Monthly Archive for February, 2011

QUILT SAMPLER 2 : FLASH OF DIAMONDS

Published on February 28, 2011 in patchwork and the workroom. 7 Comments Tags: flash of diamonds, quilt sampler 2, star.

This week is week 9 (of 10!) of the Quilt Sampler 2 class. All our blocks should be done and this week we will attach our mitred corner borders. Marilou had all her homework done and assembled her quilt top in the last class. Inspiring! This week, I’m sewing like crazy to catch up and finish up my last blocks.

This particular block is special to my Quilt Sampler. It was meant to be a Carolina Lily block. As I was sewing up my lilies, I kept seeing half a star. I looked through the Quilter’s Album of Patchwork Patterns and in the section on eight pointed stars found the Flash of Diamonds.

The components for this block were so similar that I couldn’t resist trying it out. Star blocks are my absolute favourite! Sewing y-seams is a bit tricky, but there’s something about it that I really love. The more y-seams I sewed, the better I got. The other key thing that I’ve learned from making this sampler quilt is the importance of careful finger pressing and not overusing the iron. It is so easy to stretch out bias cuts on your fabric which results in wonky blocks.

When I sewed together the middle star, it came together perfectly. If you look at the centre, all the points meet precisely and not are cut off! My favourite thing about this block is actually the back of it. When you look at the back side of this block, you will see that all the intersections of seams fan out. It’s crazy how proud I am of something that will soon be on the inside of my quilt where no one can see it!

I have a dream of one day doing a lone star quilt. Having conquered the eight pointed star, I now feel that this is totally do-able! But first, I’ll be wrapping up the rest of my sampler homework…

MAISY SAYS 'HI'

Published on February 24, 2011 in hello. 11 Comments Tags: maisy.

Today’s post is brought to you by Maisy. That’s all.

STAR-Y LOG CABIN CENTRES

Published on February 23, 2011 in patchwork and textiles. 10 Comments Tags: city limits, Liberty of London, mauvey, mrsmcporkchop, sawtooth star, star, star-y log cabin.

I had a chance to start working on my sawtooth star centres for the Star-y Log Cabin e-course I’m taking on Sunday. I couldn’t be more excited with how these blocks turned out!

I’m in love with the contrasting and bold (for me) colour palette that I’ve chosen. Plus, I’m getting to use some of my favourite fabrics. The addition of the Liberty of London Mauvey print (leftovers from this dress) for the star points really brings together all the colours. I’ve been slipping Liberty of London into my patchwork recently and there’s something about it that really shines. The prints and colours are always just so perfect and striking and lovely. (hmm… time to order more Liberty for the shop!)

As I was working away, fussy cutting those cute buildings from City Limits, I kept thinking that this is a brilliant design for a quilt! The concept is so simple and classic, but Amanda‘s unique approach and execution are what totally makes it. Amanda has been encouraging all her students to tell their own story with their patchwork and I’m really feeling a little story of my own coming together. Her weekly pdfs have been so energetic and full of great information that I can’t wait for them to arrive in my inbox each Thursday.

This week I’ll be starting to add my logs!!

STYLISH DRESS BOOK : DRESS S

Published on February 20, 2011 in japanese dress/craft, stitchery and textiles. 27 Comments Tags: Japanese dress book, Liberty of London, Stylish Dress Book.

Stylish Dress Book (available at the workroom)
Dress ‘S’ : Navy Metal Blend Fabric with Liberty of London ‘Mirabelle’ detail

Finally! I’ve been wanting to share this dress with you for a while. When I first made it last year, I did something silly and made the scalloped hem detail with just 2″ of Liberty of London Mirabelle as the lining. This meant when I sat down or really even just walked, you could see past the lining. I finally re-did the hem with about 10″ of lining and I honestly don’t know why I didn’t just line the entire skirt. I’m not redoing it again, but next time I would make that modification. I had been wanting to try a scalloped hem for a while and it’s really not that hard at all. I used Liesl’s tutorial to guide me through. I like how she did the scallop detail on just the back of her skirt.

This pattern is from Stylish Dress Book. What’s unusual about this pattern is that it actually has a zipper in the back! Most Japanese Dress Book dresses just slip over your head. What’s great about having a zipper is that the pattern is actually more fitted than most of the loose tunics I usually make. The main fabric of the dress is a navy metal blend fabric that I got at the Liday Baday Designer Fabric Showroom. This is the second metal blend fabric that I’ve sewn with and it’s interesting to see the different properties that metal brings to fabric. What attracts me is the shimmer, but the fabric also has more memory and hold creases quite tightly, similar to the look of linen. I’d like to try this pattern again in a softer fabric, perhaps even a Liberty of London print.

I added side seam pockets, of course. I used the same Mirabelle print for the pockets that I used on the hem detail.

Without a doubt, Stylish Dress Book has been my favourite book to sew from. Taking a look through the pages, I’m thinking that Tunic G is going to be next!

SEWN MITTENS

Published on February 18, 2011 in stitchery and the workroom. 5 Comments Tags: sewn mittens.

I tried my hand at knitting when I first started to sew. I made a bunch of scarves and even knit a sweater, but I seemed to loose interest in the whole thing after my third scarf. (and that sweater was pretty terrible) Every winter I get ‘knit-envy’ when I see photos of cozy cowls, cute mittens and slouchy hats. I would love to make those things! But, I have a feeling I should stick to all the other craft that I’ve got going on.

I was super excited when our new teacher, Mariel, suggested a Sewn Mittens class. Yes!! Finally, I can ‘fake’ some knit mittens by sewing them from upcycled sweaters.

I love this fun project for all the variation you can achieve by using upcycled goods. For my mittens I picked up a purple sweater from Value Village. Debbie offered me some of her leather scraps for the palms. The sweater had ‘elbow pad’ details on the sleeves, so I cut my main piece from that part of the sweater.

I didn’t really consider what would happen when you try to sew leather to sweater. Basically these are two materials that behave very differently! The knit sweater was super stretchy, while the leather was not. This made the sewing a bit more tricky and I did use a walking foot. I would not recommend this combination of materials to a beginner sewer or at least for your first pair. The students who made their mittens completely out of sweaters turned out totally adorable! (hello, cashmere mittens!)

I’ve been wearing my mittens every day. They fit perfectly and are totally cozy and warm. My mom will be happy to learn she doesn’t need to buy me gloves or mittens anymore.

In the back of my mind I’m already gathering ideas for next year’s Christmas gifts. These are currently at the top of the list. I’ve got another pair cut out and ready to sew!

p.s. You can read a cute interview with me on ‘oh my! handmade goodness‘. The piece was written by Debra Norton of Vintage Paper Parade. Thanks for including me in your piece, Debra!

BRUNCH IN HAMILTON

Published on February 14, 2011 in delicious, local and patchwork. 9 Comments Tags: brunch, hamilton, jen hsieh, kyle reed, presto nine patch quilt.

What a great weekend! We were invited to brunch in Hamilton at Jen & Kyle‘s place on Saturday. This was an extra special treat for me, as I work every Saturday, so it felt like a mini vacation to steal off with Andrew for the morning to visit with friends.

The first thing I spotted when we entered their home was their Presto Nine Patch Quilt. What a thrill! I never get to see where all the quilts go to live when they leave the shop. It made me so happy to see it laid out over their couch.

We had the most delicious brunch that included amazing blueberry pancakes, egg strata, sausages, chocolate granola, mimosas, chai tea (thanks celine & jin) and SMORES (thanks roz)!

I had to get back to the workroom for the afternoon (to make moccasins), so we didn’t have a chance to explore Hamilton. But I’m crossing my fingers that we might get invited back for a second visit.

Thanks so much for a fun and delicious morning, guys!

p.s. Happy Valentines Day, friends. A big hug to all of you!!

STAR-Y LOG CABIN FABRICS

Published on February 13, 2011 in patchwork and stitchery. 11 Comments Tags: star-y log cabin.

Week one of my Star-y Log Cabin e-course with Amanda was choosing fabric. Best homework ever! There’s nothing like picking fabrics for a quilt. It’s so much fun. When else do you get to choose a few dozen fabrics for one project?

The inspiration for this colour palette came from Denyse Schmidt’s new Greenfield Hills collection. All the darks have really grown on me and the dark navy combined with black is my favourite colourway of the group. I started by going through my stash and found the darkest and blackest navy fabrics that I had. This includes some old favourites from Tula Pink’s Neptune collection. (which I also used in my Double Wedding Ring Quilt)

I wanted to have something super contrasting to my dark navys, so I’ve chosen some variations of off-whites. Somehow this also includes a lot of my Japanese text prints. These are going to be a lot of fun as logs in my log cabin.

The hard part was choosing a centre fabric for my sawtooth stars. I’ve realized recently that I tend to gravitate towards fairly plain, tonal fabrics. I’d love to do more fussy cutting, but I hardly ever pick large scale or novelty prints that show off this technique properly. I need to change this. I’m going to try to add more bold prints to my stash this year. At the bottom of one of my boxes of fabric, I found a piece of City Limits. I made a wrap dress from this fabric a while ago. I think these cute buildings will make the perfect star centres in this quilt.

P.S. Early this week I found out about an incredible creative retreat called ‘The Makerie‘ in Colorado in April. After reading through the program, I just had to register. Yoga in the morning, crafting all day long, outdoor hikes, sleeping in cottages and delicious local organic meals. I’m heading down to Boulder with Katherine for three fun days and I’m so excited! There’s still space in the program for anyone else wanting a little pre-spring getaway. It’s going to be crazy, crafty fun.

HAPPY HOMEMADE VOL.3 : TOP A1/A2

Published on February 10, 2011 in japanese dress/craft and stitchery. 21 Comments Tags: Happy Homemade Vol. 3, Japanese dress book.

Alright, it’s time to get some garment sewing back into the mix here! Whenever I teach a Japanese Dress Books class, I try to work on a new pattern from one of my books at the same time. This is the one that I started during my January session.

I combined the pattern for Dress A1 and A2 together. I wanted to make a tunic top, with the bias neck detail of A2 and the pleated sleeve detail of A1. The fabric I chose is something I’ve been holding onto since last summer. It was one of the French General silky cottons. The yarn dyed wovens that French General does with their collections are very special and super soft. They are perfect for making clothing with.

I love how this top turned out. It makes me feel spring-y and happy. I’ve pulled out fabric for a second version. I am starting to plan my spring wardrobe and it’s going to include lots of cute tops and adorable shorts.

LOVE & RUMMAGE 3 TRUNK SHOW REVIEW

Published on February 9, 2011 in local and the workroom. 10 Comments Tags: city of craft, love & rummage trunk show.

I hardly had a moment to take any photos at the Love & Rummage 3 Trunk Show on Sunday. When I arrived at the shop there was a line up outside for the City of Craft giveaway bags and from the moment we opened the door until just past 5pm, we were pretty busy. (some moments were Crazy Busy!)

I hadn’t had breakfast that morning so I snacked the day away on delicious chocolate heart cupcakes, brownies and cookies. Thank goodness we always do a snack table at our trunk shows. It was so busy at some points that many of you came and went without me even spotting you or saying ‘hi!’. I hope you had fun. I definitely did. It’s hard not to in a room filled with so many friends.

At the very last second of the show, I managed to run around and buy myself a few necessary treats. A ceramic heart from Krystal Speck, the tote I’ve been wanting so bad from Fieldguided, some postcards by Dead Weight and a very pretty Queen-filled envelope ready for mailing from Send More Mail. Coriander Girl gave me a little posy in a cute vintage bottle.

Thanks for supporting the show! Did you get some cute stuff too??!

ADDED NOTE : Celine took photos of the show for Toronto Craft Alert. Check them out here!

QUILT SAMPLER 2 : MAPLE STAR

Published on February 6, 2011 in patchwork and the workroom. 1 Comment Tags: maple star, quilt sampler 2.

Most of the past Sunday nights have been devoted to doing my Quilt Sampler 2 homework. As soon as I catch up with all that, I’ll be back with some new Sunday Patchworks.

In the meantime, here’s my Maple Star! This is probably one of the more simple blocks we’ve done in class, but I really love this one. Firstly, it’s a star. Secondly, I slipped in some scraps of Liberty of London ‘Fairford‘ and it goes perfectly. It’s magic when that happens.

Today is the Love & Rummage 3 Trunk Show!