Happy Easter

Have a great day! I hope the Easter Bunny brings you chocolate goodies.

If you can't have chocolate, try making these paper carrots and fill them with popcorn! For fabric carrots, go HERE.

Enjoy!

 

New Fabrics Arrived!

A few post ago I mentioned winning some fabrics and a pattern on several blog hops. I received the Liquorice Hoffman Bali Pops from Linda's Quiltmania on Monday. Thanks, Linda, they are just perfect and will be used in future landscapes.

Today, 4 fat quarters (Batiks) arrived from Flare Fabrics, a Canadian Company, specializing in quality batiks, bold cottons and flannels. The batiks are top quality and the colours I received are just perfect for making my 3-D fish. I won these on face book! Also check out their blog. Thanks bunches for the fabrics!

The Perfect Apron!

I just came across this perfect apron for crafters! And the best part, the pattern is free.  In fact, this pattern can be adapted to your own particular taste. Have fun with it. It would even make a great gift for a crafty friend. Visit The Magic Bean to see lots more free stuff.

Here are a few more places for apron patterns / tutorials:

Tipnut
Brassy Apple (lots of different stuff + an apron for dolls
Rosy Corner Creations
Zig Zag Apron Tutorial
Crossback Apron

Welcome SPRING!

Well, spring arrived this morning. It's overcast here and around 7 C so maybe we are slowly getting into the swing of things - I hope! I have been working in my studio all morning making some shimmer ornaments.

I was just visiting a few quilting blogs and came across 24 Blocks, a site for quilters. Take a look at the quilts featured there (scroll down the page as well as check out the archives). There is lots to see and read. Something to do while you have a cup of brew.

The sun is trying to come out after all. :)

Enjoy!

Charm Madness

This post is especially for quilters who love working with scraps of fabric! Sew Lux Fabric and Gifts is sponsoring a Charm Madness Blog Hop. I'm not into sewing up little pieces of fabric but this hop challenges participants to use charm packs and to present a tutorial about the project they use. You never know what new ideas will be circulating in a group of very enthusiastic quilters.  For daily updates, check here.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Although I'm rather late posting this, I hope everyone had a great St. Patrick's Day.

I had a very rewarding one at the Crafter's Wholesale Show. One more day to go. I decided to wholesale my packaged card sets (the newest ones aren't on the site yet), shimmer ornaments, and a select few (row house, fish and starfish) wearable art pins (scroll down). Sometimes there just aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done!


Check here for previous post on St. Patrick's Day sites to visit.

I Won - not once but twice!

Talk about the Luck of the Irish - well, I'm not Irish but I did win a couple of lovely prizes this week in the Quilting Gallery Online Beat the Winter Blues Blog Hop! My blog is listed among the many other links on this site. There are always lots of blog hops and other interesting things happening there. I think the winter blues were starting to get to me so I decided to follow along on the hop and see what other like minded people were doing. I found lots of interesting projects / tutorials and information to tuck away for later. I also met some new quilters which is always a plus!

My first win was a quilt pattern, Jack of Hearts, from Heather Spence Designs.

My second win was a package of Liquorice Bali Pops from Linda's Quiltmania.

Please take a few minutes to check out both these sites. I'm glad I did!!! Also take some time to visit the Quilting Gallery as there are many, many links there to quilting sites from around the world.

 

On another note, the Quilt Show is having an open weekend which means you can view all their videos for free. It's a good chance to put your feet up and relax while watching some of your favorite quilt personalities in action. They have over 140 shows to see (Series 1 - 11).

Enjoy the weekend everyone!

More From the Workshop

Here are a few more photos from the Fantastic Fabrics Workshop. It was interesting to see the colour combinations each person choose to work with as they created their own original fabric designs (also check back to previous post). These fabric designs can be incorporated into quilted items, clothing and accessories. I didn't take photos of some of the finished pieces (forgot) but I hope to see them soon in a project or two.

 

Student Work

Today I taught my 'Fantastic Fabrics' Workshop. I spent a delightful day with 12 lovely ladies. The morning started out with a show & tell of the various materials used to create the fantastic fabrics. It was hands-on (literally), as bits and pieces of materials were examined. After lunch the real work began. The end results were 'fantastic'! All the top stitching was done with Sulky Sliver threads. I can't wait to see what is created from the pieces below. Take a look.
Enjoy!

Working . . .

This past week I have been getting ready for the 'fantastic fabric' workshop I'm teaching on Thursday. I also started and finished 20 credit card / business card holders using my 'fantastic fabric'. There are also more 3-D fish in the works. Now for a look at some embellished textile work by other textile artists. Check these out:

Threads: Working with Embellished Fabrics
Crazy Pieced Fabric Postcards from Anne's Creative Threads
Bayou Bags: Easy Fabric Embellishment
Embellished Fabric Beads from Quilt Robin - these are neat!
Confetti Fabric from Heather's 3 Stars
Textile Artists, Felicity Hopkins, Wendy Freebourne, Jill Dian Izzard, and Ruth Osborn

Evening Bag made from my Fantastic Fabric

Green for the Irish!

As I don't have any Irish in me, I never think to post projects specifically to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. A visit to Michael's Craft Shop reminded me that it will be in a couple of weeks. Here's a few sites to visit with some patterns / projects / inspiration. You never know what you might find!
Enjoy!

Q is for Quilter has some vintage shamrock quilt patterns
With heart and Hands - lots of freebies on this site - worth a look!
Quilt Inspiration - check out the free pattern archive
Pinterest St. Patrick's Day Crafts and Recipes
Needlework at Craft Gossip
Mini Shamrock Banner
A Quilting Blog
St. Patrick's Day Embroidery
Knitted Shamrock by Clover
More knitting from Vickie Howell
Crochet Patterns from Grandmother's Pattern Book
Idea from Craftsy