Down for the count and the fabric flea market

It's been a while since I have been around these parts. I have been down for the count over the last couple of months. Turns out that my never-ending autumn cold was pneumonia. I have mostly been sleeping over the last 6 weeks. BORING! I'm starting to return to my normal self (thank you antibiotics!) and so I hope to see much more of you around this blog. I also hope to be back into some crafty pursuits. Sleeping is not a very creative pursuit.

I wanted to share some of my happy finds from the "Fabric Flea Market" this year. I look forward to the market day like a 4-year-old looks forward to Christmas morning. The sale this year did not disappoint! Here are my acquisitions. Feel free to drool a little bit.

Hoops. A hand stitch lover can't have too many of these! (yes, I also bought the gorgeous vintage fabric underneath the hoops. I think that it is a "brocade"?? It has a texture to it - feel free to correct me if I am calling it the wrong thing).




Buttons. Yum. You may remember that I love them so.




Love:

Vintage cotton thread on wooden spools! I adore the flood of colour. Just one question....Can you actually sew with old cotton thread? I'm inclined to say yes...is that just wishful thinking on my part???

FABRIC!:

Looks like vintage sheets, but is really vintage fabric - love it!:

I think that this fabric is my favourite! Do these ladies remind you of anyone?

Don't they look like Mary Poppins???

(image source)

Lacey bits. Some seem to be vintage. I suspect that some are not. I have no idea what I will do with them, but I love them!

Last year I bought every piece of gingham that crossed my path. This year I couldn't pass up a polka dot. (Why yes! That is some Amy Butler fabric on the top of the pile.).

The fabrics have been washed, ironed and added to my stash. now I just need to come up with the perfect projects so that I have the courage to cut into them.

Creative flounder (fishy pun intended)

I have so much to post about...and nothing to post about! I have made lots of progress on several projects with few completions to show....until now.

BEHOLD! (Another!?!) patchy baby blanket.

It's for a work colleague. She is very stylish and bohemian - a perfect fit for some fabric from the fabulous Anna Maria Horner. (Yes pink lovers, she is having a girl!).

The patchwork and quilting happens to be a repeat of a quilt that I made for another work colleague. I really love making simple patchwork quilts. Does a production of two quilts make it my trademark-go-to quilt???

I was especially happy with the back. Some vintage linen (that was purchased at the Fabric Flea Market last fall) and a tiny strip of patchwork. I do like a little "surprise" on the back of a quilt.

Now that the weather has turned colder, my thought are starting to turn to Christmas projects. Too early???! When do you start tackling your Christmas list?

Zombie stitching...

Does anybody else have their attention span just melt in the heat?

I have had to resort to super simple stitching to accomodate my lazy summer attitude.

We have spent much of the summer with a cold beverage in hand in company of friends and family. It's been a restful summer (for the most part - let's not talk about the day it "rained" in the dining room - darn you roof! Grrrr).

Back to restful, mindless, summer stitching:

I have also been taken hostage to the allure of the hexagon. I have been amassing a humongous pile. Originally I had decided that I would make an entire hexagon quilt from my Anna Maria Horner fabrics (don't they seem so bohemian, Horner fabrics and hexies???). 100s (and I DO mean 100s!) of hexagons in, I have changed my mind and decided that hexagons look best as a mish-mash of scraps of fabric. Once again I fall prey to my indecisiveness. No matter. I will need years of hexagons to ever end up with a quilt. I view this as a project that I will keep coming back to over the years.

Maybe I should sign myself up in some hexagon swaps to trade some Horner hexies for other fabrics???


In the meanwhile, I have abandoned my mindless hand work for a simple patchwork baby blanket. Can't wait to spend some time sitting behind my sewing machine. It's been a while!


Happy summer stitching to all!

Loveliness...

I'm sure that you have heard by now that the Victoria & Albert Museum (in London) is having a quilting exhibit.

When I travelled to London a few years ago, missing the V&A was high on my list of "Oooo....I wish that I had more time so that I could have seen that!" regrets. I am practically frothing at the mouth now with all of the exciting details of the quilting exhibit!

I followed the links to the V&A on-line shop. Loveliness! I am particularly taken with these scarves, which are crocheted, not quilted, but remind me of all of the hex-y love that is happening in the quilting world.

link to scarf in the V&A shop

Close, but no cigar!

I love me some hand stitching. When life gets to be stressful in the slightest I start to crave a little bit of hand stitching to slow life down and put everything into perspective. Yesterday was one of those days where I was itching to get into my pyjamas and hand stitch up a storm! OOooHHHMMmmmmm....

In preparation for my exciting evening plans, I purchased this London embroidery pattern from Comfort Stitching that I have been coveting for quite some time. I feel certain that it will make the perfect gift for my sister to memorialize the trip that she, my mom and I took to London together.

I gathered all of my material and successfully transferred the pattern onto a lovely piece of white linen that I had hanging about the house....and then I realized my problem....NO EMBROIDERY NEEDLE!! Argh. I spent the next 20 minutes pulling out all of my craft supplies because I could not believe that it could be true. Regrettably it was. Any of you out there have similar crafty tragedies befall your happy crafting night??? Any crazy rampages through your crafting supplies? Do you ever contemplate frenzied emergency trips to the supply store late at night?

Fortunately, the evening was not a complete wash. I managed to located my two baggies of vintage buttons that were missing for another project. One vintage white buttons, another vintage shell buttons. (NOTE to self: perhaps a re-org of the crafting shelves is due??? If one spends more time hunting for craft supplies than crafting, it is a problem.)

Images of how the buttons were used to follow! For now, please enjoy the pictures of the lovely roses that my husband purchased.

Gorgeous, non?!

Why we are having pizza tonight...

268 - 4" hourglass squares


Half of which are currently carefully laid out on the dining room floor....


Tonight I must keep the 3-year old boy out of the dining room and off of the quilty mess. I must "randomly" lay out the rest of the squares and then create orderly little stacks to be pieced for a quilt top.

My lovely husband is celebrating his 40th birthday this year. I was so flattered when he told me that he wanted a quilt. He loves these Kaffe fabrics...and so do I!

Can I deliver this quilt by a Friday deadline? It seems doubtful. I would at least like to have the top pieced for that lovely man. It would be nice if he had an actual gift to open. I would really do almost anything to make certain that he enjoys his BIG day. He's a bit nervous about 40, and I want to make sure that the day is filled with happy, loving memories.

I love you sweetie! I'm racing to finish on time....but I know that you really know me. I'm always running late. You love that about me, right? RIGHT???

Everybody out of the dining room! No time for dinner preparation! Quilting-palooza all week at my house!

Whoopsy! Not all colour and pattern are created equal

I finished this quilt for a co-worker (and friend)'s baby quite some time ago. I must confess that I was slightly embarrassed to give it to him...and I am slightly embarrassed to show it here.

As you can see, I was trying to pay homage to my friend's love of bright colour. I love it too! I also love lots of pattern. Yeeeeeaaaahhhhh....While I love almost all colour and almost all pattern, it turns out that I don't love them all together at the same time. May I suggest that you don your sunglasses? BEHOLD:


I did warn you! Bright, non? Do you see how some of the colours and some of the patterns compete? It's like they are locked in a mortal combat. Not pretty. I wonder also if it could be the battle of solid versus pattern???

While the colours and patterns are not serene, the quilting is simple and straight forward (plain ole' straight line). Good thing...your eyes might have exploded if this quilt had also had busy quilting.

Fortunately, something can be salvaged from this brutal lesson in colour and pattern...the very simple back turned out quite well. I love this recycled IKEA bedding and vintage turquoise linen together. The gingham binding makes me deliriously happy. Yeah...I know that it is weird, but I really do love gingham that much - to the point of delirium!

What do I learn from this quilting experience besides some more humility??? I need to read a bit more about colour theory. OK - true confession, when I say "read a bit more" it really means "I really should bother to read something - anything at all - about colour theory since it is clearly not innate to me". Any suggestions for reading material to hone my fabric selecting skills????

Sweet smugness

Look what I grew!!

Yup, after only 3 years I have managed to grow a peony. In fact, I actually grew two of them...but it has been so grey that the other flower fell apart before I got a chance to take a picture. You'll have to take my word for it...it was pretty too!

I seem to remember when I was a kid that they used to talk about the creation of "smell-o-vision". Hmmm...is my vague memory of this accurate, or do I just really wish that I could share the fabulous smell of this bloom with you??

Lucky girl...

fat quarter bundle of Freebird, which is the newest line by Momo

I just found out that I won a FQ package in Film in the Fridge's second blog-iversay give-away!

Thanks Ashley for setting up such a great blog and fantastic give-away. Thanks also to Jody from the Fabric Shoppe for sponsoring the give-away.

Don't you just love how orange , brown , and blue look together?

Lucky me!

Leaving things too long...and giving thanks

Y'know when you've left something too long and it becomes harder to do the longer you leave it?? That's how it has been with blog posting. Such an unhealthy combo of guilt and procrastination. Ridonkulous.

It's been a tough few months for me. I have started a few posts and they all seemed quite whiny (which I LOATHE), so I have just not posted. Quite frankly, it's probably when I should be posting the most! Here I am now with the happiest of crafty details (at long last!).

The { Urban } HOME Goods swap wrapped up right before I left on my trips. I must brag a bit and tell you that I received! Let me start by showing off with some pictures, K? Here is what was waiting for me when I got home:



Yup, I sometimes do judge a book by it's cover. Isn't it pretty to see the care that Ann-Marie took in packaging?!



Lovely little extras. I think that Ann-Marie might have made this lovely card. It looks like some talented person did! And buttons...OoooOOH how I love buttons! If you look closely you may also see some fancy pins tucked into that bag too.



This pin cushion is BRILLIANT! I wish that I had thought to take an "in use" shot. It is packed full of pretty coloured pins. It also has a handy stitch ripper which rests permanently in cup in the middle (not that I ever have to use a stitch ripper, she says with dripping sarcasm).

And finally...the pièce de resistance:

Yup. I do know how lucky I am! Ann-Marie, I have never owned a stitch of Flea Market Fancy. I was really touched that you would be so generous and include them in my hanging. I did hang it in my BEIGE office...and it really cheers up the space!

Funny little story - one of my work colleagues (who I occasionally escape with at lunch to craft with), came into my office and spotted your work immediately. When I told her about the swap she said "Your partner got your style down exactly!". She is right. If I had been allowed to have picked out a pattern and fabric for myself - this is exactly what I would have chosen! Thanks Ann-Marie!

Here is one last shot for drooling purposes (and because I took about 15 pictures in different spots all around my house).

On the precipice...

I am so close to finishing 4 or 5 projects. I have been working feverishly and completing nothing (thus the quiet blog).

Here is one small completion:

Donna gave me a collection of Japanese fabrics in 5X5 size. I knew that this fabric would be a big hit with a certain 3 year old who happens to a have a hole in the right knee of nearly every pair of pants that he owns. I wondered how this could be until I saw the boy dragging his right leg behind him as he pushed toy trucks up and down the sidewalk last weekend. Oooooohhhh! So that's why! All this to say - there is a cute new patch on my son's jeans. Quick "project" done!

More to come later this week, but then there will be blog silence since I will be off to Holland for 10 days! Tulip-a-palooza!

Sneaky peek

I am participating in my very first swap - { Urban } HOME Goods - a modern swap. I must confess to being very nervous. I am really want my partner to like what I am making!

Nonetheless (just really like that word!), I am indulging in my love of hand stitching with this project. My partner did say that they like embroidery....

Once the hand stitching is finished, I'll move the my machine and stitch something up. I hope that I am on the right track!

fabric-palooza

OK, so this is really just a greedy post about fabric. It looks like a LOT (and it is a LOT), but I hasten to point out that it comes from three separate purchases over the last few months (some of which were gifts). Please don't judge me harshly for my greedy fabric addiction. I am planning to join a 12-step program as soon as one is available for fabric collection.


My mom came for a visit and asked (naively and sweetly!) if there was anything that I would like her to bring. UMmmmmm...our IKEA doesn't sell any fabric, but it sure looks fun. I sent her and my sister off on an expedition to pick out their favourites and surprise me. Here is what they liked:

This is the only one that I specifically requested, I kind of like the idea of it pulled over stretcher frames as an artwork:

The the lovely Donna (have you noticed that I always call her the lovely Donna?) from Kindred Crafters was placing an order with Pink Chalk Fabrics (a great place to buy fabric!). Sometimes we pool our orders and save on international shipping! Here is what I succumbed to:

Kona solids (pomegranate and celery) and one Japanese print

Some lovely Denyse Schmidt Hope Valley in the New Day and Fiesta colour ways.

Then I decided that my birthday was coming and that I should really treat myself since there was such an AMAZING sale at Fabric.com. I bought a whack of Anna Maria Horner (Garden Party) fabrics for almost free! I believe that they worked out to around $3/yard. It would have been silly to pass them up, non?

Some random other fabrics that I picked out because they were on sale (and I liked them!) and it is always $25 for international shipping. Gotta get my $$ worth from the shipping right? The only solution? Lots of yardage. Lots. It brings down the shipping vs. yard ratio and is therefore a bargain, right? Don't you dare correct me on this delusion! ;)

Finally, some decor weight Amy Butler August Fields. Hmm...the colour is mintier than I had imagined.

And so closes my chapter in greed. I have been busily stitching for my partner in the { Urban } HOME Goods modern swap. I'll post some sneaky hint posts in the coming days.