Happy Birthday VMQG!

tonight was VMQG's 2nd anniversary meeting.

it's really hard to believe that it's been 2 years. i feel like i've grown so much creatively since the guild started. when i went to the first meeting in june of 2010, i hadn't made a quilt in YEARS. now it's all i can think about, my wardrobe is severaly lacking because i can't stop with the patchwork and quilting long enough to sew up the tights that i cut out in the spring of 2010, or alter a few skirts. i haven't really done any mixed media in that time frame either, and while i miss it, i obviously don't miss it enough to take time away from my current passion!


i'm not going to start gushing about how awesome my guilds are again, don't worry. i'm too tired for that anyway!


but i thought i'd share a few pictures before i take myself off to bed.




Heather baked and iced almost 50 cupcakes in colours that related to our logo. how amazing is that? (there were green ones too, that didn't fit in the picture.)



and i made cupcake toppers this afternoon, some with our logo, some with the number 2 in our colours. they turned out so cute!

(Carol took a much better picture!)


we had a more social meeting than usual, with an icebreaker, an extra long break and lots of chatting afterwards. it was so nice to talk to so many people. there was much laughter, as is usual for our meetings, along with lots of inspirational show and tell, and awesome prizes.


folks were so amazingly generous with door prizes! at our first anniversary, we decided that we wanted to send everyone at the meeting home with a door prize, kind of a "birthday present" for everyone who helped us celebrate. we did that again this year, and it was fabulous. we had at least 40 people at the meeting, and we still had extra prizes!









i brought the red button pouch that i posted a few weeks ago, and finished up this grey one as well, using leftovers from the UT tote. we're all pouch crazy these days!







all in all, it was an awesome evening. and i'm definitely sleeping in tomorrow!

pouches, pouches and more pouches.

i swear i'm going to post something that isn't pouch themed soon.
but i am so excited to post these. SO EXCITED. y'all don't even know how excited i am.



not only am i happy with how they turned out, they're DONE!

and that feels really damn good. i don't even know why, because i totally have projects that have been dragging along for much longer, but these sort of, i don't know, symbolized how behind i was or something.



i was originally hoping to have these finished by the May 17th VMQG meeting to show example of non-zipper closures. however, i obviously bit off more than i could chew, and instead of having one or two finished samples, i had this stack of cut out pieces and slightly sewn pouches that didn't really illustrate anything. it wasn't as huge deal, i had lots of examples of the closures themselves to show at the meeting along with a ghandout, and i compiled a big list of tutorials that i posted on the VMQG blog. but i wanted to finish these!






(aren't the bottoms all cute? i love boxed corners.)



so, going across the picture, let's start with the red pouches. these were made using a red twill that my mom picked up for me, and it was a great weight to work with.

red pouch #1!



this pouch feels really preppy to me. does it to you? it's just so neat and tidy looking! i was originally going to use d-rings with a strap, but when i went to fabricland to buy thread, i came across these rectangular rings. even better!



the rings are sewn to the flap, and then the strap comes up from the bottom seam to meet them.



this is lined with a stripe that happened to be sitting on my table. i think it's a Robert Kaufman. it worked perfectly with the simple lines of the pouch.



red pouch #2!



i love vintage buttons, and i really wanted to make a pouch that closed like this!



it's like a folio, with two "brads" and a string (ribbon) to wrap around them.



it's lined with a polka dot that was also sitting on my table. i'd say that it's a funny coincidence that i happened to have the perfect prints on my table, but really it's more indicative of how messy my table is!



tucked in behind the other pouches are these two green linen pouches. i really love the colour of this fabric, and i was experimenting with pintucks and pleats on a scrap of it, and decided to use it for pouches. plus, it was on my table. ;)

green pouch #1



does the elastic look familiar? like... a headband, maybe? that's exactly what it is! i know that most people aren't blessed with the goodness that is Dresssew, and therefore their elastic section, but most folks have dollar stores, right? plus, a pack of headbands is totally cheaper than parking downtown!



this pouch doesn't have a flap, it folds over on itself to close.



if you wanted to make your lining a bit longer than your feature fabric and have about 1/2" poking out on the back, that would be so fun too!



here's a little closeup. i kind of want to pintuck everything now!


this pouch is my example pouch, because it was originally was going to have a flap....



and that is exactly why you should make a sample! the flap wasn't really long enough, once i'd added the stabilizer to the mix, and so it didn't actually stay under the elastic... (it looks like it will, but that is the magic of a photo) in addition that, i didn't trim the stabilizer out of the seams at the top, which added way too much bulk in the seams, and my lining didn't even fit. so! lessons learned - make a sample, and trim your seam allowances!



green linen pouch #2 went much easier!



it's a pretty simple little box with two casings along the top to hold the flex frame. i wanted it to be softer than the other pouches, so instead of stabilizer, i used a layer of quilt batting. that way it's not flimsy, but it isn't stiff either.



i lined it with this awesome chevron print. am i totally late to the chevron party? i'm totally loving it lately!



the next two pouches were made using this Echino that i'd been hoarding. i made myself a totebag, which i haven't gotten around to photographing, and thought that pouches were a great use for some of the leftovers. they're the same pattern as the red pouches, but i made them a bit narrower. you can really see the difference in the group shot above, especially if you compare the flaps. they're more square, while the red pouches are more rectangular.


echino #1!



okay, so this pouch came out of me not understanding people. really! folks were talking about snap pouches, and since i always used to use heavy duty snaps on the straps of my vinyl pouches, that's totally what i thought they meant. turns out that they meant metal snap frames... which i just thought of as metal frames. but oh well. i think these snaps are a great closure too! (if you don't believe me, check out the inspiration pics i posted on the VMQG blog post) the visible silver gives a different look - i'm picturing antique bronze snaps with a brown toned print. wouldn't that be pretty?



i added loops to these pouches, but because the Echino is a heavier weight fabric, i offset the ends of the strap when i sewed it into the seam. i didn't try to sew that many layers!



echino #2!

i really like this one. i got to use one of my big vintage buttons, which always makes me happy, and the super bright pink elastic. (which is also from the dollar store hair accessories section)



i might topstitch the flap though. hmm. topstitching just looks so good on the red pouches!



you can kinda see the lining under the flap. it's just a pink cotton solid, nothing too exciting, but it matched really well.



i'm not used to thinking about the nap of fabric anymore, since all i've been doing for so long now is quilts! since i was trying to waste as little of the echino as possible, i lay the pattern pieces sideways. it isn't obvious for any of the other dots, just this grey one with an obviously directional print! honestly though, i'm cool with it.



and i've saved the best for last! echino pouch #3, the eensy edition!!



omg, i LOVE this pouch. seriously, LOVE. lookit how cute it is!



the pieces fit into the circles of the echino fabric, so the front and back are drastically different - but the same fabric!



i used a pattern that i found here (the puffy version, obviously), though i had to size it down slightly to fit into my frame. however! learn from my mistake! there was a pattern in the package for the frame! i didn't open it until i got to that point, so i didn't know! next time, i'll use the provided pattern for the upper part that fits in the frame, and use this puffy pattern for the body.



it perfectly fits the stupidly tiny IPOD Nano that i got for christmas (it's way smaller than my sadly departed 2nd generation nano), and keeps it from turning itself on and killing the battery in my bag (my old one had a lock button. can you tell i want my old one back!? i'm still bitter that it died) it's lined in the same pink cotton as the other echino pouches.



it's tiny! here it is next to my phone, just for size comparison (and no, i haven't caved and got a fancy one yet! do you know how late i was to the ipod trend?).


these metal frame pouches are sO EASY. seriously! we all think they're scary, no doubt in a huge part due to how expensive the frames can be, but they're so easy and fun to do. i kind of want to make a ton of them, but i have no idea what i'd do with them, they're so little!


i used a different kind of glue that what everyone else recommends, and i'm going to tell you about it, cause this shit is the bomb. no, really. it's that awesome. it's called Glossy Accents, and it's made by Ranger, who make inks and stuff for scrapbooking. i have it from when i was doing mixed media, and i've honestly used it for so many things. it dries clear, and shiny (um, it has the word glossy in the name), and it's super strong. it'll attach heavy-ass-shit to canvases and assemblages, and i haven't really come across a situation that it doesn't work for. i pretty much use it every time they tell you to use super glue. but unlike super glue, it doesn't dry out completely (i use a pin to clear out the nozzle), and it doesn't damage plastic (super glue turns some plastics cloudy). i've probably had this bottle for 5 years now, and it's still more than half full. it has a great applicator tip, it's non-toxic (unlike a lot of glues) and it dries fairly quickly, and it's available anywhere you can buy scrapbooking store - ie, the big name stores with 40% off coupons! i have no idea how well it would wash, but that's irrelevant for a coin purse anyway. it's totally a kick-ass product.



whew. that's the end of this extremely long post about pouches. thank you if you read this far! which one is your favourite? okay, which one other than the coin purse, is your favourite? ha! suggestions of what to do with them are welcome, now i have too many pouches!



in other news, thank you to everyone who voted for me in the Play Mini Quilt Competition! i came in third for most popular, which frankly kind of blows me away. there were some really amazing mini quilts made! even though i didn't win any of the awarded prizes, the Random Number Generator was very kind, and i won a random prize! yay for a gift certificate for FABRIC!




i'm linking this up to Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story and Manic Monday Tuesday at SewHappyGeek cause it's been ages since i've linked up to anything!

WIP Wednesday - the pouches and improv edition

look at me, writing a WIP Wednesday post on WEDNESDAY!



unfortunately, i don't have much to report! i think i mentioned recently that i'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by things that need to be done in the next few weeks, but i think if i sit down and actually figure out what needs to be done by when, instead of just thinking "i'll never get anything done in time, i might as well just play bejeweled until i feel less stressed...", it'll all be less overwhelming.


so basically, today's post is really more about me than you...


first of all, i have one more bee block to get caught up on for the Unscripted Bee. i made my blocks (two, actually), and then i got stalled on my signature block and the improv block made out of the extra fabric. that needs to be done ASAP.

also for the Unscripted Bee, june is my month! it kind of snuck up on me (it's june, what??), but i know what i want to do, and i've played around with options a bit, so now i need to buckle down and make a sample, so that i can write out the instructions and send out my packets of fabric. that also needs to be done ASAP!

for the Fab Bee, i need to finish Holly's block, but since i'll be giving it to her at our next exec meeting, which is next week, i have a few days to get it done.

as for the June Fab bee block, the fabric was just mailed yesterday, and i have until the end of June to get it sent back, so it's not as super duper urgent.

and for yet another block, i'd really like to get our VMQG challenge block finished before our meeting. it's going to be in our guild logo colours, similar to the QuiltCon block challenge, and since this month's meeting is our TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY, we really want to get as many awesome modern blocks done for the meeting as we can.

that's a lot of improv, isn't it?! definitely a reoccurring theme.


i've also got a pouch theme going on, with pouches to start, pouches in progress, and pouches to post, as evidenced by Sunday's post.

i posted a whole long list of tutorials on the VMQG blog the other day, complete with some inspirational eye candy, so that's done, thank goodness!

now to decide on which techniques to actually use.....

i have two partners in the swap, so i've got two pouches to make. i've got one of them figured out, and i'm super excited to start on it, but i need to figure out what i'm going to do for the other one. they both need to be done by the June VMQG meeting too.


and in non-improv or pouch news, i've finished the top for the quilt that i posted in my last WIP post, the grey prints with yellow linen. the back needs to be pieced, because it's about 3" too narrow, so that's the next step.

i also have a belated embroidery project that i'm working on when i'm not up to sewing, and i need to thread in all the ends on the back of my Ace of Hearts Mini Quilt


SPEAKING OF WHICH, HAVE YOU VOTED YET? please go vote, it doesn't have to be for me! though that would be nice, if you want to!



i also have a ton of computer stuff and e-mails to get caught up on (i'm sorry Holly! and Arita! and everyone else!), so i'm definitely busy.



however..... i'm really really hoping to carve out some time to play with my new toy....



an Elna Supermatic!!!!

isn't it pretty? it's even got the little bakelite bobbin and accessories holder! (but not the super cute oil can - oh well)

i'm so excited about it. i totally did NOT need another Elna, but i don't care, i love these machines. (i love them so much that i'm planning on a tattoo that'll include one!) it's still down in my car, and i keep forgetting to check the serial number to see when it was made, but this model came out in 1954. it's commonly called an Elna Grasshopper, though technically, i think the grasshopper was the first model, the one before this one. i actually prefer the aesthetics of this model, it's a bit curvier. and it still has the same awesome case, that turns into a table to sew on. really! i think it'll be awesome for quilting, to have such a large surface.


(photo credit to Krista, who posted it to instagram and got all sorts of comments on it, so i'm definitely not the only one who loves these machines! also, please ignore how messy my car is!)

things (and pouches) that i love

hi you guys!

have you had a good weekend? i know you americans still have one more day - i've gotten so many e-mails about memorial day sales! i'm not even opening them now, cause i read one on friday and ended up buying fabric, mere hours after i told myself that i was going to take a break from buying new fabric and actually start using my stash!

in my defense, how often do you find gothy quilt cottons? i HAD to buy Tula Pink's new line, Nightshade! and now i'm DEFINITELY on a fabric buying break.



in other news, i'm very excited about an upcoming swap! the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild (and a few friends, cause the numbers were off) are doing a group swap with the Portland Modern Quilt Guild, and it's going to be AWESOME!

we're swapping pouches, which are an excellent opportunity for fanciness! they're little, so they're perfect for techniques that you wouldn't want to do any entire quilt out of, like english paper piecing, or to showcase more detailed techniques, like hand embroidery or intricate paperpiecing.

active flickr users will be familiar with the multitude of pouch swaps that have been organized, such as the Pretty {little} Pouch Swap, which has had 4 rounds, and the Mouthy Stitches Swap. even non-pouch-specific swaps have included some gorgeous pouches, such as the For The Love of Solids Swap. needless to say, there is a TON of gorgeous pouch inspiration out there!

the guidelines of our swap are pretty flexible. we're to make a pouch that's somewhere between 4"x4" and 8"x8", and it has to have a closure of some sort. that's it!

in addition to the basic guidelines, it was also recommended that we make a mosaic of pouches that we like and post them to the guild flickr group, in order to give our partners some inspiration.

as demonstrated for the Trim the Tree Swap i did last fall, i tend to get carried away with mosaic making!

i think i did pretty well though. i made three mosaics in total, with just one mosaic of pouches.



it's kind of a a big mosaic, but hey, i fit them all in! (for further notes/details/credits, click on the photo and go see the picture on flickr!)


my other two mosaics were about my style in general, and they were really fun to do. i do have a page of info for swapping, written back in the days of craftster swaps, but really, mosaics are more interesting!


one of the mosaics was all about fabric patterns and prints that i love.



everytime i look at this mosaic, it makes me happy, which i think means it's a pretty accurate portrayal of patterns that i love. i realized after i made it that i should've added a brocade print of some sort, like vintage wallpaper, but oh well. everything else is there!


the other mosaic is of things that i love, and it was prompted by the obvious patterns in my flickr favourites. there are, of course, things that i love that i don't really care about the imagery of, like grape flavoured candy, memory foam, or the television show NCIS... they're not in the mosaic! this mosaic is things that i love that i ALSO enjoy the imagery of!



woodgrain! especially awesomely coloured woodgrain!
chevrons! and typewriters!
crows, ravens, magpies, and red-winged blackbirds.
glasses AND paperpiecing. (i really love the imagery of glasses. i have a pillow on my couch that says "glasses are sexy!" glasses are totally hot!)
vintage buttons!

virgin mary, lady of guadalupe, etc.
neon signs!
pyrex, fire king, JAJ, milk glass, etc. (i love all of them, but i particularly love those particular mugs, they always reminds me of the flinstones!)
typewriter again!!
cuckoo clock! (i am so excited that they're so popular and on everything, i've loved them for so long!)

mail! envelopes and stamps and postal love.
more pyrex!
sacred hearts, modern and traditional.
more typewriters!
and boler campers! (that's what in the blank spot, cause that pic didn't work)

anatomical hearts!
birch and poplar trees. so lovely.
more glasses imagery!
wooden grain elevators. love so much.
vintage typewriters! and mid-century illustration styles!

chandeliers, especially bright coloured or black ones.
doilies, in their natural state and dyed
tuxedo kitties like my sofie-bean!!
elna grasshopper! vintage sewing machines!!
and another mid-century illustration! on a stamp! with an owl!!



i love so many things. what do you love?

i really like Habitat. it's weird, i know.

but i do! it's awesome. there are a few prints in the line that i'm not into, but i never like the entire line anyway, so that's nothing new. i know a lot of people aren't that into it, but i love it, especially this one, the drop cloth print.


i made this a few weeks ago for a friend's birthday. Kalin loves this print too, so i used some of my scraps from the VMQG challenge to make her a little flex frame change purse.



and the inside is the same wine fabric as the top.



the front and back are different, cause what's the fun of matching? ;)





obviously, blog posts which require much writing aren't happening at the moment. however, i did take pictures of my VMQG Habitat challenge quilt, so i'll post that soon!

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!