Friday/Sunday Felicities!

i did an impromptu Felicities post earlier this week, so this one is a bit more superficial..... welcome to the consumerism issue of Friday Felicities!


Felicity #1 - Black Friday!

i hate shopping malls and i hate crowds, but i'm a huge fan of online shopping, so this has been a pretty great weekend!

Fabric.com is having a pretty great sale with lots of designer cottons for $4.95 a yard - including lots of Habitat prints! (i know you'd all be sad if you missed out on those!) i didn't buy any - even though i actually really liked the Habitat line - because i still have a Habitat quilt on my WIP list. i was being responsible, okay?

i did pick up some yummy prints though, mostly Tula Pink's Parisville and Erin McMorris' Summersault, two lines that i really liked and thought i'd missed out on. i also grabbed a few spools of Aurifil 50wt thread (so cheap!) and some vinyl and oilcloth to play with.

and in addition to the Black Friday sales, Fabric.com also has a Thanksgiving coupon code right now where you can get 15% off purchases $50-$99.99, 20% off purchases $100.00-$199.99 and 25% off purchases $200.00 and up. Since i needed to buy 7 yards of one print for an art quilt i'm planning, i combined that with the prints i picked up, and was able to get 20% of it as well.


Pink Castle Fabrics is having an AWESOME sale, with 25% off all Kokka fabrics! (and Liberty, and precuts, and 10% off a bunch of other stuff...) this is perfect timing, cause my friend Heidi just brought to my attention the fact that Melody Miller's latest fabric line, Ruby Star Sparkle, is out! you all know that i can't resist that, right? however, i DID only buy my absolute favourite prints in the line.... that's responsible, right?


Michelle Patterns is also having their annual DIY for the Holidays sale, with all patterns $5. this sale ends today though, so if there are any patterns you've been eyeing, grab them now! (did you see Krista's version of the Two Zip Hipster?) a lot of their hand bags are small by my standards, but i'd definitely been eyeing the Ditty Bags, the shape is so awesome!


you guys have heard me rave about Urban Threads before, right? they're having a storewide 50% off sale! their sale goes until December 2nd, so you have a bit more time to peruse their giant selection. even if you're not a machine embroiderer, you should definitely check out their hand embroidery patterns - they're $0.50 each! i definitely need to get back into machine embroidery, and i know they've added a ton of new designs since i last bought a bunch, so i know what i'll be buying this week....


(if you're looking for more Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales, Sew Sweetness has a great round up of fabric sales)


and to continue with the shopping theme -

Felicity #2 - Save On Fabrics

i'm pretty sure i've talked about Save On Fabrics before, but it's probably been quite a while. Save On is a family owned fabric store less than 5 minutes away from my parent's house, and i've been going there for years now. they recognize my voice on the phone, though they can't always tell the difference between me and my sister!

Save on Fabrics isn't your traditional quilt store - i actually started going there when i was doing a lot of work with vinyl, because they have an awesome selection of vinyl and upholstery fabrics. they also carry a lot of fashion fabrics like chiffon, rayon, silk, a great selection of cotton knits (best i've found in the lower mainland, actually) and synthetic knits like spandex, lots of flannelette, some great wools and linens, and all of the usual interfacings, stabilizers, etc. basically, they have everything! their prices are always comparable, but quite often they're awesome.

they don't usually have a whole lot of cotton prints, but what they do have is a great price, $6.99 or $7.99 a metre (i forget which, helpful, i know). a few weeks ago i went in to pick up one little thing, and there were bolts of cotton everywhere! they'd just gotten in a whole bunch of prints of all different styles, so i dug through them and found some great additions to my stash.


i love this line! you can see from the large coordinating print on the bottom of the stack that there's yellow in this line as well, but i just picked up these ones. (i have a RIDICULOUS amount of yellow in my stash, due to a previous project that i still haven't gotten around to blogging)


kind of a novelty print, but oh so cute! and i love the graph paper print!


(recognize the top one from the keychain tutorial?)

Birthday Giveaway!!!

hey! guess what yesterday was? my birthday!


do you give yourself presents for your own birthday? i usually treat myself to something, though more often than not, i end up getting cash from family anyway, so i can justify the treat.

this year i bought myself a cute vintage kitchen table. formica, of course, with a nice wide chrome band. it's still in my car, due to the plumbing issues/kitchen renovation that has yet to start, but i'm very excited! i started eyeing it as soon as i saw it, but it was more than i could justifiably spend on a table, especially when i already have a table, ugly though it may be. my patience was rewarded by a 50% off sale, and i snapped it up! it came back from manitoba with me, disasembled in the back of my car, and sofie seemed to enjoy perching on it during the trip home.

i also gave myself the gift of time - though it hasn't happened yet. my current bag is the one i made in the summer or 09, when handmade nation premiered in vancouver. i've replaced the straps twice now, and it's hanging together by threads.

i've been hoarding my ruby star rising stash to make a bag out of, and i finally decided to try using a pattern, rather than make it up myself. i purchased the noodlehead 241 pattern, which i'm sure you seen around the interwebs, it's ridiculously popular, and i enlarged it, because the original is much too small for all of my crap. of course, i haven't gotten to it yet - so that's my present to myself. i'm setting aside all of the things that i'm super behind on, and i'm going to sew just for myself for a few hours - after xmas, of course!


that's all very interesting, but i'm sure you're wondering "what about my present?" you're not? that's very nice of you! however, i did promise you a giveaway, didn't i?

i meant to get this posted yesterday, on my actual birthday, but i decided to sew up something else to include, and time got away from me. i sewed and relaxed for most of the day, then continued a tradition started last year and went into the city. i stopped by spool of thread and hung out with henry for little bit (still no kona medium grey though, it's backordered. so sad!), and then went to one of my favourite places, rhizome cafe, for dinner with some of my favourite people. my family came, along with treasured friends who i count as family, and it was a really wonderful evening.

and then i went home and sewed up some of the new fabric that i got at spool of thread, just for you!



so here's the giveaway!



you're eyeing the books, aren't you? i don't blame you at all, i was so excited when i found them!


there are three japanese quilting books. they vary in complexity, and are numbered 1-3. the first has simpler projects and the basics of patchwork, the second includes a bit about handquilting, and the third includes more detailed projects, such as hexies and blocks with y-seams. they all have super cute projects in them, and pattern templates printed in the back.


now, the books aren't in english, obviously. they have tons of illustrations, and the measurements for everything are included, so i'm sure you'll be able to figure them out. however, the measurements are in metric, and i know a lot the folks who follow this blog are american, so i'm including a little teddy bear measuring tape that's in centimetres. cute, huh?


i wanted to make something for the giveaway as well, so i went with something useful.


are you surprised? i'm kind of on a coaster kick! i'm still working for a tutorial for the xmas ones, by the way. if it's not up tomorrow, it'll be up right after christmas.


these coasters are a bit different, because i didn't do the appliqued hexies on the front, but i stuck with the hexie shape. i used some of my precious ruby star spring (are you seeing a pattern? i love melody miller's designs!), buzz, in the tomato vine colourway.


the back is part of the same fabric, and i purposely didn't make them all identical, i cut them from various parts of the print, just for variety.


and what did i pick up at spool of thread?


fun, isn't it? i was tempted by this print when it came in, but i wasn't sure what i'd use it for. the scale was perfect for this project, so i finally had an excuse to buy some. it's called love flowers, from the house & home collection by benartex.


i made a little flex frame change purse out of it, topped with black kona, and a matching blue kona for the lining.


i was so excited when i found the flex frame/internal spring frames, i had to use one for the giveway!


and what's a giveaway without sweets? i'm including some canadian chocolate too. i know that some of these can be bought in the states, but trust me, they don't taste the same. i always feel bad for you americans and your chocolate! if the winner is canadian or british, this isn't super exciting, i know, but i'm sure you'll still enjoy it.


so!! giveaway guidelines!!

- leave a comment on this post to enter. tell me something! what birthday traditions do you have? do you get stressed about your age, nervous when you hit the big ones? have you sewn anything for yourself lately? have you ever used a flex frame, or any other kind of frame for purses? have you seen any cool tutorials lately? share a link? are you a fan of melody miller's designs? are you as excited about ruby star shining as i am? typewriters!!!!

- leave another comment if you're a follower, old or new!

- and leave another comment if you link to the giveaway on your blog, on twitter, facebook, etc.

- giveaway ends December 30th 31st at midnight, PST. that gives you all a bit of time after the holidays to get caught up on your blog reading. (i'm extending it cause i forgot how many days there were in December!)


have fun!




oh! wanna see my table? here's a peek, from when it was in my grandma's garage -

i love it!

Sherbet Pips Strips - Bloggers' Quilt Festival!!

hi! welcome to everyone who's popped over from Amy's Bloggers' Quilt Festival!


new guests and regular visitors might like to check out my brand new "about me" page, over there on the right. it's kinda long, so feel free to skim. i tend to babble.


the short version is - hi, i'm amy dame. i've done almost every type of craft imaginable, except knit, but through it all, there's been sewing. about a year and a half ago i got back into quilting hardcore, thanks to the MQG. i'm on the exec for Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild, and i'm a member of the Fraser Valley Modern Quilt Guild, and the quilting bug doesn't seem to be waning! i also do hand and machine embroidery, make clothing, and occasionally do more art focused pieces. i've been blogging here for a bit more than 4 years, and i'm terribly embarassed by the quality of the photos in my older posts. remember when we thought those were good?!

thank goodness digital cameras have improved!


unfortunately, technology doesn't always guarantee good help.


(what a wimp, it wasn't raining that hard!)


i kind of wanted to use my Foxy Improv quilt for the Bloggers' Quilt Festival, but really, i JUST posted it! i know that's okay, but i figured something that i hadn't shown yet would be more interesting for regular visitors.


so Sherbet Pips it is!


this is a simple quilt, but i wanted it to be. this summer i felt like i'd been working on too many stressful, deadline based projects. (the largest one being my quilt for the art show, obviously). i'd purchased quarter yard cuts of a bunch of Sherbet Pips prints for no other plan than to make something for myself. (i'm sure most of you can emphasize!) i never used to make quilts that were all the same fabric line, but i fell in love with how cute this line was, and i just couldn't resist!


i knew i wanted to make a strip quilt. i originally plotted it out in photoshop and it was a very fancy strip quilt.



impressive, but damn, i so didn't have the energy for all that. by this point, i wanted EASY!

so i redesigned it.



i thought about adding solids, but none of the Konas actually matched very well, so i stuck with white. this is actually the first quilt i've made with this much white. it's commonly used in modern quilting - that's exactly why i've avoided it! (i have a tendancy to be perverse)



i love the quilting on this quilt. i did enough straight line quilting to remove the basting pins, and then i went back in and did the curved, swervy lines. i like the contrasts.



i used Aurifil 50wt for the quilting because i didn't really want the white thread to stand out on the prints and it worked perfectly.



someone in my guild told me later that my quilting on this had inspired her when she couldn't decide how to quilt something, and it was so awesome to hear. it wasn't super fancy quilting, but it was perfect for her project. we need to tell people when they inspire us more often!



i saved one of my quarter yard cuts for the binding, and i'm so glad i did. the scarf print gave a fabulous stripey effect.


before i made the back i plotted out another strip quilt pattern, for a baby quilt this time, and set these strips aside. then i pieced the back using what remained of my scraps, a large section of one print (i accidentally ordered two quarter yard cuts of the same fabric - the perils on online shopping!), a teensy bit of white and a large piece of red flannelette from my stash.



ignore the fact that my sister is attempting to use the quilt as an umbrella, though not quite as obviously as in the photo at the top. focus instead on my AWESOME BOLER that's finally home!! it's still a disaster inside, but it's fabulous anyways! cleaning it out and fixing it up is my winter project.



i love the way flannelette quilts up, it's so yummy.


i made one of my usual machine embroidered labels for the quilt. pretty simple, just the title of the Quilt, my name, location, date; and the snail.



i've never had a label go this wonky before. hmm. of course, i didn't realize it until AFTER i'd quilted it all.it doesn't look that bad in the photo, it's really only noticable on the left side, but it's definitely wonkier in real life.



a bit of a close up. i scanned a piece of one of the fabrics and digitized an embroidery design based on one of the tiny little snails. isn't it cute? that's also the first time i've tried one of the fill stitch patterns that are in my digitizing software (the design sewn into the snail shell), it was fun. i included a portion of selvedge in the label, since the entire quilt is one fabric line.




i hope you're enjoying the Bloggers' Quilt Festival! make sure you go over and check out some of the hundreds of amazing quilts being shown, and maybe you'll find yourself a few new blogs to fall in love with!

{edit to add}
i'm also linking up to Maniac Monday over at Sew Happy Geek, just for the hell of it!

Outfoxed!!! Quilt!!! Improv is Foxy!!!

it's done!! hurray!!

i'm so excited about this quilt! i'm so proud of it, and i want to dance around and show it to everyone i know. ta-da!! yaay!!



remember, i posted my in progress picture the other day? it looks different, huh?



to recap, the fabric line i'm working with is Outfoxed, designed by Lizzy House for Andover.
the fabric isn't available most places yet - Spool of Thread was one of the first in North America to receive it, which NEVER happens in Canada! i went in to pick up a yard of Kona for something else, and there it was! I'd seen it online, and yeah, it's cute, but honestly, it is so AWESOME in person! i added a few Konas, amber, lupine, tangerine, plum and sable.

i started out with a wonky log cabin. after i'd made it as wide as i wanted the finished quilt, give or take, i cut it into two. i added strips to the top of one side and the bottom of the other, and a few in the middle to add a bit more width, and sewed them back together.



this was the sketch that I started with, the only sketch i did. this was my first real improv quilt. for all the quilts i've done in the past, i've plotted out a lot more details, and measured a lot more. i'm so happy with how it turned out!






i used two different colours of thread to quilt it, an orangey yellow for the vertical quilting, and a plummy purple for the horizontal quilting.



i "quilted the crap out of it", as usual! i purposely didn't wear quilting gloves, so i didn't have a great grip on the quilt as i was quilting, and i quilted it quickly (though it still took forever!), purposely allowing the lines to swerve a bit, and not end up perfectly straight.



for the larger Outfoxed print, i quilted around the triangle trees and along some of the branches.





i backed it with a solid brown flannelette, because i LOVE flannelette backings, especially when the quilting is super heavy.



the label is a kona, though i don't remember what the colour is called. i try to always use preshrunk fabric when i'm machine embroidering, because it'll pucker when it shrinks otherwise. i have a seperate stash of preshrunk konas for hand and machine embroidery. i really wanted to include the selvedge in my label, but somehow, with all of the prints that i bought, i didn't manage to get a full selvedge that included both the name of the fabric line, Outfoxed, and Lizzy House, the designer's name.



i was going to give this away, and i know that my planned recipient would love it - but i love it too! plus, there's this..... i have a different idea for a quilt to give away, so i think this one will live with me instead.


i'm linking this up with {Sew} Modern Monday and Fabric Tuesday (once it posts!). i'm also entering it in Stitched in Color's Celebrate Color - and as i said the other day, i know that i used the same fabric as the prize for October, which feels kind of weird, in that "wearing a band tshirt to the concert" kind of way, but oh well. i'll live with it, because i just couldn't resist the fabric!





and because i'm so excited about it, i'm also linking it to amylouwho's new Sew and Tell Fridays, amanda jean of crazy mom quilt's Finish It Up Friday, and Angie of Stitching by Starlight's Finished It Friday.

Foxy Christmas Fabrics

i signed up for my first charm swap, and i'm excited! It's a Modern Christmas Fabric swap, organized by Emily over at the Strawberry Patch, and the flickr group is already looking veeeerrrryyy promising!

i went out today to buy my fabric, because i'm one of the international partipants, so i need to send my charm squares with plenty of time. i'm not worried, because mail seems to get to the UK faster than it gets the 30 min across the border to the US, what the hell canada post. but anyway, i wanted to get that done, and not leave it to the last minute, like i usually do. i very naively believed that i could get to Fabricana and then back over the Patullo bridge before 3pm, when they shut the exit to the bridge that i use, and i have to go the long, busy, annoying route, but of course, that totally didn't happen! i didn't factor in the ridiculous construction, and after leaving the store i sat for half an hour and traveled about 2km. i decided that was a sign, and took the scary bridge instead (the Port Mann, it freaks me out!), which meant that i drove right past Fabricland on the way home. dangerous!

i had to get thread anyway, so i decided to check out their holiday fabric... and found the rack of last year's discounted fabric! most of it was pretty traditional, but it will totally work for christmas gift bags to go under my parent's traditional tree! so i bought a bunch. 4 metres of a red that was $3.60/m (and it's glittery! i'm such a drag queen.) and 6 metres of this great lime green and red print that was $2.60/m. awesome! i guess the lime green and red could be considered modern... but as perfect as it will be for gift bags, i didn't think it felt like good enough quality for the charm swap. i picked up a few other bits of the discount fabric, and resisted the temptation to buy Michael Miller xmas prints (aqua and red! deer!!).

these are the two i decided on for xmas swaps. since the FVMQG is doing fq swaps at guild meetings, i needed a metre of christmas fabric for the november meeting anyway. i figured i'd get two options, and one would be for charms, the other for fqs. i haven't decided which is which yet though!



the fabric on the left is Jovial by Basic Grey for Moda and the fabric on the right is by Have a Sheri Berry Holiday by Sheri Berry for Lyndhurst Studio. i made a tablecloth and a mini tree skirt out of that Sheri Berry holiday line last year, though i don't think i ever took pictures of it! the Moda is a bit creamier in person, and the Sheri Berry is a bit more aqua or minty. as much as i like their designs, and liked them in scrapbooking before they even start designing fabric, i personally don't feel that the Basic Grey is super modern. i think it's because of the cream undertone, but i know that a lot of other folks do. (i don't think that sweetwater is that modern either, sorry!) honestly, Fabricana's christmas selection was kind of sad. i wonder if it was too eearly, and they'll get more? hm.

also, i'm wondering, because i'm the kind of geek who loves this shit*, do you think that the fabric selection would be different if it was a swap with primarily North American participants? i'm really not trying to police what is modern, or anything like that, and all of the fabrics that have been added to the flickr group are lovely, so i'm not being critical, i just started wondering how the different nationalities of bloggers might change their opinions and views. there are lots of bloggers from the UK and from Australia, and then us Canadians, and of course, the Americans. is modern quilting different in different places? it's curious.

*i really do love stuff like that, looking at regional differences. and on that note, if someone can properly explain why Brits and Australians call muslin "calico", i'd love them forever! it just doesn't make sense! what do they call calico cats in the UK?


also, since i've been nattering away at you, i figured i might as well show off an in progress shot of my Outfoxed project. yes, i did JUST post that i purchased the fabric, but i couldn't resist it! i'm further along now than i was when i took this, and i'm hoping to pin baste it tomorrow, but this is where it was at the other day -



i love this fabric so much. i told myself that i wasn't going to follow fabric trends for the fall and the winter. i honestly didn't think that there was anything that i HAD to have (except ruby star spring, of course!) but when i saw this line in person, i fell in love. it looks so much nicer in person, seriously. i have scraps left, and i'm thinking of making a cushion out of them... not sure i have enough, but we'll see!


and i'm linking up to Fabric Tuesday!

WIP thursday and exciting new fabric!

i hven't done a WIPs post in awhile, mostly because i haven't had anything to update. as i said a few posts ago, i've been lacking in motivation lately. i have six million projects on the go, but none of them are really grabbing me at the moment, you know? i've been spending way too much time searching flickr, and not nearly enough time sewing.

i DID finish my sample blocks for the September VMQG meeting, for the halloween challenge. i finished something!

i've also done some work on plotting out my Billboard quilt, and i've pulled out all of the fabrics for it, but that's as far as i've gotten.

i gathered my fabrics for the FVMQG's Mod Sampler Quilt-a-long

but i haven't started cutting yet - apparently that's the hardest part.

i cut and sewed all of the blocks for the front of the Across the Sea Quilt-a-long, but i still need to trim them. i'd lent my 12.5" ruler to a friend, and even though i now have it back, i still haven't gotten around to it. nor have i cut or sewn the blocks for the back...

i also started a new project using a prize pack of fat quarters from Pink Chalk fabrics. i realized that i'd won the pack in APRIL, and it was completely ridiculous that i hadn't even touched it yet. and even though i have a million WIPs, i thought it might be a nice break to start something small and actually finish it soon. that totally isn't what happened!

(the pack together was called "Little Boy Blue")


i chose the fabrics that i wanted to use (the ones above), i decided on a pattern, i cut, and then i sewed, and then i cut again. and then i laid it out on my design wall (pre-picnic, obviously). and i'd done it COMPLETELY WRONG. seriously! so then i had to rewrite my plan, cause i sure as hell wasn't gonna unrip it all. so, new plan! i figured it all out, and started cutting out small chocolate brown squares. i cut out a whole bunch and thought, yay, now i'm ready to sew! except... i can't do math, and i'd only cut out half as many as i needed. and i couldn't find my chalk pen to mark the diagonals for the HSTs. so much for a quick finish! that quilt is now in a ziplock bag waiting for more patience.

i did finish my Sherbet Pips quilt, but that doesn't count, because i said that i'd finished it in my last WIP post. i just haven't taken photos of it yet. the fabulous Krista offered to help me take pictures at the last guild meeting, but because i was all preoccupied and can really only focus on one thing at a time, i turned her down, hopefully nicely, considering how preoccupied i was, and said i'd get my mom to help. as if that's happened! meanwhile, there is still a baby Sherbet Pips to come, and the strips are all pieced and labeled and ready to sew together... this weekend maybe?

and yesterday i decided that it had been much too long since i'd sewn anything, so i sewed up the rest of the bowtie blocks for the smaller baby quilt. as soon as i find the new tablecloth that i bought for a design board (i took my old one on a picnic - it worked fabulously to protect the blanket from the wet ground, but it's a bit dirty now!) i'm going to lay it all out and see if it looks as fabulous as i've been imagining.



other projects on my WIPs list - Unscripted blocks, the RSR pouches that are ridiculously close to being finished, the binding on my green kona quilt, that blue and black half-quilted monstrosity that's holding half my favourite basting pins hostage, the blue modern traditional quilt

on the quilts to come list - my ghastlies quilt, my far far away II quilt, start a portrait quilt, the housewarming pillow, the black and red circles quilt, start one of the art quilts floating around in my head....


and in other news - i think my motivation issue has been solved! i went into Spool of Thread today to pick up a metre of a Kona solid for the FVMQG fq swap, and LOOK WHAT I FOUND!!!!
(if you're on their e-mail list, you'll know - i was buying mine as Henry was sending that!)





apparently we're among the first in north america to get our hands on it (that never happens!)!!

i'm completely in love with the Wisely colourway, and immediately grabbed my favourites and found some Konas to match.



but as soon as i saw the Smartly colourway, i thought FALL!! and since i'd been contemplating a project for Stitched In Color's Celebrate Color contest, they seemed perfect for it. so i piled them up too, along with more Konas. (i totally did not remember that the Outfoxed line was one of the prizes for this month, and now i feel kind of ridiculous. it's still okay to use them for the challenge, right? is that too much like wearing the band tshirt to their concert? i always thought that was a stupid rule anyway....)



guess what i'll be working on this weekend? i'm thinking improv... maybe.

the Cleverly colourway is also super gorgeous, and would make such a lovely baby quilt. hopefully there's still some available once my budget recovers from today!


you should note that those links don't actually show the full colourways... they're all missing the Jewels prints, which you can see in my photos. funnily enough, i've been loving the Pearl Bracelet print in quilts and patchwork that i've seen on flickr, and totally regretting that i don't have any in my stash, but now that it's available again, i'm just not loving them. it's the colours i think, because if the pearl bracelet prints were the same shades as the jewels prints, i would LOVE them, but they're all lighter tones. maybe next time!



also, i may be willing to concede defeat (yes Henry, you were right), now that i've checked Lizzy House's blog, but i still think that porcupines make more sense. foxes and rabbits live in the forest, with porcupines! do we even have hedgehogs in North America? for some reason i picture them in South America, like guinea pigs, but i guess a lot of English children's books have hedgehogs as characters, so maybe they're a European thing... hmm. must google this.