Friday, September 30, 2011

Giveaway Winner and Other Stuff

Let's cut right to the winner of the charm pack of 'Hoo's in the Forest'.   The random generator picked #83.   I have emailed them.




 Anonymous said...

From YOUR shop I love the pink and purple overdyed fabric. Or maybe the blue dyed fabric. Oh...wait...maybe.

Now onto some other stuff, I have some super duper exciting news.... that will benefit my followers too!   But I can't share just yet... in about 2 weeks I think.   
I am at 495 posts.   Okay, I think this one will probably be 496.   When I reach 500 I am doing a good giveaway.     
I will put my thinking cap on and think of something really really juicy, or rather textile-y.   That may not be a word though.  But you get my drift.
In the meantime, I have 2 projects on the go.   One is my art quilt.  I sliced it in half and then half again.   I will take some pics of that over the weekend and show you.  
Here is a sneak peak of a project I have done for Pellon.


It is so pretty.   Well, you will probably have to trust me on that one, seeing as I didn't show you the whole picture.   I used my hand dyed fabrics.   As soon as Pellon posts it, I will reveal the whole quilt.   And you will be able to go to their website and make one for yourself.

  

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Delighted is Here!

Guess what came in the mail yesterday?   My package of Delighted by the sweet Amanda Herring of The Quilted Fish.  Riley Blake fabrics is the distributor of Delighted.   I just have to say that Amanda and Riley Blake are the most super amazing people ever!   Really!






She sent the whole collection in Fat Quarters!  You don't have to tell me how lucky I am, I know.   And our design team is cooking up some real sweet stuff in the very near future.

The last picture is banner fabric!   You know how banners are all the rage these days.   How easy is this, buy a panel and throw some batting behind it, back it or not, use some pinking shears or a wavy rotary cutter and you are done.  And it looks like you spent hours on it.   I'll get mine made up very soon to show you.  

In the meantime, I am working on an art quilt that I hope to enter into a juried show.   I had a breakthrough this morning and can't wait to show you.   
Don't forget to enter my giveaway.   It closes this Friday.

What else is new?  I am coming up to my 500th post and I am definitely having a giveaway to celebrate that!   

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Fabric Giveaway

To celebrate my opening of my etsy store, I am having a giveaway!

I have a cute charm pack of 'Hoo's in the Forest' by Riley Blake fabrics.   It is so sweet and so adorable.   I love charm packs.  It isn't too much fabric that it intimidates you or makes you think you should save it, but not so little that you can't do anything with it.  And it is all pre-cut perfectly.  That is definitely the best part!

Hoo's in the Forest fabric by Doohikey Designs for Riley Blake Designs -- Pink Main -- Deer, Hedgehogs

Details to enter the giveaway:

1.   Leave me a comment telling me what you buy on etsy.
2.   Blog about it, and get 2 more entries.
3.   If you are a new follower, leave a comment telling me.
4.   For that bonus comment, tell me your favourite item on my etsy site.

I will make a draw this Friday.  Good Luck!!

Friday, September 23, 2011

My Etsy Shop

After a year of thinking about it, I took the plunge.   I opened up an etsy shop.    I am quite nervous about the whole venture, but will take a chance and see how I do.  I just received two bolts of PFD fabric today, so I can begin dyeing more to put in my shop.  

I have some more items that I have from the recent quilt show still to put in, and hope to do so over the weekend.  


Please feel free to take a look and soon I will be offering coupons for my readers for discounts in my etsy store.   



I think this should be celebrated with a giveaway, so check back on Monday!

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Sarah Vee

Imagine my delight when I got to meet my first ever blogger friend!   It happened this past weekend at our local quilt show.   I met Sarah Vee.   She just did the sweetest post about meeting me, and really made me sound great.  

Don't tell her, but I had to borrow her pic of us, as the one on my camera did not make me look good.   My eyes were half shut, I think I gained some weight prior to the photo, my face was bloated, my shoes were undone, and my scarf was tied around my head.   You didn't believe all that did you?  Just trust me when I say I did not look pretty.   I still think the camera added ten pounds.   That or I am slightly delusional about what I actually look like=)


Anyway, I digress.   I got to meet my first ever blogger buddy!  How exciting was that?   I am not the most outgoing individual, but Sarah was so easy to talk to and so very sweet.   

I have been following her blog for quite some time now.  She really is a girl who lives on the adventurous side of quilting.   She is always trying something new, and I mean always.   And she joins all these quilty things and actually finishes them!

So how cool is this magazine?

 

Guess who is in it?  Yes, my friend Sarah!   Can you say wreaking talent galore?

And when you go to her blog, scroll down the side bar, she is featured on the Selvage Blog and is a pattern designer for The Quilt Pattern magazine.

Right now, my favourite quilt on her blog is this one.   Of course there are circles galore in it... but the pattern is actually a bow tie block.   How cool is that?

Go and see what Sarah is up to, and tell her you dropped by.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Table Runner Tutorial

 Check out my new table runner up at Pellon's website.  I used Lola's Posies from Riley Blake fabrics.

  The instructions give you all the measurements and fabric needed to make a twin, double or queen sized quilt using this pattern.   It is done with two blocks and three different fabrics, and looks great the bigger you get.  
I have some exciting news to share very soon, and with that will come a fun give away... so stay tuned!

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Quilt Show (very photo heavy)

I have been MIA for a week.   It was for good reason.   There were 4 of us commandeering a quilt show.    We had a new venue for it, a brand new committee and we were waiting for Ground Zero quilt to come to Canada.    This was our feature quilt, made by Lois Jarvis, in remembrance of 9/11.  It had 4 days to get from Wisconsin to my very little and remote town in Canada.

I didn't sleep for a week.   Literally.   7 days and no sleep.   The quilt came.   I slept.

Then our quilt show took place.   And it came with such success, it was surreal.   People came from everywhere.  They were waiting for the show to open.   They flooded the place on the first day.   There was not one negative comment.  Not one.

And you know what?  I had fun.    The guild I belong to is incredible.   These women work.   You asked them to do something, and it was done.   That's it.   I have realized that my generation can really learn from the older one.   We don't give our word like these people do, we don't start and more importantly finish a task that is assigned to us.   We don't know how to work like that generation.   I admire them.  

I better get to the pictures before I tick any young people off=)    Here is the deal.  I do know who made these quilts.   We allow photos at our show, so I have no problem putting them on my blog.   But, I am careful about putting names on my blog, and I did not ask any of them if I could put their names on, so please know I am not purposely not giving credit to those whose quilts I show, but rather just being respectful.   Whew, after that big blurb, if you are still with me, here are the photos of our quilt show.
This quilt was my all time favourite.   Okay, there wasn't really alot of art quilts there.   But I just loved this one.   And I didn't even tell the maker of it.   




















And this was our feature quilt.  Ground Zero by Lois Jarvis.   It had over 600 faces of the victims who were killed in 9/11.  We had a guest book at the table in front as well as Ms. Jarvis' story of why she made the quilt.   Very few walked away without being choked up.  

Monday, September 12, 2011

My Writing

My little secret.  I mentioned before that I did some writing.   Here is the scoop.  I write for our national quilting publication here in Canada.  I have my own column.  It is a humorous approach to quilting.  Occasionally the editor feels the need to put in a little sidebar stating that my humour does not reflect the views of the magazine.   I guess there is a need to warn the readers that this chick is very sarcastic.   Such is life.   I mean no harm to anyone, and I usually laugh my head off while I write them.  

The editor, a dear sweet super talented woman, has given me permission to allow my articles to be put on my blog.  So just to follow copyright procedures, this one is from the Summer 2010 CQA/ACC magazine.

My disclaimer is this, it is not one of my funniest.  But it was my first one, so I think it deserves to be showcased too.   As an aside, I do have an all time favourite article, and it will get published here.  I still can't read it without laughing, and trust me when I say I have read it over 50 times.   

I even have a name I write under, I call myself the 'Creative Cousin'.  Anyway, have a read, and I hope you have one chuckle. 


The Fabric Phenomenon

There is one thing that every quilter needs in order to create a quilt.  I am not referring to chocolate, although that is an important tool in quilting,   I am talking about  fabric.

We need fabric to make our works of art.   But it is more than that.  We need it to sustain us.   Every quilter has some experience in this area.   I have met hundreds of  quilters, and each is different in their fabric needs and wants.  After careful research,  I have come up with several types of quilters.  

I will start with  those quilters that buy fabric at the onset of every quilt.   They must purchase new material  as they start a new quilt.  I call this group the  Methodical Quilters.   They have the same practiced method each time they begin a new quilt.   They find a pattern, decide on the size of quilt, jot down the amount of fabric needed, and immediately drive to  their  favourite quilt shop.  After a set amount of time looking at material, they purchase it, drive home and begin cutting it up.   These quilters I admire.   They set goals, work at it, and finish the quilt in a timely manner.   They are a very rare breed.   I don’t  qualify for this group, chances are you don’t either.  

I love  the ‘Oh my gosh,  I can’t believe I just found a quilt shop’  Quilters.  The members of this group  boast extreme politeness and  thoughtfulness.   Upon stumbling  onto  a new quilt store,  (that they had secretly spent hours researching ,  then acting completely surprised when they find it),  they go in and feel it is only courteous to buy something from this business to show their support and thankfulness that there was a store in the area they were shopping in.  Guaranteed you know someone who fits into this group, as you probably always offer to  go with them when they say they are going shopping. 

There are some  that take the scientific approach to quilting.  I call this group the Fabric Scientists.   These are the quilters that will pull several pieces of fabric out of their stash and look at them together, then separately, make notes,  move them around in another manner, mix them up again, take more notes,  and finally come up with a synopsis that they simply must purchase more fabric in order for this experiment  ( quilt) to work.  

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the  Scholarly Quilters.  These women study the many  topics of quilting.   For example, one area is colour.   In theory the colour wheel is discussed along with values, hues and intensity.   When it comes to doing the practical, you are forced to go into your stash and create different examples showing the hues and values of several colours.  At this point, the Scholarly
 Quilter realizes that in order to achieve a better mark, it  is  imperative that they  purchase more fabric.   I sometimes take a course just to provide a more innovative  excuse to my husband as to why I need more fabric, usually ending with the comment, “You don’t want me to fail the course, do you?”

The new trend is the Enviro Quilter.   This person is the one that knows how important it is to recycle and reuse fabric.  This is becoming very popular.   You will find this quilter in second hand stores, rummage sales and even looking through your garbage.   They produce fantastic quilts and save a lot of money.  And what a great way to increase your stash.

Then there are the quilters that I envy.   They are the ones that have worked hard their whole lives, raised their children, looked after their husbands and now it is their time to enjoy life.   I call these ladies the Golden Quilters.   They are the ones that go into a quilt store and buy whatever they want, whenever they want.   These quilters deserve it, and I applaud them for getting to this point in their lives where they can enjoy themselves. 

I think the most fun one to watch  is the Impulsive Quilter.   This one goes to every quilt show with the motive that they are not going to buy any fabric.  They are simply there to take in the beauty of the quilts, and enjoy the company of other quilters.   Nonetheless this quilter ends up in the vendors’ market every time with her wallet open.   You can always zero in on the Impulsive Quilter by the comments made.  “Oh,  I really shouldn’t get this, I already have so much fabric.”  Or “I don’t even know what I am going to use this for, but I simply must have it.”
My favourite line is when they get into the car with their friends and are doing a little show and share and the impulsive quilter exclaims, “I had no idea I bought so much!”


Saturday, September 10, 2011

Hand Dyed Fabric

I spent yesterday ironing, and tagging my hand dyed fabric.   I have it all ready to go to our quilt show next weekend.  It is going to be on sale at our guild boutique.   This will be the first time I have ever sold, or should I say tried to sell it.  

I also have done some hand dyed 100% silk scarves.  

Here are my pics.
These are my fat quarter bundles, packs of 4.


Here are some 1 yard cuts, with my silk scarves on top. 



Look at the silk scarf on top, it has white dots on it!   Love that one so much.


Thursday, September 8, 2011

A Little Humor

The secret is out.  If you live in Canada and belong to the Canadian Quilting Association, then you already know.   Most likely you don't though.

I write a humorous column for their magazine.   I have been doing this for over a year now.   I should clarify, when I say ' humorous', I mean total sarcastic funniness.

The other day a few of the gals on the design team were having a rough day, so I sent them one of my articles.   They laughed.  ALOT.   Well, they told me that anyway.

The next day Amanda, our leader, asked me to write a little article for her blog about our team.   I did.   Check it out here.

Then come back and tell me what you think of it.  Stay tuned for a giveaway.   I have been dyeing a ton of fabric and feel like downloading some to my peeps=)

Monday, September 5, 2011

Thread Painting and Hand Dyed Fabrics

My mom had this beautiful panel that she wanted to put in our upcoming quilt show.  I offered to thread paint it for her.   I used a similar dark yellow shade for the centre and just carried the lines out further.   For the petals, I went with a brighter hue of pink instead of the burgundy.   I wanted the quilting to stand out a bit more rather than recede into the quilt.    The batting used is a high loft, so you can really see the areas that stand out.

I have a great respect for thread painting, even though it just looks like you get in and fill up  areas with thread, you don't.   You have to try and figure out where to start, how to get from one place to another and where to end.   Otherwise you have stray lines all over the place, no need to ask me how I know this!



Our quilt show is in 13 days and this is my first time volunteering to be on the quilt show committee for our guild.   (Well, it is the first time I have volunteered at a quilt show, but we don't need to mention that to my guild.)   We decided to keep the committee small and do most meetings via email.  So far it has worked.

Our big catch, is that we are bringing the Ground Zero quilt to our little town.   This quilt made by Lois Jarvis was made in memory of 9/11 and has over 700 faces of the deceased victims on it.

It will be coming on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and it is the first time this quilt will  enter Canada.  It has been to 123 places so far.

We are very thrilled to be able to receive such a meaningful tribute to 9/11 for our quilt show.  I would love to invite all of you, but most of you live very very far from me=)

We always have a guild boutique where guild members can sell their quilted items etc.   This year I got super brave and am going to sell my hand dyed fabric.  Well try to anyway.   Here is a shot of some fat quarters I have ready to be bundled.


When I get everything packaged and labelled, I will take another picture.   Each piece of fabric is not a solid shade, I manipulate it so it has alot of texture in it.   So my question to all my dear followers, would you buy any?