All Hallow's Eve

T's most excellent pumpkin (smeared with Vaseline to preserve it's week old carving)

Agent Smith & rescued Chilean miner ready to party!

[don't get any ideas about my house being this tidy - our neighbour took this shot in his living room!]

I borrowed this capsule from a fellow rescued miner, sadly by this time the fabulous mesh door on the capsule had been torn off during some feverish dance-floor antics

We've got yummy treats, but first you'll have to get through this ghoul!

Mystic Star for the Bloggers Quilt Festival

WELCOME TO POPPYPRINT!

For all the online chitchat about batiks not cutting the mustard for modern quilts, I present Mystic Star. There are some projects for which batiks provide the necessary depth and colour saturation required for a design to really shine. I believe Annette Ornelas' Mexican Star pattern is one of them. This quilt was completed four years ago just in time for my guild's bi-annual quilt show. It is my one and only award-winning quilt!

Several members of the guild took this course from local teacher Brenda Brayfield. It was my first introduction to folding back bias edges to simulate curved piecing. I have seen this pattern made up in several different colourways, and varying techniques for holding the curves back. Lots of quilters choose to sew a line 1/8" inside the curve on their machine, but I really didn't trust my skills to create a smooth line. Instead, I knew I wanted to stitch the curves down by hand. By complete fluke, I came across the perfect vial of glass seed beads to embellish each curve. The beading was done prior to sandwiching the quilt.

The trick with pre-sandwich embellishing is then trying to quilt around it! I figured out my quilting plan for each design area of the quilt using a large sheet of clear vinyl laid on top of the quilt. Using a wipe-away fine tip marker, I doodled various quilting ideas onto the vinyl until finding one I liked enough to commit to thread.

Not happy with the yellow quilting lines that crossed in the intersections, I simply covered them up with a little pile of beads! In addition to free motion quilting in the large background areas, I added random seed stitches and blanket stitched the binding on for a little extra somethin'-somethin' since the binding was done in the same fabric as the background.

For a show quilt, I think it's nice to create a special label.

This is the only quilt that permanently hangs on display in our home (outside of my sewing room, that is) and I never tire of looking at it. It's a beautiful pattern and I don't think it would be nearly as effective in any fabric other than batiks, really.

If you are stopping in via Amy's Bloggers Quilt Festival, thanks for taking a peek! Have fun touring all of the beautiful quilts, head back to Amy's for a complete list of participants.

Starry Night Tree Skirt

Look, I made another one! Even though that black fabric has been in my stash for several years (purchased no doubt with a different Christmas project in mind) it works well with the bright reds and greens.

The workshop filled up last night, so I'll have 15 fellow guild members all making Carol's lovely Oh Joyful! pattern with me in late November. It will be a fun class - I have a great time making this pattern. A 1/4" foot with guide makes sewing all of the strips together easy peasy. I needed to make a second one so that I can demonstrate the technique I worked out to attach the bias binding to those pesky (but cute!) scallops.

My first tree skirt is complete now that I've embellished the trees with these sweet hand made clay star buttons.

Aren't they perfect? Wendy makes the most beautiful buttons on Pender Island, B.C., all cut and painted by hand so no two are alike. If you like these, visit her website and see what else she makes - cute sheep, doggies, kitties, frogs, hearts, skulls, 2-hole sweater buttons...you name it. Wendy even welcomes custom work and she'll ship her buttons safely anywhere. Great customer service! I love supporting women entrepreneurs, especially ones close to home.

[fun aside: Wendy is from the same teeny weeny town in Nova Scotia where my mom was born and my sister was married. This vast country we live in really is rather small at times]

I attached my star buttons with knotted DMC floss in case they have to be removed for washing (heaven forbid, because those reds were not pre-washed and that could be trouble with the white background!!). I usually try to soak reds and navy/black in Retayne before I use them just to be sure. In fact, that black starry fabric released a lot of dye when I treated it.

Is everyone ready for Hallowe'en? I've got a very au courant costume this year which should be fun. I'll show you photos on the big day. And wait 'till you see the amazing pumpkin T carved on the weekend - it's going to be a crowd pleaser for sure.

Who's the LUCKY one?

Thanks everyone for your enthusiasm for the new kid on the crafting market! Berene will be thrilled with your responses to her Happy Sew Lucky line of adorable sewing kits. I called upon the random number generator to choose one of you from 38 comments (last one was a duplicate) and the LUCKY winner of a kit to make this special fella:

is

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:2Powered by RANDOM.ORG

[ please note, I entered 1 to 38 in the RNG, but when I cut and paste the results block, it shows 1 to 100. Don't ask me - tech support is still out of town, so you're going to have to trust me.]

Well, that makes it easy in the counting department (hey all of you wise blogger-users out there, how do I get my comments to number themselves??). Congratulations to Amy!! YES During Quiet Time-Amy, you!! Yippee, you get to make a Santa (just as soon as you're finished those Hallowe'en costumes). No need to send me your mailing address....I just happen to have it already. And speaking of cute, if you haven't met Amy before, you've got to stop by her blog and Etsy shop to see her lovely wares as well - adorable Kokeshi doll ornaments, pin cushions, covered buttons, mini-quilts and more, all hand-printed with Amy's lino cuts and silk screens.

Thanks for stopping by everyone. If you like Berene's sweet kits, why not buy one or three? Happy Sew Lucky is open for business right here. Or watch Kaye's space for another GET LUCKY give away coming soon - she got to see the crew in action at the Creativ Festival in Toronto last weekend. Lucky Kaye.

Stars of the Pacific Coast

At this time of year, it's hard to see any in the sky due to the ever-present cloud cover here in the Pacific Northwest, so for this post we're going under. Deep under the sea, that is. These are some of the beautiful creatures on display at the amazing Vancouver Aquarium. I love everything about this place and whenever we have out of town guests, as we did this weekend, this is our 'go to' spot. My little Canon Powershot SD750 has an aquarium setting, so I thought I'd give it a go....herewith the results:

Incredible anemone colour

Luminous jellies

Super-sized calamari (Pacific Giant Octopus, to be exact)

Everyone's favourite little fishy

What do you think these guys are staring at?

maybe they can't take their eyes off of the cutest creatures ever seen,

the elusive Pink Octopi-Noggins

(from L-R) bestest friend, D, visiting cousin

I've got a very busy stitching schedule this week so hopefully I'll have something creative to show you soon! It's not too late to get in on the GET LUCKY giveaway....click here to enter before Monday evening.

Kim's Deco Log Cabin Quilt

This is the quilt I just completed for Kim's parents. I wrote about this project in this post. Before she passed away just over a year ago, Kim had pieced these big log cabin blocks together. Her family asked me to complete the quilt, so I added two borders, quilted and bound it.

If you've been reading this blog for a while, and especially if you're one of my flickr friends, you know I have issues working with brown (used to be green, too, but I'm getting over that and putting some effort into brown now). There were many reasons why completing this quilt was a challenge for me, both emotionally and practically.

I know Kim's parents will be very happy when I give it to them on Monday, and even happier when they can present it to the friend she was making it for. I wanted to share it with you because of it's cool art-deco look. The setting Kim chose for the log cabin blocks is not very common and I think it is really effective with these semi-solid fabrics that have high contrast with the muslin.

________________

Don't forget that there are still a couple of days for you to get in and GET LUCKY! Visit this post and leave a comment to win!

Get Lucky!

Ooooooo! So excited about this post!!! I've been waiting ages to tell you all about my wonderful, creative, humble, talented designer friend Berene. For the better part of a year, Berene has been working very hard designing, creating and developing the most amazing new original product. And you could win one right here today!!!

Happy Sew Lucky launches this weekend at the Toronto Creative Fair and Berene will be there sporting her GET LUCKY t-shirt and pink Converse, selling her wonderful kits. If you're in the vicinity, please stop by, say hello and make her feel welcome....Berene's never been to T.O. and you know, it's a big place, and launching your very own product can be a little nerve-wracking.

I bet 'cha a grande skinny latte that you'll be impressed, very impressed. She has single-handedly (well, truth be told, her hubby and kids have packed their fair share of kits this past month!) taken her dream of creating her own product and, in my humble opinion, succeeded fully.

With almost 20 years of professional design work in hand, Berene began with the idea of creating a 'sew-it-yourself' doll kit that had all of the pattern pieces printed directly onto organic fabric. Finally, a fun do-it-yourself project for grown-ups! Her kits include everything you need - even turning tools for those skinny arms and legs! Okay, not everything; you still have to provide a sewing machine, thread and scissors, but you all have those, right? Really, the only skills you need are these:

1. How to operate a sewing machine, and
2. Read the instructions through before cutting (okay, sometimes I don't do this either, but I always end up wishing I did).

I am very inspired by people who are brave enough to follow their dream of creating something totally unique from concept to product. I mean, she designed each character, their colours and beautiful fabric prints, all of the pattern pieces and even the packaging. The designs are fresh, contemporary and fun, and the instructions even have a little of Berene's signature cheek.

Don't you just want this little sweetie hanging in your holiday tree?

I really love the baby line. Each baby softie has an adorable name, a little dinner in their tummy, and they even star in their own soft story book perfect for stroller or highchair time! These are perfect baby shower gifts for a crafty person to make up for an expectant momma.

Berene has given me one Santa kit to share with a Poppyprint reader. Who wants to GET LUCKY? All you have to do is visit the Happy Sew Lucky (how fabulous is that name???) website and then come back here and tell me which is your favorite of the 3 baby softies. It's that easy and open to everyone. And, if you can't wait until Monday, October 25th at 6:00 p.m. PST to find out if you've won, then just place an order on the website while you're there! The Happy Sew Lucky crew will send out orders next week after returning from Toronto.

Hope you GET LUCKY!

Comments are now closed, thanks for entering!

Mug Rug Made It!

Wouldn't you know it? I just sent a note to my swap mama yesterday asking if my mug rug had been posted, because I've been waiting patiently, and it just hadn't come yet, and all the ones I love are being received by other people, and I was just feeling a little left out. Waaaaaah!

Then boom. Today it arrived! And it was totally worth the wait! My mama reassured me that I had an excellent swap partner and there was absolutely NO WAY she'd flake. Now I understand...my partner is non other than the amazing flickr swap queen chickenfoot (otherwise known as Susan to her real life friends...I think).

Isn't it great? I have not yet been initiated into all things red/aqua/Little Red and couldn't be happier to have this sweet little mug rug to keep my afternoon teacup cozy.

This swap was so great. The creativity and originality that resulted from it on flickr is just astounding. I ended up making 3 of them. It's so fun - give it a try! Christmas is just around the corner and mug rugs make great gifts....especially when a groovy matching mug is included.

Don't forget, exciting stuff coming in about 13 hours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Free Fabric!

Aha, that got your attention.

You might have read somewhere in the vicinity of this blog that I'm trying not to buy more fabric. That doesn't mean I don't try to win it. Like this stack.

Olivia's Holiday by Tina Givens

Imagine my shock when all that yardage (I think there's about 6 yards!) arrived in a lovely box with Tina Givens' new book "Sew Tina", two of her adorable children's patterns and FOUR boxes of her sweet note cards!

I won the Lark Crafts-sponsored giveaway at Heather's blog a few weeks ago, thinking that the prize was Tina's book. Then all of that loot arrived on my door step. I must say, her fabric is really gorgeous and the thrill of receiving it completely unexpected and totally gratis just makes me all warm inside. Thank you Heather and Lark books!!!!

Now, onto the inexpensive-but-not-exactly-free-fabric portion of this post. I'm such a sucker for those darn newsletters. I know I should spare my bank balance and hit 'unsubscribe' but I can't. I just can't miss out on the deal! You know?

So, when I received Cathy's lovely newsletter announcing her fall clearance sale at the amazing Pink Chalk Fabric store. Well, you know what happened......

This:

fabric details on flickr, just click the image

My stash needed it. Honest. Plus, Cathy sends out free patterns with every order (so hey, more free stuff!).

I needed this, too:

There are 35 minutes remaining in the kid-free portion of my day. I'm heading out into some incredible October sunshine to peruse the "1 yard gifts to make in an afternoon" article!

Stay tuned everyone, BIG FUN Blogosphere premiere coming first thing Thursday morning - I am so excited. The post is written and scheduled for 7:00 a.m. on the 21st.....and what's a BIG FUN post without someone GETTING LUCKY???!!!

Decorating for Retreat

Rebecca brought the most hilarious pumpkin to retreat last Saturday. Look!

Isn't it fantastic?? Rebecca's got some time on her hands, so she didn't stop there. Once on the Better Homes & Gardens Hallowe'en crafting pages online, she spied these little kitties. They would go perfectly with my dead cat on a stick wall hanging.

Adorable pencil toppers made from some recycled wool coats and all displayed in a vase of orange lentils. Genius! Here's a closer look. She did such a great job on these and everyone got a big kick out of her table display.

Thanks RJ!!

I had a great day on Saturday and got to make a big ol' checkmark against a longstanding item on my TO DO list. Finally complete is the quilt I've been working on sporadically on behalf of a neighbour. Sadly, Kim lost a long battle with ovarian cancer a year ago before she could complete this quilt for her friend. When her parents came to my door with the top, border fabric, black sheet for a backing and asked if I could finish it, I wanted so badly to help out. However, it has taken me way too long to attach two borders and quilt it. I had a really hard time with tension and thread breakage which I think may have been due to the sheet. Much unpicking and re-quilting, a machine tune-up and several tears of frustration later, I'm very happy that I can now return it to them bound and washed. I thought of Kim a lot as I stitched on Saturday....she was only a few years older than me. I will try and get a photo this week because the log cabin setting she chose is really cool and would like you to see it, too.

And now onto the baby quilt commission. Sewing room here I come!

A spot of seasonal colour

As seen in Victoria, B.C.

Tune in tomorrow for some hilarious Hallowe'en decor that was brought to retreat yesterday!

Pomegranate Process

I love pomegranates. What I don't like is the CSI crime scene that results in my kitchen when I try to extract the juicy seeds from the pith. That, and I've ruined at least two t-shirts (why, oh why, do I never put the darned apron on??).

My friend Marsha made a delicious spinach salad for retreat a few years ago and now it is a regular item on the menu. You can use grapes, or when they are in season (NOW!) pomegranates. At some point last year, I discovered 'the pomegranate process'. I'm not sure where...maybe it was a cooking magazine sidebar tip? Maybe a culinary website? I can't remember. It's worth sharing, so here goes (recipe to follow).

At the market, choose a fruit that is deep cranberry red and firm. At home, put on your apron. Fill a large bowl with tepid water - keep it in the sink. Then, over the kitchen sink, trim the top off of your ripe pomegranate.

With the tip of a paring knife, score the flesh of the pomegranate in vertical lines from the trimmed top down to the centre bottom dividing the fruit into about 5 segments. Holding the fruit UNDER the water with both hands, crack it open.

Gently break the whole thing apart into large chunks. Working under the water with both hands, open the pith sections and gently nudge the seeds away with your fingers.

Now, here's the magic. The seeds will SINK and the pith will FLOAT!!

And your kitchen and t-shirt will remain free of scary, B-grade-horror-film-pomegranate-juice- spatters!

Ta-Dah!!!

Now you can make this yummy, good for you salad. Thanks Marsha!

STUFF YOU NEED

1/4 C crumbled feta cheese

1/4 C toasted pine nuts

1 head romaine lettuce

1/2 bag washed baby spinach

1/2 C pomegranate seeds (or seedless red grapes cut in 1/2)

DRESSING

2 tbsp. maple syrup

1/3 c. olive oil

1 tbsp. red wine vinegar

1/4 tsp. dry mustard or 1 tsp. dijon mustard

1/2 tsp. oregano

ENJOY!

Take a Number

I have a feeling that many of you are just like me: busy mom, busy volunteer, attempting to contribute a positive flow into the family finances with a small business, unable to stop adding new projects to the massive pile before you (with more taking up valuable space in your brain).

Sound familiar?

I'm having one of those weeks when I wish there was one of these on my kitchen counter:

As seen in the Dutch Bakery, Victoria, B.C.

Squishy Squash

Thanks to my friend 'e' at pinksuedeshoe, I was inspired to make these fellas as a hostess gift for our sweet friends that put us up for Thanksgiving. There is still time to whip some up for your Hallowe'en or harvest table using her free tutorial.

It is the same family who hosted us last year and we had another wonderful holiday weekend; Neighbourhood strolls with beautiful views, soccer in the rain, Mexican dinner out, used book exchanging for the kids, a retro-barber shop visit for B, jamming in the basement music pad (turns out D is quite the drummer!), hard work on a math assignment for T (boo hiss on a holiday weekend!), cheering for the Victoria marathon runners, and as always, a delicious harvest feast.

These pumpkins may be a bit too squishy. I tried to stuff them as much as possible (I recycled the stuffing from an old pillow no one will sleep on anymore), but they still wrinkled when I pulled the floss tight around the seams. No worries, my dear friend loves her new pumpkins. There are dried lentils in the bottom for weight and stability. The felted wool stems are courtesy of the hand-dying skills of Paulette, the white stripey pumpkin is an old men's shirt, the orangey stripes are a Kaffe shot from India that has been in my stash forever and the mod orange one is Picnic Parade by Jenean Morrison for Free Spirit.

Don't you just love putting love into a gift for someone that you know will truly appreciate it? I know I do. And she does, too.

Who's got the Safe Asset (Giveaway)?

First things first: HAPPY BIRTHDAY B!!!! I wish you a mellow, happy day at work (it's a wish - but I'm thinking the people who have influence over these things likely do not read my blog). We'll be there at the end to take you out for a nice dinner and then we're going to see this fantastic musical.

And for you, lovely bloggy friends, thanks for entering my Kaffe Fasset Autumn giveaway and share in the celebration of my one year blogiversary!!

There were 103 comments, but the last two snuck in after my deadline, so the RNG has spoken.... see?

True Random Number Generator

Min: Max: Result: 22Powered

Counting down brings us to:

Lesly said...

Glorious colour, indeed! I'd love to get those in the mail!

Lesly is the big winnah! Congratulations!. Please send me an email (address right over there under my smiley face) with your postal address and I'll get your luscious fat quarters off to you right away!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone (those of you in Canada, anyway). We are excited to once again spend this harvest weekend with friends here, so I'll be taking a few days off from blogland. Back soon!

A Quickie

This time of year is full of family birthdays. I try as often as I can to make gifts for everyone, but I must admit, I'm losing steam on the grown-ups and feeling like it would be best to concentrate on the kids (nieces and nephews). Up first are my sister's girls, both this month. When we were young, she and I often got 'the same but different gifts' and this usually worked out.....except for the clock radio Christmas, but that's another story.

So, my nieces will soon receive these sweet wallets made from my coveted Japanese linen stash using Valori Wells Little Wallet Card pattern. You've seen these here before. This time, I think I'll throw in a few bucks so they can buy themselves something fun.

See those shadows? That's late afternoon autumn sunshine, my friends. Love it!

Don't forget to enter my one year blogiversary Safe Asset Giveaway for some gorgeous autumn-coloured Kaffe Fasset FQ's!

My heart on a string...the year in review

I began blogging a year ago because I wanted so badly to be a part of the global quilting community. My guild is amazing and my retreat buddies mean the world to me, but I had a sense that exciting things were going on amongst creative women the world over and I wanted IN! No longer content to be the last pick on the baseball team (my hand-eye coordination was, and still is, pathetic), I took a chance and jumped in with both feet.

This is one venture where I think I can speak for all my blogging friends: results do NOT vary. Everyone succeeds and finds their online community, their online voice, their virtual home of creativity, if you will. In addition to blogging, flickr is a wonderful place for community-building through sharing photos and swapping handmade items in groups.

Before long you feel inspired to share your work with appreciative recipients: all of those other amazingly creative people that you 'talk' to every day through comments on their flickr photos or on their blog posts. I have always loved giving handmade gifts and now the fun part is I am receiving them, too!! Admittedly, my large-sized quilt production has taken a nosedive in the last 12 months, but I'm having too much fun to worry about that. Plus, making smaller projects specifically for a person who has shared their likes and dislikes can be a wonderful challenge, like this quilt I made for DQS9.

Monthly swaps with changing themes have also stretched my skills, expanded my colour palette and inspired me to make this,

this,

and this.

I never thought I would make so many original projects, dreamed up right inside my very own head! I was stuck in a 'making it from a pattern' loop but this past 12 months has given me the freedom to create like never before and sometimes I feel full to bursting with ideas. So again, I say thanks to all of you for your encouragement and friendship! (don't forget to enter my blogiversary giveaway here if you haven't already).

Returning to the concept of receiving, and the string reference in this post title, I wanted to show you this happy doll quilt that Carol sent recently. Carol is so generous and supplies all of the angel quilts for the doll quilt swap on flickr....she knows I loved this string quilt, so we arranged a little private swap for one of my selvage coin quilts. Lucky me!!

Thank you Carol, this cheerful number will keep me happy in my sewing room!

So, what's up for the coming months? Despite trying to carve out more time for my own projects, swapping is just too much fun, so I've signed up for another one, arranged a couple more private ones with blog friends, and in January I'll begin my first ever online quilting bee organized by Tracey. I can't wait!

p.s. as an afterthought, I did think of one downside to all this online friendship.....unfortunately I have discovered WAY too many places to shop via keyboard and monitor. While my stash is thriving, I fear my savings account is on life support!!!