friday faves 29-06-12

First off, wow!  Thanks so much to everyone who has entered the giveaway and to everyone who's stopped to read the blog a bit and maybe continue doing so.  You rock!  I'm super behind with everything right now but I hope to get the time to say hi back to everyone sometime in the next...oh, week!  And I'm discovering so many new blogs, which is awesome!

We've had so much rain this week that taking pics has been impossible.  From the light levels you'd think it was November!  So, instead of shots of stuff I'm doing, I thought I'd show some stuff I'm loving instead.

Like...

Erin McMorris's Poppies and Posies from My EQ Boutique

Did you know that Erin McMorris designs applique patterns for EQ?  Me neither!  But I love these Poppies and Posies and am itching to try out some applique because of them.  You don't need to own the software to get the patterns, which is great because I don't.  Ok, I do.  I own EQ2 but have no idea where it is and it probably couldn't run on this computer even if I could figure out how to install it.  I think it was on floppy!

Michelle Yeo's Abeville County quilt pattern

I'm also obsessing over Michelle Yeo's patterns lately.  What is with the Australians being so talented?  Michelle's patterns are based on antique quilts and are definitely not easy.  But can you imagine her Abbeville County design done in bright, modern fabrics?  Sure it would be challenging, but the result would be spectacular.

the bottom line thread from Superior Threads

I've been working away in the evening on my Hexy MF quilt and decided to try a new thread for my paper piecing.  Have you ever tried Superior Threads' The Bottom Line?  It's a crazy thin polyester thread - 60 weight I think - that I originally bought to try out on the longarm.  I'm loving it for my paper piecing!  It doesn't tangle and it's so fine that the stitches completely disappear.  I tend to paper piece pretty quickly (I can get 3 hexie flowers done in a one hour tv show if the show's not too interesting and the dog isn't too in the way) so my stitches aren't that tiny (unlike Heather's, hers are the tiniest stitches I've ever seen!).  It's a little slippery but you get used to it. 

And speaking of thread, I hope to get back to thread reviews next week.  I haven't been doing much block piecing lately and it's easiest to figure out the amount of thread used when you're sewing blocks.

Have a great long weekend everyone, happy Canada Day and 4th of July,
c

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friday faves 03-09-12

If you've thought about trying appliqué but just aren't sure if you can commit, this might just be the pattern for you.  It's got some great traditional appliqué aspects, but not so much of it that it'll take the next ten years to get done!  But the real reason I'm blogging about it is that it's a charitable pattern - all the proceeds from the pattern go to help a little girl named Kyra who's been dealing with a pretty horrible illness.  I'm going to talk to my guild and see if anyone wants to help me piece one and either donate it or auction it for charity.

the cutting table at Spool of Thread in Vancouver

Have you ever ordered a whole bolt of fabric? I did once (kona white) and I'm thinking of doing it again since Hancocks of Paducah has a free shipping code right now (xp8ml42).  It might not be the best deal if you're in the States, but for us internationals, free shipping over $100 is pretty great!

photo via my go go life

Why didn't I come across this earlier?  Kim's adorable cathedral window pin cushion tutorial on her blog My Go-Go Life! 

happy stitching,
c 

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Friday Faves - 03.02.12

image via poppyprint

 I love this armrest pin cushion and organizer that Krista made from Amy's pattern.  I tend to just jam my hand sewing needles into the arm of my chair, which means they often get jammed into my arm.  I need to make one of these.  Because...

I've started making English paper pieced rose star blocks in Summerfete's block party.  I love these blocks, I love english paper piecing, I love watching movies and doing english paper piecing!

image via Dana at Made

And finally, this one's a little old, but did you know you can dye elastic?  I want to try!

happy weekend,
c

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Friday Faves - 20.01.12

I keep finding cool quilty things online that I think I'd like to post about on the blog.  But they're never quite enough for a full post.  So, I've decided to just compile them into a weekly Friday Faves column.

Here we go!

Now there's another reason to love Spoonflower!  They've teamed up with Robert Kaufman and will be using Kona cotton as their new quilting weight base cloth starting January 23rd.  Yay!

Amazon.com has a sneak peek up of Tula Pink's forthcoming book, Quilts from the House of Tula Pink.  I love the cover quilt and I know I want to make the houndstooth pattern, too.

Denyse Schmidt has two new quilt patterns available to showcase the soon to be reprinted (woot!) Flea Market Fancy, Flower Chain and Point Me.


happy weekend,
c

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