Mini Quilted Trio

I've been keeping this under wraps for a little bit now...one of the many little secret things I've mentioned... and I'm so happy that I get to share it with you now!

I have a pattern in the Summer 2012 issue of Stitch Craft Create magazine!! You may remember that I shared this little sneak peak a couple of months ago...

My pattern in the Mini Quilted Trio, a series of three mini quilts that each use the same number of pieces and techniques to form three different traditional quilt blocks framed with a log-cabin style border.

These three mini quilts include instructions for making the traditional Snowball, Shoo Fly, and Friendship Star blocks. I made these minis using Kate Spain's Terrain and white Kona, and each mini finishes at 12" square. But wait (!!!) maybe they don't have to be displayed in a mini quilt gallery... maybe there are other options...

The awesome crew over at SCC (and trust me, they're a pretty rad bunch) decided to showcase the minis in a few different ways - placemats anyone? Pretty chair covers? The minis are actually featured throughout the magazine in a variety of different settings and uses.

But enough about me, because the magazine itself and the projects in it are all pretty and oh so delightful! And yes, I would say that even if I wasn't in it! When the magazines arrived at my house I was on the phone with my mum and just kept exclaiming how pretty the whole magazine was. I don't think my photographs do it justice at all. There are some really fun projects that I will definitely be trying out - yarn dying? I can do that! - and I wish that I had the time to complete them all because I really think they all look awesome. See that pillow up there? It's designed by none other than the super-talented Corey of Little Miss Shabby - if you haven't visited her blog, which I'm sure a lot of you have, I'm sure you've seen her beautiful quilts and amazing Ringo Pie blocks all over the interwebs.

The magazine will be hitting the newsstands on May 8th, but I just couldn't wait to share it with y'all (dudes, I've already been sitting on this for a few days). I hope that you take the chance to peruse the magazine and find it as pretty and delightful as I do. And if by chance you decide to make some minis using my pattern, I hope that you'll share them with me either via email or in my Flickr group.

Now, let's see, do I have any neutral yarn hanging around that I could try dying? Hmmmm...

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

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*

The Life Quilt...and seeing life in quilting

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.

Terrain Giveaway Winner and Some News!

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!

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*