mug rug I made for Jennifer combining both patchwork and xStitch

What do you predict for 2012 in the sewing industry?
I predict that there will be more mixing of different types of crafty aspects together in the year to come - think patchwork and cross stitch together in one piece, hand quilting on solid decor items, and garments with special embroidered details. There has definitely been some of that this past year but I think we'll see even more of it as people attempt to make their work even more unique, interesting, and texture-rich. I also think that we'll see people stepping away from doing things for free - people will still offer free patterns and such on their own blogs and sites (and probably on the sites of friends) but I think we'll see a lot less of people doing free work for companies and publishers just to get exposure. Actually I think we've been seeing this already, and at least one publisher has already stepped up to the plate and admitted that it needs to change - which is really awesome! I also really hope that we'll see more opportunities for people in the sewing community to get together in person and really get to know each other.

Can you tell us what to expect from you in 2012? Any big projects or life-changing goals?
Well, I will be debuting my own line of PDF patterns in 2012 which is something that I've been working on for awhile now, but most of all I really just want to keep creating beautiful things! I don't know if any of my goals for this year are truly life-changing - I mainly try to take each project as it comes to me and work on it to the best of my ability without getting too far ahead of myself.

So what are your reflections and predictions? You can find the list of questions and a linky on the SMS blog - if you'd like leave me your thoughts in the comments or a list to your blog post if you link up, I'd really like to know what you guys are thinking! Are we on the same wave-length? Have you seen some things going on in the online community that I haven't?

Some Holiday Stitching and a Winner!

2011-12-17T11:10:00.000-05:00

Hey all! How's it going? I just finished day seven of a seven day work week and let me tell you - I am wiped! But there is sewing to do and a friend in from England so no rest for awhile yet especially with Hanukkah and Christmas fast approaching.

I sent off a little gift to one of my bestie's, Jennifer, last week and it arrived in Maryland yesterday - huzzah! Arriving within a week was a miracle in and of itself considering the fact that I sent her some fabric way back in October that only arrived two weeks ago - Toronto to Maryland should not take two months!

I made this little mug rug for Jennifer using the Je T'aime Cocoa cross stitch pattern from The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery (which is the same company that I designed the Itching to be Stitching pattern for) and random scraps of fabric from my "string bag". Some of the fabrics include Heather Ross' Far Far Away II, Denyse Schmidt's Hope Valley, and Heather Bailey's Nicey Jane. The one of the very far right side is from Joel Dewberry's Chestnut Hill collection (that print, in that colourway, is actually one of my favourites ever and I so wish I had more).

Here's a little close-up of the cute mug and marshmallows! He got slightly warped when I ironed him but I still think he's too cute!

I used some Heather Bailey Fresh Cut for the back and a greeny-khaki solid that I don't have a name for since I think I got it in the remnant bin.

Photo courtesy of Jennifer's Twitter

I also sent Jennifer a copy of Christmas with Anne and Other Holiday Stories which is a collection of Lucy Maud Montgomery stories that were published in magazines and such around the turn of the century. I have had my copy for about 14 years and read it every holiday season - I know Jennifer is going to enjoy it!

So I guess you want to know who won the SMS giveaway too? Well, after an overwhelming response of over 700 comments, the winner is...

Heather D. of the blog Crafting... Congratulations Heather! I will send you an email soon and I really hope that you enjoy the Heather Ross fabrics!

So what are you sewing up this holiday season, whether as gifts or for yourself? I want to know!

Sew, Mama, Sew Giveaway Day!

2011-12-12T08:56:00.006-05:00

Hi everybody! If you're stopping by Miss Print for the first time from Sew, Mama, Sew - welcome! If you've been around these parts for awhile - you know I love you! Feel free to snuggle down, put your feet up, and stay awhile. I bet you'd like to know what I'm giving away right? How does some Heather Ross sound?

I'm giving away four prints from Heather Ross' West Hill collection (which is out of print). Up for grabs is a fat quarter of tan matryoshka, a fat quarter of brown matryoshka, a fat quarter of the pink floral stripe, and a fat quarter of the cream floral stripe (this is the one with the yellow leaves, not the purple).

There are two chances to enter-

1.Leave a comment on this post letting me know what your

favourite winter treat is - hot chocolate? holiday cookies? something else?

2. If you are a follower of this blog, or if you become one, please leave

a second comment and you will be entered a second time.

The first entry is mandatory to be entered in the giveaway, but the second is optional and you only have to leave a second comment if you are a follower and want a second entry. This giveaway (as always) is open internationally. I will pick the winner on December 16th and announce it here on the blog by the 18th.

There are many more giveaways to enter over at Sew, Mama, Sew so make sure to pop by over there and check them all out! Thanks for stopping by everyone, and please keep in mind that comments are moderated - I will publish them as soon as I see them, but duplicate comments will be deleted. Good luck everyone and I hope you're having a wonderful day!

*the giveaway is now closed*

The Life Quilt...and seeing life in quilting

2011-12-09T23:15:00.000-05:00

A few months ago, as some of you will remember, I was working on a quilt when my walking foot exploded shooting dark oil in splotches across the top; luckily I was able to get the oil all out (phew!) but wasn't able to complete the quilting until I got my new foot.

This is the photo that I showed at the time with the quilt all basted; I was finally able to get my new foot at Creativ Festival in October (it is surprisingly difficult to find the proper Janome foot in Toronto and I tried to order one from a shop in Guelph but that was such a farce that I gave up) and finished the quilt last month. Just in case anyone wants to know the prints are from Kate Spain's Fandango collection and the solid is Moda Bella in Snow (I believe it's snow anyway).

This little quilt is going my friend JJ's mum who is sick. A few months back JJ decided to put together a project and asked her friends to contribute - she asked that we use/put the word "life" into situations and take a photograph so that she could put the images in places where her mum would see them everyday and she also created a gallery. I decided that since I see life in quilting that I would make a tangible object for her mum to have (I also sent her a picture to put into the gallery) and this little guy will be leaving my house sometime very soon to join JJ and her mum.

Seeing "life" in a quilt or in quilting is an interesting concept, but one that I also think is a very true part of my own everyday. I really can't fathom who I would be without quilting and sewing and creating and designing. It kept me sane when I was getting through grad school, helped to keep me in food when I was looking for a job, and has introduced me to so many people - some of whom are my very best friends now. It's been difficult recently with a full-time job and the lack of sunlight hours to find time to do everything that I would like and that includes creating - the lack of sunlight hours has really put a cramp in being able to photograph my completed projects too (I have two quilts and a couple of other smaller projects that I need pictures of). Sometimes all I want to do is sit on the couch and just sit, but what I really need to do is kick myself in the pants and get back to the sewing machine. The last few days I have really been trying to do just that and completed both a gift for a friend and a couple of Christmas commissions. I have one more really big project that I need to make myself work on, but then I can pick things just for me for a little bit (or at least I hope so).

While being a librarian is a big part of my life, I think that it would be more true to say that creating is my life. Even when I'm doing other things I am thinking about designs and seeing patterns in architecture and the objects around me everyday. I feel extreme satisfaction when I can help people with research and answer their questions, but I feel an even bigger sense of well-being and accomplishment when I see people using my designs or when they tell me that they love something I've made. I am a nervous person by nature and was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder a few years ago - I sometimes become awkward in social situations (which is not helped by the fact that I am partially deaf) and have a hard time talking to people I don't know. This is easier with the quilty people though because there is automatically something that connects us to each other and something that can be innately understood - I feel much more myself and accepted with people who craft even if it is still sometimes hard and difficult to join in with the group. Like every other area in life quilting and sewing also has an "in-crowd" or a popular group, and they are darn intimidating let me tell you!

So that, just in case you wanted to know, is a little part of me.

Pretty in Patchwork: Holidays

2011-12-01T21:08:00.000-05:00

So remember a few days ago when I said I had some news to share but I needed photographic evidence? Well I've got it and...I'm in a book and stuff...

Yup, that's right! Awhile back John asked me if I'd like to contribute to a book he was writing - of course I said yes! The result of this is the above book Pretty in Patchwork: Holidays! It is currently available as an e-book and will be released in print in the summer of 2012...which means that I will of course be blogging about it again when that happens! The book is full of really amazing projects and designers (I'm sure you will recognize most if not all of them) - contrary to what you might think not all of the projects are Christmas-related... there are also projects for Hanukkah and Thanksgiving as well as variations for even more.

This is the project that I designed for the book - the Countdown-to-Christmas Advent Calender! The tree is made using paper pieced hexagons and the letters are stamped onto the fabric using number stamps and an ink pad suitable for fabric. The pockets are just big enough for a small toy or small chocolate and are very simple to make.

Jeni (who also had a super-cute bunting project in the book) has already actually made a variation on my pattern and blogged about it - it's so awesome! You can buy the e-book here if you'd like and one neat feature is that you can actually flip through the whole book before buying and see all the project - did I mention there over 30 of them?!

Geez guys, I'm so excited! It's so awesome to finally see it and I know I'll be even more excited when the print version comes out - you can be guaranteed there will be some goofy picture of me holding it in a bookstore (I mean, really, have you guys seen the pictures of me from Quilt Market with the Sample Spree sign?)! So what do y'all think?

Pam Kitty Morning Winner!

2011-11-28T15:31:00.000-05:00

Well, it seems that the weekend got away from me there! I originally intended to announce the winner of Pam Kitty Morning's Designer Select on Saturday, but evidently that did not happen! Better late than never though, right? Okay let's get right to it! The winner of the bundle is...

Tracey of Traceyjay Quilts

Congratulations Tracey! I really hope that you like this bundle and make something gorgeous with it. Please email me with you address and the folks from Fat Quarter Shop will get that out to you!

Now I do have some kinda big/fun/exciting (at least I think it's uber-exciting) news to share with y'all but I'm waiting for some "photographic evidence" to surface that I can show you! It should be very soon though so keep you eyes tuned here!

Sewing this past week...

2011-11-22T08:36:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago Kelly of kelbysews (who I know mainly from Twitter) asked for some volunteers to help her out testing her new paper-pieced wonky alphabet pattern, I jumped up and said that sounds like fun! Kelly sent me three of the harder letters to test - B, G, and (surprise, surprise) K. It was good times let me tell you!

Okay, I have a bit of a confession to make the B was actually supposed to be a D but I totally screwed up on that one and sewed the fabric to the wrong side of the paper, but hey, it worked out since I think I might be making the whole alphabet anyway and least it came out as another letter that's still usable *wink*. Like my house socks?

This block uses prints from Tula Pink's Parisville Collection and Laurie Wisbrun's Tufted Tweets. I have a lot of scraps left over from my Tula Pink Parisville fat quarter bundle (because I made something quite big that I'll be sharing soon) so they feature in every block.

The G features prints from Tula Pink's Parisville, and Sandi Henderson's Meadowsweet and Meadowsweet 2.

And finally the K features fabrics from Tula Pink's Parisville, Denyse Schmidt for JoAnn Fabrics, and Oliver + S' City Weekend. And in case anyone is interested the background fabric used in all three is Kona White (at least I'm pretty sure it's White and not Snow).

Kelly blogged about her Wonky Alphabet pattern both here and here and it is now available for purchase from Kelly's shop if you guys are interested. Just as an FYI Kelly's pattern is available only in PDF format and does not include paper-piecing instructions.

Now I'll leave you with a little sneak-peak of what I've been working on for the last couple of days...

It's Giveaway Time - Pam Kitty Morning!

2011-11-19T10:15:00.001-05:00

So who's ready for a giveaway? Since it's November (Movember!) I'm once again teaming up with Fat Quarter Shop to offer up one of their special designer select fat quarter bundles - this time we have Pam Kitty Morning's Designer Select Bundle!

This exclusive bundle features 12 prints from the Pam Kitty Morning collection by Pam Vieira-McGinnis (aka Pam Kitty Morning) and three coordinating tonals all in fat quarters!

This is such a fun collection! I'm loving the prints and I must admit that I'm rather partial to the Yellow on White Precious Dot and the Blue Gingham (well really, all the ginghams) - they are just such great basics!

So I guess you want to know how to enter right?! You have two chances but please be sure to leave separate comments for each entry. Alright here's what you've got to do:

1. Leave a comment letting me know which collection in the Coming Soon

section at Fat Quarter Shop is your favourite.

2. Leave another comment if you are a follower of my blog.

That's it - two very simple ways to enter! I will close the comments in a week (on the 26th) and announce the winner here on the blog. International entries are, as always, welcome! Also, please remember that I have comment moderation enabled so if you don't see your comment right away it just means that I haven't had the chance to approve it yet (duplicate comments will be deleted).

Okay, I gotta go! I have some major-sewing to do and I'm am all in a tizzy to get going! Paper piecing, quilting, and patchwork - oh my!

*the giveaway is now closed*

Knitting: Age of Brass and Steam!

2011-11-16T21:38:00.001-05:00

Hey all! How's it going? So I have been AWOL for the last little bit...sorry about that! The past couple of months have been very full; I've been a bit overwhelmed by all that I have to do and everything that is going on, and frankly I have also been a little discouraged but I am trying to just push on. Okay, enough with that! Who wants to see some knitting?!

Back in August I was injured at work, hurting my right wrist and hand. As a means of getting some of my mobility back with out pushing my wrist too far I picked up a new knitting project - the Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief which is a free project available on Ravelry.

I used Madelinetosh DK in Kale which is the top yarn here (the bottom is Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light in Tern in case you're interested). Madelinetosh is one of my absolute most favourite yarns and I ordered these two skeins from Eat.Sleep.Knit which is one of my favourite online yarn shops - all around, just a good time!

I made pretty good progress and the kerchief was done in about four days I think - it did help that Alex wasn't home that week so I basically spent the entire time knitting other than when I went to work. I borrowed my neighbour's blocking boards (since I don't have a set of my own), gave it a nice long soak, and pinned it out for a day. It blocked quite nicely although I'm a tight knitter so it's a teeny bit smaller than I thought it would be (next time I make this I'm going to go up a needle size).

Her ya go, the completed kerchief! Like my artsy photo, hehe?! I tried hanging it up with clothespins and it was just was not working but outside pictures were definitely needed! It turned out so squishy and soft and pretty and I love it!

I actually wore it to work today (sorry for the not-so-good pic - taken with my phone under florescent lights) with my Scottish stag head pin...according to Thomas, this picture is 'vampire porn'. I really adore that pin guys - one of my absolute favourites! I wish this photo were better so that you guys could see the true colours of both the kerchief and the pin - maybe I can get a better pic when I take some of the Damson I finished recently.

Rav'd here: Brass and Steam in Kale

All things great are wound up with all things little. -Lucy Maud Montgomery

2011-10-27T20:37:00.000-04:00

Hey all! How's it going? As I mentioned on Sunday I headed to Creativ Festival here in Toronto after work on Friday night and picked up a few goodies for myself. Creativ Festival occurs here twice a year - once in the Fall downtown and once in the Spring a little further outfield - I've been going to the Fall one for the past three years and went to the Spring one for the first time with my Mum in April. Fall is definitely the better of the two - it's huge, really easy to get to since it's on the subway line, and there is way more selection in terms of fabric and yarn and other crafting supplies.

I picked up this lovely fat quarter bundle of Silent Cinema by Jenean Morrison for Free Spirit from the Log Cabin Yardage booth - isn't it just so pretty?! I love the colours and I'm already dreaming up some ideas of what to do with it. I picked up one other thing at this booth but I can't show it right now because it's part of a Christmas present for my Mum and if I showed it it would be absurdly obvious what I'm making for her.

These four fat quarters from Patty Young's Sanctuary collection for Michael Miller came from the Sew Sisters booth. I always stop by to say hi to Judy, the owner of Sew Sisters, first because she's a nice lady and always has great fabric at great prices! I would have bought more from their booth but it's always so busy that it's hard to see everything!

I didn't buy any yarn this year because I was trying to be good - ya know, a girl's gotta draw the line somewhere! I saw some Viola in person for the first time and almost succumbed to it's beauty and the Sweet Georgia was calling my name too but I held strong!

I did however buy a skein of Madelinetosh's 80/10/10 MCN worsted in Tart when they had their free shipping sale a few weeks ago (Madelinetosh offers free shipping in their Etsy shop on Fridays every once in awhile). 80/10/10 is a superwash merino/cashmere/nylon blend and is one of their special bases - their special bases are only available through their Etsy. I have no idea what I'm going to knit with it but it is just so pretty that I couldn't pass it up!

I finished knitting Ysolda Teague's Damson shawl this week which is a holiday gift for someone I know but I haven't had the chance to get any pictures yet since it's getting pretty dark here by the time I get home from work every night - hopefully Alex can help me take some pictures this weekend! Hmmmm, that also reminds me that I need to get some pictures of the Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief that I knit...oy, I really need to be on the ball a little more!

Oh geez! I forgot one of the most exciting things I picked up at Creativ Festival (but I didn't take a picture). I got a new Janome walking foot to replace the one that exploded - woot woot woot! Now I can finally get back to actually quilting things and I can finish up the one I was quilting when the disaster struck - hurray!

Ruby Winner!

2011-10-23T09:25:00.002-04:00

Hey all! Sorry I wasn't able to do this post yesterday as promised but I spent most of the day in bed with a migraine - boo!!! I still have a little bit of it today but it is definitely much better! I was going to do a little recap of Creativ Festival but that will have to wait until another day when I have strength enough to take pictures of all the little goodies I got. For now though I will announce the winner of Bonnie and Camille's Designer Select fat quarter bundle from Fat Quarter Shop... drum roll please!

Amy Gibson of Stitchery Dickory Dock

Woohoo, go Amy! You guys Should all check out Amy's blog, Stitchery Dickory Dock, it is super-cute, she has some great tutorials, and I am super-jealous that she was able to make it to Sewing Summit! Amy, please send me an email with your mailing address and FQS will get your prize out right away!

It seems like people are really interested in doing a quilt along for my Colour Block Cross quilt so I think we'll get going on that! I need to work out some logistics and then I'll announce all of the dates, etc here on the blog - this is going to be so fun guys!

A Tale of Two String Blocks...

2011-10-18T21:35:00.000-04:00

So as y'all know I started a new job last week - hold up, for those of you who might be a little new around these parts (welcome guys!) I graduated with my Masters of Information in June and had been working part-time at one of my University's libraries but finally landed a full time gig as a Media Librarian at the CBC, woot! Okay, so I started last Tuesday and wanted to pretty up my desk a bit; I thought bringing a giant quilt and displaying it on the wall might be a bit much for some of my co-workers (although I did talk about my quilt designs and being President of the Toronto Modern Quilt Guild in my interview) so I decided on making myself a pretty new coaster instead. It was late and I was a little tired after my first day and thought to myself "Hey! You have some extra completed string blocks sitting around from that tutorial that you wrote, why don't you use one of those to start?"... so I did.

Sorry that the picture isn't the greatest - I forgot to take a picture of the coaster when it was finished and ended up taking this one at work...with my iPod...under nasty fluorescent lighting. I basically used this coaster tutorial that I wrote but stuck with the dimensions I used for the original block tutorial.

Anywho, so after making the coaster I thought that since I had all the blocks out anyways I should lay out the quilt I had in mind so that I could decide on block placement...you guys have to know where this is going, right? I WAS ONE BLOCK SHORT!! Oh ya, totally nailed that one! I knew I had made at least one or two extra blocks and was wracking my brain trying to figure out what happened and then I remembered this...

That's right, a few months ago I used one of the extra blocks to make ANOTHER coaster as part of a swap (and of course didn't actually it on the blog either), oy!

So now I am a block short for my quilt - luckily they don't take that long to make and my "string bag" is full of cut strips already. Oh wait, have I never mentioned the string bag to you guys?! I started the string bag when I first started making these blocks; I use one of the totes (the tote on top here to be specific) that I was given at Quilt Market year before last and have it filled with strips of fabric ranging from 1"-2.5" in width that I slice off of scraps, fat quarters, and yardage at random when I buy/use them.

Anywho, so yes, that is what I have to do - make another block! I don't actually have any plans for the quilt when it is finished as everyone I know is having boys right now and the blocks are very, very pink. Actually I'm thinking that I'll put it in the shop and save the money (if it sells) to go towards next year's Sewing Summit. Unfortunately I couldn't go this year since I was lacking the funds - spending my birthday in SLC with everyone would have been so, so fun too!

Oh, by the way, do you guys remember my Colour Block Cross quilt? It's this one...

Since I've had a few requests for a pattern or tutorial I was thinking about doing a quilt along for it here on the blog. What do you think? Is that something anyone would be interested in? Let me know and if there's enough interest I'll do it!

It's Giveaway Time - Ruby by Bonnie and Camille!

2011-10-15T09:10:00.001-04:00

In honour of finishing the first week at my new job, my lovely sponsors Fat Quarter Shop and I are teaming up once again to bring you another Designer Select Fat Quarter Bundle giveaway! This time we've got Bonnie and Camille's Designer Select!

This fat quarter bundle features twelve prints from Bonnie and Camille's recently released Ruby collection for Moda and three coordinating Bella Solids.

Ruby is an absolutely stunning collection and I just love it! Don't you guys think it's gorgeous? I really wish that I could keep the designer select bundle for myself by alas I guess I will pass it on to one of you lucky ducks! I'm positively swooning over the greys!

So I guess you want to know how to enter right?! You have two chances but please be sure to leave separate comments for each entry. Alright here's what you've got to do:

1. Leave a comment letting me know which fat quarter bundle

from Fat Quarter Shop is your favourite.

2. Leave another comment if you are a follower of my blog.

That's it - two very simple ways to enter! I will close the comments in a week (on the 22nd) and announce the winner here on the blog. International entries are, as always, welcome! Also, please remember that I have comment moderation enabled so if you don't see your comment right away it just means that I haven't had the chance to approve it yet (duplicate comments will be deleted).

Okay I gotta go! I have plans to sew up a storm today and bake some Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies - I think the latter of those two will make Alex very happy!

*the giveaway is now closed*

The Falling Starburst Pillow

2011-10-07T13:27:00.000-04:00

Hmmm, it's October 7th, I wonder what that could mean?! Here it is folks, as promised on October 5th, the full reveal for my pattern that is in the special Fall issue of Fat Quarterly!

This is the Falling Starburst Pillow! Here's a little snippet from Fat Quarterly of what I had to say about this little pattern and the inspiration behind it... "Fall is my favourite time of the year - Thanksgiving, my birthday, halloween, crisp cool breezes, amazing colours, pumpkin everything, and hot apple cider! What's not to love? My fall inspired pillow pattern aims to reflect the natural and simple - but glorious - beauty of fall with a mix of hand piecing, hand quilting, and natural linen."

The fabrics used for this pattern include a mix of natural linen and prints from Denyse Schmidt's Flea Market Fancy, Tula Pink's Parisville, Oliver + S's City Weekend, and Joel Dewberry's Aviary. I used #8 Perle cotton in golden yellow and deep crimson shades for the hand quilting.

This very special "Fall-Inspired" issue of Fat Quarterly is available as a PDF-download on the Fat Quarterly website for a very special price too - only $5! Woot! This issue includes four quilt patterns, four bag patterns, and five other patterns - including my pillow (of course!) and a new xStitch pattern from the folks over at The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery!

So what do you guys think? Do you like my little pillow? Would you like to stitch one up for yourself? This is a great pattern for curling up under a quilt to stitch, maybe while watching the BBC, and sipping some peppermint tea - I know, because that's what I did when I was making it *wink*!

Head on over to the Fall Inspired page at Fat Quarterly if you so desire! And don't forget that if you make something from this pattern you can post pics in both the Fat Quarterly and Miss Print groups on Flickr!

Do You Love Fall? Because I Love Fall...

2011-10-05T07:50:00.000-04:00

Since it's my birthday today I thought I'd give you all a little sneak-peak at my new pattern which will be in the special Fall issue of Fat Quarterly coming out this Friday (October 7th).

This little beauty uses linen and deep, rich colours to evoke the spirit of Fall - y'all know Fall is my absolute most favourite season, right?! Since this project almost exclusively requires hand stitching and hand quilting, it is the perfect project for curling up under a quilt and staying warm while you work. Come back on Friday for the full reveal and all the info on how to get your hands on this very special issue of Fat Quarterly!

Quilt Uber-Fest Block 2: Flying North

2011-10-02T10:12:00.000-04:00

Welcome everyone to the second day of the Quilt Uber-Fest quilt along! I'm really glad that you're all joining me here today and I can not wait to see the blocks that y'all come up with over the next little bit. I've called my block design "Flying North" because the flying geese and log cabin motif reminded me of Canadian geese flying over sections of farmland.

Fabrics I Used:
Three prints from Nel Whatmore's Sleeping Beauty for Free Spirit
Woven Haze Stripe in Denim Blue by Kaffe Fassett
Bonus Fabric: Kona Cotton in Ash

*Note: All seams are 1/4" and please remember to press in between each step. The block will end up being 12.5x12.5" square with a finished size of 12x12" square.

Cutting Directions:

-Cut two squares measuring 4x4" from each the Kona Ash solid and one Sleeping Beauty print (I used print #PWNW013Purple) for a total of four squares.
-Cut one 2.5x6.5" strip and one 2.5x10.5" strip from one Sleeping Beauty print (I used print #PWNW017Brown).
-Cut one 2.5x8.5" strip and one 2.5x12.5" strip from the last Sleeping Beauty print (I used print #PWNW015Purple).
-Cut one 2.5x8.5" strip and one 2.5x10.5" strip from the Kaffe Fassett woven.

Making HSTs:

-Draw a line diagonally from point to point on the wrong side of your two solid squares.

-Pin a solid block, right sides together, with a print block and sew 1/4" away on either side of the diagonal line.

-Using your rotary cutter or a pair of scissors cut the square into two triangular pieces using the original line that you drew as your guide.

-Open up each triangle and press the centre seam open. Trim each block if necessary to 3.5x3.5" square and cut off the little nubbins that are jutting out.

-Repeat the above steps with your remaining solid and print blocks until you are left with four half-square triangles.

Constructing the Geese:

-Layout your HSTs as shown above.

-Take each of your sets of matching HSTs and sew, right sides together, along the joining edge.

-Now that your two geese are constructed place them rights together and sew along the centre joining edge.

The Log Cabin:

-Sew your 2.5x6.5" strip, right sides together, to the bottom of the flying geese.

-Sew the first of your 2.5"x8.5" strips, right sides together, to the right side of the flying geese.

-Sew the second of your 2.5x8.5" strips, right sides together, to the bottom of the block.

-Sew the first of your 2.5x10.5" strips, right sides together, to the right side of the block.

-Sew the second of your 2.5x10.5" strips, right sides together, to the bottom of the block.

-And finally, sew your 2.5x12.5" strip, right sides together, to the right side of the block. Look at that - you're done!

I hope that you all enjoyed being here and that you've also enjoyed making "Flying North" with me. I've turned this tutorial into a PDF too which you can find here! Remember to add photos of your completed blocks to the Uber-Fest Flickr group and please come back and visit anytime you'd like! Also, add your block to the Miss Print Tutorials and Patterns Flickr group if you'd like too!

Next up with block three tomorrow, we have: Karen Linton who, since she does not have a blog, will be guest posting the tutorial on Scott's blog!

Quilt Uber-Fest Sneaky-Peek!

2011-10-01T16:50:00.000-04:00

Hey all! As you know my block design for the Quilt Uber-Fest quilt along will debut here on the blog tomorrow but I wanted to give you all a little sneak peek at what I have in store for you!

I've named the block "Flying North" but y'all will have to come back tomorrow to find out why! Don't forget to visit John's blog today for his tutorial for the first block of the quilt along!

Tutorial: Traditional Log Cabin over at Chasing Cottons!

2011-09-28T21:27:00.000-04:00

Bec over at Chasing Cottons asked me if I would take part in her Quilt Class 101 series of blog posts by guest blogging a tutorial on sewing a Log Cabin quilt block - according to her I am the queen of log cabins (who knew?!) - and of course I said yes!

My tutorial for this traditional block is included in Part 2 of Bec's series; it finishes at 12" square (12.5" unfinished) and while it is a traditional block I feel that I pumped up the "fun factor" by my choice of fabrics and the fact that the fussy cutting in the centre square is actually off-centre giving the whole block a slightly asymmetrical look even though it is, in fact, perfectly symmetrical.

So head on over to Bec's today and check out my tutorial if you want to get the lowdown on making this block! I'll be back soon with some more crafty goodness, and don't forget on Sunday October 2nd I will be sharing the block I designed and the tutorial to go along with it for the Quilt Uber-Fest Quilt Along! Go ahead and grab our button if you'd like!

<a href="http://bluenickelstudios.com/?p=3183" target="_blank"><img src="http://bluenickelstudios.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Uberfest-logo.png" /></a>

Terrain Giveaway Winner and Some News!

2011-09-22T15:43:00.001-04:00

As promised today is the day to announce the winner of the Kate Spain Designer Select Fat Quarter Bundle from my lovely sponsor Fat Quarter Shop! Now who could it be? Hmmmmm...

Sarah Craig of Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Congrats Sarah (who by the way is a quilting machine - seriously, check out her blog!) - please email me with your address so that FQS can send you out your bundle!!

So, um, right, the news... well, if you "like" my page on Facebook or follow me on Twitter you may have already heard but for those of you that don't (or who missed the update), I am happy to report that I did in fact get the job that I interviewed for last week! Can I get a "woot woot" from my peeps?! I will be working as a Media Librarian at the CBC (Canada's national public broadcaster) and am starting in mid-October. It is going to be very cool and will involve your everyday-librarian-like activities such as cataloguing but I will also get to help out with research too. I am very excited and can not wait to start!

Alrighty peeps, I gotta go and get some sewing done! I am brimming over with ideas right now!

It's Giveaway Time - Terrain by Kate Spain!

2011-09-15T20:07:00.001-04:00

Hey there! What's up everyone? So, um, who's in the mood for a giveaway? My lovely sponsor Fat Quarter Shop is offering up a Kate Spain Designer Select Bundle! Designer Select Bundles are exclusive to Fat Quarter Shop and comprise both prints and coordinating solids - you'll remember back in June I gave away a Tula Pink Designer Select Bundle when I first welcomed FQS as a sponsor.

This exclusive bundle is made up of twelve prints from Kate Spain's just-released Terrain collection for Moda and three coordinating Bella Solids. Jennifer and I picked up and split an entire fat quarter bundle of Terrain at Quilt Market and let me tell you - it is absolutely gorgeous in person!

And I guess you want to know how to answer right?! You have two chances but please be sure to leave two separate comments for each entry:

1. Leave a comment letting me know what collection from

Fat Quarter Shop's "Coming Soon" section you are most excited about.

2. Leave another comment if you are a follower of my blog.

That's it - two easy, peasy chances to enter! I will close the comments in a week (on the 22nd) and announce the winner here on the blog. International entries are, as always, welcome!

Alright folks - you best get entering! I'll be back soon with some other fun stuff to share...I have a list...because I keep forgetting to show things...and I've been pretty busy for the last bit ;)

*the giveaway is now closed*

Happiness is a form of courage. -Holbrook Jackson

2011-09-11T20:53:00.000-04:00

Hey all, what's up?! Yesterday was the first Saturday that I've not had to go to work in two years (except for the occasional family event, etc) and it was great! I'll no longer be working on Saturdays (at least not at my present job) which should be both fun and interesting; I also have a job interview tomorrow for a full-time position so wish me luck!

In honour of having Saturdays off Alex and I headed to the St. Lawrence Market and got some meat, cheese, and fresh produce - yum! I've got both yellow and green zucchini waiting for me and I'm thinking I'll make some more spiced zucchini bread. We're also planning on heading to St. Jacobs to check out the market, antiques, and maybe I'll find some Mennonite quilts too! We'll also be going to the Shaw Festival (probably the first weekend in October) to check out some plays and to hopefully see some beautiful fall colours in Niagara-On-the-Lake. Now doesn't NOT working on Saturdays sound awesome?! Yes, I think it does! Today I spent the day watching old episodes of Ancestors in the Attic and hand piecing a new project (which I will be sharing very soon)!

Photo by Karyn

I thought I'd post this picture because there are never any pictures of me from crafty events (since I'm always taking pictures). This is Katherine, Melody, and I at the friendship bracelet party that Karyn hosted at The Workroom in honour of Lizzy's visit to Toronto (I blogged about it here). Doesn't Karyn take lovely photographs? She has a super-spiffy camera but trust me - that girl is all kinds of talented! I kinda want to be Karyn when I grow up...does that sound weird?

I also wanted to let y'all know that I added a few destash bundles to my Etsy Shop in an effort to raise money to have my sewing machine fixed and tuned up and to put away to help pay the bills in case my job interview doesn't pan out. I still have a few more to add - including some Flea Market Fancy and Mendocino - but here are a few that I added last week:

Munki Munki by Heather Ross Bundle

West Hill by Heather Ross Bundle

1974 by Urban Chiks Bundle

I'll add the rest of the fabric over the next couple of days to a week! If you purchase something and mention in your "note to seller" that you found the destash through my blog I'll throw a couple of extra fabric-type goodies into your package!

Quilt Uber-Fest Comin' Atcha!

2011-09-06T18:27:00.000-04:00

Remember back in February when I was one of the designers for the Bloggers Block-a-Palooza Quilt Along? Well, I'll be doing it again but this time it's Quilt Uber-Fest organized by the super-talented Scott of Blue Nickel Studios!

Y'all know I love Fall right? It is my favourite season and this quilt along is not only taking place in my favourite season, it is also taking place in my favourite month - October! Not only is my birthday in October, we've also got Thanksgiving (Canadian, of course!), Halloween, temperatures chilly enough for layers and chunky knit accessories, gorgeous colours, apple cider everywhere, and pumpkin everything (Pumpkin Spice Lattes anyone?) - really, it's just the perfect time for quilting!

There are sixteen of us taking part in the quilt along running from October 1st to October 16th (i.e. one block a day for 16 days); we'll be using the not-yet-released-collection Sleeping Beauty by Nel Whatmore for Free Spirit (you can see some of the prints in this post from True Up) and some Kaffe Fasset woven stripes and shot cottons. Each designer is also allowed to add one print or solid from their own stash if they wish. At the end there will be an auction for the finished quilt (made from our tutorial blocks) for charity - we'll keep y'all updated on that!

Are y'all ready for Quiltober? Blocktober? Blocktober Fest? Here's the line-up:

Oct 1 John Adams

Oct 2 Kaye Prince <--- That would be me!

Oct 3 Karen Linton

Oct 4 Konda Luckau

Oct 5 Amy Lobsiger <--- This would be my birthday... in case anyone is interested ;)

Oct 6 Ryan Walsh

Oct 7 Scott Hansen

Oct 8 April Rosenthal

Oct 9 Cara Wilson

Oct 10 Amanda Jennings <--- This would be Thanksgiving... if you feel like eating along with us.

Oct 11 Susan Sobon

Oct 12 Jan Peoples

Oct 13 Erin Singleton

Oct 14 Charlie Scott

Oct 15 Emily Cier

Oct 16 Rachel Locke

Hope to see y'all playing along with us! Oh, and there will be a Flickr group for sharing blocks and such once the time draws closer!

No one can get inner peace by pouncing on it. -Harry Emerson Fosdick

2011-08-31T19:50:00.001-04:00

On Monday my Mum and her friend Sandy came down to Toronto and the three of us headed to the Canadian National Exhibition (also known as the CNE or the Ex). Mum and I go every year and Sandy has been with us once before - it's basically a huge fair with vendors, animals, food, demonstrations, contests, games, and rides. We never go on the rides (I've only been on some - the year my Grandpa and I went together) and rarely play any games but we do a lot of shopping, eating, and catching up with the alpacas, cows, sheep, and horses. I was very disappointed since it appears that they no longer have the quilt exhibit - I couldn't find it last year and didn't find any mention of it on the website this year. However there was a Lucy Maud Montgomery exhibit (which I've actually seen before) so I was pretty happy about that! Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from that day since my Mum and Sandy were taking pictures but we had a good time!

My Mum's birthday a couple of weeks ago but I didn't see her until she came down so I gave her her presents while she was here.

I made her a little tote for carrying stuff around - I thought she could use it for books but she may end up using it to take her lunch to work, hehe! I did put a book in the bag though - the new Kathy Reichs novel Flash and Bones which is the latest book in the Bones series (the TV show was based on it) which my Mum really likes. I wanted to get her the newest Jeffrey Archer novel, Only Time Will Tell, (he's her favourite) but when I went to store I was told that they had three but weren't allowed to put them on sale until the day after I needed it - ugh!

My Mum collects sock monkeys so I've made her a few things over time incorporating some of this Erin Michael fabric - she just loves it! I'm having some problems with my sewing machine and don't have a usable walking foot at the moment (which I'll tell you a little bit about in a minute) so sewing the block to the tote didn't go perfectly but I think it's cute!

I dunno if my Mum will be okay with this but I wanted to show y'all her new haircut!

Hi Mum! Yup, that's my Mum! She was a young'un when she had me - that's for sure! Isn't her new hair pretty cool? On top of having a full-time job and a part-time job (she is apparently bored without me at home to keep her on her toes) she is also a hair model for Paul Mitchell. She will basically let them do anything to her hair - I think it's really fun!

So about my machine and the lack of walking foot...my machine has not been in for a tune up in the entire time I've owned it and it badly needs it but unfortunately with the lack of job-finding I can't afford it right now. Then on Sunday while I was quilting this...

My walking foot exploded and spilled what looked like dried oil on to the quilt top - ugh! I guess the walking foot didn't really explode so much as the plastic part holding it to the shaft of the machine splintered sending plastic flying at my face (I'm okay though) and rendering it unusable. This is actually the second time that this has happened to me so, having spoken to a Janome dealer at the CNE, I am going to get a new one made by Janome that has metal clips that hold it to the machine. And no worries, after much fretting and worrying the oil did clean off the quilt top! *sigh of relief* The quilt above is part of a special project I'm working on for a friend's mum but I'll tell you guys more about that when it's completed.

Also, I'm going to be destashing some more of my fabric collection in my shop on Etsy (and putting the money towards having my machine serviced) but wanted to tell you guys about it first - I have some West Hill, Mendocino, Flea Market Fancy, 1974, more Heather Ross, and others that I'll be putting up for sale so if anyone wants to claim anything before I get it up just send me an email and I'm sure we can work something out!

Lizzy in the House...that is The Workroom!

2011-08-25T16:05:00.001-04:00

On Tuesday night I headed to The Workroom to welcome a very special visitor to Toronto - Lizzy House! That's right Lizzy is here in "the T Dot" for a week teaching some workshops at The Workroom and on Tuesday Karyn hosted a friendship bracelet making party in her honour.

I picked up some Cosmo floss at the store (which can also be found in The Workroom's online pop-up shop) and Karyn gave a little demonstration on how to make a chevron-style bracelet.

My attempt is seriously all kinds of janky - maybe this is why I didn't have any friends in grade school - but I'm going to try again. Practice makes perfect as my Mum just said to me on the phone! I think I'm going to try using just two colours the next time and I'm going to focus more on creating tight even knots.

Other people were working away diligently and were really getting the hang of it!

Here is the lovely Katherine of Carolyn and Me - the colours she chose for her bracelet were really gorgeous and her bracelet was coming along like gangbusters!

As the friendship-bracelet-making continued some people began milling around, chatting, and admiring Lizzy's beautiful Diamond Mountain quilt displayed on the wall. Lizzy is in the blue cardigan, and there's Katherine again, Karyn's in the purple dress (which she made using Drop Cloth in Plum from Jay McCarroll's Habitat collection), and there's Jacqueline of Soak fame too!

I was still working away on my friendship bracelet trying to get at least a few good chevrons, but alas (as you can tell from the above "janky" photo) it was not to be! From my perch at the end of the cutting table I had a good view of all the fun going on around me and a container of my mini-muffins within arms reach!

At least I had Lizzy's gorgeous 1001 Peeps right behind me to pine after and console me for my woeful lack of friendship bracelet skills!

If you are in or near Toronto and would like to take a workshop with Lizzy at The Workroom I do believe that there is still room in her Champion Ribbons class which takes place on Saturday - I would absolutely love to take this class but unfortunately I've got to work on Saturday! However, I will be heading back to The Workroom on Sunday to preside over this month's Toronto Modern Quilt Guild meeting - fun fun!

Tutorial: Ziggy Zaggy Mini Quilt or Tabletopper

2011-08-22T12:58:00.000-04:00

When the new Divine fabric by Rosemarie Lavin arrived from Windham a couple of weeks ago I decided that it was the perfect opportunity to write up a small tutorial that I had been thinking about - so here it is! This little mini can be used either as a tabletopper or as a mini quilt with the addition of some hangers on the back (here's a great tutorial from Aneela on adding embroidered hanging loops to a quilt). Okay, are you ready? Let's go!

Materials:

8 (eight) Divine charm squares (5x5")

1/2 yard of Essex linen/cotton blend in Natural

1/2 yard backing fabric

1/2 yard quilt batting

*All seams are 1/4" unless otherwise stated.

Cutting Directions:

From your Essex fabric cut eight 5x5" squares, two 3"xWOF strips, and two 2.25"xWOF strips for binding. I like to cut my binding strips at 2.25" but feel free to cut them at whatever width you like. Subcut the 3"xWOF strips into two 3x20.5" strips and two 3x15.5" strips for borders.

Half Square Triangle Directions:

Pair off each charm square with one 5" square of Essex. Repeat the following directions for each of these pairs.

Place your two squares right sides together.

Sew a quarter inch seam around all four sides.

Slice the square twice diagonally so that your end up with four triangles.

Press your seams flat and trim every HST down to 3" square being sure to cut off the little ears as you go.

Matching Zig Zag Assembly Directions:

Lay out your HSTs as shown in the picture above.

Work with matching pieces one set at a time. Repeat the following directions for all sets.

Sew side-by-side squares together right sides together and press.

Sew centre seam right sides together and press to form your final square.

Final Assembly Instructions:

Select the top four sewn-up sets from you centre panel.

Sew side-by-side sets, right sides together and press.

Sew the centre seam, right sides together and press.

Repeat the above steps for the second grouping of four sets. Seam up these two finished squares right sides together and press.

Take the two 3x20.5" strips of Essex that you cut earlier and sew one, right sides together, to each long side of the centre panel. Press. Now take the two 3x15.5" strips that you cut and sew one, right sides together, to each short side of the centre panel.

Sandwich, Baste, Quilt, and Bind and you're done!!

What do you think? A pretty simple tutorial I know but the colours just make me so happy! Remember that if you make any of my tutorials or patterns that you can add them to the Miss Print Flickr group!

What this world needs is a new kind of army - the army of the kind. -Cleveland Amory

2011-08-16T17:52:00.000-04:00

From the bottom of my heart I would like to thank everyone for the lovely, thoughtful, and positive comments that were left on my last post! It has been a rough few months in many ways but reading your kind words has bucked me up quite a bit - I know that there are still obstacles and that I just need to keep on working hard but I am feeling better than I was this time last week! I actually only just realized that both my 200th blog post and three year blogiversary passed in July without any mention or notice from me- whoops! Just goes to show where my mind has been. So, um, ya, happy belated 200th post and blogiversary to me!

Aaaaannnndddd... I got a little sewing done! As I mentioned before I'm working on a new tutorial for ya'll and here's some evidence...

Now I know that this is really just evidence that some cutting happened, but trust me there was some sewing and ironing after this! I am planning on getting even more done tonight while Alex is at ultimate (frisbee that is). Now what is that in the photo you ask? Well, it's a little Essex Linen/Cotton in Natural and this...

Windham sent over a charm pack with a sampling of Rosemarie Lavin's new collection Divine which will be hitting your local fabric store next month! The colours are super cheery and fun and I am especially loving the florals! The tutorial that I'm sharing is relatively easy and straightforward but the fabric really makes it pop!

Oh and I just have to share with you the "sammiches" that I made for dinner on Friday!

I love making sammiches like these in the summer! For these ones I used focaccia bread sliced in half down the middle to create two layers and then I quartered the layers (that makes two sammiches each for Alex and I). I slathered one half with roasted red pepper hummus and topped the other half with oven roasted tomatoes and zucchini (both green and yellow), fresh basil, and feta cheese!

Here's a recipe-lite: I roast the tomatoes and zucchini at home - first I douse them in olive oil and salt and pepper (and sometimes a pinch of sugar for the tomatoes depending on the season) and then pop them into a 400 degree oven for about 20-30 minutes (our oven runs a bit hot and usually the temperature climbs up a bit before these are finished) and then I let them cool for a bit while I warm up the bread (easier for cutting when it comes to hard crusted breads) and assemble the rest of the ingredients.

Our oven is a little teeny and I can only fit one pan in at a time so I usually do the tomatoes first so that they can set a bit while the zucchini is roasting. To make the two sammiches I used five average sized plum tomatoes and two average sized zucchini - you can use more or less! Top with whatever you like - I have used different flavours of hummus and dips, goat cheese is great (especially any of the herb flavoured ones), and I've added cooked shredded chicken before - the sky is the limit and really that is one of the best things about sammiches! You could even take these guys and put them in a panini press - or press between two skillets over a burner (poor man's panini press!) - and I'm sure they'd be super tasty!

Alright y'all my stomach is growling and the sewing machine is calling! xo

Giveaway Winner and a Small Confession

2011-08-10T21:21:00.000-04:00

Hey all! How's it going? I have a little confession to make but first I'd like to start off by announcing the winner of the Kingdom by Jessica Levitt giveaway!

Marieke of Dash and Tilde

Congratulations Marieke! Send me an email with your address and I'll pick a few cuts to send out to you! Gosh guys, I just love doing giveaways - it's so fun to share new fabric and notions and stuff with you all and trust me (!) I already have a few more lined up.

Okay, so I guess it's confession time. I've been fretting for awhile about whether or not I should just put this out there to everyone, but I figured that it might make me feel a bit better and in the process explain a few things. Here we go... I haven't sewn or quilted a thing in over a month. I have cross stitched and knit and I've designed and I've cut fabric but I have not actually touched my sewing machine since I completed the custom pillow cover I sold in July. I did not mean for things to go like this, I have plans and projects that need to be completed but I have been having a hard time even contemplating actually getting behind the machine.

The past month (or few months really) have been a little tough for me, on top of being injured and having the windows replaced in my sewing area (which of course equalled no sewing), I have been a little down. You all know that I graduated from my Masters program in June and since then I have been looking for a job - I have the same part time job at the library on campus that I had while in was in school but I can't keep it after the summer and the job search has not been going well. Unfortunately librarian jobs are hard to get at this time, but I don't want to take another sort of job and give up on that dream - I worked long and hard and I don't want to give in now!

I have been feeling a bit overwhelmed by the quilting/blogging world for the last bit and have sort of hidden myself away in an attempt to cut myself off from some of the negativity and bad feelings that seem to rise up in this world every once in awhile. I don't want to hide away though and I don't want to stop doing the things that I love to do no matter how clique-y and sometimes hurtful it can be. I know I'm sounding like a negative nelly right about now, and I don't want to stop blogging or take a break or anything, I just want to get my mojo back and start doing what I love again! I've been trying to pretend that I'm a 'tough cookie' and just suck it up and get on with it but sometimes it gets hard trying to do everything on your own without anyone to talk to about it. So now I've put it all out there!

The quilting world moves so quickly and I'm afraid that I'm falling behind, but I am going to catch up! I've begun work on a new tutorial tonight and hopefully I'll be posting it within the next few days. All of the fabric is cut and ready to go - I just need to get behind my machine and fire her up!

Wish me luck everyone, I could really use it right now.

A Giveaway, an Injury, and Some Knitting!

2011-08-03T17:30:00.001-04:00

Alright alright, I know that I promised I'd have some finished projects to share with y'all but unfortunately last week, the day after I last blogged, I was injured at work and haven't touched my sewing machine or picked up a needle and thread since. I'm okay but in a freak kind of accident my right arm ended up getting caught between a wall and a truck full of oversize books which not only caused my arm to get jammed up but also bent my right hand backwards leaving me with a sprained wrist (thank goodness it's not broken!!) and since I'm right-handed that has meant that I've been able to accomplish very little this past week. It's feeling much better now, just a bit achy, and I'm going to try using the sewing machine tonight - wish me luck!

As a means of giving my wrist a little workout without doing something that requires too much strength or puts too much pressure on my wrist I've been working on a new knitting project since Monday!

This is the Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief which is a free pattern that I found on Ravelry. I'm using Madelinetosh Tosh DK in Kale and can not wait for it to be finished! Of course I won't be wearing it now with the weather so warm but I am so looking forward to wearing it in the Fall - Fall is my favourite by the way! The knitting is going much slower than usual with my bum wrist (and let me tell you I am not a fast knitter to begin with) and the purling might just be the death of me, but the pattern is really great and I know that I will wear this all the time once I get the chance! Rav'd here!

So as a means of smoothing over any waves that I might have created by not sharing a finished project - although I know you all forgive me - I thought I'd host a little giveaway! Not that I really need an excuse to host a giveaway!

This is Jessica Levitt's new collection Kingdom which was just released on August 1st! Windham Fabrics sent me this lovely little stack of fabric late last week and I decided to share it with you! In the interest of full disclosure I want to say that yes, Windham did send me this fabric, however they did not ask me to give any of it away on my blog - I came up with that part myself!

I will pick a few of the cuts to send to one lucky winner... here's what you need to do to enter:

1. Leave a comment telling me what you would make with this fabric

(and if you'd like - tell me which of the colours you like best too)!

2. Leave another comment if you are a follower of my blog or if you become one!

3. Leave another comment if you "Like" Miss Print on Facebook!

There ya go that's three chances to enter - you do not need to do all of the above but please make sure to leave a separate comment for each entry that you do! Please also remember that all comments are moderated so if your comment does not appear right away it just means that I haven't approved it yet! I will leave the giveaway open until next Wednesday (August 10th).

Alright get entering and wish me luck with my wrist and getting back into the sewing mode! Hopefully I'll be better able to show you some finished projects very soon!

*the giveaway is now closed*

Goodies Galore!

2011-07-26T22:15:00.001-04:00

Phew, what a week! The heat has been monstrous in Toronto but we finally had a couple of good rainstorms and things have cooled down considerably - good thing too since Alex and I don`t have air conditioning! I've got a couple of projects in the works right now but nothing completed to share with you all (although I will very soon) so how about I share some of the goodies I've acquired recently? Good? Okay!

As I mentioned in my last post my Mum and I spent a day last week crafty shopping; we went to Mary Maxim (which is sort of like Michaels or Joann's) and Fabricland, and visited a thrift shop.

I picked up four skeins of Cascade 220 Heather in Sparrow - the colour is very difficult to capture but it is sort of a greeny-tan with yellow undertones. They had a sample knit up with this colour in the store and it looked so pretty! I'm thinking about using it for either the Every Last Yard cardigan or the Contented Cardi; I sort of wish now that I had bought five skeins so that I could make the Effortless Cardigan but ah well!

My Mum brought me these two little fat quarter sets too when she came down; apparently a new quilt shop opened in the city where she works and she just *had* to stop in a take a peek for me - I know, my Mum's pretty cool! The top are FQs from Basic Grey's Blush collection for Moda and the bottom are FQs from the Deco Metric collection by Ro Gregg for Northcott. The colours in Deco Metric just scream my Mum so I'm seeing something for her in the future.

This fabric has all come to live with me recently - hurray! With the exception of the print from Hideaway on the far left (which I also got at Mary Maxim) all of this was on it's way to me before the Canada Post strike but then I had to wait for it. I had been looking all over for the yellow cafe dots from City Weekend by Oliver + S (which came out about a year ago) and finally found some online at CityCraft and then I threw in the Modern Meadow and Innocent Crush prints for good measure - what can I say? They were on sale *wink*! I have been lusting after the camper fabric from the Circa 60 Beach Mod collection by Monaluna for Birch Fabrics for a long time and finally just gave in a bought a half yard off of Etsy - I'm so excited to use in for something just for me! And when Spoonflower was having their free shipping day I ordered a yard of my labels - I like making my labels simple like these ones so that I can use them on both quilts (I left enough room around them for seam allowance and so that I can write the date on with a fine tip Sharpie) and smaller sewn items.

And last but not least is my Sew, Mama, Sew order (which I also placed before the Canada Post strike)! Let's see I got some of the Kaffe Fassett shot cotton in Steel, Moda Crossweave in Brown-Tan, Spring Toss in Blush from the Memoire A Paris collection from Lecien (which is cotton lawn), and three prints from Tula Pink's Prince Charming collection.

I've got some big plans for most of this fabric already - I just need to find the time to actually implement some of it, haha! Okay, I'm off to bed, but I'll be back soon with some finished projects to share!

My New Librarian Mitts!

2011-07-18T21:39:00.000-04:00

Today my Mum headed down to Toronto, picked me up, and then we made our way to Paris...Paris, Ontario that is! We went to Mary Maxim - which is a giant craft store where I got yarn and fabric - then had lunch and went to a thrift store, and then we drove to Hamilton to go to Fabricland (the one near me is closing, boo). I've got lots of fabric and goodies to show y'all but that will have to wait until it's no longer dark outside and I can take pictures! I did however finish up my "Librarian" mitts last week so I thought I'd share those!

I've been working on a cardigan for the last little bit but with the heat we've been having, the 100% wool yarn, and the fact that the cardi is almost completed, I just could not hold it in my lap anymore with being drenched in sweat after a few minutes since we don't have air conditioning (pretty picture I know)! I put the cardi aside and decided to work on a smaller project that I wanted to have done before the cooler weather hit. Enter Susie's Reading Mitts which I have dubbed the "Librarian Mitts" because I plan on wearing them at work when my hands get cold.

I used Sublime Yarns Organic Merino Wool Dk in colour number 0115 for my mitts and I think they turned out just lovely! I do have one thing to say though, I knew this yarn would work for the pattern because I looked around on Ravelry to see what yarns people had used for these mitts, but in no one's universe is this a DK weight yarn - I would definitely say that it is closer to a heavy worsted and it has even been suggested that it might be an aran weight.

The gloves go almost to my knuckles and then about half way up my arm - they are seriously awesome and I love them! I know I'm crazy for sharing knitted gloves in the middle of summer (although maybe my Aussie friends are enjoying this) but I am in all kinds of like with these; if it weren't so danged hot I'd be wearing these all the time!

Rav'd here: Kaye's Librarian Mitts

Get Stacked - a Custom Pillow Cover!

2011-07-10T10:24:00.001-04:00

Hey all! So I was supposed to head out with some friends today to the Niagara region to visit a winery - complete with picnic lunch and tastings - but I am sick, so instead I'm going to stay in, watch some BBC dramas and Sex and the City, and work on a new cross stitch I designed for an awesome friend.

This week has been super-busy with work, looking for jobs, and completing some very fun projects that I can't tell you about right now! But one thing I can share with you is some custom work I completed and sent off - good times! A few weeks ago I was contacted by a very lovely lady named Jen who wanted to buy the Get Stacked quilt I showed you all back before I left for Quilt Market. In case you don't remember which one I'm talking about - or in case you're new to these parts - here it is:

It's made using Tula Pink's Nest and Kona Coal - geez, I just love the way these two pair together! Well anyway, Jen also requested a custom cushion cover that matched the quilt so I got to work designing it in the same style - luckily I had more Nest fabric in my stash since it's out of print!

The front follows the same design idea and uses eight prints from the collection and Kona Coal. I quilted it in the same straight line style that I used on the quilt itself. It finished at 16x16" square.

I created an envelope style back using the green woodgrain print from Joel Dewberry's Ginseng collection and Kona Coal again for the top edge binding. The back was basically created using my tutorial from Sew Mama Sew but adjusted to account for the 16x16" size. The buyer didn't want to see the custom pillow before I sent it off - she wanted to be surprised - so I really hope that she likes it and that the baby who receives both pieces will love and hug and cherish them for a long time!

I absolutely love doing custom work for buyers because I get to be creative but have a little bit of guidance and I have a time line which helps me to get my butt in gear and get things finished!

I'm working on some more new projects this week and have a few finished items to show you! What do you guys think about a table runner pattern which would be available as a PDF through my Etsy store? The sample is all finished and I'm working on the directions right now; I'm also thinking about including instructions for expanding the table runner into a full-size quilt - what do you think about that? Sound like a good idea?

Kona Challenge Quilt: Colour Block Cross

2011-07-05T22:48:00.001-04:00

So I said I had a quilt to show you right? Well here we go! I had some logistical issues getting pictures of this quilt because my neighbours got a second car and now park it in front of the fence that I use for my shots; last week I literally had the quilt in my hands ready to go downstairs and take my photos when my neighbour pulled in - very frustrating! But I finally got some when the car was moved for a bit - woot!

This quilt was made as part of a challenge for the Toronto Modern Quilt Guild; as you all know I'm President of the guild and a few months back Robert Kaufman offered us some Kona charm packs to do a challenge. Of course I jumped at the offer and selected charm packs in the dusty palette for the guild; I set out the challenge rules so that each member person could only use up to one yard of one other fabric in their quilt top (binding and backing were extra) and selected this palette because I thought it would present a nice challenge for picking the one contrasting fabric.

This is the design that I came up with - I used 36 of the 44 charm squares (the other 8 charm squares didn't have enough contrast with my chosen solid) and paired them in sets of four like tones. I didn't want to cut the charm squares down too much because I wanted the quilt to be as big as possible without going over my one yard contrast fabric limit so I went with a very simple design.

Each of the blocks are rectangular rather than square (finishing at 12x13") which I think adds interest to the top. I decided to called this design Colour Block Cross and will be donating it to charity; I was originally going to donate it to the chapter of Project Linus in our area but they don't want it (don't even get me started) and we've had an issue with them as a guild in the past (ugh).

I really love this quilt though and the colour blocks make me super happy! I really hope that it finds a home with a child who will be comforted by its warmth and who will love and hug it fiercely!

Oh, and you should all head over to Kate's blog to see some darling pictures of little Grace in the cardigan I knit her! It finally arrived in Australia after being in the mail for three months (eeek!) - we thought it was lost but it got there and luckily Grace is still small enough to wear it, hurray!

Happy Canada Day - a little late!

2011-07-02T00:24:00.000-04:00

It is just after midnight here in Toronto so officially it is actually July 2nd, but I'm still awake so I say it's still Canada Day for me - and really it's still July 1st in other parts of the country so we're all good!

Alex and I found a giant Muskoka chair outside the Duke of York pub - where we had lunch and I indulged in a watermelon mojito - and I thought that it was the perfect place for a Canada Day picture! I mean really, if you found a giant Muskoka chair outside, wouldn't you climb up on it too? Let me tell you, it was no mean feat getting back down!

Wait, wait, wait, this picture will give a little better idea of how big the chair actually was...

Doesn't exactly show how far off the ground it was, but good enough! And for those who don't know Muskoka chairs are further off the ground at the front of the seat than at the back because they slope - at one point I slid all the way to the back and had a fun time trying to right myself! If I had had any amount of foresight I would have found someone to take a picture of Alex and I in the chair together - obviously he's the one holding the camera for these ones.

So a Happy Canada Day to all my fellow Canadians and to all those who wish they were one of us too (hah!) or who just need a reason to party! I do have a quilt to show y'all coming up but I've had some logistical issues getting pictures of it but I'll be sharing it soon!

Something Quilty This Way Comes...

2011-06-25T10:52:00.003-04:00

Something very fun showed up at my house last week...and there might just be something in it for you! That's right, get ready for a little giveaway! I've been having a great time playing with my new Accuquilt Go Baby Fabric Cutter and I'll be posting a review and tutorial for y'all too! Woot woot - so fun!

Aaaannnnddd....if you'd like 22 free patterns from Accuquilt just click on the little picture below!

Katy and I Heart Kona!

2011-06-23T17:10:00.001-04:00

Photo courtesy of Robert Kaufman

I completely forgot to share this fun picture from Quilt Market with you guys! Can you tell that Katy and I really love Kona?! Oh yes, we really, really do! And Katy's dress is Liberty...and it has tigers on it...because, ya know, Katy is awesome like that.

Farmer's Wife QAL - Weeks Two and Three

2011-06-21T13:30:00.000-04:00

I'm getting caught up on my blocks for the Farmer's Wife Quilt-A-Long! Technically we're on week four now and I've got all my blocks up to week three finished (that's blocks 1-6); I'll more than likely work on the blocks for this week while Alex is playing Ultimate (that's Ultimate Frisbee - he's in a league) tonight.So here's my progress so far:

Blocks three and four for week two! They're actually reversed in this picture - the basket is block three. I haven't put the handle on my basket yet because I was to practice my reverse applique skills a little before I do it - if that doesn't work out I'll use the template for machine applique.

Blocks five and six for week three. I'm finding it a little difficult to use the DS Quilts collection in each of my blocks because there are some favourite scraps that I want to use in my blocks that just do not look good with the DS Quilts so I'm contemplating adding in another collection to use as a base too - right now I'm thinking either Prince Charming or Meadowsweet. What do you guys think?

Here are the fabrics I used for these guys:

Basket:
DS Quilts
Prospect Park by Kitty Yoshida

Basket Weave:
DS Quilts
Prospect Park by Kitty Yoshida
Modern Meadow by Joel Dewberry

Bat Wing:
DS Quilts
Aviary by Joel Dewberry

Big Dipper:
DS Quilts
Parisville by Tula Pink

And just a little update for you all on what's going on with Canada Post: yes, we are still without mail service but the government had proposed back-to-work legislation which could pass as early as Thursday. This means that we could have mail service again very soon - hurray! I for one will be very happy when the post gets back up and running!

Getting my Farmer's Wife On + FQS Giveaway Winner!

2011-06-15T21:06:00.001-04:00

So I'm sure you've heard you've all heard about the Farmer's Wife Quilt-A-Long being hosted by Amanda and Angela, but in case you haven't, I'll tell you a bit about it!

We're using the above book, The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt by Laurie Aaron Hind, in the quilt-a-long; this book features 111 block designs accompanied by letters written by the wives of farmers answering the question "If you had a daughter of marriageable age, would you, in light of your own experience, have her marry a farmer?" - the letters are very cool and I've found myself teary-eyed by more than one of the responses. We are making two blocks a week from the book for the next year so it is a very leisurely quilt-a-long! Technically this is week three of the quilt-a-long, but I was having such trouble picking fabrics for my blocks that I only started cutting last night! Here are my first two blocks,

These two blocks are Attic Windows and Autumn Tints; I've decided to do my blocks in the order they appear at the back of the book to help keep everything straight, but you don't have to - you can pick and choose as you go! One of the things I've decided to do for my blocks is to use a little bit of fabric from Denyse Schmidt's DS Quilts collection in each block and then build my fabric choices for each block off that selection. Here's what I used for these ones:

Attic Windows:
DS Quilts
Aviary by Joel Dewberry (yellow woodgrain)
Modern Meadow by Joel Dewberry
Flora & Fauna by Patty Young

Autumn Tints:
DS Quilts
Nicey Jane by Heather Bailey (two prints)
Sunkissed by Sweetwater

I've finished block four so far too, and I have all the pieces for block three cut out, as well as having the templates for blocks five and six all ready - I think I'll get them done tonight, woot!! Come and check us out on Flickr - there's a group over there where everyone is sharing the completed blocks and there's lots of discussion going on too!

So I guess you'd like to know who won the giveaway, eh? Well let's see...the winner of Tula Pink's Designer Select fat quarter bundle, generously sponsored by Fat Quarter Shop is...

Taya from The Type B Crafter

Congratulations Taya! Email me with you mailing address and Fat Quarter Shop will get your bundle shipped out to you! And to everyone else - you know you're all winners in my book *wink* and I definitely think you should all head over to Taya's blog and check her out because she is super-cute and makes cute stuff to boot too!

Just wanted to let you all know too in case you haven't heard that Canada Post (yes, as in our national postal service) has suspended their operations so Canadian citizens are without mail right now (we can not send or receive mail unless it is by courier). Because of this I have put my Etsy shop on vacation mode for the time being since I can't send anything by regular post, but if you would like to order one of my quilts or request a custom quilt please contact me and I will send via courier (i.e. FedEx, UPS, etc) until this is all over. I am so sad about all this as getting the mail is one of the highlights of my day - there is always a chance that there will be something good in there and I get all excited about it, but now I won't be opening my mailbox for awhile...*sad, pouty face*

Sweet Baby June: Pattern-Tutorial on SMS

2011-06-09T20:42:00.000-04:00

Hey all! First things first, if you're looking for the super-awesome Tula Pink and Fat Quarter Shop giveaway you can find it here!

So, I've got a new pattern-tutorial for you all! Would you like to see it and find out where you can find it? Okay!

Sew, Mama, Sew asked me once again to be a little visitor on their blog and so I came up with this free pattern-tutorial for you all - may I introduce you all to the Sweet Baby June cowl!

Sweet Baby June is a light and airy spring/summer-weight cowl which utilizes voile, linen, and Cluny lace! For the version you see here I used Anna Maria Horner's Baby Bouquet print in Meadow from her Little Folks line, handkerchief weight yellow linen, and 3/4" scalloped cotton Cluny lace (my favourite type of lace).

Sweet Baby June features a unique double-möebius twist and is long enough that it can be looped around the neck figure-eight style (sorry for the slightly blurry pic there)!

You can find the Sweet Baby June pattern over on the Sew, Mama, Sew blog - AAANNNNDDD if you leave a comment on the pattern post over there you'll be entered into a giveaway, woot! Feel free to leave a comment here too of course ;)

Let me know what you guys think! I'd love to hear your opinion on the cowl and/or your thoughts on me doing patterns and tutorials that are not quilting-related!

Who What?! Another Giveaway?!

2011-06-08T20:58:00.001-04:00

Um, so I have another giveaway for you guys...and let you tell me it's pretty flippin' awesome! At the beginning of June I welcomed my first sponsor - Fat Quarter Shop - to the blog; by way of saying "howdy!" and "hi there!" the awesome Kimberly Jolly (you know the fantastic lady behind Fat Quarter Shop) has offered up a wonderful, not-so-little bundle just for you! You wanna see what it is?! Okay!

Um ya, so up for grabs is Tula Pink's Designer Select fat quarter bundle which is exclusive to Fat Quarter Shop! The bundle features 15 fat quarters - 12 prints from Prince Charming and 3 coordinating Free Spirit solids - selected by the lovely and super-talented Tula Pink herself!

The bundle will appear (magically I say!) directly from Fat Quarter Shop all prettily folded just like the above! Up there you can see the same bundle that I received from Kimberly and let me tell you - it is super-gorgeous!

This is one of my absolute most favourite prints which I lovingly refer to as "the Tula turtle" or "TurTula" (you don't want to be my friend anymore, do you?); my favourite little scene in this one is the girl sitting on the chair with her umbrella under the rain, do you see it? Isn't it awesome? I kind of want to play a little game of I-Spy with this print - can you see the bicycle? The fire hydrant? The peach tree? Eeeek!

And the super-duper Prince Charming himself! Oh yes, be still my pitter-pattering little heart - that is one handsome fella! His little bee friend just kills me!

So I bet you want to know how to enter right? Well I'm going to give you three chances (three seems like such a nice little number, doesn't it?)...

1. Leave a comment letting me know what your favourite collection

is that Fat Quarter Shop carries (or is in their "coming soon" section)!

2. Leave another comment if you are a follower of my blog,

or if you become one, letting me know you are!

3. Leave another comment if you tweet about the giveaway. In your tweet be

sure to mention both me (@KayePrince) and Fat Quarter Shop (@FatQuarterShop)

and link back to this post!

There ya go - three ways to enter! Make sure to leave a separate comment for each entry and please remember that I have comment moderation on the blog - so if your comment doesn't show up right away it is just because I haven't moderated it yet! The giveaway is open internationally as Fat Quarter Shop will ship to the winner worldwide. I will leave the giveaway open for one week and will announce the winner next Wednesday (June 15th) here on the blog!

See now, isn't that awesome? Yup, yup - you best get entering folks! I'd totally be entering if it wasn't my giveaway...dang, should have thought that through! Oh wait...that's right...I have my own bundle...hmmmm...pip pip (and all that) - hop to it!

*The giveaway is now closed*

It's Rhubarb Time Again - and the Giveaway Winners!

2011-06-07T20:32:00.000-04:00

Okay, you guys know I love rhubarb right? Growing up my grandmother grew rhubarb in her back garden and it has always been one of my favourite things! Well, yesterday Alex found me some rhubarb while at the grocery store - hurray! I've been having a hard time finding rhubarb this year (okay to be truthful I actually have trouble every year) and have been very sad because of it - but Alex came to the rescue so today I made rhubarb syrup and tomorrow I will be making Blueberry (and a little bit of) Rhubarb Muffins using the leftover rhubarb mash from the syrup.

The syrup isn't quite as ruby red as last year's because the rhubarb wasn't as ripe, but it's still pretty tasty! As I'm writing this I'm drinking some of the syrup mixed with soda water - it is fantastic and I can not wait for the muffins tomorrow!

So I guess you'd all like to know who won the last giveaway, eh? Well, without further ado the winner of Fresh Fabric Treats is...

Chrissy from Snappy Stitches...

and Manic Purl...and Yarn Sprout...geez, that Chrissy is everywhere!

And the winner of the petits fours pack is...

Carla of Sew it Up, Baby!

Congratulations ladies! Please contact me with your mailing address and I will get the prizes out as soon as possible! And to everyone who did not win - you know you`re all winners in my book, teehee! AAAANNNNDDD, you may just want to come back to this here blog VERY soon because there will be another super-fantastic giveaway featuring some truly awesome just-released fabric! I hinted to what it could possibly be in this post!

And seriously guys, you should definitely grab some rhubarb and try out the recipes they mentioned! I love the rhubarb syrup and Alex swears that the muffins are the best I`ve ever made - I think he might be more excited for the baking tomorrow than I am! By the way, are there any Blythe lovers out there? Amanda and I are swapping Blythe sized quilts with each other and was just wondering if anyone would be interested in seeing my progress or perhaps having a tutorial - let me know?

Market Wrap Up!

2011-06-05T10:48:00.001-04:00

First things first, if you're looking for the Fresh Fabric Treats and petits fours giveaway you can find it here. It's open until Tuesday so there is still time to enter! I will actually have another giveaway for you this upcoming week to welcome my new, and first, sponsor Fat Quarter Shop and that little giveaway might just be something exciting from a new line from a very lovely lady!

So I convocated on Thursday and am now officially a Master of Information! I was all in a tizzy because I didn't have anything to wear and couldn't afford to buy anything new; I tried to make myself a skirt and it just was not working (may have something to do with the fact that I didn't use a pattern and just kinda flew by the seat of my pants), but Alex offered to buy me a dress as my graduation present so it all worked out in the end! Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of me in the dress because the only pictures from convocation are the ones that my Mum took and the majority of them are blurry, but I'm wearing the dress again this upcoming week to Alex's convocation so hopefully I can get some pictures then!

I realized this week that I didn't actually show you guys any of the pictures of the things I picked up at Market, or the lovely gifties that I received from Jennifer and Doe, so let's call this post the Market wrap-up post! I did make some presents for Jennifer and Doe too but completely forgot to take pictures before giving them away...ah, such is my life!

Here is the lovely Cath Kidston mug that Jennifer bought me when she was England prior to Market! I just love it! And yes, this picture was taken while sipping at my morning coffee today - I received a pound of coffee from Kicking Horse this past week and was very very happy this morning when we finally opened up the beans!

Here are the rest of the gifties from Jennifer and Doe! Doe gifted me with almost the entire new line of Denyse Schmidt fabrics from Joann's (only missing two prints I think) and it is just lovely - the blues and greens are most definitely my favourites! She also gave me two charm packs from Bonnie and Camille's Bliss collection, but I forgot to throw them in the picture! Jennifer also brought me back Cath Kidston's book Stitch and some CK tissues from England, as well as gifting me with a few prints from Heather Ross' West Hill collection (in half yards - woot!). I had a bunch of these WH prints already but not in half yards so I'm pretty happy - I only need the purple matroyska and the blue horses and my West Hill collection will be complete!

Here is my fabric loot from Spree and Market! I didn't get very much this year because, having just finished my Masters and being in the process of looking for a regular full-time job, I don't have a lot of extra money. The fat quarter bundle in the back is from Kate Spain's upcoming line Terrain and is actually not all mine; Jennifer and I are splitting the bundle into fat eighths, but I haven't mailed it yet because I'm waiting for the Canada Post strike to be over! The ten square is Treasures and Tidbits, the debut line from Piece O'Cake - it had a very vintage feedsack feel to it. The three petit fours I picked up while walking around Market, two are the same as the ones in the giveaway (Panier de Fleurs and Circa 1934) but I also managed to score one from Aneela's Little Apples line - woot!

Now isn't that all just a bunch of prettiness?! I probably would have gotten a few more lines at Sample Spree if they had been there - Free Spirit never has a table, Andover was out of Lizzy's 1001 Peeps by the time I got to their table, and I somehow managed to miss Pat Bravo's Art Gallery table all together!

Okay, I've got to get to work finishing up a little pattern-tutorial that I have coming out for you guys - think voile, think linen, think cotton Cluny lace! Oh yes, it's going to be very pretty!

Quilt Market Spring 2011: Vol. 5 and a Giveaway!!

2011-05-31T16:04:00.001-04:00

So today's post will be the last of the Quilt Market posts for Spring 2011, but no worries there is a giveaway (actually two) at the end! I will not be writing a personal experience post this time around as there is just too much to say and I don't really feel like I can put it out there right now. No worries though, I had a good time and got to talk to lots of people and get some business-y stuff done so it's all good! Without further adieu, it's Moda time!

Did you see that Katy, Heather, Aneela and I made the front page of the Moda website?! Click on the picture for a better look - we're in the second picture from top smooching on Aneela's upcoming line Little Apples. Good times all round I say! I do have all the photos we took in Moda's photo booth (three strips worth!) but I don't have a scanner, however you can view all the pictures over here on Heather's Flickr.

Oh look, it's Sandy Klop of American Jane fame! Sandy is really one of the sweetest ladies ever and Doe is just silly in love with her! I'm in love with her too of course because she really is one of the nicest people and she actually remembered us from last year.

Both of the above photos are from the Fig Tree & Co. booth; the booth was absolutely gorgeous again this year and I am really loving the stamp-like mini quilts! I didn't really get a chance to talk with Joanna this year (although I think we may have said hi at the Moda party) but Eric and I talked hockey again just like last year! San Jose went down just like I told him they would (ya, that's right, take that Eric!) and Vancouver is in the playoffs - woot!

The Oliver + S booth! Liesl debuted her third line, Cape Ann, which will be available in the Fall. I just love the little dresses and the small diamond dot (that's what I'm calling it anyway) especially! Cute cute cute! Unfortunately the above pictures are the only ones that survived on my camera - I know for sure that I took pictures of the booth Aneela was sharing with French General, Cabbage and Roses, Cosmo Cricket, and Lauren & Jessi Jung, and Bonnie & Camille's booth for sure! Geez!

But never fear, at least the pictures of some of the Moda Bake Shop designers signing their book, Fresh Fabric Treats, survived! Let's see, the designers we have signing the book include John, Julie, Vanessa, Kim, Natalia, and Susan (from Sweetwater). And guess what?!...

This copy is for you! That's right, one lucky Miss Print reader (see how it's inscribed and everything) will win their very own copy of Fresh Baked Treats signed by the six designers mentioned above - and don't worry about me trying to snake this copy, I already have my own (signed by the amazing Lissa too!)...but wait! There's more!

A second winner will win the two petits fours pictured above! Each petit four contains 42 2.5" squares (just like a charm pack but one quarter of the size); the two we have here are French General's Panier de Fleurs and Cosmo Cricket's Circa 1934 (yes, it's true, Cosmo Cricket is now with Moda)! These are very special little guys and are not readily available on the market - and guess what? If you're into making hexies these are the perfect size for making 1" ones!

So there ya go - two prizes for two winners and the giveaway is open worldwide! Here is what you need to do to enter:

1. Leave me a comment letting me know which booth you most liked

seeing pictures of (it doesn't even have to be one I showed) or what you

would like to see from Market in the future!

2. Leave a second comment if you are a follower, or if you become one.

3. Leave a third comment if you "Like" Miss-Print on Facebook! This is a

new thing that I've just started and I'd like to see some of my peeps over there.

I will be announcing special things there that I may not announce on the blog.

Just click the little "Like" button near the top of the page here, or follow my link...

There ya go - that's three ways to enter! Please remember to leave separate comments for each of the three things; you don't need to do all three but it will increase your chances of winning! Oh, and also remember that I do have comment moderation enabled so if your comment doesn't show up right away it's just because I haven't approved it yet. I will leave the giveaway open until next Tuesday (June 7th) and then I will announce the winner here on the blog!

*the giveaway is now closed!*

Quilt Market Spring 2011: Vol. 4

2011-05-29T22:22:00.001-04:00

You want to see more pictures from Quilt market you say? Well, here we go! Today I'll be showing some of the "other" booths - you know the ones that don't fall into one of the bigger categories I've already done, or Moda (which I'll be doing next along with a little giveaway, so stay tuned). Oh first, one piece of business - my pattern Itching to be Stitching is on sale for a little more than 50% off right now as part of Meylah's weekly special so if you've been eyeing it now is the time to get it!

Oh Kona, my love! I loved the Kona booth a lot - just look at all the lovely colours and wealth of solids just splashed about! I want one of those solids Bounty of Basics boxes so much (or both actually) and did you know that Kona actually makes the boxes for a bunch of their basics and blenders? Very cool. Kona also gave me a colour card while I was in their booth and I literally jumped for joy - seriously, I was so ridiculously excited about it!

The Birch booth! I love Birch fabric - it is all just so gorgeous and the colours are amazing! The quilt in this picture was done by the super-talented Elizabeth and I think it is ridiculously stunning!

Birch is also reprinting certain prints from it's Circa 60: Beach Mod collection including one of my favourite prints ever - Happy Campers (which I actually don't own by the way which is very very sad)! I completely missed getting pictures of their soon-to-be-released Storyboek collection but let me tell you it is awesome!

Echino! Really there's nothing more to say about it than that! And guys, now I really know for sure that there are pictures missing from my camera because I know for certain that I took pictures of Heather Ross' Far Far Away III collection when I was in this booth because they had a wall of it that was amazing! Yup, something seriously weird happened - I'm going to blame it on the altitude in Salt Lake City...yup, I am.

And now for some Paula Prass love! Here is Paula's booth featuring her new line Botanika and even though her new fabric is gorgeous (and I will definitely be getting some) this little section will not be about that. I don't think I can ever express how much I love, like (yes, love and like are two different things), and respect Paula, and I know that I will never be able to really let her know just how much her encouragement and kind words have meant to me. Paula and I first "met" each other online a bit over two years ago when, after showing him a picture of some of Paula's fabric online, Alex bought me some; I left a comment on Paula's blog telling her about it and letting her know how much I loved her work and she actually wrote back to me! Since then I have continued to be inspired by her life and work and am in constant awe of her talent, beauty, and strength. We finally had the chance to meet at this Market and I can tell you it was a real highlight of my time there - Paula (and her daughter Jennifer too!) is just as warm, kind, gracious, and giving in person as she seems online. I love you Paula and I hope you know that.

And last, but not least, for today is the Figgy's booth! Um, so ya, I think Karen and Shelly are pretty flippin' awesome and they are a true example of the power of the online craft community - they met on Flickr, yup Flickr, and even though they live thousands of miles apart, they run their pattern business together across that distance and have been making a real success of it!

Here is Shelly peeking out from behind one of their super-cute jacket designs! I didn't manage to get a picture of Karen because she had gone traipsing off somewhere by the time I remembered to take my camera out! See that chair there behind Shelly? Ya, that was another of my sit down and stop spots - I think I spent almost an hour in that chair on Sunday morning before I left for the airport. Thanks girls, not only for letting me borrow your chair, but also for being so super-awesome and fun!

Alright, that's it for now but I'll be back soon with my final Market post and all the Moda goodness!

Quilt Market Spring 2011: Vol. 3

2011-05-24T18:07:00.000-04:00

Alright, who's ready for Free Spirit part 2?! Woot, let's go! Let's start off today with the ever-sweet Valori Wells' booth - Val is my girl and I love her to bits and pieces! She really is one of the most generous, giving, and kind people I have ever met and I am super-lucky to call her my friend (and super-lucky that she always had a place for me to sit in her booth when my feet got tired)!

Now isn't that painting in Val's booth just fantastic?! And the quilt on the bed is one of the most lovely things I've ever felt - it was voile with silk batting, yum! I am always in love with Val's colours and her new collection Wrenly does not disappoint!

I spent a good amount of time sitting on this gorgeous couch (and the orange chair next to it that can't be seen in the picture - actually now that I think about it I'm pretty sure I was sitting on the chair while taking this picture) and just in case you want proof, take a look at Val's post here! On the Saturday I spent over an hour hanging in Val's booth, first with her mum the uber-talented Jean Wells (who I also *heart* a whole lot) and then with Val. I may have also spent some more time there on both Friday and Sunday with Val and Carolyn, but Saturday was definitely the longest stretch. My poor footsies appreciated it more than you know Val!

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of me and Val - boo, I know! But what do you think of Val's awesome fabric and copper wall hanging? Or the cool fabric birdcage? Frankly, I could have lived in Val's booth for sure!

Hmmmm, let's see...who's next? Well why not Joel Dewberry? Gotta represent the men in the quilting industry don't we? And I mean really - he's Joel - he's awesome!

Here's some of the samples from Joel's upcoming line Heirloom ; the colours are absolutely gorgeous and you can see a small peek of one of the other sample sets in the photo below.

I thought this chair was just beautiful and wanted to take it home with me so bad - it would match our living room perfectly! The skirts that Joel's wife, Laurie, designed are really pretty and I think they'd be super-flattering.

Here are some of the patterns and purse samples made out of the laminate! Laminate = yum! Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of Joel's full booth because it always seems to be packed with people but you can see the full thing over here on Joel and Laurie's blog.

And last, but definitely not least by any stretch of the imagination, is one of my favourite people - Tula Pink! Tula is totally awesome (as are her mum, Kathy, and brother, Cam) and is one of the funnest people to hang out with. On Saturday night when I was venturing out to meet Val and Carolyn for drinks I ran into Tula, Kathy, Cam, Mark (a new designer with Free Spirit) and his wife Cara; they ended up coming along with me for drinks and we had a really great night!

Tula had her patterns displayed along the back of her booth with curtains made out of a print from her new Prince Charming line' Prince Charming is gorgeous by the way! The colours are very similar to those used in Neptune but the tones are deeper and richer (in my humble opinion of course) and I think that creates a higher impact, more saturated feel. I can not wait to get my hands on some so that I can start a new quilt!

Quilts hanging on the right side of the booth quilted by the super-talented Angela Walters of course! Did you know that Angela has a book on machine quilting coming out with Stash books - woot!

Here are the quilts on the left side of the booth! Loving the cover buttons on the Crown Jewels quilt and the one on the right (Snow Globes) has the amazing giant frog backing that we've all been drooling over lately! Again, I didn't get the best pictures of the whole booth but rest assured it was awesome - Tula won second place for best single booth! If you need photo confirmation check out her post here!

Alright, well that's it for this post! What do you want next? Moda? The organic cottons? Some pattern companies? Everything else (haha!)?

Quilt Market Spring 2011: Vol. 2 and some fun news!

2011-05-21T19:38:00.002-04:00

So before moving on to some more pictures and happenings from Quilt Market I thought I would share some pretty fun news with you! As I was getting off the plane in Salt Lake City I turned on my Blackberry and found an email from Jennifer waiting for me; the subject was Quilter's Home Magazine and here's what it said: "Holy crap! did you know you were one of the 55 Best Quilting Blogs?? I'm squealing!"...Um, what?!

Yup, it's true! Jennifer had spotted my blog in the list, which is included in the June-July 2011 issue, while reading the list on the Quilter's Home website (you can view the entire PDF of the article here).

Here's the little blurb they wrote about me and my blog! Isn't that just the sweetest? Also included in the list are my awesome peeps Heather and Ryan and a number of other bloggers that you will surely recognize! I'm pretty excited about it and I found it really nice that they mentioned my graduate work (which many of you know I have now completed - my convocation is on June 2nd) since I find that that part of my life is often not important in the crafting world - not that it necessarily should be but it's nice to see it recognized in this sort of venue.

Okay, now let's see...whose booths should I show you next? Oh, I should mention that after I got home and looked at the pictures on my camera I realized that very few of the pictures actually have people in them, that there are none of my friends and me running around (although I know they were taken so they must be on other peoples cameras), and that there is only one picture of me. I know! I also don't have pictures of a few booths that I could have sworn that I took pictures of so they must have disappeared into the ether!

How about a couple of the Free Spirit and Westminster designers today? I actually have a lot from Free Spirit so I'll do a couple today and then a couple in my next post! Let's start with someone that we all know and love (and the only booth that includes a picture of me too)...Amy Butler!

Amy had a rather small booth this time around and I found it difficult to get good pictures of the whole thing. She debuted her new collection Organic Soul which is all 100% organic cotton - good lordie, you should feel the corduroy (nice thin whale), it's like butter!

This was the little display at the front of the booth and similar to Lizzy's booth she had a iPad rotating photos of the fabric and patterns.

Amy and me! This is the one photo on my camera that had me in it and geez (!!!) I look like such a goober! I asked Amy if I could take a picture of her in her booth and got all silly-excited when she asked me to be in it with her. I know - I was completely starstruck! I did see Amy at Quilt Market last spring but didn't actually talk to her so I was pretty happy. She is also super-tall by the way - I'm 5'7 and she's towering over me!

Now onto Free Spirit!!

Ohhh, Anna Maria Horner and Loulouthi! Anna Maria's booth was just as gorgeous as ever and let me tell you, Loulouthi is just beautiful in person! Anna Maria told me that throughout the year it will be released on various substrates including quilting cotton, voile, flannel, corduroy, velveteen, and laminate - basically everything except for home dec.

This little corner of Anna Maria's booth was just so gorgeous and I wanted to take everything home with me especially the grey tunic which was exactly my size!

Anna Maria told me that she is coming out with her own collection of perle cotton and embroidery floss as well as pre-printed aida - now isn't that just neat?! Cross stitch is really picking up in popularity again I think now (just like any craft - it goes in fits and starts) and I am so happy to see some of the big designers acknowledging the trend.

Phew, okay I know I said I was going to show a couple of Free Spirit designers today but that seems like enough for now! I think you'll be fine if I leave it at *just* Amy and Anna Maria ;)

Quilt Market Spring 2011: Vol. 1

2011-05-17T18:11:00.002-04:00

Hey all! I got back from Quilt Market after midnight on Sunday night (flight delays and holding over the airport made for a much longer trip than anticipated) and am so excited to start sharing everything with you! It was a great time, but I am super-tired right now and have a minor ear infection from the change in altitude from Toronto to Salt Lake City (the difference is almost 4000 feet!) - no worries though, I went to the doctor yesterday and should be right as rain in a few days! As many of you know Blogger went down on Wednesday (and all of the comments left on my last post have since disappeared), so I'm pretty happy that I didn't lug along my laptop to SLC!

I have so much to share about Quilt Market so I'm going to divide it all up into a few posts over the next week or so! It was so fun staying with Jennifer and Doe, and really awesome to see some of my peeps again like John, Julie, Monica, Val, and Scott. It was truly awesome to finally meet some of my other peeps in person such as Heather, Katy, Tula, Erin, Aneela, Amy, Mel, Thomas, and Mo, and to meet some awesome new peeps like Kristen! Geez, I'm wracking my brain right now to make sure that I didn't forget anyone - I met and saw so many people this year that it all seems like such a whirl!

Let's see, where shall we start? How about with the super-awesome Julie of Jaybird Quilts? Hurray!

Here's Julie posing all sassily in her booth; isn't she just too cute?! I really liked her booth and thought that it was well laid out - all of the colours were just gorgeous too!

I love that not all of the quilts were hung completely straight and vertical, it added a lot of interest to the walls and I felt it was a reminder of the fact that the quilts we love and use are very rarely all neat and tidy. I'm probably reading a lot into Julie's choice to hang the quilts in that manner, but that's how it made me feel.

And who should be right across the aisle from Julie? Why, the super-talented Lizzy House of course! I'm sure those ladies had a great time together!

Here's Lizzy in her booth gazing into her imaginary mirror - too cute I say! The colours on 1001 Peeps are just amazing and I am so sad that Andover sold out of it before I got to their table at sample spree. Lizzy had the chaise that she's lounging on custom made for her booth and had one of her prints printed onto home dec weight fabric to cover it - it was pretty awesome let me tell you!

One of the really neat things that Lizzy had in her booth was an iPad rotating pictures and pages from her upcoming book publication (which is available for presale now). I loved all of the little details in Lizzy's booth including the hanging lamps, pillows (which were sewn by the lovely Amanda), mini notebooks, and flowers.

I have so much more to share with you guys but there's a few snippets from my first day walking the floor. I'll be back soon with more pics and some fun news that I'm waiting to share until I receive a picture from someone else! Have a good day y'all!

To Market, To Market...

2011-05-11T23:07:00.000-04:00

I'm off to International Quilt Market in Salt Lake City early tomorrow morning - hurray!

Sorry for the bad picture up there, but it's after 11pm here! I'm almost all packed up; just need to throw in a few things tomorrow morning after I finished getting dressed - you know toothbrush, deodorant, etc. I'm only bringing two pairs of shoes - my black ballet flats and my flashy brown boots that you can see packed in my case. You can also see a baggie full of the over 150 2.5" squares that I cut for Thomas there and hiding beneath my (second) purse are presents for some of my awesome peeps! Eeeek, I'm so excited guys!

I am planning on blogging from Market, however I'm not bringing my laptop this year, but I will definitely be Tweeting the whole time so follow me over there if you want to get updates about what's going on and see a picture or two as I go along!

Alright off to bed now guys! I can not wait to see all my awesome friends tomorrow - we're going to have a blast!

Just a few things...

2011-05-02T15:43:00.000-04:00

Hey all, just popping in to let you know a few things! First off I've listed a few more fabrics and bundles in my Etsy shop in an ongoing effort to fund my trip to Salt Lake City for Quilt Market next week. Here's a peak at just a few of the things that are listed:

A Neptune bundle featuring one complete honey bun, and a fat quarter of each Tortoise Shell in Deep Sea, SS Pink in Algae, and SS Pink in Coral.

The entire Castle Peeps collection by Lizzy House in fat quarters - there are three colourways each with 6 fat quarters.

A scrap bundle featuring Flea Market Fancy, Mendocino, Munki Munki, Odyssea, some Katie Jump Rope and a few other things.

Another scrap bundle featuring Flea Market Fancy, Mendocino, Munki Munki, Chocolate Lollipop, and some Lush.

There's also some more Neptune, some Verna, some Urban Chiks Blossom, and a couple of Amy Butler packs.

I also wanted to let you know that I have started a Flickr group for sharing pictures of things that you've made using any of my tutorials and patterns! There are already a few things in the group (a lot of pictures of people's block-a-palooza blocks) and I'd really love to what you guys have been up to. Every once in awhile I will pick a few things out of the group to share here on the blog (if you don't want it shared her on the blog please mention that in the picture description), so if you've made anything using one of my tutorials or patterns go ahead and add it to the group!

Oh geez, there was something else too but I seem to be blanking at the moment! Oh wait, The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery is having a sale right now so if you were thinking about picking up my pattern, Itching to be Stitching, or one their other great patterns, now would be the time to do it!

Okay that's it for now! I'm working on a new quilt pattern right now which I can't wait to share with you! I'm hoping to be able to reveal it early next week, but if not it will make it's big reveal after I get back from Market! Huzzah!

Get Stacked - a New Quilt!

2011-04-30T10:56:00.000-04:00

First off, I would really like to thank everyone for the comments that were left on my last post! I thought that I might get a bit of flack for the things I said, but really most people seemed to agree with me so that makes me feel much better for laying it all out there the way that I did! You guys totally rock and I'm glad that I'm not alone in thinking that some of the stuff going on right now is pretty ridiculous.

Enough about that though, who wants to see my new quilt?! This little quilt is pretty simple - just how I like it - and I think that it is the colours that really make it!

"Get Stacked" features prints from Tula Pink's Nest collection paired with Kona Coal - I think the Coal really sets off the colours used in Nest and the contrast between them is even more beautiful in real life. I originally had a completely different idea for using up this Nest and was lying the prints on various solids to pick the right one; when I laid them out on the Coal I was struck by how well they worked together and decided to scrap my original idea and go for something a bit simpler.

The strips are all different lengths and widths so as to give a look of evenness without being actually symmetrical. I think this adds some visual interest to the quilt and creates breaks between the colours and prints that is anticipated but not wholly expected.

I quilted it using somewhat straight lines - that is to say that I used my piecing as a guide but did not force the quilting to remain uniform, I just allowed by walking foot to kind of do its own thing without straying too far from its original course.

The back is pieced using a large scale print from Nest, some Kona Medium Gray, and the strip dividing them is from Tula Pink's Plume collection. As you can see form this picture and the ones above I also used the Kona Coal for the binding because I didn't want to create a break on the front by using something different.

This quilt really was for me an experimentation of sorts and I really like the way that it turned out! It ended up finishing at about 41x42" and I used 100% unbleached cotton (Naturally Cotton I believe it's called) for the batting.

I've decided to put this little quilt up for sale in my Etsy shop to hopefully raise a little spending money for Quilt Market - less than two weeks away guys!!! I also have a few more bundles of destash to put up on Etsy but I'm not sure I'll get to that today.

Let me know what you guys think of my quilt - I'd love to know! Alright, off to work I go!

Some Thoughts that Have Been Swirling Around for Awhile...

2011-04-27T18:18:00.003-04:00

So I originally had an entirely different post to share with you all - one involving a new quilt and everything! - but that will have to wait until my next post because I want to share something else with y'all right now. There have been a few things within the quilting/sewing/crafting/blogging world over the past few months that I've been thinking about but wasn't sharing because I didn't want to be too controversial or stray away from the normal format of this here little blog. But a recent post from Rachel has changed that for the moment so I'm opening up a little. I only just heard about Rachel's post today and the controversy that erupted in (and because of some of) the comments left because I haven't been keeping up on my blogs as much lately (more on that in a bit); in a nutshell (in case you want to stay with me for a bit before heading on over to Rachel's to read), Rachel outlined a few confessions about some fabric lines she didn't like, mentioned that she wasn't so keen on Denyse Schmidt's Single Girl pattern, and was generally just being open and truthful about a few things. She also invited others to leave their own "confessions" in the comments and I guess that is where things started to get a bit nasty - I totally love the idea of people leaving confessions there but some people (in my humble opinion) went a bit far and didn't seem to realize that there really are people behind those lines/patterns/blogs.

In this vein I have a couple of things I want to say, "confessions" of my own if you will, if y'all will bear with me. But, just so that this post is not completely devoid of pictures (and maybe to perk up your interest a bit for my new quilt), here's a little sneaky peeky of the quilt for my next post!

Okay, so here goes...

I absolutely despise it when people say "not your grandma's such and such" in the crafting world; I think this is one of the most disrespectful things that you can say when it comes to creativity and craft and frankly it's a whole lotta bull too! There are a couple of businesses that use it in a tongue-in-cheek way but I still think it's pretty rude and ridiculous. My Grandma was the one who taught me to use a sewing machine in the first place, and although the clothes and things that she made may not be my style (although they have also been back in style at different points over the years) I would never put down her talent, hard work, creativity, or love of creating things with such a demeaning and snippity remark. Every creative idea that is going around today has been build upon the things that our grandmothers, and their grandmothers before them, have made and, in many cases, the skills that we have learned from them (or other "older" people in our lives). You may use different fabrics, use different (shall we say more risque?) motifs, be subversive, or just wonk things up in funky, fun ways but that does not mean that you invented "X" craft, nor does it give you the right to be snobby, persnickety, or sometimes just downright mean-spirited in regards to their handwork.

In the same vein, this whole "modern vs. traditional" quilting thing has really raised my hackles. I'm sorry but I didn't realize that we as quilters had sanctioned a group of people to be the quilt police! As president of a modern quilt guild I have a lot to say on this subject (but I will spare you all of the my thoughts and the curse words that go along with them here) and the fact of the matter is that there are members of my guild who make things that might not be considered "modern" by other members of the community, or use fabrics that are "old lady" (again, I hate that one too), or batiks, or whatever but heck(!) I'm not going to tell them that they're not modern enough for us and kick them out of the guild! If they think what they are doing is modern than they can go right ahead and keep on doing it and I will cheer for them and admire their amazing work along with everyone else. I really don't get the whole modern vs. traditional thing, same as with the above ranting about putting down the grandmas, it's all built on the same foundation and we can all learn so much from each other. Personally I have had some bad experiences with some of the more traditional quilters who thought that I didn't belong in the quilt world (I talked a bit about this in this post), but I'm not about to start bad mouthing their talent and achievements.

And dang if this whole "modern vs. traditional" thing hasn't sparked even more issues related to the "dumbing down" of quilting. Many of you have probably heard all about this already, and just so that you all know I have actually spoken with the lady who wrote the original post and I don't think she meant to hurt anyone's feelings nor do I think that a lot of the negative stuff that has been said about her is true - from my point of view the title was VERY unfortunate, but I think that some of what she said really did have merit and much of it was blown out of proportion by others *ahem*. I do however find that some of the comments made in regards to this topic were unjust and again just mean. Yes, some patterns that you can buy are fairly simple but if someone wants to sell them and someone else is willing to buy them then more power to them. Some people don't have the time or the desire to figure out the math or requirements themselves, others are beginners and feel more comfortable using a pattern that is written for them in easy to follow steps, some see a quilt and want to make it exactly the same with the same fabric, and even more just want to quilt and not worry about anything else. Are these reasons wrong? Heck no! Are the people who buy simple patterns less of a quilter? Again, I say heck no! I don't think this is dumbing down quilting at all, and I don't think the people who like simple, geometric patterns (which as you've noticed I prefer myself) should not be considered less than.

Okay, so those were the big three! I get ranty when I'm all tizzied and hopped up on coffee, don't I?! Here are a few smaller ones:

I have not been keeping up with my blog reading as much lately. I have been super-busy with finishing my Masters, working, and getting some designing in (guys, I have so much I want to share with you but am not allowed - and gosh some of it I can't even share for another year, eeeep!) and really, I kinda feel terrible about it. I feel really bad when I do eventually see a post where someone made something that was truly amazing but it's weeks later and I never commented (especially when it's my friends that do the excellent making). I not only feel like a bad friend, but I also feel like I'm not supporting my community and those who have supported me.

I share many things about my personal life on this here blog (many have mentioned to me that liked following along with me as I went through graduate school and rooted for me the whole way), but I don't always mention the really bad things. On occasion I mention something that's not so bright and sunny, but I don't want my blog to be a space of negativity (although I think some of you may be shaking your heads at me now after my giant rant above) and I don't want people to think I'm being fake because of this. Sure, life is not all sunshine and rainbows and my life is far from perfect (and I never try to make you guys think that it is - you know unreasonable expectations and all that) but I want you guys to come here and like being here with me.

I take pride in the work that I do and the things that I create for others and it really does hurt when they don't seem to appreciate them. I have decided that from now on unless people have shown genuine gratitude and/or interest in the things that I have made them, than I am just not doing it anymore. This may seem selfish to some but we all know that crafting is time consuming and not cheap, so if someone would be happier with a store bought gift than so be it.

I am a comment-whore (that is probably the first time in Miss Print history that the "w" word has shown up here...sorry folks, I guess I just went a bit beyond my usual G-rating)... I really do love it when I get comments from you guys...like, really really LOVE it! I obviously don't make things to get comments from you guys, but man does it ever feel good when someone tells me that they love something I made. And no, this is not me asking you guys to comment more, I'm just laying it all out there.

Seriously, this post just got super-long and I feel bad for making y'all read it so I'll just end it there. I know that some of you might not have agreed with some (or all) of the things that I have said and that I'm probably going to get some flack over this, but I don't mind that at all. Please feel free to share your thoughts with me since I finally got up the courage to share some of my thoughts with you guys.

Yarn prettiness and the giveaway winners!

2011-04-21T19:26:00.000-04:00

I mentioned in my last post that I had some seriously gorgeous yarn to share with you all - well here it is! The pictures don't quite do this yarn justice, but man is it gorgeous! All of the yarn came from Eat.Sleep.Knit. which I can not recommend more highly! Seriously, if you love yarn (and especially if you love hand-dyed yarn which is all they sell) go on over there - you will not regret it. They also included some fun little extras in my order; one of the things they include is a cute scratch card where if you match three symbols you can win money off your next order, skeins of yarn, or a mitten kit - I won a skein of Malabrigo (yum!) in the base and colour of my choice!

This is the Malabrigo from my order - I order three skeins of Malabrigo Worsted in Paris Night which I'm thinking of using to make myself a Shalom Cardigan (there are some mods on Ravelry that I found for converting the pattern for use with the Malabrigo) and one skein of Malabrigo Lace in Frost Gray which I'm thinking will either go towards the Swallowtail Shawl or another lace shawl pattern.

And this is the Madelinetosh from my order - I got one skein of Madelinetosh Tosh DK in Kale which I think will be used for the 198 Yards of Heaven shawl and one skein of Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light in Tern which does not have a specific project attached yet but I have a few ideas (maybe Haruni?)! The pictures on the Eat.Sleep.Knit site show the colours much better - geez, yarn is hard to take good photos of!

Oh ya, before I forget! Eat.Sleep.Knit also has the really neat program called Yarnathon where you can earn prizes and stuff for hitting milestones through shopping - they add up the number of yards of yarn you buy and than convert them into miles (there are 1760 yards in a mile) so when you hit your first mile you get a welcome pack and there are milestones after that like when you hit 5k you get a $20 gift certificate. I seriously love fun programs like these and they really make me want to keep shopping. And before anyone asks, no Eat.Sleep.Knit did not ask me to say any of this, nor are they paying me - I just really, REALLY like them! I always like to give a little shout out to shops that treat their customers well!

Okay, okay, I guess you'd like to know who won the giveaway right? I know, me blabbing on about yarn is nowhere near as exciting as who won the patterns.

The winner of group one, that would be the Madison Bag and the Dorm Room Diva Pillows patterns, is:

Jacqueline of Handmade with Love

And, the winner of group two, that would be the St Mary Backpack and the Farmhouse Funk Pillows patterns, is:

Kate of Momma Confessions

Congratulations ladies! Be sure to email me with your addresses so that I can pop those patterns in the mail to you! And once again, a big thank you to Trish of Two Peas in a Pod for donating the patterns!

No yesterdays are ever wasted for those who give themselves to today. -Brendan Francis

2011-04-16T10:23:00.000-04:00

Thank you so much for all the congratulations' on finishing my Masters and for entering my little giveaway (the giveaway is open until next Thursday and you can find it here)! Also, I forgot to mention in my last post but also thank you to everyone who has purchased my little pattern "Itching to be Stitching" from The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery - I really appreciate all the support and hope that you'll show me your stitching when it's completed! Hmmm, what do you guys think about me starting a Flickr group where you could show off the things you've made using my tutorials and patterns? Let me know if that's something you'd like!

A big congratulations goes out to my lovely friend and "twin" Kate on the birth of her little girl Grace! I am so proud of you Kate and I wish you all the joy in the world with your new little beauty.

I've been busy sewing up a few things, but unfortunately (and geez, I hate having to keep saying this) I can't share much of it with you guys! Buuuuttttt, I can share a little giftie that I made for a friend's birthday last week.

I made this little clutch using Amy Butler's pattern "Clutch Purse with Antique Pin Closure" which can be found for free on the Better Homes and Gardens website. I used a print from Denyse Schmidt's County Fair line for the outside and a pale yellow solid (very close to the yellow medallions on the outer print) for the interior. As You can see I did not use an antique pin on the closure (which actually fastens with velcro) but rather sewed a large button to the flap.

One of the really neat things about this clutch pattern is that the front closure band actually comes around all the way to the back to form a handle (it is stitched down near the top of the clutch so that the front closure stays snug but the back forms the strap). I think this is a really great design feature because part of the reason that I rarely use clutches is the whole "clutching-all-the-time" aspect; if you have smaller hands and wrists like me you could actually slip this clutch right onto your wrist if you were dancing or doing something where you were worried you'd drop your bag.

The top corners of the clutch also fold in giving it a nice shape and a little room to expand. One of the things that I did differently from the pattern was to omit the interfacing because I was using a home dec weight fabric and the pattern called for quilting weight cotton. I did however still include the canvas between the outer and lining layers; the bag is not quite as stiff as I would have liked, but I think it would have been too stiff with the weight of interfacing called for. If I were to make this using home dec weight fabric again I would include the interfacing but maybe go down to a heavy-weight or medium-weight for a rigid but flexible clutch.

I have some seriously awesome yarn to share with you guys and my haul from Spring Creativ Festival (which my mum and I just went to yesterday), but I think I'll save those for the next post! Hope you're all having a lovely weekend so far - I'm off to work pretty soon!

What I've Been Up To and a Giveaway!!!!

2011-04-13T21:13:00.002-04:00

So I haven't been around these parts for the last little bit (I know, bad blogger, I'm sorry), but there is a reason, I swear! Would you like to know what it is?! Well, here ya go...

That's right people! For the last little bit (it's not been quite two weeks since I last blogged) I've been busy, busy finishing up all of my final papers and research, and now I am done! I handed in my last paper on Monday and it felt good! My official convocation isn't until June but I'm done all of requirements, so I'm calling myself a Master of Information now (and yes, that is actually what my degree is called)! What do y'all think about that?!

In honour of my finishing (and the fact that you will no longer have to hear me moaning about needing to complete papers), let's have a little giveaway, shall we? You all know my lovely friend Trish who owns Two Peas in a Pod Homegrown Designs, right? Well, she sent along some goodies just for you! I have four patterns to give away to two lucky winners...

This is group one which includes both the Madison Bag pattern and the Dorm Room Diva Pillows pattern.

And this is group two which includes both the St. Mary Backpack pattern and the Farmhouse Funk Pillows pattern - remember you can click on any of the pictures to make them bigger if you want some detail shots!

All patterns are also available through Trish's Etsy shop (check it out to see some more of her patterns) and they are also being sold and distributed by a number of quilt shops and companies (*ahem* McCall's *ahem*) so if you don't win my little giveaway you'll still be able to pick these babies up!

Here's what you need to do to be eligible to enter:

1. Leave a comment on this post telling me which group of patterns

you'd like to win (and if you feel so inclined you could

congratulate me on completing my Masters, hahaha!)

2. If you are a follower, or if you become one, leave a second

comment and you will be entered a second time.

There you go - two chances to win! Please remember to leave two separate comments for each entry or yours will only be counted as one - also, remember that I have comment moderation set so if your comment doesn't appear right away it just means that I haven't approved it. I'll announce the winner of the giveaway here on the blog next Thursday!

Who wants to come up to Toronto to celebrate with me?! Or, if you're going to Quilt Market next month, maybe we could all get together and have a little party - yes please!

*GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED*

New Pattern Release and a French Knot Tutorial!

2011-04-01T11:13:00.001-04:00

Hi all! So it's Friday and I promised I'd be back to share something very exciting and fun, so here I am! You know The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery, owned by the super-talented Amanda and Ashleigh, right? Well, they approached me a few months ago about being a guest designer at The Frosted Pumpkin and I am happy to say that my first cross stitch pattern for them, Itching to be Stitching, is being released today! How exciting is that??!!

Itching to be Stitching features cute sewing notions including a vintage-inspired sewing machine, buttons, thread, and the ubiquitous tomato pincushion! The pattern itself features a colour chart, list of colours you'll need, and a very handy stitch guide. Since this is the first Frosted Pumpkin pattern to feature french knots (leave it up to me to throw a little wrench in), they are not included in the stitch guide, however I offered to write a little tutorial with photos that you can find below.

Itching to be Stitching is available for purchase from The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery as a PDF download and I am here to answer any questions you might have about the pattern. I am so excited to be working with Amanda and Ashleigh (and didn't Ashleigh do just a fabulous job with the pattern cover? I love it!) on such a fun project, and can not thank them enough for asking me to come on-board for a little bit - I think I've now officially earned the nickname Kaye Pumpkin ;)

Cross Stitch French Knot Tutorial

So I stitched up the little tomato pincushion from the pattern for you to demonstrate the french knot technique - as you can see the french knots are used to create the heads on the pins. And remember, you can make any of the pictures larger by clicking on them! Oh, and just as a note, I use three strands of floss rather than the normal two (this will effect the size of your french knot).

Using the specified colour, bring your floss up through the aida using the same hole where you finished stitching the pin.

Bring the floss all the way through. Now wrap the floss three times around the bottom half of your needle. Note to self: paint fingernails before taking closeups of your hands next time!

Holding the excess tread taut, but not tight, with your left thumb (if you stitch right-handed) use your right hand to put the needle down through the hole diagonally opposite (i.e you brought your needle up through the bottom left hole of the square, put it down through the top right hole of the square). Keep holding the floss taut with your left thumb as you pull it through the knot - don't pull too tight or you could cause the knot to pop through the hole and onto the back of your aida.

And you're done! There are a few different ways to do a french knot (some people use one hole to come up and then go back down at the centre point of the square, and others use a colonial knot for cross stitch instead) - this is just the way I do them! If you like to do your french knots a little differently or would like to use a different knot altogether - go ahead! It's all part of the fun of cross stitching!

I'd really love to hear your thoughts on Itching to be Stitching and I hope y'all like it! And don't worry, if you like this pattern, I may just have a few more things up my sleeve!

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

2011-03-29T21:57:00.001-04:00

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!

2011-03-26T21:59:00.001-04:00

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...

2011-03-25T15:24:00.001-04:00

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

2011-03-22T22:20:00.000-04:00

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

2011-03-16T19:39:00.001-04:00

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

2011-03-12T11:29:00.000-05:00

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!

2011-03-02T19:47:00.000-05:00

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!

I've Been Baking Again...and a Little Giveaway!

2011-02-23T07:03:00.002-05:00

Oh yes, I've been baking over at the Moda Bake Shop again! This is the last of the February pattern-tutorials that I've been keeping under wraps!

I'm pleased to introduce you to Summer Dreamin'! The idea for Summer Dreamin' was originally born out of the need for a splash of bright and cheery as the weather got cooler, something to remind oneself of the warmer days of Summer - something that would trigger the knowledge way down deep in your brain that those days will be here again.

I utilized precuts to create the traditional double-z block and show an interesting way that I came up with to cut and sew the fabric for the half-square triangles - I hope you all find it useful! I used Dream On by Urban Chiks and the quilt finishes at 64x80".

I just love the colours in this quilt and think that Dream On is just so neat in the way that it utilizes vintage sheet design and colouring. I decided to send the finished quilt to live with my grandparents and I really hope that they'll love it!

Oh, and I said giveaway didn't I?! Well, how about some Dream On by Urban Chiks for your very own? I'll pick one lucky winner from the commenters on this post and pop some fabric in the mail to them; here's what you need to do to enter:

1. Leave me a comment letting me know what you think of Summer Dreamin'! Also, if

you wouldn't mind, let me know which of my patterns and tutorials is your favourite (you can see them

all listed in the righthand sidebar).

2. Leave a second comment if you are a follower of the blog...

I will leave the giveaway open for one week and will announce the winner next Wednesday (March 2nd) - don't forget that you need to leave two separate comments for each entry!

*the giveaway is now closed*

Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves. -J.M. Barrie

2011-02-21T19:47:00.002-05:00

First off I'd like to say thank you to everyone for their lovely comments on my Not-Your-Traditional-Log-Cabin Pillow pattern both here on the blog and over at Sew, Mama, Sew (and on the Introducing ~ Kaye post too)! In case some of you missed it, here is the picture of me from the post...

This picture was taken by my lovely friend Jennifer while we were in Minneapolis attending Quilt Market this past May - doesn't this stack of Heather Ross' Far Far Away II (which I bought at sample spree) look just dreamy?! If you look really close you can see the copy of The Blue Castle by my beloved Lucy Maud Montgomery that I gave Jennifer resting on the bedside table.

We still have a little doggy here running about so not much sewing has been accomplished, but there has been some knitting! Not only do I take my knitting to classes with me (because I can't do one thing at a time or my mind wanders), but it has proven to be the perfect craft to do during this time when I can't really cut fabric or run a sewing machine without Java getting all curious and up in my business.

I knit this Star-Crossed Slouchy Beret last week and it was my first cable project (other than just practising with cheap yarn). I still need to get Alex to take a picture of me wearing it so that you can see how the cabled "star" pattern appears at the crown when the beret is slouched on the head. I didn't block this one because I noticed from some other Ravelers completed berets that it slouched quite a bit more than I would like when blocked, and I was already fine with the way it looked on me.

Here's an in-progress shot of the Cascade cardigan that I'm almost done now. A few of my girlfriends are pregnant right now and this little cardigan is for one of the soon-to-be-babes (can't say which one right now because I know that all the mummys read my blog) - I just love the leaf pattern on the left-hand placket! Since this picture was taken I have finished knitting the right button band and the neck - which follow the same broken rib pattern as the lower band - but was foiled today when I went to buy the correct size DPNs for the arms since today is a holiday in Ontario and the store was closed - boo! Once I do get the right ones though the sleeves should be done in no time and then it will be off to its new home!

Be sure to come back on Wednesday when I will reveal the last of the patterns for this month and tell you where to find it! Phew, three patterns/tutorials in one month has just about done me in but I really hope that you guys are enjoying them and have felt inspired to make something yourself. Don't forget that if you've made anything from any of my patterns or tutorials to send me a picture and I'll feature it here on the blog!

You guys rock - seriously!!! - I hope you all had a lovely weekend and that your week continues to be full of inspiration, creativity, and love!

Not Your Traditional Log Cabin Pillow: Pattern-Tutorial on SMS

2011-02-15T07:37:00.002-05:00

Alrighty folks, I promised you a new pattern-tutorial and today is the day!

I was asked to participate in Sew Mama Sew's Pillow Month and concocted this little beauty just for you! This is my "Not Your Traditional Log Cabin Pillow" pattern which utilizes not only the everyday-square log cabin block and a funky rectangular version, but also both machine and hand quilting. You all know how much I love the log cabin, but you also know that I love to mix it up and get fresh with traditional quilt designs.

The pattern-tutorial also includes instructions for creating an envelope bock finished off with binding, and some rough hand quilting instructions as well!

You can find the "Not Your Traditional Log Cabin Pillow" over on Sew Mama Sew and don't forget to leave a comment over there for your chance to win one of 17 prizes this week...you can leave a comment here too of course, I don't have any prizes to give away, but I sure do love your comments! Also, be sure to check out the lovely "Introducing ~ Kaye" post that was written on me over there too...you might just see a silly picture of me that you may not have seen before...

The sewing machine joins what the scissors have cut asunder, plus whatever else comes in its path. -Mason Cooley

2011-02-13T19:06:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! Thank you so much for everyone's comments, both here on the blog and in the Flickr group, on my Block-a-Palooza quilt along tutorial! It has been so fun to see everyone's blocks over on Flickr and to see the great array of fabrics that have been used - so very neat!

Since I can't show anything that I've been working on right now - which is not much with the dog here let me assure you - how about some pictures of fabric that has made its was into my hands over the past couple of weeks?

I got a Fabric Shack order this week - woot! I'm using up all of my while Kona in a pattern I'm working on right now, so I figured I should place an order before I ran out completely! Here we have Kona solids in Mocha, Charcoal, Coal, and White, and a print from Anna Griffin's Flora collection.

Here's a close-up of the Anna Griffin print; I just had to get it because it reminds me so much of the Baroque architecture plans that I studied in my undergraduate as a Fine Art History major. I think this is destined to be the lining for a new bag I want to make.

I picked these fat quarters up at The Workroom after the last Toronto Modern Quilt Guild meeting: the two book prints are from the Venice collection, the text print is from Wordplay, and the cute mug print on the end is from I-don't-know-what collection (forgot to check and it doesn't have a printed selvedge). I also picked up some Cosmo embroidery thread for cross-stitch.

I also received some fabrics from swaps this week...

A fat quarter from the upcoming Sherbet Pips collection by Aneela Hoey for Moda...

A yard of County Fair by Denyse Schmidt for a bag, and the last riding clothes print I needed from Heather Ross' West Hill collection (still need a few other prints before my collection is complete)...

And a 1/2 yard of chocolate woodgrain from Joel Dewberry's Aviary collection, a fat quarter of yellow posies from Denyse Schmidt's Flea Market Fancy, and a fat quarter of pink unicorns from Heather Ross' Far Far Away. Great swap indeed!

I also received a fabric giftie...

Heather sent me these scraps when I mentioned that I had been searching for the Nancy Drew fabric - I cannot wait to use them. Thanks so much Heather!

Aaaannnndddd... I finished the body of my Oatmeal sweater!

This is a picture from before the bottom ribbing was done, but it is done now - woot! I just need to pick up stitches and knit the sleeves and then it'll be done!

So what have you all been up to this past week and weekend?! Come on spill...I need to live vicariously through you! ;)

Oh, and don't forget to come back on Tuesday when I will reveal another one of the patterns that I mentioned was coming out this month...phew, I'm tired already!

Block-a-Palooza: Geesey-McNinePatch (Block #5)

2011-02-07T07:18:00.005-05:00

Welcome everyone! I'm so glad that you could join me and really hope that you enjoy making my block for the Block-a-Palooza quilt-along; if you've never been here before why don't you pull up a chair, put your feet up on my table and hang out for awhile? Alright. let's get started!

Materials:

5 squares 2.5x2.5" Sunkissed Limeade Summer Garden
4 squares 2.5x2.5" Sunkissed Lemonade Picnic Plaid
24 squares 2.375x2.375" (2 3/8") Moda Bella Solid in Light Lime
6 squares 4.25x4.25" Sunkissed Orangesicle Petals

All seams are 1/4" and the block will measure 12.5x12.5" to finish at 12" square.

Directions:

We're going to start with constructing our geese - using the "no-waste" method - so first up: a little prep work!

On the wrong side of each of your solid fabric squares draw a line traversing diagonally from point to point.

Pin two of your solid squares to one 4.25x4.25" print square, right sides together, as shown in the picture above. The two solid squares should overlap a bit in the centre.

Sew a 1/4" seam on either side of the lines that you drew using them as a guide.

Using your rotary cutter, cut along the line that you drew so that you now have two triangle halves.

Press your seams towards the solid fabric.

On each of the triangles that you just pressed, pin another solid square so that it is lined up with the top point (flush along the sides of the triangle) and overlaps the solid triangles on the bottom.

Once again, sew 1/4" on either side of the line that you drew on the solid fabric.

Using your rotary cutter, cut through the line that you drew.

Press your seams towards the solid fabric and trim off the extra little "nubbins" so that you have rectangles. Repeat these steps with your remaining solid squares and 4.25" print squares. You have now made your geese - give yourself a little pat on the back, woot!

Now it's time to construct out centre ninepatch!

Lay out your ninepatch as shown in the picture above with your five 2.5" square at the corners and centre and your four 2.5" squares filling in the spaces between.

Sew your squares into rows and then...

Sew your rows together to form the centre ninepatch!

Now here we put the two - geese and ninepatch - together! Do the next step twice so that you have a border for both the top and bottom of your ninepatch:

Line up four geese and sew together to form a strip.

Align your strips at the top and bottom of the ninepatch - the geese at the top should point to the right and the geese at the bottom should point to the left - pin and sew with right sides together. Press seams towards the geese.

Do this next step twice to form your side borders:

Sew six geese together to form a strip. Sew two more geese together and than align at the top of your strip so that the long strip is pointing south and the short strip is pointing east - see above photo for visual.

Reverse one of your side border strips so that the two geese are pointing west. Line up your strips on the left and right-hand sides of your blocks as shown in the picture above and sew with right sides together. Press seams towards the geese.

Look at that - you're done! Now wasn't that fun?

Now if you'd like the PDF just click here! Don't forget that block #6 will be up on Thursday courtesy of Monica of Happy Zombie.

Edit: Some people are having trouble printing the PDF directly from Google Docs. If you are having issues, try downloading the PDF to your computer first before printing.

Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

2011-02-05T10:50:00.000-05:00

I finished knitting myself a new cowl pattern this past week called Thermis. I used the same yarn as for my "Jane" hat that I showed in my last post for those times when I want to be matchy-matchy!

I don't have a picture of it on me right now - gosh, it's ridiculously hard to get a good picture of oneself in the mirror - I may need to enlist the help of Alex again to get a picture! For my next knitting project I've decided to tackle a sweater; I have two patterns that I want to knit - one for a raglan pullover and one for a cardigan - and have the supplies for both, I just need to decide which one won't drive me completely bonkers!

Alex and I are looking after his parents dog for a little bit, so let me introduce you to Java!

She's a wheaten terrier and less than a year old. She does not like it when Alex leaves the house without her! There's not much quilting or sewing going on here with the dog since I can't use my normal space, but I'm going to try and fit some in while she's here!

Don't forget that on Monday I will posting my block and tutorial for the Bloggers Block-a-Palooza quilt-along! My block is number 5 so if you have missed any be sure to check out the block schedule I posted earlier!

Miss Print

The Holiday Sewing Finishes!

Holiday Knitting Finishes and a Winner!

It's Giveaway Time - Kate Spain's Good Fortune!

Tal's Habitat of Love

2011: A Stitchy Year in Review

Knitting in Action!

Reflections + Predictions

Some Holiday Stitching and a Winner!

Sew, Mama, Sew Giveaway Day!

The Life Quilt...and seeing life in quilting

Pretty in Patchwork: Holidays

Pam Kitty Morning Winner!

Sewing this past week...

It's Giveaway Time - Pam Kitty Morning!

Knitting: Age of Brass and Steam!

All things great are wound up with all things little. -Lucy Maud Montgomery

Ruby Winner!

A Tale of Two String Blocks...

It's Giveaway Time - Ruby by Bonnie and Camille!

The Falling Starburst Pillow

Do You Love Fall? Because I Love Fall...

Quilt Uber-Fest Block 2: Flying North

Quilt Uber-Fest Sneaky-Peek!

Tutorial: Traditional Log Cabin over at Chasing Cottons!

Terrain Giveaway Winner and Some News!

It's Giveaway Time - Terrain by Kate Spain!

Happiness is a form of courage. -Holbrook Jackson

Quilt Uber-Fest Comin' Atcha!

No one can get inner peace by pouncing on it. -Harry Emerson Fosdick

Lizzy in the House...that is The Workroom!

Tutorial: Ziggy Zaggy Mini Quilt or Tabletopper

What this world needs is a new kind of army - the army of the kind. -Cleveland Amory

Giveaway Winner and a Small Confession

A Giveaway, an Injury, and Some Knitting!

Goodies Galore!

My New Librarian Mitts!

Get Stacked - a Custom Pillow Cover!

Kona Challenge Quilt: Colour Block Cross

Happy Canada Day - a little late!

Something Quilty This Way Comes...

Katy and I *Heart* Kona!

Farmer's Wife QAL - Weeks Two and Three

Getting my Farmer's Wife On + FQS Giveaway Winner!

Sweet Baby June: Pattern-Tutorial on SMS

Who What?! Another Giveaway?!

It's Rhubarb Time Again - and the Giveaway Winners!

Market Wrap Up!

Quilt Market Spring 2011: Vol. 5 and a Giveaway!!

Quilt Market Spring 2011: Vol. 4

Quilt Market Spring 2011: Vol. 3

Quilt Market Spring 2011: Vol. 2 and some fun news!

Quilt Market Spring 2011: Vol. 1

To Market, To Market...

Just a few things...

Get Stacked - a New Quilt!

Some Thoughts that Have Been Swirling Around for Awhile...

Yarn prettiness and the giveaway winners!

No yesterdays are ever wasted for those who give themselves to today. -Brendan Francis

What I've Been Up To and a Giveaway!!!!

New Pattern Release and a French Knot Tutorial!

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

Some more destash!

A little de-stash going on...

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

To unpathed waters, undreamed shores. -William Shakespeare

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

One pretty pincushion and a giveaway winner!

I've Been Baking Again...and a Little Giveaway!

Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves. -J.M. Barrie

Not Your Traditional Log Cabin Pillow: Pattern-Tutorial on SMS

The sewing machine joins what the scissors have cut asunder, plus whatever else comes in its path. -Mason Cooley

Block-a-Palooza: Geesey-McNinePatch (Block #5)

Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Katy and I Heart Kona!