Thursday 31 July 2014

Textures, Colours and Patterns

I take a crazy number of photos on vacation. Who am I kidding? I take a crazy number of photos all the time. I thought I'd share with you some of the inspiring textures, colours and patterns I found in and on the way to Nova Scotia.

One of my favourite signs on the trip. I always practice saying it aloud in funny voices. My kids love that. ;)


The tin men. There's a quilt here someday...



A wharf in Halifax.


The side of a building -- cool textures and colours.


Ship ropes.

The remains of a fire.


Inukshuks at Point Pleasant Park. I tried making one, but didn't have enough time. It's an exercise in patience!




Some creative soul painted the end of a wood piling that washed up on shore.


Rust. :)




Log weathered by the ocean.


Rocks and stonework. Quilt motif?



Oceanside.




Complementary colours.


Hope you enjoyed the view from my camera lens!

Monday 28 July 2014

Posting A Winner

We have a winner for the Woodsy Winter fat quarter bundle courtesy of Sew Sisters!


I also follow Sew Sisters! Thanks

Congrats, Patti! I've sent you an email. Thank you so much to Sew Sisters for sponsoring this giveaway!

If you didn't win this time, keep in mind that you still have until July 31st to take advantage of the free shipping from Sew Sisters! 'Cause you know, Christmas is only 5 months away! ;)

Speaking of shipping (how's that for a segue? ;) ), I took a bit of time, just before leaving on vacation (when I should have been doing many other things), to make a couple of hostess gifts. Have you heard of the The Postcard Quilt Along with Debbie at A Quilter's Table? I wanted to participate, but didn't have time for a full quilt with the kids home and a number of other projects (ahem), but I thought the postcards would make great coasters. Especially for two friends who have been doing a lot of travelling lately.

I pulled out some travel-related prints and paired them with some text prints, using Debbie's great tutorial. Instead of piecing them to make a quilt top though, I sandwiched them with some batting and made coasters.

Bundle 1:



Bundle 2:



Now I have to make some for me! 

Saturday 26 July 2014

Well Met

We're home! For a variety of reasons, we bumped up our annual trip to Nova Scotia and I'm so glad we did! My friend Dominique from The Running Thimble invited me to the July meeting of the Maritime Modern Quilt Guild. A guild meeting on vacation? Sign me up! No summer break for this Maritime crew. They are hard core, y'all! 

Such a warm and welcoming group, they were too! I was thrilled to finally meet some long-time bloggy friends in person and meet some new ones! Thanks Adrienne for the photos!

Me and Linda from Scrapmaster
Dominique, me, Anja, Linda, Karen and Ann

Linda, me, Anja, Adrienne, Karen and Ann

Check out the Maritime Modern Quilt Guild post about the meeting so see some of the great quilts they shared during the meeting, including a fabulous Bill Cosby quilt for the Modern Quilt Guild Michael Miller challenge.

Thank you all for making me feel so welcome. I wish I was closer so I could go to your meetings too!

Don't forget to enter the Woodsy Winter giveaway sponsored by Sew Sisters. You have until tomorrow night to enter!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to pull together a birthday party for tomorrow afternoon. Any superhero game ideas for 5 year olds?

Thursday 24 July 2014

It's Like Christmas in July Giveaway!

We're currently midway home from where we were, but I just had to pop in to let you know that Sew Sisters Quilt Shop is opening their Christmas Room tomorrow, July 25. To get you in the holiday making spirit, Sew Sisters will have free shipping on all orders within Canada between July 25 – 31! I know it may seem early, but they have a ton of jolly good fabric for the holidays that are so worth checking out!

Christmas Room Free Shipping500

To celebrate this Merry development, Sew Sisters is sponsoring a giveaway of 5 fat quarters from the Woodsy Winter collection from Hoffman Fabrics! Woo hoo! Wouldn't this fabric make fabulous gift bags? Or placemats? Or stockings? I love the colour combo.

  Woodsy Winter Giveaway MR01

While the free shipping offer is only for those in Canada, this giveaway is open to everyone! Yay! To enter, just leave me a comment telling me something that might be on your Merry making list this year. Followers of my blog get a bonus entry -- just leave me a comment letting me know how you follow (Bloglovin', Feedly, Facebook, Twitter, etc.). Followers of the Sew Sisters blog also get a bonus entry -- just leave a comment letting me know you follow them.

The giveaway is open until Sunday, July 27th at 9 p.m. EDT, at which point I'll pick a winner via Ms. Random Number Generator. No reply bloggers, please leave your email address with your comment. Not sure if you are a no reply blogger? Check this post to see if you are and what you can do to fix it.

Good luck and Merry, Merry everyone! I'll be back in a couple of days with tons to share.

Tuesday 8 July 2014

Thing 1 and Thing 2...and Thing 3 and Thing 4 and Thing 5...

"Think and wonder, wonder and think." ~ Dr. Seuss


Ah, the beginning of a new month/quarter -- a clean slate! What goals to set this quarter for the 2014 Finish Along? Let's go big!

Banner Day: Speaking of new beginnings, I will be finishing Banner Day for my new niece or nephew. The top is now further along than this -- the edges of the bunting flags are all pressed under, the bunting cord is made, it's all laid out, glued and ready to be stitched down.



Baby Quilt: A friend is also expecting this month! Yay for more babies...as long as I get to hold them lots and then hand them back! :) Colour scheme is grey, tomato red, and celery. This colour scheme is definitely going to be a challenge for me!

Modern Totems II: This one is sandwiched and ready to be quilted.


And my holdovers from Q2:

Fibonacci Is Not Random - Part One

The triptych was here at the beginning of Q2:


Parts Two and Three are last quarter. This quarter is Part One's turn!

Carsick:


Blue Improv: 


Patterns: Modern Totems is being tested and proofread right now so this quarter I will finish it. And then Falling for Stripes. Pinky swear!

I'm linking up to the wonderful Katy @ The Littlest Thistle who is hosting the 2014 Finish Along.

Finish Along 2014

Sunday 6 July 2014

Sew Canadian Studio Tour

Summer's a great time for road trips, eh? How about quilty virtual ones? The next best thing! This summer, Mad About Patchwork has organized a sewing studio tour of some Canadian quilt bloggers, including yours truly.

Each Sunday, starting today, two Canadian quilt bloggers will share where they make the magic happen!

Schedule:
July 6th – Patti @ Retired to Quilt and Krista @ Poppyprint
July 13th – Dominique @ The Running Thimble and Cinzia @ Deux Petites Souris
July 20th – Anita @ Daydreams of Quilts and Lorna @ Sew Fresh Quilts
July 27th – Shena @ Apple Pie Patchwork and Katherine @ Sew Me Something Good
August 3rd – Felicity @ Felicity Quilts and Josée @ The Charming Needle
August 10th – Janet @ What Comes Next and M-R @ Quilt Matters
August 17th – Erica @ Happy Fabric and Jacqui @ Treadle Quilts
August 24th – Leanne @ She Can Quilt and Jaclyn @ Jaclyn Quilts
August 31st – Pam @ Mad About Patchwork and Laura @ Waffle Kisses

You need to get in on the action too! Starting today, you can add a photo of your own space to the linky party. At the end of August, they’ll be drawing one lucky series participant and one lucky linky party participant to win an Ombre Sewing Studio Kit by Sew Fresh Quilts. So get inspired and get sharing!

Here's a sneak peek of my quilt haven:


You'll have to excuse me now -- I'll be checking out Patti and Krista's studios today and then I've got some cleaning to do... ;)

Saturday 5 July 2014

A Glass Half Full

My list of goals for Q2 were big, but nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? I got a little distracted by other quilty projects, but I did get about half of my Q2 Finish Along goals done!

Completed:

Scrap{Bee} 2.0 went from this:


To this:


Full details can be found here.

Re-Finish Fibonacci Is Not Random Triptych:

The triptych was here:


Two of the three pieces are done. Given how long I've been putting these off, it feels like a huge accomplishment. I'm also much happier with the quilting!



More details can be found here and here.

Not Completed: 

Carsick:


Blue Improv: 


Patterns: Modern Totems is being tested and proofread right now so it's almost done! Yay! Next up is Falling for Stripes. I'm disappointed they aren't done, but I'd rather get them right than just put them out there.

That's okay though. I'll just add them to my Q3 goals! I have a feeling my Q3 goals will be bigger than Q2! What are you thinking about finishing up next?

I'm linking up to the wonderful Katy @ The Littlest Thistle who is hosting the 2014 Finish Along.

Finish Along 2014

Thursday 3 July 2014

Banner Day - A Work in Progress

We're expecting a new member of the family soon! No, I'm not pregnant -- bite your tongue! My new niece or nephew will be making an appearance in the next couple of weeks and I am so excited!

The nursery is bright primary colours and my sister has asked for yellow, blue and red with a red stripe on the back. I'm playing around with this design, inspired by Laura's Bunting Quilt. The colours are a little duller in the photo - night shot because that's pretty much the only quilting time these days (not complaining though because we're having a great summer so far!).


I'm thinking that the bunting cord could be this red and white stripe. Fun, eh?


Whaddya think?

Tuesday 1 July 2014

Happy Canada Day, Eh!

What a beautiful day to celebrate Canada Day! It was hot and sticky, with heat, thunderstorm and even tornado warnings, but it all held off (in our area at least).

I got my act together late last night and made some Canada Day bunting!



I hadn't planned on putting it on the front of the house, but I tried it today and it fit perfectly so there it stayed! 


We took the kids downtown for some of the shows and festivities. There really is nothing like celebrating Canada Day in the capital. And where else in the world would you celebrate a summer holiday with some ski jumping?! And not just ski jumping, but ski jumping synchronized with trampolinists!


 The only photo I could get with any of my kids today that didn't have a silly face in it.


Funky photo setting on my camera of the Peace Tower.


Snowbird flyover. 


 Making our own coins at the Royal Canadian Mint.


Swimming, BBQ, ice cream and fireworks with our neighbours. 


I'm sunburnt, sticky, exhausted, happy and above all feeling extremely blessed to call Canada my home and native land. Happy Canada Day! 
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