Mill Town Block

It is September! So much is happening around here, but first thing first: it is time to share the block I designed for Sew Sisters Canadian Sampler Quilt!  I was so pleased to receive an invitation to participate in this BOM project. Not only do I love Canada, but I share a birth year  and month with my country (albeit 100 years later, but who's counting?) AND I've always wanted to make a two-colour red & white quilt. Canada's 150th birthday seems like the perfect occasion to finally get busy with it. In addition, all of the blocks in this quilt were designed by fellow Canadian blogger/designer/quilters, many of whom are good friends and sewing buddies of mine. It truly is the best celebration of quilting in Canada for me.

MILL TOWN

I don't really consider myself a block designer, but this design is something that I'd been playing around with when my friends at Sew Sisters sent out the invite to play. Read all about my Canadian inspiration for Mill Town Block on their blog here. 

A new round of BOM is starting up soon for this amazing quilt, so if you missed out the first time, you've still got a chance to receive two exclusive patterns per month for 10 months, BUT you have to be quick. Registrations close this month! To see an image of the entire quilt with all of the wonderfully unique blocks, check out the program details here.

I'm regretfully behind in making my blocks every month as the patterns arrive. Luckily I have a retreat coming up next weekend and I'm looking forward to catching up. I already have a setting idea and I can't wait to see if it works out...time to fire up the precision piecing engine. For sure I'm going to tune-up before I begin.

Have you made a special quilt commemorating Canada's sesquicentennial? Tell me about it!

The Canadian Sampler Start

Last year I was invited to participate in a very exciting and patriotic project organized by the clever people at Sew Sisters, a long time partner here at Poppyprint. Having been born in the summer of Canada's Centennial year, it has always been easy to keep track of my milestone birthdays because there's typically a national event around every biggie.  So you can easily guess the whopper of a birthday I'm celebrating this summer!

The Canadian Sampler celebrating Canada's 150th birthday is 100% Canadian designed (by designers from coast to coast) and administered by the folks at Sew Sisters*. You can still sign up! While not generally keen on BOM's or sewalongs because I always lose interest before completing these projects, I have the extra incentive of always wanting to make a red and white quilt. At first I considered going all scrappy red, but most of my stash leans towards orangey reds. Instead, I chose Karen Lewis' Flowerbed print (on gorgeous "Chinese Red") from her first line of commercially screened Kona. The unique block designs don't scream Traditional Sampler to me. I like it.  I'm making it.

Here's the first block, designed by Daphne Greig. It is called Pacific Stars.  The beginning of this work coincides with a short lecture I'm preparing at the request of the VMQG board on the importance of accuracy. As I mentioned on IG the other day, sometimes it feels good to try hard (after a lot of improv work!).

One of the tips I'll be sharing is to piece with geese points on top, to ensure you don't cut off your points with the seam. You can see on the left white point, my seam fell just outside the point (yay) and on the red point, my seam fell exactly on top of the point (which will require a good press). Both worked to preserve the point.

The second block designed by Sandy is so cute. A very appropriate element of the Canadian winter uniform, the toque! We've been wearing way more toques than ball caps out here on the west coast this winter. People are so tired of the snow, but not me. I find it much easier to get through this time of year when the ground is white and the air is crisp. I love snow and always will.

I'm not sure what month will feature my block design, but I'm looking forward to it because I've designed a very cool quilt with it that I'm eager to share. 

*I would like everyone to know that Sew Sisters very fairly compensated all of the designers who worked on this quilt, which is much appreciated in this industry that constantly asks designers to work for free.

Sales & Arrivals News from Poppyprint Partners

Today's the day! Sew Sister's fabulous one day sale on continuous yardage (including clearance and last chance fabric!) includes flat rate shipping within Canada. Feast your eyes on this 108" wide backing by Tula Pink. Oooooooo!

 

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Fabric Please! is having a sweet Valentines Day one-day promotion this coming Thank You Thursday (until midnight).

Save 15% off all in stock pink fabric using coupon code SAVE15

Save 20% off all in stock white fabric using coupon code SAVE20

  

Save 25% off all in stock red fabric using coupon code SAVE25

  

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Carolyn Friedlander's architecturally inspired new line Carkai has arrived at Fabric Spark!

There's also the brand new Nani Iro - this time in brushed cotton. Luscious for sophisticated receiving blankets or the softest cottage quilt ever!

Black Friday North of the Border

Shop Canadian this weekend and save exchange rates and huge shipping fees! Here are the specials currently running at my partner shops.

 

Thank You Thursday ONLY 26/11/15

Instead of the usual 20%, 30% and 40% savings,

today, you'll save 25%, 35% and 45% off these items...

25% off Maywood Studio Fabrics

coupon code: SAVE25

35% off in stock Knit Fabrics

coupon code: SAVE35

45% off Shaman Diamonds Quilt Kit

coupon code: SAVE45

Black Friday/Cyber Monday Sale!

Fabric Please! is having a huge sale

Friday, November 27th

through to

Monday, November 30th

35% off 

EVERYTHING

in the store!

Use coupon code: BLACK15 at the checkout.

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Daryl would like to spark your imagination with 20% off everything, including new collections, sale fabrics, patterns, kits and bundles, until Midnight November 30 (Cyber Monday) with promo code: woohoo

Check out Daryl's musings on NAVY (from L to R: Jennifer Sampou, Cotton & Steel, Alison Glass)

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At Sew Sisters, their basics promotion is still in full swing

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Mad About Patchwork would like to tempt you with a whopping 40% off selected items that you can find here.

Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends (and enjoy an additional 25% off any purchases you make in Canada thanks to the exchange rate with our weakling dollar)!

A Little Post about a Little Island

This will be my last photo post from our family trip to the Maritimes in July. After our family reunion week, the four of us drove across the Confederation Bridge to visit my sister and her family in their Charlottetown home, in Canada's smallest province, Prince Edward Island.

I've been to the island several times, but this was our first time staying in Charlottetown proper, in my sister's new house.  We had a wonderful four days of relaxing, walking through the leafy streets of the city admiring the beautiful heritage homes and their gardens, dining al fresco on Richmond St. (Row Lobster House, Receiver Coffee), enjoying the theatre (Bitter Girl, Anne & Gilbert the Musical), visiting the beach and seeing my sister's Demi-Pointe Dance Shop, for the first time.

Here are a few pics for you!  Unfortunately, I didn't take many on this trip.  If you love Anne of Green Gables, golfing, beach walking, lush green countryside, lobster, kind and generous locals, step-dancing and fiddle music, then just trust me: get ye to PEI!

This beautiful historic All Soul's Chapel built in 1888 is rarely open to the public, but we 

got lucky on our walk into town!  The walls are PEI standstone and the chapel is a "masterful example of High Victorian Goth Revival architecture in Canada, designed by architect William Critchlow Harris, Jr."

I just can't get enough of the charming heritage homes in Charlottetown. I posted several photos on Instagram taken during our 'town walks'.

I got busted taking this photo as the homeowner opened his front door and jokingly told me he charges a dollar per picture. We had a nice chat and he willingly gave his wife 100% of the credit for their gorgeous garden.

Richmond St., alongside the Confederation Centre, is closed to traffic. It is great fun to dine outside and listen to live music - the jazz festival stage was just across from the restaurants and featured local musicians all day and evening.

A stunning new lobster mural,  painted on a wall in a downtown parking lot took my breath away! 

A gorgeous view along the boardwalk around Victoria Park in Charlottetown

The steeple of the church at Avonlea Village

This is so cool; all around the island these quilt block signs indicate the Arts and Heritage trail  More info about the sites are available by scanning the QR code below each sign!

A visit to Brackley Beach - swimming was not advised due to a proliferation of red jelly fish, but I did manage to wade in through the thousands of dinner-plate sized jellies clumped together in the shallow surf.

There's always plenty of real estate on a PEI beach! Miles and miles of red sand for walking.

PEI has done an incredible job of educating visitors about the importance of preserving delicate dune ecosystems, so almost all beaches have boardwalk access to protect the dunes.

These castles were just about at the end of their day.

We enjoyed reading this wonderful public chalkboard 'interactive mural' outside the Anne & Gilbert theatre.

It is so great to hang out with cousins! My two on the outside, with my sister's two in the middle on the set of Anne & Gilbert. It was a thrill to finally see them on stage, both have been in this musical, or Anne of Green Gables, in past summers.

In need of any dance shoes, tutus, tights, leotards, gymnastic suits, yoga pants? 

Check out Demi Pointe!

Okay folks, thanks for allowing me to indulge you in family holiday photos. Back to quilting action soon! 

Spark Your Summer Creativity!

I'm very excited to share that Poppyprint has a new partner, another wonderful Canadian shop called Fabric Spark.  I met owner Daryl while at Quilt Market in Minneapolis. Based on the incredible prints she was perusing on the show floor, I know there are very exciting things coming to her shop over the summer. Daryl is a wonderful fabric curator - her shop is very unique and full of delightful finds.  Like brand new Andover Chambray in 5 gorgeous colours!

We'll soon have a giveaway and proper introduction to Fabric Spark, but for now I wanted to share their 2015 Summer of Fabric Love promotion to give you the opportunity to sign up for the newsletter. You don't want to miss out!  Just enter your email address in the box at the bottom of the shop's front page.

Eeeep! Cotton & Steel Snow Globes just in!

This weekend, free shipping to Canada and $5 flat rate to the U.S. (a great shopping deal for Americans as your dollar is worth so much more here; it's like getting an instant 20% discount on everything you buy!) using promo code FREESHIP.

Happy shopping!

Sew with Sew Sisters

The lovely gals at Sew Sisters, a Canadian online and bricks & mortar shop in Toronto, asked me to come up with a project using one of their Kona Solids Club FQ packs. Their Kona club of 4 solids is available in fat quarters or 1/2 yards for a killer price and awesome shipping rates. It's a great way to build your solids stash and receive a colourful surprise every month!

My project was inspired by my sister and nieces, who recently took over the Demi Pointe dance shop in Charlottetown, PEI. I designed this sweet Ballet Tote adapting a versatile, bias stem applique technique by machine.  I believe this method originates from a 1998 Rodale book called "Applique Made Easy" by Carol Costello Soltys.

Ballet Tote

8" x 12" x 2"

Head on over here to learn how you can make one. Leave a comment on the tutorial post at Sew Sisters and you could win the same fat quarter pack I used to make this tote! If you do, I'd love to see it. Please share a picture in my Poppyprint Projects Flickr group or tag me @poppyprint on Instagram!

Cushy Canada Day finish

It's a scorcher of a Canada Day here in Vancouver. My sewing room on the top floor is indeed a sweat shop, so I chose to stitch the binding on this pillow downstairs in the relatively cooler (less stifling) dining room.

I pieced these beautiful French General selvages onto muslin last month on retreat, then added some mitred borders and finally quilted the pillow front onto fusible Pellon fleece. The quilting is just straight lines of Aurifil 12 wt, sewn with a 100/14 topstitch needle.

Some selvages are ones I've saved, some I cut from my delicious fat quarter stack of Petite Odile and others were donated by my friend Sandi.  I think French General makes the most beautiful selvage in the business! I just love the pastry scallop print/dots on the opposite side of the yardage from the white (with words) selvage.  I've used it many times as a border.

You can get a good idea of the quilting thread weight here

There is a concealed zipper on the back, done the same way as in my Dresden Pillow pattern. One day I'll tackle an invisible zipper on a pillow....I managed one on a new skirt I made yesterday! Very exciting indeed and as soon as I get some photos I will share that with you.

It's a quiet holiday for me; it's the first year in about 12 that we've not attended the local parade as a family. The kids are doing their thing with friends and B is off racing in an epic 7-day stage race through the mountains of Vancouver Island, down the coast and then up to Whistler. It's a mountain bike race, mostly on amazing single track trails.  Racers from 29 countries came to compete (including a reported 100 Mexicans!).  It's so hot, many riders suffered electrolyte imbalances, dehydration and likely some heat stroke. He didn't eat enough, so the last hour of 3.5 hours racing was tough yesterday. Today was mostly shaded and he ate and drank more: he had a great day. We'll be in Whistler to welcome him to the finish line on Saturday.

If you're a Canadian at home or abroad (ahem, Susan), Happy Day!!

Remember to add my blog to a new reader today. I've got a Bloglovin' button up there on the left. Apparently Google Reader is shutting down, but I haven't actually seen any evidence of that. Is this whole hoopla a scam, I wonder?

Logcabinitis

I've got it bad. I've always loved log cabins (and vow to live in one before I die), and log cabin quilt blocks, too. Why I have never made a log cabin quilt is beyond me. I've made variations, but never a traditional style one. It's on the list....the very LONG list!

So, when I set out to make my slabs for Cheryl and her Recover Southern Alberta relief effort, no matter how hard I tried to make slabs (or crumb blocks as they are sometimes known), I just kept coming up log cabins!

One problem is that most of my scraps are larger in size, or already cut into strips. It seems counter-productive to cut them smaller, but that's what I had to do.

I started to get the hang of it and was posting my blocks to Instagram when Cheryl commented to try and make smaller slabs, then join them together. This was very helpful, because I was always thinking about the block as a whole 15.5" hunk as I built it.

Finally, my pink scraps lead me to success:

These blocks took about 30 minutes each and are completely addictive to make. I have to really tear myself away from making more because my TO DO list prior to leaving for the Fat Quarterly Retreat in London is still rather long. I know there are many who are busily making slab blocks to send on to Calgary, are you? Cheryl is hoping to distribute quilts in early September so she needs blocks in August.  Mine went in the mail yesterday.

I've heard many families might be out of their homes for 6 months or more which is heartbreaking news. I know these quilts will bring comfort to people living out of hotel rooms and trying to rebuild their lives. Thanks to Cheryl for facilitating this project so we can help from far away.