A Rainbow of Flying Geese

i've been so impatient to post this!


frankly, i'm surprised that i waited a week, but i'll explain that with the fact that the previous week disappeared - what? it's monday again? wtf?


i mentioned in last weekend's felicities post that i'd done a swap with Holly, and i LOVE what i made her - if i hadn't known that she'd love it as much as i do, i probably wouldn't have been able to give it up!


one of the things on my xmas list this year was a fq bundle of Lizzy House's fabric line Pearl Bracelets. Pearl Bracelets is a print that she's included in previous fabric lines, and they've been incredibly popular, so Andover released a line of 26 colours of the print.



don't they look yummy, all neatly folded up along with Lizzy House's other new line, Constellations? (i used a previous line, Outfoxed, for my Improv is Foxy quilt. i'm kind of a fan)


anyone who knows Holly knows that she loves rainbows, and i happen to know that she's a fan of Pearl Bracelets as well, so OF COURSE i had to use part of my Pearl Bracelet bundle to make her a rainbow!




for the patchwork, i decided to use a paperpiecing pattern that lends itself well to rainbows, A Circle of Geese by Piece By Number. (Christina, The Sometimes Crafter, has a great tutorial for this block, if you're interested) the VMQG actually used this as a challenge block way back in April 2011, but i never got around to making it then.




Holly particularly likes the combination of rainbows and natural linen, so choosing my main fabric was a no-brainer. i made the tote in one piece and quilted it with straight lines echoing around the geese (so obsessed with echo quilting!). I continued the quilting down the entire 36" piece, so when i sewed it together, the back had a neat geometric quilting design.




i really really wanted to wash this, just to see the linen crinkle up, but i didn't entirely trust the Pearl Bracelets fabric not to run - the dye quality isn't quite as fabulous with this line as it has been with other lines, and it made me nervous!




i just did a simple boxed corner to create some depth to the tote, and added natural cotton straps that are nice and wide, perfect for carrying Holly's notebooks at QuiltCon (because i know she'll be taking lots of notes!).




and i lined it with a cheerful print by Benartex that i picked up at Spool of Thread, including a zipper pocket and a little loop for her to hang her keys or a coin purse on. (it's best if we don't look too closely at the zipper, okay? i shouldn't have used a contrasting thread for topstitching...)


i didn't use any interfacing in the bag, but i did use quilt batting. that means it's easy to pack, but still sturdy! i'm super happy with how it turned out, and i think Holly is too.





i'm going to link up with a few linky parties this week, since i haven't done that in awhile.

Friday/Sunday Felicities!

This weekend has been so full of felicities, i couldn't post on friday and miss them all!


The first felicity is a felicity for me and some of you! my birthday giveaway! it actually worked out super well, everyone got the notebook they liked best.

the first winner was Hueisei, from Malaysia, who blogs at Love It Sew It.



the second winner was Hadley,who blogs at Flying Blind on a Rocket Cycle. Hadley apparently has really good luck!



the third winner was Heidi, Digital Misfit, who DOESN'T blog at My Hiding Place in Cyberspace, no matter how much you nag her to!



fourth winner is Carol, who blogs at CarolBrowne.com



and the fifth winner was Darlene, whose blog isn't linked on her profile, even though i know she has one. jeez Darlene.



Carol and Darlene have already gotten their notebooks because i delivered them in person, but i'll be e-mailing the other three ASAP.



other felicities?

Yesterday! it was such an awesome day! we had a joint sew-in with FVMQG and VMQG members and it was FABULOUS! i coordinated it, and i'm so glad i did, i've been wanting to connect the two guilds more. we met in Surrey, at the GORGEOUS new City Centre Library, because it was halfway between the two guilds, and it worked out well, once we found enough tables! Carol's blogged about it here with her amazing photos, and again here with a few portraits from the day (that's me!)

another Felicity?

in addition to the fabulousness of hanging out with fellow quilters, i also got spoiled! we exchanged with our partners for the Travel Swap, and my partner was Holly, VMQG's fearless leader. she went with a theme for the items she made me, which was so awesome! she also went way overboard, and made me so many things! i took pictures, but they're all on my camera still, so i'll do a separate post to show them off. i also got to give Holly her main swap item, which i was SO impatient to do! (i'll do a separate post for that too!)

and yet another Felicity?

this morning i went into the city and had brunch at one of my favourite places, with one of my favourite people in the world. we haven't been able to connect as much the past few months, due to various things going on in our lives, so it was especially lovely to see him. i was somehow very with it this morning, full of insightful ideas and suggestions for some reason, and i was super emotional too, i lost count of how many times i teared up over my pancakes! it was just so good to see him and connect.

another Felicity?

after brunch i went to Spool of Thread to get some kona for the Madrona Road challenge, and ran into a few guildies and had a good chat. after they left, i had another great chat with the folks working there. it nice, with lots of enthusiasm for something i love.

and the last Felicity?

Felicity herself! i love Felicity's enthusiasm and happy nature, she's always such a delight to spend time with. does that sound cheesy? it's true! and i love that she hosts the Friday Felicities link up, it's such a good thing. thanks Felicity!


lots of Felicities this week. i'm pleasantly tired....

a little Xmas recap

did you all have a good christmas?

if you don't celebrate christmas, did you have a good every-damn-store-except-the-asian-market-is-closed day?


mine was pretty lowkey, just my immediate family. we ate good food, had naps, ate more food, and so on. i did get a couple of fun quilty gifts - two books from my sister and cash from my parents to buy the Lizzy House Pearl Bracelets fq bundle. i ordered that last night, since it was sold out almost everywhere already!


(excuse the slightly blurry instagram picture, i'm still figuring this phone out. but hey!! i'm finally on instagram!!
)

both of the books are super inspiring - Modern Designs for Classic Quilts: 12 Traditionally Inspired Patterns Made New by Kelly Biscopink and Andrea Johnson totally makes me want to dig out my favourite bright prints and get started, and Quilting Line and Color: Techniques and Designs for Abstract Quilts by Yoshiko Jinzenji is giving me a million ideas for directions to take my art quilts.


but i won't! cause i am MASSIVELY behind on everything. the next few weeks will be all about bee blocks and an upcoming swap package.



speaking of swaps, i made this little ornament for the FVMQG december meeting. i had plans to make a bunch, and maybe even do a tutorial, but that obviously didn't happen. maybe next year.



everyone who wanted to participate brought a handmade ornament, and we hung them on this fabulous fabric tree panel that Lysa brought. there were so many awesome ornaments! i hope someone got a shot of the tree once they were all hung, i was so impressed by the variety.



isn't it cute? i love the chevron it makes!



did you have a good holiday? did you get any quilty goodies? have you entered my birthday giveaway? there's still time!

Felicities!

i know, it's not friday, but i wanted to share some felicities anyway. happy things are good every day of the week!


felicity #1?
ohmygod, i'm so glad guild meetings are done for the month! i'm usually the opposite, sad that i have to wait another month before we meet again, but this month has been exhausting. i over-committed myself (surprise!) and have been frantically rushing for days now to get things done before the VMQG meeting, most especially my big Kona Modern Quilts challenge project. i'd actually hoped to have it finished by the FVMQG meeting on november 8th, and didn't even end up finishing it in time for yesterday's VMQG meeting, so that shows you how severely i underestimated the time it would take to quilt it! of course, it didn't help that i had three other challenge projects on the go as well.... so i'm very happy to have a chance to breathe today. i spent most of my afternoon sleeping, and it was wonderful!


felicity #2
thunderstorms! we so rarely get them out here on the west coast, and i miss them so much. we had some truly spectacular thunder and lightning about an hour ago, and it was a treat. HUGE thunder, it was fabulous!


felicity #3
tutorials! i know, i'm SO BEHIND with posting the tutorials for GotCraft? projects, but i've got one ready to go up tonight! two blog posts in one day, who'd've thought it?


felicity #4
VMQG's scrap bag challenge and swap! Felicity's been coordinating this, and i'm super excited! i didn't have time to dig through my stash and put a lot of thought into my selections, so i filled my ziplock with some tone-on-tone rainbow scraps that were towards the top of my scrap pile, and a large chunk of blue linen, cut from the skirt i nabbed off a sale rack in the mall last weekend, that i had out to use for felicity #5. if i'd had the time to plan out my scraps better, i probably would have ended up with the same, to be honest!

the baggie i grabbed was Paul's, and is full of yummy teal and blue prints that i can't wait to play with! in honour of Paul's amazing quilts, i'm pretty sure i'll be doing some improv piecing.


felicity #5
pincushions! VMQG is participating in huge a pincushion swap organized by Kansas City Quilt Guild, and last night was the deadline for bringing in our pincushions. i'd had an idea for my pincushion for ages, and i was DETERMINED to use some of the Liberty lawn scraps that i'd purchased from Ali of Very Berry Handmade's Folksy Shop, but i was so frazzled with everything else that i didn't think i'd get mine finished.

however, when i finally accepted that i wasn't going to finish my challenge project, you know, late yesterday afternoon, i stitched together a pincushion, and threw some stuffing in a bag with matching buttons. i finished my pincushion during the meeting (nice benefit of not being the secretary anymore!), so i still got to participate.

and i finally used some of my Liberty pieces!



it's a bit simpler than my original idea (which was eensy weensy paper piecing), but i've been assured that i don't always have to go overboard (thanks Holly!).



i used two of the vintage buttons that i found on my most recent trip back east, and though the paler liberty prints are totally not my usual colours, i'm happy with it. Krista helpfully pointed out that it's not actually for me... it was a good reminder! one of my favourite things about swaps is the excuse to make stuff that isn't my own style, and this is a great example of that. hopefully it finds a home with someone who loves it!

teal and grey hexie love

one thing about going away is that i get more handwork done than usual, since i rarely take my sewing machine with me. i'm still working on the project i started during this last trip, but it occurred to me that i never got around to blogging about the project i did on the LAST trip!

i posted an in progress picture last november.....




wanna see what they turned into?



a long long time ago, before Christmas last winter, i participated in a swap between the Fraser Valley Modern Quilt Guild and the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild. since i'm a member of both guilds, i said that they should just put me in wherever they needed to even out the numbers, and i ended up sewing potholders for Heather, one of my fellow exec members at VMQG. this was handy, cause Heather's not super active on teh internetz, making her harder to stalk for inspiration, but since i've been to her house plenty of times for meetings, i knew what her kitchen looks like!




i knew that Heather likes greys and teals, hexies and polka dots, and i decided to combine all of those for her potholders.


no flash

i also knew that she loves 60s style, so i decided to incorporate that into the coasters by adding an embroidered mod girl to one of the potholders. i'm not super happy with how it turned out - i used more strands than i normally would, because i thought it would read better on the grey background, but i think it ended up looking a bit sloppy because of that. it might be just in my head though, because i HATE using more than two strands of embroidery floss!



the embroidery really didn't photograph that well, but Heather's pic portrays it a bit better.



it was funny, because as i was sewing the hexies together, i was frustrated because they didn't feel as modern and streamlined as i'd pictured them. once i had them all sewn together and the sides trimmed straight, it changed the look so much!


no flash

on both potholders, i machine quilted (since i had taken my machine out for that trip, i refused to be without it for as long as i was out there!) straight lines through the solid portions, and echoed the some of the hexies in the pieced portions.



i improv pieced the backs of the potholders using strips of the fabrics that i used for the hexies, and i loved how the quilting looked.




since i was late sending out the potholders, i decided to make something else to go along with them. coasters!!



look familiar? yes, these were the first hexie coasters! you saw the xmas ones that i wrote the tutorial for and gave away, and then the third set that i gave away in my birthday giveaway, finally i'm blogging the originals!



i pieced the fabric that i used for the backs, just to add little pops of colour.




i have to tell you guys, it was SO HARD to mail these off to Heather! i was so glad that they were going to someone who i was sure would like them, and also that i mailed them before Holly's potholders were lost.... i don't know that i'd have trusted them to the post office if i'd known that they'd lost hers! and i love that we use the coasters whenever Heather hosts our VMQG executive meetings!





i'm going to link this up with a few different linkies, now that i'm back, am slowly getting caught up, and have INTERNET again! i missed out on Sew modern Mondays at Canoe Ridge Creations, damn being on the west coast!

but i am linking up with SewHappyGeek's Manic Monday!


i'm also going to link up with Fabric Tuesdays over at Quilt Story , because this is a recent post, if not a recent project..... (because really, since when do i blog ANYTHING right after i make it? i'm not that organized folks!)

Sewing Show and Goodies!

i had a seriously awesome weekend. so good. it was full of yummy fabrics, shopping, favourite people, awesome inspiration, and did i mention the shopping?


Cynthia's already blogged about it (cause she's way more organized than i am) but i'm going to post as well, mostly because i want to show off all the goodies i got!


Friday and Saturday were the Creative Stitches Show in abbotsford, and the very generous organizers gave the Fraser Valley Modern Quilt Guild a booth for the event! yay!

Cynthia, Lysa and Sherri (who obviously needs a blog) did an awesome job setting up the booth, and we changed it up through out the show as well. we took turns doing shifts at the booth, and brought some of our own quilts to put up during our shifts. that's why the following picture looks a little heavy with quilts that i've made!





when i wasn't doing a shift at the booth, i hung out with awesome people, and did lots of shopping. i also spent an hour or so hanging out outside with Kalin, with was sooo nice. it was so lovely outside, we were in shirt sleeves. i have faith that summer will eventually come! i also had the opportunity to take some photos in the sun, so hopefully i'll get around to blogging them soon.


speaking of shopping, look what i got!





a lot more than i'd planned! lots of fabric, obviously! i picked up fat quarters at several booths, including Gala Fabrics, some charm packs, and gave in to the temptation of fabric by the pound from Quilt Essentials twice! i was actually pretty good with the fabric by the pound the first time, but the second time was the end of the day Saturday, when it was fill a bag for $10... how could i resist that?! i also picked up thread, ribbons, needles, brightly coloured trim, the book Zakka Style by Rashida Coleman-Hale, which i've totally been eyeing, and a subscription renewal for Quilter's Connection too.





Barb tempted me with A Stitch in Color charm pack that she bought, and i had to go find one for myself. while i was at the Hamel's Fabric booth, i saw that they also had Pezzy Prints charm packs, so i snatched those up as well. i was going to order them online, but this way i got to support local(ish) and not pay shipping! yay! i also picked up the folded fat quarters above at Hamels, halloween fabrics and some geometric prints.





i have no idea what i'm going to do with these, but i couldn't resist them. i picked them up from the SteamTrunk booth, but they also sell them in their etsy shop if you want some too! in a random the world is so small twist, i met Cathy several years ago when she was the super friendly and helpful clerk at a scrapbooking store i bought mixed media supplies at. it was super fun to run into her again!





Titanium needles. have you tried them? i've heard about them, but i've never had a chance to test them. Kalin picked these up for me from Cindy's ThreadWorks while i was doing one of my shifts, so i didn't actually get a chance to check out their booth, but i'll be checking out their website soon. i also found some thicker needles for quilting or embroidering with perle cotton from A Threaded Needle. Susan was awesome and recommended these needles, which were cheaper than the ones i'd picked out myself, because she knew i wanted them for #8 size perle cotton. i also nabbed her last copy of Zakka Style, yay!

and more Aurifil! gosh, i love this thread. i picked it up from Carola's, two spools of 50wt, and one of 12wt. i haven't worked with the 12wt before, but i'm looking forward to it. i was overwhelmed with colour options, and trying to stay on budget, so i only let myself buy thread that i needed for specific projects. of course, it helped that i can pick up more 50wt when i need it from The Quilted Bear!



in addition to the booth, we also did a meetup and swap between VMQG and FVMQG members on saturday afternoon. the swap was part of a challenge for VMQG, which you can read about here (and see a peak at a few mini-quilts that i haven't gotten around to blogging yet!) the challenge and swap were to create an improv based mugrug. i missed out on taking pictures of them all together, but Cynthia's post has pics of almost all of them. we gave people the option to send their swap items with me or Cynthia if they weren't able to make the meetup, so some people did that, but we also had a bunch brought the day of. it was super interesting to see how different people interpreted improv, and how some folks pushed the limits further than the others.

the meetup aspect of it didn't go quite as well as well as the swap, but that's okay. there was a bit of a mix up with the room that we were in, and some folks were more interested in shopping than show and tell, but next year we'll just bar the door and force them to stay, and i'm sure it'll go better. ;)


i had two mugrugs to swap and i'd planned to give my partner a choice, but the numbers were a bit off, so i ended up with two awesome mugrugs from FVMQG members. i received the amazing CIRCLE mug rug "Olive Juice" from Lysa, and the super springy pretty mug rug from Edi. Lysa blogged about hers here, you should go check it out!





in addition to the mugrugs, Cynthia totally surprised me and spoiled me with fabric! i'd mentioned looking for fishnet themed fabric for a project i did last month, and she brought me fat quarters of the two fishnet fabrics that are in her Roller Derby fabric line! that was so super sweet of her, and now i have to find the PERFECT project to use them in!


and what else do you see in that picture? yes, that is my name tag, which i was wearing in the booth, but see what's on it?

BUTTONS!!!





okay, so one of them's a keychain. that just makes it even better, actually.

Lysa and Cynthia schemed up lots of fun things for our booth, and one of them was buttons to give away. and they were awesome! they made up three designs, one with the guild logo, one that says I <3 Modern Quilting, and ONE THAT QUOTES ME. ohmygoodness. it's slightly embarrassing, but i love it so much that i don't really care. ha! it's so awesome. apparently they were a big hit, and they pretty much all disappeared the first day, but i also don't know how many they made of each design (my oh-so-canadian attempt at being humble. however, they're now threatening to make another design with a different quote from me on it, so that kind of undoes the humility, doesn't it?)

(i almost wore that shirt to the show on friday, but i never actually got around to stitching the letters down, and i'm scared to wear it until i do! i have no faith in fusible web.)

Aprons Galore!

one of the challenges from last month's VMQG meeting was to make an apron. this challenge deviates from quilting, but goes along with a challenge at the upcoming 19th Annual Sewing & Crafts show in Abbotsford at the end of this month. (there isn't any mention of it on their site, but if you open up the PDF of the show program, it's on page 14 of 15)

this is all the info that's given -
-The Apron Challenge is open to all residents of Canada.
-The entry must be an apron made from a pattern company or one you have
personally pattern drafted.
-The apron must be made to fit an adult male or female
-The Entries will be judged for sewing skill, creativity in using “Putting on the Ritz” theme, use of color and overall appearance.
-All aprons must be made this year for the competition.
-All judges’ decisions are final.
-Each entry must be marked with your name, age and address and securely
fastened with a safety pin to the apron.

intriguing, right? i love aprons!

that might seem odd, but it's true. i LOVE aprons! i don't cook or clean or bake with any regularity, but i adore aprons, and always wish i had more excuses to make them. my vintage apron collection is reaching ridiculous proportions, but i still can't resist the lovely 40s and 50s cotton prints.


(this is just a small portion of the collection...)

so obviously, i've had aprons on the brain lately. and on top of that challenge, Sonja from Artisania has decided that she needs motivation to finish the apron that she started ages ago, so she's started a low stress sew-along on flickr.



you should come check it out, there have been some awesome inspirational aprons posted so far!

and in addition to the sew along, we're doing a swap! the International Kitchen Goodies Swap is pretty lowkey - you're only required to send one item to your partner, and it doesn't have to be an apron! you could make pot holders, tea towels, dish cloths, coasters, aprons, market bags, reusable cloth snack bags, tea pot cozies, french press cozies, mug cozies, toaster and stand mixer covers, place mats, mug rugs, napkins, table runners, bread baskets, egg cozies, or more, and they don't have to be sewn either. they can can be crocheted or knitted or embroidered.. whatever you'd like!

sign ups for the swap end at midnight PST on March 7th, or once we've reached 40 swappers.

calvin and hobbes embroidery piece

i actually finished this piece back in march, but because it was for a swap, i had to wait to post it, and then i got distracted, as per usual!

this was for the third Phat Quarter swap on flickr, and the theme was comics/cartoons. usually the Phat Quarter swaps are really random, people just make whatever they feel like (and that creates some truly amazing pieces), but i've swapped on craftster.org for so long that i NEED to make something my partner will like!

so i sent a little message to the person that i was sending to, asking what their favourite comics, etc were. among other answers, my partner really liked calvin and hobbes.

i hummed and hawed, trying to decide what to stitch, and at the last minute, i came across this. it was just so perfect!



it took me a lot longer to stitch then i thought it would, but since there are so many little details, my stitching was really fine.



i totally didn't have time to hand embroider the back, so i digitized the info i wanted to include and machine embroidered it onto a piece of white felt. i framed it the same way that i framed the needlework vulva that i made for the NSFW Phat Quarter Swap, though Maximum Rabbit Designs has written up an awesome tutorial for a different technique as well.

if you're being super observant, you may note that the backdrop in the photos above is actually the passenger side door of my car... i obviously didn't take proper pictures before i mailed it, those were taken in the parking lot!

however, i did try to scan the piece, so that the detail would be really clear, and it turned out well enough.