To unpathed waters, undreamed shores. -William Shakespeare

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

One pretty pincushion and a giveaway winner!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!