Newsflash: Summer Missing from Pacific Northwest!

The trees have turned blue for Heaven's sake! 'Nuff said.

We're heading south to Oregon in search of a few degrees. Not holding out hope for sun. The weather forecasters are wearing rose-coloured glasses these days. I think they are tired of the hate mail.

I know there are plenty of you just dreaming of a day around 65F or 20C.

Come to Vancouver. We can set you up.

More QR Code Quilt Fun

After posting photos of Scan Me on flickr, it was soon invited to join a couple of fun groups. The first is QR Codes in the Wild which mostly consists of photographs of printed QR codes in magazines, newspapers, posters and playbills. The second is more up our collective alley: QR-3D which showcases QR Codes hand made by some very creative people. I think the group was started as some sort of contest in the UK, but I can't seem to find any details. Here is one fabulous quilt from that group, shared here with permission from it's talented maker Pippa Wardman.

Pippa created this unique QR Code quilt with a solid white background and fused fussy cut cupcakes. IT ACTUALLY WORKS!! I think this is super fun. Thanks for letting me share it, Pippa. For those of you without a smart phone, I can tell you that the code links to this blog (but if you've got an app, try it! Scanning is just too much fun!),

Check out the flickr group - there are some spectacular codes made from hundreds (maybe thousands!) of tiny french knots, several cross-stitched codes and even some knit gloves incorporating codes (although my iPhone couldn't scan the knitting).

Oh! Have you heard? The Modern Quilt Guild Blog has put out a call for submissions for a feature they will run this fall called "100 Days of Modern Quilts". You are encouraged to submit up to 3 quilts that you've made and consider to be examples of modern quilting, along with any tutorials that you have written, or that you would like to nominate from someone else in blogland. I've submitted "Scan Me" - let's see if they like it!

Still two days to enter my birthday giveaway for a GO! Baby fabric cutting system (including 3 dies of your choice) or some of my hand-printed poppy fabric here.

Scan Me Full Frontal

Possibly my naughtiest post title ever. Love it.

My guild held a summer sew-in today and I was able to complete the quilting and binding of my QR Code Quilt. I kept scanning it along the way to make sure the quilting stitches and the blue binding would not affect the scan-ability of the quilt. You can even scan this photo of the quilt with your smart phone and it works! Pretty cool. Thanks to my GO! Baby I was able to cut all of the 2" squares I used to construct this quilt in about 20 minutes (I did cheat; some longer strips were used wherever there were more than 5 squares of one colour in row. I'm not that obsessed with piecing!).

I quilted the entire quilt in a simple grid pattern using King Tut Superior white, 40 wt. 3-ply thread. The batting is bamboo/cotton blend. Check out the cheeky backing:

Perfect foil for a totally functional, mod quilt, don't cha think? That's a hunk of Alexander Henry's "Home Sewing is Easy" that I got on sale as a bolt end here last fall.

If you would like to make your own QR Code quilt, I've done a tute here. If you would like to WIN a GO!Baby, then enter your comment here before Thursday, July 28th.

Go ahead, scan it! You know you want to!

This is it Baby. GO! Giveaway

Today is my birthday (like you didn't already know) and I can't think of a better way to celebrate than giving one of you a present. When Accuquilt offered me the opportunity to try out one of their adorable GO!Baby cutters I was very happy to accept because it meant I could then share one with one of you. These are expensive tools and not necessarily something everyone can just run out and buy. It feels nice to be able to gift something like that!

You can read more about my escapades with the cutter here and here see a tutorial for making your own QR Code quilt on my flickr sets here. I've only used my GO!Baby to cut 2" squares so far. I have been getting a lot of ideas of what else I could use my new tumbler and chisel dies for, though. Luckily I have two willing assistants who think rolling the dies through the cutter is a super fun job (it is!) so when I'm ready to tackle one of those projects I know who to call.

I've had some inquiries about whether an Accuquilt cutting machine would be helpful for someone with arthritis in their hands. Well, I have arthritis in my hands that is mostly in remission, but easily flared by repetitive strain. I can say this: you have to be able to grip, both the top handle to stabilize the cutter, and the rolling handle to turn it. A flat hand over the top would work for holding the machine steady, but a full grip is necessary to turn the crank. The dies did flow VERY easily through the machine with 3 fabric layers so you don't necessarily need a tight grip...any more than 3 layers require more general arm strength and a tighter grip. Also, unless you are using scraps, fabric preparation with rotary equipment is still required, so this is not a replacement for rotary work by any means. I don't believe any auto-cutting system is.

The good news is that the GO! Baby is just plain fun to use, and very safe (the blades are super sharp, but if a grown-up places the fabric and cutting mat on top of the die safely, then a smaller helper can roll it through the machine for you). Or a big man helper, whichever you happen to have on hand.

For your chance to win a GO!Baby and three dies of your choice, please leave ONE comment. Your email address MUST be linked, or written in your comment for a valid entry. If you blog on a platform other than Blogger, your email is not linked, please leave it in your comment!!

This giveaway will be open until Thursday, July 28th at 6:00 pm PST

ETA: comments are now closed, thanks for entering. Winners will be announced when I return home the week of Aug.1st.

Now, before I received my GO!Baby, I had entered a lot of giveaways trying to win one myself. I know what a bummer it is not to win, so with that in mind, I'm going to offer a very small consolation prize to three more Poppyprint readers.

You can choose your favourite colour of my poppy-printed fabric and I'll send you a piece!

Ok, if you are here for free stuff, go ahead and leave a comment. If you are curious about the good-luck birthday story I mentioned the other day, here you go.

I had always thought I was lucky that my birthday was on the 22nd, because that meant I would be old enough to do something really cool on my "good luck" birthday. You know, turning 22 on the 22nd. Well, I did do something really cool that day. In fact, it was something I NEVER would have dreamed of. Turns out, that summer of '89 I got a job in South Africa through recruiters at my university. Gold Fields, a South African mining company, had a program to bring over foreign geology and mining students for their summer term and give them 'a job' to experience the mining industry there. The hope was that you'd return after obtaining your qualifications. As a geology student, I was able to work at the mineralogy lab, and live in an apartment in Johannesburg (most of the mining students remained out on the mines in staff housing). Over one two week period, I had the opportunity to work at a field camp just north of Swaziland - there I rode my mountain bike amongst ostrich, wild boar & zebra since we were just inside of a soon-to-be-game park. Pretty cool. Fortunately I never encountered a Black Mamba, which apparently had been found in the shower shack the week before I got there!

Here's the birthday part: turns out King Mswati III of Swaziland turned 21 that summer and he decided to celebrated on the 22nd, even though is birthday is in April. Now, he's turned out to be a not-so-great guy for his country because of all the money he blows through, and I'm not sure how his 14 wives feel about him, but for his 21st birthday, he threw an incredible party! I drove down with a South African geologist and another American student and we camped out at this amazing field (Woodstock style, but with less mud). There was an incredible concert including Eric Claptan, Joan Armitrading, Johnny Clegg & Savuka all playing on this massive outdoor stage, while the King circled overhead in a helicopter. At the end of the night there was a stunning fireworks display. BEST. BIRTHDAY.EVER. The photos are in a box of slides somewhere in my crawl space....maybe one day I'll dig them out and share.

So, my friends, there you have it. Another year. I still am having a very hard time believing that concert was 22 years ago and that I am twice as old today as I was then. I'll leave you with this beautiful bouquet, dropped off by the incomparable friend Double NN Dianne last night.

Good luck in the giveaway and thanks for stopping by for my birthday party!

Passionate Winner!

Okay, can I just tell you how interesting/fortuitous/wacky/lucky/bizarre it is that my birthday month giveaway resulted in 67 comments? Why? Because I was born in '67! (cue Twilight Zone music).

So this week, it's gonna be lucky number 9

Who happens to be Beth! Congratulations Beth! I'm telling you it's Beth, because I am assuming everyone reading this is over the age of 20, therefore unable to read this snipped comment:

You get to visit Passionate Dyes and shop with a $30 gift certificate! Have fun choosing your blues. But first you need to email me because your email is not linked to your comment and I have no way of contacting you.

Next up, the final, the fabulous, the giveaway you've all been waiting for (right?)....it's Birthday Month Giveaway #4, BABY!

Quilt Labels - a Guest Post!

The lovely Becky of Chasing Cottons invited me to participate in her incredible Quilt Class 101 series. Have you been following? Even experienced quilters will learn new things, and if you are a non-quilter who is chomping at the bit to get started, I highly recommend you check out the series. Every step of the quilting process is covered by Becky and other fabulous guest bloggers over the past few months on the Wednesday posts. While you're there, have a look at the the Chasing Cottons downloadable pattern selection. Becky is a talented young designer with great ideas for your modern, or traditional fabrics. I especially love her wildly original Curlicue Crush quilt. It's another creative way to use Drunkard's Path blocks! I think I'm officially converted and will make the Drunkard's Path die my next Accuquilt purchase.

You can read my guest post on labeling your quilts there today! At the bottom of the post, there is a link up for people to share their own labeling methods, or a favourite label, too. Lots of wonderful inspiration!!

You've still got until tomorrow to enter Birthday Month Giveaway #3 here. The odds are lookin' good!

Friday is my big day. It's what I'm referring to as my double-lucky birthday...I'll be 44 on the 22nd. Holy cow. I'm going to tell you the story of my 22nd birthday on the 22nd. Now, THAT was a birthday!! I'll also announce the big kahuna, ultimate Birthday Month Giveaway #4. You don't want to miss that one!!

Poppy Pouch

It is summer swap season and I'm so happy that I've completed my first commitment 3 weeks early! Go, me! The Pretty Little Pouch Swap is a lot of fun and you cannot believe the incredible amount of inspiration in one flickr group. If you are at all interested in creating sewn pouches, check it out - everything from pencil cases to snap frame change purses, hoop pouches and little key fob cases to boxy cosmetic cases. Here are a few great project photos that I included in the inspiration mosaic for my partner.

click on the photo for links to each pic

I got a great secret partner for the swap and once I'd received her mosaic and sign up info, I was immediately inspired and got busy making this for her:

I can't give too much away or it might become obvious who this is for, but I'll tell you that it's fully lined with a pretty Central Park laminate, the outside base is Moda Crossweave and the scraps are MoMo's It's a Hoot line. It's my first real laminate project. In order to keep the lining as useful as possible (i.e. continuously seamed laminate), I left the turning opening on the side seam of the outer bag, in lieu of the normal lining hole. I had to carefully stitch that up from the right side using a ladder stitch.

It's got a side handle and is a great size of about 8" x 9 1/2". It'll be perfect for cosmetics, or anything else requiring a bit of spill-resistance! The outer bag is quilted with insul-brite.....you know, in case something has to stay cool or warm.

I spent last Sunday printing fabric with my poppy seed pods (stay tuned for poppyprint fabric on offer!) and took the opportunity to decorate the back of the pouch with some groovy prints.

I've made several zip pouches and I have to say that every single time, it's a total mystery as to how well the ends of the zip are going to turn out. I've read countless tutes on how to reduce zipper bulk, but I've got a long way to go perfecting this element of zippy pouch construction!

I think my partner will like it - I'm feelin' good about this swap!

If you're looking to stock your stash with some luscious hand-dyed fabric, scroll down for your chance in my birthday month giveaway #3!

Passionate Dyes - a Giveaway!

It's Birthday Month Giveaway #3!

ETA: Comments are now closed, thanks for entering!!

When my local friends Susan and Martha announced that their amazing hand-dyed fabrics were now available to purchase from their very own online store, I immediately wanted to share their excitement with all of you. When these gals take their fabric on the road to quilt show merchant malls, their booth is full with gasping admirers. These women are definitely passionate about dying fabric, about colour, quilting, and art. To celebrate their online opening, Passionate Dyes will give a $30 gift certificate redeemable for hand-dyed yardage from www.passionatedyes.com to one lucky Poppyprint reader!!

Have you ever sewn with hand dyes? The colour depth is unlike anything achieved with commercial printing, and no two pieces are exactly alike. Susan and Martha have trained in numerous dying methods, including shibori resist, wrapping and colour mixing. The variety of colours and patterns achieved in their workshop is incredible....and I just love that you can shop their website in colour categories like Earth, Coloured Glass, Luminous and Stone. I think my favourite category is Shibori (resist techniques). Look at these beauties!

Their fabrics cover the complete colour spectrum but have an added feature; many pieces evoke landscapes, sea beds, trees, forest floor and flower gardens. Texture is created by folding, pleating, scrunching and shibori resist techniques. A passionately dyed fabric will add immense interest to your next project!

You'll notice that each piece of fabric is priced by it's size and base fabric (either Hoffman PFD -prepared for dying, Pimatex or Kona cotton)

Both Susan and Martha are expert quilters. I've had the pleasure of seeing many of their beautiful quilts first hand. Some of these art works are available in the webstore as well. A quick trip through their quilt gallery will provide plenty of inspiration for your own hand-dyed fabric project!

"Circles" by Martha Todd

"Line and Shape" by Martha Todd

Perhaps you're smitten with hand dyes and you'd like to treat yourself to a little present? You can join the monthly fabric club and have one yard, or two 1/2 yard pieces sent right to your mailbox! You can also sign up for their newsletter for all the latest on quilt shows, new releases and shop updates.

If you'd like the chance for a $30 shopping spree* at Passionate Dyes, please leave ONE comment below and let us know your favourite colour to work with. I must have a way to contact you, so if you email is not linked to your comment, please include it in "your name (at) your server (dot) com" form. Comments will stay open until 6:00 p.m. PST on Thursday, July 21 at which time the random number generator will choose the winner!

*(not including shipping)

GOOD LUCK!

Who's going shopping at Marmalade?

Why, that would be the lucky person who left comment number:

Hey, it's Jenny! Yippee, now you can buy some Moda Crossweaves you need! Or, you might want to consider a special piece of the "arriving next week" FAR, FAR, AWAY III!!!

I'll get an email off to you with the details, Jenny. Thank you very much Tammy, for generously providing the $20 gift certificate for your sweet shop Marmalade Fabrics! I've got some new Marmalade news for all of you. Tammy has just started a rewards points system for her customers, which is an easy peasy way for you to earn 10% off all of your fabric orders! Now that her store is moving into larger digs, there will be even more delicious fabric for you to peruse - you'll be racking up the reward points in no time!

Birthday month giveaway #3 coming right up people....more money, more fabric, more fun; right here at Poppyprint. Woot!

Psychedelic Quilt Movie! Yes, there is one!

I've just learned that my tax dollars DO actually pay for something cool...this National Film Board sponsored film! Although the credits say it was made by Gayle Thomas in 1996, I've only just discovered it via a guild friend (thanks Leslie!) and I'm so happy to share it with you. The music seems sort of Japanese-y at the beginning, but then it segues right into some classic Maritime kitchen party tunes. Very Canadian.

DISCLAIMER:I take no responsibility for your bad trip if you are under the influence of (a)prescription painkillers (b) B.C. bud, or (c) several glasses of wine, while watching this. You'll see what I mean.

Enjoy it!

Drunkards Path has never been one of my favourite quilt blocks, but I've gotta say that this pattern shown in the title image for the film is totally cool! I can imagine it in sweet Japanese prints, or repros (again, not usually my scene, but apparently this movie has quilt-brain-expanding magical powers that open your mind to all sorts of never-before-imagined quilt possibilities). Oh! or Happy Mochi Yum Yum. Yeah, that would be the bomb in this pattern.

Back soon with Birthday Month Giveaway #2 winner and Giveaway #3 for ya!

Take Me Away!

The kids are off to camp. That means the parents get to play, too! We're off to lake country for 5 days of cycling, relaxing on the beach, reading.....and possibly a bit of sewing. I promised myself I wouldn't turn our week away into a quilting retreat, but it will be tricky, because we're headed here (thank you, thank you Sandi). Where I am pre-programmed to sew. I'm only bringing Agatha and one ongoing project. And my favourite shop en route is closed Sundays, so won't even be tempted as we drive by later today.

I may try to check in via iPhone, but the laptop's staying home on it's desk, right where it should be when we're on holiday.

Back soon friends....

Marmalade Madness! Birthday Month Giveaway #2

ETA: comments are now closed for this give away. Thanks for entering and please come back for birthday month give aways 3 and 4 coming soon!

Here we are in the second week of July already....and that means it's time for the second of my four Birthday Month giveaways!!

Tammy at Marmalade Fabrics is treating you right - she's offering a $20 gift certificate for her shop to one lucky Poppyprint reader. That way you choose the fabric you want, for the project you have in mind (or if you just want something pretty to add to your stash, that works, too).

Perhaps you need to stock up on basics? Tammy has oodles of Kona solids, my personal fav Essex linen/cotton blend for ONLY $6/yd in TEN gorgeous colours (lime = yummmmmm!). I made this with Essex lime; it is a perfect foundation for machine applique, makes beautiful bags and is a dream to embroider through:

Or maybe you want to get your hands on some brand new Outside Oslo? How about Imaginary Flowers? louLouthi? Habitat? Tammy's got it all and plenty more (including 1001 Peeps!).

Leave one comment for your entry (please make sure your email is linked, or in your comment; if it's not there, I have no way of contacting you!). That's all you have to do! Then head over to Marmalade and start your wish list...you want to be ready, don't you?

This giveaway will remain open until Thursday, July 14th at 6:00 p.m. PST. at which time I'll choose a winner with the help of the random number generator.

GOOD LUCK!

One down, Three to go!

I love giving stuff away. Really, truly love it. That's why you'll only find a handful of quilts in this home of someone who's been quilting for 9 years. Week one of my birthday month is over and I'm happy to announce that lucky commentor 158 has won themselves a new car! (haha, nice try T - he wrote that when I wasn't watching. Teenagers these days).

No, it's domistiCass, who looks like she could really use a threadcatcher! (if you don't have a magnifying glass, according to her comment, domestiCass is a walking thread magnet).

Congratulations!!! Email me your address so I can send you your thread catcher + goodies.

Coming up next is a giveaway every fabric lover will love, courtesy of Marmalade Fabrics!! Details tomorrow, my friends.

Spit 'n Polish

So? What do you think? I spent a LOT of time yesterday working out some design changes to the blog. I'm not sure it's a finished product quite yet, but there are some changes happening in Poppyprint Land that required a bit of an upgrade, I felt.

Most importantly, I have a fantastic partner who's joined us here! Tammy of Marmalade Fabrics, purveyor of fine modern fabrics & funky patterns and provider of first-rate customer service, has come to play. I recently had the pleasure of ordering and receiving a wonderful package from Marmalade and am very excited to toot Tammy's horn. You'll likely be doing the same thing when you see what she's given me to share with one lucky reader in the next Birthday Month giveaway (tune in Friday for details). Check out Tammy's well-stocked shop by clicking on the Marmalade button up there on the right! You might want to jot down your favourites or even start a wish list....you know, just in case.

Summertime isn't traditionally super productive in my sewing room - I like hanging out with my kids and doing fun summer activities. Just this morning, T and I enjoyed a gorgeous bike ride in the demonstration forest. We were treated to a special siting of a doe and her twin fawns! They were in the shade of the forest, so I wasn't able to get a photo, but you can get the sense of the ride in this one:

Mr. Casual (no cars on this road, so no-hands is a preferred option)

There are a couple of small things I needed to sew up before our week away. First is Meghan's June block for the VI Bees. Due to the mail strike and general tardiness of Canada Post, I didn't actually receive the fabric until June 30th, so I'm anxious to get this back to Meghan so she can piece her husband's patriotic quilt!

And next up is this passport holder for a friend. This friend is able to piece ridonculous quilt blocks, but claims anything remotely bag-like is out of her realm. Poor dear, I took pity and said I'd make one for her next trip....plus she's got twice as many kids as I do, so in theory I have more time. Oddly, our rates of productivity tend to show the opposite (she may have 2X the offspring, but she also makes twice the amount of stuff I do!). It's entirely possible I've been had. At any rate, this is her RSR passport holder (based on my memory of the Runaround Bag pattern by Lazy Girl Designs).

zip front

slot pocket back

Oh! And what's that I see in the lining? Liberty, you say?

That's all folks. Next task is preparing my fabric for the VI Bees. I picked July. What better month to receive 12 quilt blocks in the mail than your birthday month?

Soggy Poppies

News Flash: summer has finally arrived on Canada's we(s)t coast!! Hallelujah! So, this will hopefully be the last time you read any complaints about weather here (until the fall hits, that is).

I've been so looking forward to printing more poppy fabric this summer. Then two very important factors well beyond my control intervened. Those would be rain and letter carriers.

The rain and unseasonably cold temperatures convinced the blooms to stay snug in their shells.

In one rare afternoon of sunshine a few weeks ago, some brave flowers that could not be contained opened with a flourish, only to have their delicate petals pelted down by rain the following morning. Several of the giant buds actually just rotted atop their tall stems, having never even shared their gorgeous orange or red petals.

Interestingly enough, when I gently pull the rotted bloom off the stem, the seed pod is perfectly formed inside, and still has it's gorgeous stamp all prepared and ready for printing!

However, there's this little issue of our postal strike. You see, all of the solid fabric I ordered to use for printing is somewhere between Texas and my house. Possibly stuck in the main sorting centre downtown for all I know. We had three days of delivery before the holiday last Friday, so I'm hoping packages are moving and my fabric will arrive this week. I ordered plenty this time, so I'm hoping to be able to share some pieces with you - I might even open an Etsy shop, or maybe just post photos and sell them via Paypal. I can't decide. Maybe as I'm printing the right solution will come to me!

If you haven't yet entered my first week of birthday month giveaway, head over here. Entries open until this Thursday, July 7th. Please, please make sure your email is linked, or in your comment so I can contact you.

To all my U.S. friends, happy 4th of July! May you eat cake and watch beautiful fireworks.

What does one do for a 144th birthday?

Yesterday my favorite place on Earth celebrated it's 144th birthday. We share a birthday month, Canada and I. I've always loved Canada Day. My friend Amy asked what we do here on July 1st. I thought I'd give you a little photo essay of some of the things we did yesterday.

Since moving to North Vancouver 11 years ago this month, we have always attended the community parade. Rain or shine. I'm pretty sure there has been more rain. Although yesterday was in fact dry, it was unseasonably cold (big surprise - have I mentioned we're having the worst spring/summer in 50 years?).

Flynn loves the bagpipes as much as D does.

We get all silly with face paint (my friend's daughter did her maple leaf makeup all by herself. Pretty cool, eh?). It's a sea of red and white clothes, hats and flags, too. Vancouver is particularly well-clothed since having the Olympics last year!

We watch old men in funny hats ride teeny motorcycles

We eat delicious donuts from the little shop around the corner, Harmony Donuts.

We ditch the hockey sticks & have lawn bowling tourneys!

There are usually a few beers consumed, some families go camping (we always stay home and avoid nightmare long-weekend traffic), or get together for BBQ's, and the day is all capped off with fireworks. When I was a teenager, I lived in Canada's capital city Ottawa. The fireworks displays behind our Parliament Buildings were IN.SANE. The entire city is jam packed. William and Kate were there last night!!

We enjoyed fireworks from the West Vancouver seawall - the show is set off from a barge anchored about 300 yards off shore and it's a wonderful place for families to enjoy the amazing display.

I hope you're having fun this weekend, too! If you haven't already, scroll down one post and enter my first-of-four birthday giveaway. Each week in July I'll be giving something away. Yippee!

A Month of Giveaways at Poppyprint!!!

Happy Canada Day, fellow Canadian quilters and friends! And for the rest of you....uhm, Happy Friday!

Today is the first day of my birthday month, and to celebrate with all of you, there will be a giveaway every week in July here at Poppyprint. Stuff is piling up, so I figured the best way to get through all that I have to share is to begin today with a thanks for all of my followers. I first mentioned I'd do a giveaway when that nifty follower matrix over there reached 500, but you've all gone wild (aw, shucks) and now I'm over 550, so let's get on with it!

I made this great thread catcher to share with one lucky reader.

I've been hanging on to this pear fabric for ages, waiting for just the right coordinating print. Finally the Metro Living circles in yellow came along and bingo, everyone was happy.

That's not all. The thread catching bag will come stuffed with all of this, too.

Some spring frames, a clip-on retractable scissor holder, super adorable It's a Hoot charm pack, plus a hunk of my hand-printed Poppyprint on Kona black. Woohoo!

So, if you follow along here (or are a brand new follower) please leave one comment (with a way for me to contact you) for your entry. This giveaway will be open until Thursday, July 7th at 6:00 p.m. PST. On Friday, I'll announce the winner, AND the next week's fabulous giveaway.

It's a month long party and of course YOU are invited!! Thanks for making my tiny little niche on the net so much fun. I truly am having a ball with all of you.

comments are now closed, thanks for entering!