Tutorial: Traditional Log Cabin over at Chasing Cottons!

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!

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*

Happiness is a form of courage. -Holbrook Jackson

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!

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

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!

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!