A Special Edition Retreat for Ovarian Cancer!

When one of your sewing sisters receives an unexpected and serious diagnosis what do you do? Whatever you can to support her and your community, that's what. I like to stick with what I know (yes we already made a lovely quilt to keep her cozy at chemo), so this weekend I'm hosting a special edition Quilt By the Bay for the members of her three stitch groups.

A growing group of friends have signed up for the Ovarian Cancer Walk of Hope taking place in September. We are doing this because we have the #ladyballs to take action; to support our friend and the thousands of Canadian women who are currently in treatment and need support plus the thousands more who will receive this frightening diagnosis in the future.

Our non-profit retreat on Saturday will result in a hefty donation in support of our team. Because everyone is paying a premium to attend (and will receive a charitable receipt for a portion of their registration fee), I thought I'd reach out to some of my industry contacts to make this an extra awesome & celebratory day with goody bags!. Everyone kindly jumped in with fabulous items for us, plus a few extras. That's where YOU come in!

This Saturday, during retreat, I'll be posting on IG. There are a couple of extra goody bags and a special donation from me that will be up for grabs in exchange for a donation to our team.  I hope you'll check in to @poppyprint to see what we are up to and share words of support for our pal, who is rocking her way through chemo on the way to surgery later this summer.

To give you a little teaser, here is a list of our generous sponsors (mostly wonderful Canadian companies), to whom I say a heartfelt thank you!

Firstly, a huge thanks to the friendly folks at TrendTex Fabrics for supplying our actual goody bags, plus lovely fabric treats and other fun items! Located in Port Coquitlam, BC, TrendTex is a leading Wholesale Distributor in Canada for quilt shops and manufacturers. They are proud to represent some of the best fabric companies in the world such as Benartex, Cotton + Steel, Hoffman, Michael Miller, Moda, RJR Fabrics and Stof. 

And speaking of RJR Fabrics, they've sent us a gorgeous brand new Cotton and Steel print by Rashida in the Ovarian Cancer colour of support (teal). This fabric isn't even in stores yet!

  

Canadian companies Emmaline Bags (the best source for your bag hardware needs and the awesome FREE Retreat Bag pattern), Camelot Fabrics out of Montreal and N. Jefferson (local wholesale distributor that has been so supportive of me and my business) have all happily participated.

And finally, my publisher Martingale sent some fabulous books. I appreciate that they are always up for supporting their authors!

Tune in on IG this Saturday, or feel free to donate to our walking team anytime! Help us help Ovarian Cancer Canada to support patients, their families and the search for a cure.

A Dresden-a-thon

Recently, I taught a class using my Dresden Pillow pattern to members of my traditional guild. We held this class last year as well, but there were still plenty of keen quilters wanting to try it (many had pieced dresdens by hand previously and were anxious to learn the speedy way on their machines!).  I just love teaching for the guild because the members are so supportive and kind. They welcomed me as a brand new quilter 12 years ago and continue to be as supportive and encouraging as ever.

Betty, our President, even came to the class a second time so that she could get a Christmas pillow made. One of the gals who attended last year has made almost 20 pillow covers! This makes me so happy.  Here's the gang from the recent class with their pillow tops in progress:

I always build the project along with my students so that I can demonstrate each step of the pattern. This time I used a charm pack of Briar Rose by Heather Ross for Windham Fabrics. It's so cheerful! The blanket stitch around the fused centre circle is a nice accent.

I substituted straight borders of the adorable hexie bee print instead of making flying geese. It's now all quilted to Pellon fusible fleece and ready for a pillow back.

I'll stuff a pillow form in there and this will be my donation to a local charity auction to raise money for schools in Vietnam.

For the Girls

October is upon us in 3 short sleeps. Today in Vancouver we are enjoying the first of what I hope will be many sunny, crisp fall days to come. Besides the annual hoopla on the 31st (costume negotiations are officially ON at my house), there is the month long celebration of breast cancer awareness goin' on. October is Breast Cancer Awareness month.

I've written several posts on the subject, my favorite one was Boob Sandwich, where I got so many incredible comments and very personal, emotional private emails from many of you. Most of you know about the walk I did last year and again this August. And you've already seen this hoop remembrance I stitched up with our team logo designed by Berene.

There was a lot of interest in the stitchery pattern, and since the lovely Bari J. posted it on We Love French Knots the other day, the orders are rolling in! Do you know a crafty cancer survivor who would love this in her sewing space? Or a recently diagnosed friend who could use a colourful, handmade-with-love symbol to give her strength and hope? Breast cancer is hard, but embroidery is easy - just chain stitch, back stitch and satin stitch (long, filling in stitches).

You can buy the pattern here for a nominal fee, 100% of which will be donated to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation to further the already ground-breaking research that is being done in our country. Visit Berene's Happy Sew Lucky blog, read this beautiful post featuring incredible artwork by her SurvivorMom and help end breast cancer.

The girls thank you.

A Hoopy Remembrance

While luxuriating on my beach blanket over the past two weeks, I occasionally took my eyes off the view to focus on some embroidery. Remember the gorgeous logo I told you about here? Well, the clever designer Berene (who knows me too well) sent me a .pdf of the logo as a line drawing. You know, just in case I might want to stitch it out. Hello, what a great idea!!

So I did.

I had some gorgeous handmade ceramic buttons from this talented artist stashed away in my sewing room. They were the perfect embellishment! The variegated blue and both pinks are #8 Finca perle cotton by Presencia and the gray and brown are 2 & 3 strands of DMC floss, respectively.

I trimmed the excess linen, snipped the 1/2" allowance and glued it to the back inside of the hoop. Then I cut a piece of heavy interfacing (Timtex) and hot glued it to the hoop, covering the backside of the stitchery.

I love my remembrance hoop! We spent almost a year raising that money, plus many cold and rainy Sunday mornings on training walks together, and ultimately 2 wonderful days of walking through Vancouver. That's worth remembering!

Blisters and all....

The radio ads for the Weekend To End Cancer last year featured a breast cancer survivor, who at the end of the spot stated: "Cancer is hard, walking is easy."

Many times throughout our stroll through the beautiful streets, beaches and forests of Vancouver last weekend, I thought about that statement. Because I have to admit, at times walking was a little bit hard.

Lovely little scenes like a decorated neighbourhood traffic circle made it easier....

So did the amazing volunteers who fed and hydrated us, and who stopped traffic so we could safely cross the street.

The scenery wasn't bad, either. It is so easy to take Vancouver for granted, or to whine about the 2 months of rain we had this spring/summer (and 4 months of rain we have every winter), but an hour strolling the sunny beaches, bridges and boulevards of this city quickly erases those memories and has one feeling rather thankful to live here.

What really made this event for me -- what really got me to the finish line after 35 km on Saturday and another 25 km on Sunday, however, was my TEAM.

Walking, talking, listening, laughing, LAUGHING, sharing, comparing blisters, waiting in line for the Starbucks (flush) toilet, stretching, snacking, encouraging, sighing, smiling (okay, and I did a little bit of whining, too). We did it for ourselves, for each other, for our two amazing survivors and for all women.

My movie-star boyfriend even showed up. It was an incredible weekend. If ever you've thought about participating in something like this, I can't encourage you enough to dive in and just do it. The sixteen of us worked together to raise over $41,577 and it wasn't even that much work, honest. As we walked together holding hands, towards the finish line on Sunday, the announcer said "and here comes the team that was always together, at every pit stop, encouraging each other...it's Team Kicking Cancer with Creativity!!!" I felt no pain in my knees, my blisters had momentarily disappeared and I had the biggest smile on my face. We all felt amazing.

Unfortunately, this will be the last year for the Weekend event in 5 cities across Canada. Participation is down (last year 1100 walkers in Vancouver, this year 800). The great news is that Ride To Conquer Cancer, an event benefiting all cancers has really taken off and is raising millions. Good thing I bought a new road bike this spring......

Create

In two more sleeps, I will depart in the wee hours of the morning with my SIL and drive across town to UBC. There, we will meet up with our 14 other team mates and at 8:00 a.m., our 60 km journey begins.

After the two of us completed the Weekend to End Women's Cancers walk last year, I signed up (at the finish line) for this year's event and pledged to form a team of at least 10 people. With my SIL already in, we only needed 8 more! Imagine my excitement when, by October, we had grown to a powerhouse team of 16 women. Only the two of us had experienced the walk (and SIL had an extra year on me, having walked in 2009 as well), but everyone was excited to be on board.

Together we have raised over $40,000 in the fight against women's cancers and are a top 10 team! Team Kickin' Cancer with Creativity is comprised of quilters, jewelry-makers, a flipflop bedazzler, a gourmet basket-maker, successful businesswomen, SAHM's, and most importantly our two brave survivors. Together we have walked 10 km every Sunday morning at 8:00 a.m. since January. We held two wildly successful events generously supported by our community and we've encouraged our family and friends to support us with donations.

Last night I handed out our gorgeous team shirts (designed specially for us by the ever-so-generous and talented Berene who's sewing-related work and kits you can see/buy here) and embroidered logo hats (team photo next week!).

And then my friends handed me this:

Stirling silver hand-stamped "Create" necklace by local jeweler Andrea Waines

I'm so very thankful for every one of them; for the hard work we've all put into raising funds, for the support and friendship we've shared over the past several months, and for the hope that our contribution will give to women fighting cancer in B.C.

Thanks team. You're the best. I can't wait for the weekend.

xo

A Buttercup for summer

Our auction was looking a little thin for last night, so I whipped this up in the afternoon to stop myself obsessing about all the little things I had to take care of for the fund raiser. I'll update you on how things went once all the dust (and cash) settles!

I made this one using a decor weight Anna Maria Horner Drawing Room print. Luscious. Even better because I got it on super-sale when I went to Vegas in the fall.

The bag is lined with a Rouenneries linen-look cotton and the pocket is a Lecien dot (love). I swear I could make Rae's adorable bag in my sleep. They are so quick and easy to make up and people love them! I strengthened the lining with Craftfuse (that I purchased at Jo Ann while we were in Florida for spring break) but I don't like it. Just as wrinkly/bubbly as the Pellon product I was using previously. Ick. It looked fine when I first fused it, but once you do any manipulation of the piece (like turning the bag) it gets all yucky looking! I did my best to press it back into submission. Back to the drawing board on that one.

Hope you are having a spectacular weekend.

A spring finish!

Here it is! My raffle quilt is complete after a marathon quilting session yesterday.

I totally copied Katy's quilt along sample and quilted horizontal lines with my Pfaff's wavy stitch. I didn't quilt as densely as she did as my thread supply for the bobbin (to match the back of the quilt) was running too low to risk it. This quilt had to be complete for our fund raising event tomorrow night. I managed to spread the quilting evenly with a row along each sashing seam and two rows through each row of squares.

Now I'm trying to decide if I should wash and dry it prior to the event. What do you think? Would the crinkly look appeal to the non-quilting public, or should I keep it crisp-looking? (fellow teammates, Di, Jo, Andrea, Marsha, Rebecca, please advise!).

I always label quilts that leave my home. Admittedly, I'm less reliable on labeling quilts staying with us because I always think 'ahh, I'll do that later'. I once read an article by a quilt appraiser who said it is important to 'quilt the label in' for security (i.e. harder to remove label in the case of *gasp* quilt theft - which does happen, sadly). I often plan to do this, but then the excitement of sandwiching and getting on with the quilting causes my brains to fall out and I forget.

Not this time. Look at me go! I sewed the label to the backing using my machine's blanket stitch and then quilted right through that sucker. I also finished the binding by machine. I love hand stitching my bindings to the back, but 20 minutes vs 4 hours was a no-brainer this time around.

I'm so happy this quilt is done. It's been pieced since mid-November (see, I always stall after the top is pieced!!), so it was about time to quilter-up and finish the job. I am a woman in need of deadlines.

To make your own jelly roll quilt, visit Fat Quarterly and look under 'tutorials'.

Well, isn't that Hunky Dory?!

I've finally basted my Fat Quarterly quilt along quilt. Katy originally posted the instructions for this simple one-jelly-roll quilt last summer and I immediately wanted to make one. I'd never used a jelly roll before. As luck would have it, a quilt shop on my summer vacation had this one on sale!

The original quilt design has all of the squares sewn together. I wanted the quilt to be a bit bigger, so I added 1 1/2" sashing strips of Kona Snow between all of the rows. Each row also has 3 vertical sashing strips place randomly in the row.

I'll be using this quilt to raise funds for my Weekend to End Women's Cancers team (see my sidebar). We're called Kickin' Cancer with Creativity, so it only seems fitting to raffle off a quilt! There has been a second quilt donated by a friend's MIL, we've got a summer adventure weekend in Whistler, BC and a gorgeous sterling silver bracelet for the raffle as well. Our final fund raising party is this Friday night at a local pub. It is really great that several local pubs offer 'beer & burger' nights for charities allowing us to make $10 on each dinner sold.

Last year when my SIL and I completed the 60 km walk (read about my weekend here), I was determined to form a team for next summer and set a goal of finding 8 more women to join us for a team of 10. I am very proud to share that we are now 16 strong and already we've raised over $30,000 for the BC Cancer Foundation.

If you've been visiting Poppyprint for a while, you know that three of my friends were diagnosed with breast cancer in the past 12 months. Two of those cases were discovered through routine mammogram. We are very fortunate in BC to have one of the very best screening programs in the country. My friends will survive cancer, and thrive, as a result. One of these remarkable women is a team member and will walk with us in August.

But first. That quilt needs quilting!

How to Raise $10,000

Start with a very motivated, well-connected, generous woman who is completely excited about raising money for an incredible cause (an on-board husband helps). Enroll the rest of your team of 14 intrepid walkers. Pick a date. Start asking for donations. Invite creative women from your community to come and sell their wares. Invite every woman you know to attend with their cash, cheque and/or credit card. Obtain a wine sponsor and food sponsors (cupcakes, appies, cheese trays, cookies, sushi). Move all furniture out of your house into your garage. Reinforce your living room floor joists (see on-board husband above). Put up a tent....a big 40' x 40' tent, on the driveway, provided by local realty company.

Fill 100 bags with donated girly goodies like magazines, blow-dries, yoga passes, spa gift cards, pens, recipe cards:

Open the doors at 6:00 p.m. Charge everyone $5 to get in, hand them a goody bag and a door prize ticket.

Have amazing silent and live auction prizes, like champagne balloon rides, hockey & symphony & Stars on Ice tickets, beauty baskets, hotel weekends and dinner for 10 prepared and served by uniformed firefighters (again, see on-board husband above....thanks Steve!) .

Find a couple of adorable tweens to sell the "100% proceeds to the team" goods (including all-natural doggie cookies that said tweens baked all by themselves).

I'm so proud of these 2, they sat for 3 hours smiling and taking money. Plus, they got to see the incredible success of hard-working women firsthand. Great life lesson.

Shut 'er down at 9:30 p.m. and count your money! (I was too busy counting to take photos).

Last Thursday, the thirteen women who have joined my team "Kickin' Cancer with Creativity" worked very hard to support the vision of our teammate Joyce (see first line of this post) and put on this amazing fund raising benefit. Joyce and her husband upended their entire household for a week so that we could host 175 women and raise over $10,000 in the fight against all women's cancers. We live in a very supportive community and are overwhelmed with the success of this event.

Bravo team!!! Now all we have to do is walk 60 km in a weekend! I can't wait.

A Weekend Stroll....

On Saturday morning 1100 amazing women & men departed my alma mater, the University of British Columbia campus, on a 60 km journey to raise money, awareness and several thousand blisters in the name of breast and gynecologic cancers.

We were off in a sea of pink, full of optimism and slathered in sunscreen. It was about 32 C in Vancouver under bluebird skies. My SIL and I walked together and raised almost $7000 between the two of us, not bad!

Six kilometers to go before we can trade our runners for flipflops!

The volunteer cheering squad was amazing. They drove decorated motorcycles and mini-vans along the route, stopping regularly to help us cross busy intersections, squirt us with water, blast disco tunes to keep us moving and generally provide a super-positive atmosphere.

Even families along the route showed their support by leaving their sprinklers on over the sidewalk, cheering from their doorsteps, or providing refreshing drinks and in this case delicious plums!

It was wonderful to walk through our amazing city and enjoy the views. Here we are strolling the seawall at the 2010 Olympic Athlete's Village.

All things considered we didn't fare too badly. The medics wrapped my 'other' knee on day 2 and kept my biggest blister sealed under moleskin. I am pleasantly surprised that I'm able to walk today with minimal pain. Mostly, I'm just terribly proud of everyone who participated (especially the large contingent of survivors and women currently undergoing treatment!) and all of our amazing supporters. In Vancouver alone we raised $2.4 million for the B.C. Cancer Agency.

The two of us have already signed on for next year and I'm building a team. We need more walkers! I'm hoping to gather many of my creative and quilty friends so we can "Kick Cancer with Creativity." Care to join us?

Like the radio ads said, "cancer is hard...walking is easy".