Time to Stock up!

I am your friend. Friends tell friends where to find the deals.  Just in case you haven't heard yet, Marmalade Fabrics is having a massive sale!  Tammy is making way for exciting fall shipments. Lots of great deals, including Loulouthi by Anna Maria Horner for only $6.99/yd and 40% off Far Far Away by Heather Ross and Ruby Star Rising by Melody Miller.

And there is more news, Tammy is now selling Marmalade Baubles - gorgeous earrings, necklaces and scissor fobs made with real (brand new) bobbins and beautiful fused glass. I've just placed an order for scissor fobs to have on hand for retreat door prizes!  I have a feeling they may just be this year's Sewing Summit and QuiltCon must-have accessories.

  

Happy shopping!

Diamonds, Sapphires, Rubies and more!

Just a few posts ago, I showed you one of my entries in the Aurifil designer thread box contest over at Lilysquilts inspired by birthstone colours. There are so many incredible collections entered in the flickr pool that (a) I'm so happy I'm not a judge, and (b) it's highly unlikely I'm going to win my thread collection.

That's okay because Tammy at Marmalade Fabrics has announced a birthstone sure thing!  She's pairing Kona solids with modern birthstones and every month she'll list a gorgeous bundle of SIX Fat Quarters or 1/2 yard cuts.  Announcing.......

April's stone is diamond, so this month's Gem Bundle is an incredibly useful set of 6 Kona basics: White, Ash, Medium Grey, Coal, Charcoal, Black.  I've used all of these colours over and over again in my quilting!

As Tammy says, if you collect her bundle each month, by this time next year you could have 72 incredible Kona cottons to work with!  FQ bundles work out to just over $2 per Fat Quarter. That's a great deal. You'd be all set for colour spectrum blocks and quilts, maybe sign up for the Love of Solids Swap round 3, or make yourself a quilt like this one.

my Full Circle quilt - sent to Japan for earthquake relief last year.

Read more about Tammy's new monthly Kona solid collections here.

Happy Weekend!

Smack Friday

Yup. Fabric is my drug. No matter how long I lecture myself on the need to show restraint and just use what I have already, I am powerless against the DEAL. And I know that you are, too. Which is why I'm giving you the opportunity to forego lining up at the ungodly hour of 5:00 a.m. this Friday morning, and instead shop in your jammies with a latte in your hand (like I just did. It's noon and I'm not afraid to admit it).

My sweet friend Tammy has some killer goods listed in her specials section at big discounts. I may have picked up some yardage of this for some zippy pouch action:

RSR transistors cotton/linen blend perfect for bags & pouches - yum!

and these for stash building:

Joel Dewberry's Aviary 2 wood grain in vintage yellow and dill. Sublime. Sorry, I cleaned Tammy out of the brown woodgrain.

But don't worry, I left some of this for you:

Smack Friday pricing all 'round. Have fun!

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!

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?