Monthly Archive for December, 2011

CEDAR NECKLACE + JEWELLERY BOX

Published on December 30, 2011 in accoutrement, i heart, local and scraps. 6 Comments Tags: andrew cloutier, cedar jewelry box, cedar necklace.

Can you believe how perfect this gift is? This cedar bead necklace came in a cedar jewellery box, both designed and handmade by Andrew. The necklace is so beautiful. I just love the lightweight feel of these faceted cedar beads. The box matches the other jewellery box Andrew made for me a couple years ago. The wood is reclaimed and has so much character, you can just stare at it and see a new detail every time. It’s pretty amazing to watch Andrew explore wood as a medium. Especially since he almost exclusively uses reclaimed or scrap wood.

Like I said perfect gift.

QUILT SAMPLER 2 : BINDING

Published on December 28, 2011 in patchwork, stitchery and the workroom. 3 Comments Tags: patchwork, quilt sampler, quilt sampler 2.

Happy Holidays, friends! Now that the pressure of Christmas is lifted, I can get back to my goal of completing as many quilts as possible before the end of the year. (or close to it) I am in the binding stage for THREE quilts right now! I’m pretty excited. All the other quilts are gifts. This one I’m keeping.

I know that machine sewing on your binding is much faster, but I really enjoy spending some final time with my quilts as I sit underneath them and hand stitch on the last part of the binding. It seems like a worth while ritual to me. I recently started using binding clips which is way safer than using pins to hold down the binding as you stitch it on. This makes all the difference.

This Quilt Sampler 2 was started last January in class and I only recently finally got around to doing all the quilting. I have a tendency to baste quilts and then abandon them for a new quilt project. I am hoping that I’ve conquered this I love that Sampler Quilts are learning quilts. Since each block is different, they are the perfect way to improve your technique and learn some new ones. They are usually a bit of a challenge and this one was no exception. Some of these blocks were difficult and hopefully this will help me get through some of the tricky Farmer’s Wife blocks I’ll be tackling very soon. I learned so many things from making this quilt. I’m especially happy that I’ll now have two Sampler Quilts as a record of my progress in patchwork.

Here’s my first Quilt Sampler. I still love it.

FARMER’S WIFE : COLOURS

Published on December 12, 2011 in colour, farmer's wife sampler, patchwork and the workroom. 12 Comments Tags: blue, Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt.

I’ve been thinking really hard about what I wanted to do for a colour palette for my Farmer’s Wife Sampler Quilt. With so many blocks to make and such a big time commitment, I wanted to settle on a range of colour to create a framework for all the blocks.

I had quite a few ideas. The front runner was a rainbow palette with each block being tonal in just one colour. For instance, three shades of pink, red, purple or yellow. Then I could arrange the blocks in a rainbow gradation in the end. My other idea was solids only. This was completely inspired by how amazing these blocks look. I also considered doing the City Rain palette that was inspired by this photo. My last idea was to do white + one colour. This was inspired by this red and white vintage quilt and this quilt exhibit that I really wish I could have seen in NYC. See some great photos of the exhibit here.

Here’s how I finally decided. I got out all my boxes of fabric and started to pick out fabric for each of those palettes. I knew right away the City Rain palette would be impossible for me for 100+ blocks. It felt too limiting and difficult. The rainbow palette seemed fun and would give me so many options, but I realized that I had more than two boxes full of blue fabric. I really like blue. I also really like the idea of creating a quilt that will have a bit of a traditional feel with the colour but will hopefully also look modern with my fabric choices. I’ll be doing all shades of blue + white.

I feel so good now that I’ve got my colour choice sorted out. Have you decided what colours you’re going to use? Please feel free to post a comment here to tell us what fabrics you’ve chosen, or even a link to a photo or blog post you’ve written about the topic. I can’t wait to see!

HAND PIECED HST MINI QUILT

Published on December 7, 2011 in misc., patchwork and stitchery. 6 Comments Tags: half square triangle, hand piecing, mini quilt.

The end of the year is always about cramming in as much sewing time as possible for me. Unfortunately, I ‘holiday sew’ the same way that I ‘holiday shop’. Make one or two for me, make one for you. I find that this keeps me motivated and excited about the projects I’m working on. Even though I’m way behind on my sewing this year (not unusual), I’ve been working hard on finishing up quilting projects that got started this year (& before). Right now I’m on the binding stage of my Sampler 2 quilt, a plaid quilt and I’ll start quilting my Field Study quilt this weekend. Plus! My Cog & Wheel is with Lindsay for long arm quilting. I have a little dream of ending the year with a pretty clean quilting slate so that I can start up the Farmer’s Wife Sampler in January.

This little mini quilt wasn’t on my list to complete, but I found it the other day and decided to add it to the list. This mini quilt is completely hand pieced. All those little half square triangles (HSTs) are 1″ finished and the entire mini quilt is 12″ square. It’s tiny!

The reason that I hadn’t finished it off when I made it was that I had no idea how to quilt it. I thought it would be impossible to hand quilt through all those tiny seams and I worried that machine quilting would take away from the handwork. I decided to try machine stitching in the ditch. After one line, I stopped and ripped out the stitches. Finally I realized that I could tie it! I have never tied a quilt before, but it was really the perfect solution. You can’t tell at all from the front and from the back the ties look pretty cute. The only machine stitching on this quilt was when I stitched my binding onto the front of the quilt.

This mini is definitely on my list of favourite things that I’ve ever made. Anything that I’ve hand stitched seems to be on that list. (This, this & this!) Hand work just has something about it.

MISC.

I made this lasagna soup recipe last week, found on Pinterest. it’s pretty awesome and I highly recommend it
City of Craft is THIS WEEKEND. This is by far my favourite holiday shopping event of the year. Any gifts that I’m not making will be purchased at the show. Maybe I’ll see you there!
We have Lizzy House holiday cards at the workroom. One of the cards has a Yeti on it. I am in love with it.
I’m in a new book called Zakka Style by Rashida Coleman Hale – with 23 other awesome designers that is coming out very soon. You can win a copy of the book over at the Stash Books blog right now. I REALLY want my copy so I can start making those cute projects.
BlogTO is doing their annual poll for the ‘Best of Toronto’. Voting ends tonight for your favourite local French baguette, Chinese restaurant, Calzone, Hot Pot and FABRIC STORE.
The first part of our January class calendar just got posted. You guys get first dibs. Everyone else will know tomorrow. Can’t wait for this new class.

HOLIDAY WINDOW

Published on December 5, 2011 in introducing, local and the workroom. 8 Comments Tags: button down vest, glitter pie, Tiffany Pratt, window display.

I like things pretty simple. Plain, even. I have a hard time ‘layering’ clothing, choosing bright colours over grey tones and the phrase ‘ with wild abandon’ doesn’t usually apply to me. But, I do like to mix it up and I definitely like to challenge myself when I can. You’ll notice that the holiday windows at the workroom this year are all about that.

This year’s holiday window was put together by the fabulous Tiffany Pratt of Glitter Pie Studios. Tiffany is all those things that I am not, in the very best way, so I knew she would create a window very different from what you would normally expect at the workroom. I had one little request for ‘glitter stars’ and I left the rest up to her.

Tiffany arrived at the shop armed with the hugest jars of glitter and mod podge that I’ve ever seen. She gathered cardboard from our recycling pile, scraps of fabric and put us to work. (or rather put us to ‘play’) Painting and covering things in glitter is FUN. This is really what Tiffany does best. Her Art Studio in a Box (we have these at the workroom!) is designed to get the recipient to be creative using all the fun bits and bobs found inside. I love checking out her YouTube videos. You will also find her doing fun DIY segments on the Steven & Chris show.

Debbie, Rosalyn & I had lots of laughs putting the window together with Ms. Glitterpie and those glittery stars in the window cheer me up every single day.

p.s. Check out Tiffany’s super cute button down vest that she made in our class!

MAKE SOMETHING FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Published on December 3, 2011 in the workroom. 4 Comments Tags: sale, the workroom.

We’re in the middle of our Holiday fabric sale! Perfect time to get supplies for your gift making and stash building. Practically all the fabric in the shop is included, with just a few exceptions (Outfoxed, Curio & Putting on the Ritz). Even these new adorable arrivals are on sale!