I Couldn't Resist!

Whenever I enter a shop with anything to do with textile art, I feel like an explorer! What will I discover this time is always on my mind. Sometimes the finds are rather plain but with potential. I was at the cutting counter at Joanne's the other day waiting to get some glittery tulle cut (stiff I can't get home). A young lady was getting yards and yards of a cheap medium weight cotton canvas cut. I found out she works with oils. She said a coat of gesso on the canvas and it is as good as the expensive stuff. The fabric was $5.00 yd. I did pick up a couple of yards. You never know how it will get used!

The yarn shop had lots of lovely yarns. I did buy one skein of blue glittery stuff.

My largest find so far, was at The Fabric Center. A few yards of batiks found their way into my shopping bag as well as a Christmas panel and some pre-cut hexagons.

More Photos from The Fabric Center

Here are a few more photos from The Fabric Center, Morris, IL.
Enjoy!

I did purchase the Christmas panel.

Fabric Center

The knitting ladies at Elemental Yarns told me about this amazing quilt shop in Morris, IL. It is about a 15 minute drive from the yarn shop. The Fabric Center is a sewing machine superstore. A quilter's paradise is all I can think of! It has a very large selection of batiks as well as bolts from most of the well known fabric designers. I certainly like the way the bolts that are not against the wall are displayed. They are so easy to see.

This shop has everything a quilter could want in tools, patterns and books. Friendly sales people are eager to help. They are very knowledgeable about the sewing and embroidery machines on display as we found out!

Did I walk out empty handed? Not on your life! I'll show off a few purchases next time. Today, I'll share some photos taken around the store. More shop photos tomorrow.

Lots of books and patterns

Landscape Fabrics

Quilts hanging everywhere

Lots of batiks!

Note how the bolts are displayed

Elemental Yarns

For the last several days, I've driven by a small strip mall close to Leisure Lake Resort, IL, where we are staying. Given a quick glance, I thought one of the shop signs said Elemental Yards and didn't give it a second thought. Yesterday, I zeroed in on the sign again - it was 'Elemental Yarns'!!! Of course, I got excited and just I had to pay a visit.  

What a delightful shop, filled with lots of scrumptious yarns, books, patterns and accessories.

A knitting class was in session but we chatted anyway. Such a friendly bunch of ladies. I also got the directions to a couple of other shops to visit but that is for another post or two!! Check back again soon.

Here are some photos of the shop. In the last photo, the dolls are wearing knitted clothes. The food is knitted as well.

Echinacea

Aren't these lovely! A little past their prime but still worth a glance. These were at a rest stop in Southern Ontario. I'm surprised they look as good as they do considering the heat wave temperatures in this part of the country. Many textile artists have used the Echinacea in their art. You will see lots of textile images of these flowers HERE.
Enjoy!

Soon . . .

I haven't been blogging lately but hope to get back at it soon. I hope you have been surviving the hot weather of summer! There were severe thunder storms here in Southern Ontario last evening. It just poured where I am. I hope it will cool down just a bit as 30 + C is too hot for me.

I have been searching Pinterest while on the road. I started a board. I can't believe the amount of 'stuff' crafters have found and the numbers of followers on some boards! It boggles the mind.

Have a great day!!!

Cats

Cat lovers! Looked what I found in a small flower and gift shop, Windsor, NS! The little gray one scampered to me as soon as I entered the shop. Her fur was very fluffy and looked as if it were blown dry with a hair dryer. The kitten is ready to be adopted. She could have been mine if I had wanted a cat.
Here are a couple of sites with cat activities:
Tiny Kitten in a Box
Free Cat Patterns
Cats Who Quilt
Enjoy!

Sewing Projects

Quilters are a great bunch! They don't mind sharing their 'finds' with others. Here are a few sewing ideas that were passed on to me and I'm sending them on to you!

For Show & Tell, one quilter brought in a great travel iron tote she had received as a gift. At the time, I didn't pay too much attention to it as my iron usually stays at home. That was then. So far, I have lugged my iron to 3 - 4 classes. I think I need one of those totes! Well, yesterday, I discovered a free pattern for one which I will share with you HERE. I wish I had one already but it will have go on my To Do List for the fall. Did I say that when opened up, it also converts to an ironing surface?

A Dollar Shop Project made by a member, was a great hit at the June meeting of the Eastern Edge Quilters: Eyeglass Case to Sewing Kit. This is just perfect for slipping in your bag when you need a small sewing kit. I wonder how many of these will appear at the September Show & Tell! Another Travel Sewing Kit pattern can be found HERE.

Another excellent sewing project that I found, is a portable design wall. This one is very easy to make as shown in the video. Mind you, it isn't suitable for full size quilts but it is great to take to a class or on vacation. Now I have a use for some laminated fabric I purchased last year while vacationing in Chicago.

I have been looking at these fabric baskets for awhile. They would make excellent mini garbage containers for the car, especially if it's lined with plastic or that laminated fabric I just mentioned and has a longer loop stitched on it. Actually, I was thinking it would be great for the driver and passenger seats for any motor home. It could hang on the seat belt hook.

I hope you fine these links useful. Any of the above would also make great gifts.

Enjoy!

Sesame Street

Ages ago I saw a Sesame Street panel at Fabricville. My two year old granddaughter loves the show. Her favorite characters are on the panel so, of course, I bought it. Needless to say, it was supposed to be an easy quilt to do. I do wish that manufacturers of printed panels were as particular as quilters! There was no such thing as straight sides and there is never enough space to cut them apart on the bolt. I did manage to finally finish it yesterday. Thanks, also, to my friend, who had the perfect colour of fabric for the back and binding.

Pinned on the fence, it looks good! You can't tell that the sides aren't exactly straight. Anyway, what two year old is going to be looking for that.

Here are a few Sesame Street patterns for your enjoyment:

• Knitting Patterns
• Crochet Finger Puppets
• Muppets from yarn
• Crocheted Sesame Street Hats
• Cupcakes
• Grover Hand Puppet
• Elmo Colouring Pages

Red, White and Blue

Happy 4th of July to family and friends living in the USA. Hopefully the weather is great wherever you are. We are having fabulous weather here in St. John's, NL (at least for the past few days).

Check out last year's post HERE.

From my garden, I present to you: Red, White & Blue!

VidCast with Elaine Quehl

Awhile ago, I took a workshop with Elaine Quehl from Ottawa. It was an interesting experience. Needless to say, my workshop piece is not finished. However, several of the participants made marvelous art quilts as you can see below.

This past November, while attending the International Quilt Show in Houston, Texas, Elaine was filmed in one of Bonnie McCaffery's VidCasts. You can see it here. It's well worth watching.

To view more VidCasts on Bonnie's website, check here.
Enjoy!

Member's Exhibit, Craft Council of Newfoundland & Labrador

I've been a member of the Craft Council of Newfoundland & Labrador since 1999. Each summer, there is a juried exhibition of member's work featuring a variety of mediums and techniques and celebrating excellence in contemporary craft. You will find this summer's exhibit pieces at Devon House, St. John's. If you can't see them in person, please take a minute to see them HERE, as you won't be disappointed!

My textile piece, The Fishermen's Museum, English Harbour West, is on page two.

 
 

Happy Canada Day Weekend

Have a great Canada Day everyone!

Totally Tutorials / Stuff!

Today was spent making a Sesame Street cuddle quilt for my granddaughter. Needless to say, it's not quite ready to show yet. I found the panel at Fabricville ages ago. As with most printed panels, nothing is square. I will try to straighten the sides as much as possible without losing too much of the edge but I think it will still be a bit wonky! But thankfully, two year olds don't look at these things! She will be more interested in Big Bird, Cookie Monster and Elmo. I am doing free-motion stitching on the top. It's not perfect but will have to do. My Husqvarna Designer SE complained about needing a firmware upgrade. The problem is, it had its final upgrade in November and there is not suppose to be another. Bummer! I will have to finish the quilt on my other smaller machine.

That's my little rant for today. I hope you have fun searching through the following tutorials:

Enjoy!

• Chick Pincushion
• Doll Making Tutorials
• Free Paper Piecing Patterns
• Crafty Little Things to Sew
• Fabric Box Tutorial
• Stitched in Color Quilts
• Sewing Tutorials
• Sew for Home and much more
• For the Quilter
• Making Stamps

Door Crown Pattern I designed years ago.

Pinterest

A friend mentioned one day that she gets on pinterest and time flies. I now know what she means. Tonight I decided to figure out how to manage my pinterest account. I set one up ages ago but hadn't done much with it.

Pinterest is a visual bookmarking website that allows you to pin images and videos that you find online and want to save and share with others onto virtual pinboards. People can follow you or your pinboards on Pinterest. They can repin  any of the content that they like from your board. You can do the same from other pinboards. It's a great way to categorize items you want to save and reference later.

So far, I've created nine boards: birds, quilts, sewing kits, embroidery, felting, knitting, crochet, hexagons, and pouch/totes/purse. I'm sure more will be created. There's not much in the boards yet but I'm sure that will change.

Chiffon

A few days ago I purchased several pieces of chiffon at Fabricville. They had a sale of buy one, get two free. Not one to pass up a bargain . . . ! I bought several colours as I liked the patterns and figured they might be useful for foliage and flowers. I hadn't stitched much chiffon before with free motion and I wasn't disappointed as it worked the same as organza. It was also easy to burn with the stencil cutter. Now I have a wider range of colours to use for making foliage and flowers. I thought I had three pieces of green but when I got home the limy green I really wanted wasn't there. It had stripes like the pink in the corner of the photo. Guess I have to take another trip to the store. This time I'll make sure the bolts are left on the table before someone quickly puts them back. I usually check to see that I have the fabrics I want but this time I didn't! 

• Chiffon Applique. Ruth O'Leary Textile Art
• Beads made from Chiffon & Threads. Carolyn Saxby Mixed Media Textile Art
• Textile Art - Chiffon. Klare Poelchau
• Chiffon is Blooming in January. Diana Trout
• Craft Projects using Chiffon

Enjoy!

Poppies

I have been watching the poppies outside my studio window for the last week wondering when they would open. This morning I was finally rewarded with this beauty!

Poppies in textile art - eye candy for your pleasure!

• Hand embroidery by Jessica Coote, UK.  Visit her blog
• Kirsten Chursinoff Textile Art, Vancouver, Canada (poppies in blue)
• Linda Matthews, USA. "Poppy" Art Bag and  Linda Hearts Poppy
• Laura Rose (interview, scroll down for poppy postcard)
• Jannick Deslauriers, Toronto, Canada. Fragile Sculptures,
• Moy Mackay, Scotland.  Textile Landscapes
• Sally Gould Wright, California, USA.  Poppy Love
• Eileen Gidman, Creston, BC, Canada.  Painting Poppy Pods with Dyes
• Nicky Perryman Textile Artist, UK. Wild About Poppies
• DIY: Fabric Poppy Flower Gift Toppers
• Richard Box, UK.  Poppies (scroll down)

Enjoy!

Post 600!

This is my 600 blog post! I can't believe I have written that many different posts. Thank you to all my followers, readers and to those who have left comments. You are all much appreciated.

Now for some tutorials to check out!

• Lots of tutorials at Terri Stegmiller's blog
• Circle Zip Ear Bud Pouch
• Everyday Beautiful Tutorials
• Fabric Sewing Caddy
• 6 Summer Sewing Projects
• 24 Beautiful Purse Patterns
• 25 + Things to Sew
• Something About Nothing Tutorials

Enjoy!!

Welcome Summer!

It's 8:00 here in St. John's, Newfoundland. I just opened my patio door to a beautiful 20C and wonderful sunshine - awe, Summer! I hope it lasts. Those of you living on the mainland and further south may be a bit puzzled over this but we live in the middle of the great North Atlantic and sometimes the weather is a bit crazy. It isn't often that we can sit outside at such an early hour.

I know I should be thinking cool thoughts and passing on some wonderful summer projects (I did do some of that yesterday), however, Freebies for Crafters just posted the latest freebie, Winter Seeds Table Topper. It is a very simple patchwork with machine applique. I think the shape was what caught my eye. This table topper is part of the Christmas Once a Month featured by the Crafty Quilter. Check them out! By using bright, summery fabrics you can change the Winter Seeds table topper into a Summer Surprise or Summer Delight! Have fun making up your own title for your table topper.
Enjoy!

Summer!

Tomorrow is officially the first day of SUMMER. We are just now starting to get semi warm weather and the weekend is suppose to be warm and sunny according to Environment Canada. All the rain we've had has been good for the plants. Look what's blooming in my front garden. I don't remember it's name but isn't it just gorgeous!

To celebrate the arrival of summer (tomorrow), check out two previous posts HERE, and HERE as they have lots of links for you to search.
Also, take a peek at these!

• Fold up Picnic Mat (lots of tutorials & free patterns)
• Insulated Beverage Holders (lots of sewing projects)
• Quilted Wine Tote (so cute)
• Strawberry Tote Tutorial
• Sunshine Quilted Wall Hanging
• Sailboat Quilt Block
• Scoop It Up Wall Hanging (download the PDF)

 
 
Enjoy!

Totally Tutorials!

This is a very short post! However, I think it will take you some time to check out the 101 Sewing Tutorials for Summer in Everything Etsy.

As I've written before, I have spent some time exploring the internet for interesting 'stuff' for quilters, embroiderers, crafters, fiber artists . . .  You get the message. Enjoy exploring as you never know where it will lead.

C & M Crafts, Carmanville, NL

Last year I posted about The Fabric Shop in Gander, NL. Well, this time, I visited the sister shop, C & M Crafts in Carmanville.

Wouldn't you know it - they are closed on Fridays! However, I did get into the shop to have a look around. Marion Gillingham, the owner, was in Gander at the other store, so her husband let me look around and take photos to share with you. As you can see, there is a wide range of fabrics, notions and patterns to choose from. The two shops have a different range of fabrics with very little duplication. I did purchase a few batiks at The Fabric Shop back in Gander.

Quilters in central Newfoundland are very lucky to have these two quilt shops!

Everything for knitting and hand embroidery

Hand Embroidery Patterns

Ribbons, zippers and fabric

Notion wall! Everything at your finger tips.

Lots of nice patterns!

Hand Embroidered Red Work with NL Tartan



I like the yellow tape measure fabric and would have purchased it but . . .