UPDATE... and what's with Rick Springfield's suit?

Before we start I have to take a moment and give a shout out to Stephanie from @simplesewendipity who BLEW MY MIND! And then I saw her flimsy! And then I saw it all quilted up! I've made my share of cassettes in my time but Stephanie made made 28! 28 Rainbow cassettes to border her Boombox quilt! UNBELIEVABLE! Love, love, love!

...Here's the latest UPDATE: I'm not sure where the time goes. And why does everything seem to happen all at the same time? Here's my best way to organize it:

SECRET SEWING: Postponed. Do you remember a few weeks back when I told you I'd be able to reveal my secret designing at the end of the month? We're going to have to hold on just a bit longer. Oh and to really make it titillating, I've recently been working on a second secret sewing project (dream project actually!... now that I think of it they're all dream projects)! Gosh, I'm so grateful for the things that have landed in my lap. Thank you universe, I sure appreciate it!

UP COMING TRUNK SHOWS, WORKSHOPS AND SHOWS: 

  • MINI TRUNK SHOW: Monday, April 16th for the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild. I'm going to do my best Brene Brown inspired talk (gosh I love her!). Do you know her work about vulnerability? I'm going to open up and be really candid about my work and my journey on how I accidentally on purpose became a sewing pattern designer. 

  • SHOW: VMQG Quilt Showcase. Saturday and Sunday, August 25th and 26th at the Pipe Shop (115 Victory Ship Way, North Vancouver). They put on a show two years ago (it was my very first Newsletter post on this site. You can see it HERE). It was fresh, modern and inspired. I was thrilled to have work in it last time and I'm super excited to enter work for this one too!

UPDATES ABOUT PAST INTERVIEW SERIES PARTICIPANTS (wow, that sounds so official, doesn't?!):

NATALIE SANTINI : : from NOV 2017 INTERVIEW SERIES PART 1 / PART 2 : : Recently was on episode 158 of Modern Sewciety Podcast. You can listen to it HERE. It's the next BEST thing to hanging out with her in person! She always brightens my day! Oooh and she also has a new messenger bag pattern coming out soon too. Be on the look out!

JENNY HAYNES : : from JAN 2018 INTERVIEW SERIES PART 1 / PART 2 exhibition at @artyfactgallery is up and it's a SMASH HIT! Join me in a hip hip hooray for her!

... and lastly...RECOMMENCED FOR YOUR PLAYLIST: Two song this week. A call and response if you will. Ready?... Rick Springfield's JESSIE'S GIRL (quick question Rick, why the suit?! and isn't smashing the mirror a bit extreme? It does crack me up though!) and the Car's MY BEST FRIENDS GIRLFRIEND with a lovely intro appearance by Alice Cooper! 

 

YOU GUYS ARE KILLING IT!

This past weekend was KER-jammed packed with all kinds of GOODNESS. First off my Instagram blew up with all kinds of Lysa Flower Pattern finishes! Kim from @iadorepattern posted her finished embroidered and bias tape LOVE cassette block. You may remember me posting about her block this past summer. LOOK at all that pinning?! Now that's a good friend. Recently Kim gifted this block to Darci @darcialexis who moved away and had a baby. Darci quilted it all up and the results are stunning! I get all, "awe", when I see babies on quilts. 

Next up Stephanie from @simplesewendipity belted out a whole BOOMBOX and a whack of CASSETTE TAPES during her #bostonmqgretreat2018. Seriously my mind was blown... I know how long those take. I can't wait to see it finished. 

Then Ashely of @amueller recently gifted a Control Freak project she made and posted about it. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE what she did with the cord! I always hoped my patterns would be a jumping off point and I'd one day see people putting their own twists on it. AND it's happening AND it's even better than I imagined! High fives all around!

This past weekend was the Creativ Festival show. It was LOVELY to see everyone who stopped by at our the FVMQG booth. Sherri Chalke and I were the featured Makers and we loved meeting and visiting with everyone!

The FVMQG also had a group show. I swear the show gets better and better every year. Here's a few highlights: 

Barbara Macleod's (quilt pattern Tula Pink and long-arm quilted by Kathryn Davies) "Ghost Blossoms".

Cathy Erickson's (pattern by Nydia Kehnle) "Dimensions". The FVMQG had clips on the quilts so you could look at the back. It's always so fun to look at them. I feel like it's learning someone's middle name. 

Sonja Oblak's (a block study from the MQG) "Vintage Modern". I LOVE that Sonja used a vintage table cloth and look at that hand sewing!

Kathryn Davies's (pattern Celery Sticks by Jeff Gully & Marny Buck, in Quilts du Jour) Crossroads. Look at that quilting! I love the puffy squares

I didn't post all of the quilts because we'd be here FORever... but be sure I LOVED them all.

And of course there was A LOT of shopping at the show. I stocked up on all my goodies from The Steam Trunk Craftworks! Rainbow jars of rick rack! Be still my beating heart!

RECOMMENDED FOR YOUR PLAYLIST: I might be bending the rules here (but isn't that what rules are for?! wink-wink)... check out the Foo Fighters mash up of Imagine/Jump!

 

 

SECRET SEWING, LORENA URIARTE, CREATIV FESTIVAL AND A REBEL GIRL

Secret sewing projects/designing is tricky because well... it's secret. I can't show anything yet even though my week was jam packed with secret sewing! The good news is the wait won't be that long, just to the end of the month... or worst case scenario, the first week of April. I can't wait to show you! I'm pretty tickled with who I was asked to collaborate with! Eep!

So if I can't talk about this week I'd love to tell you about March 4th. I drove up to Lions Bay and took a workshop with Lorena Uriarte. She was visiting from Australia and did a couple workshops while she was here. My only regret is I didn't take BOTH of her classes! I took her Ring Cycles class and we joyfully took on "Y" seams! Yes "Y" seams! They're really not that scary, which I can say now after taking her class. AND I realize I say this about every workshop I take. If you get a chance to take a class with Lorena, please do! You won't regret it. Hand on heart I promise.

Now on to next weekend... Creativ Festival is on March 16 & 17th! I've dropped off my quilts to the Fraser Valley Modern Quilt Guild to hang in their booth along with Sherri Chalke's colourful, gorgeous quilts. I'll be there both day, Friday and Saturday at the booth. I've been attending the Creativ Festival show since the first FVMQG booth in 2011. It's where I stock up on all my cutting blades, needles, 505 spray, pretty pins/trims (for sending in swap packages) and the odd must haves for the year. There are deals to be had! And the FVMQG is also having another show of their quilts. If you're in town pop on by and say hi! I'd love to meet you and chat about all things sewing. 

Also if you're heading into Abbotsford for the Creativ Festival show I highly recommend making a pit stop to the coffee shop Old Hand. I just discovered it myself and seriously, I could live there... and I don't even drink coffee! Two words Cinnamon brioche. BAM best I've ever, EVER had! Then after you've had your fill walk a few doors down to Confetti Floral and prepare to be blown away. When I first walked into her store my friend kept laughing at me because every time I turned around I'd gasp at something I thought was more beautiful than the last. I can't help it. I'm a sucker for colour.

Since last Thursday was international women's day My RECOMMENDED for your play list is REBEL GIRL By Bikini Kill. One of my (of all time) favourite songs. Ooh! and you know what else?! I'd highly recommend a documentary about Kathleen Hanna (co-founder of Bikini Kill) called THE PUNK SINGER. Check it out!

I'VE BEEN MEANING TO MENTION...

A few weeks ago The Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild posted about the class that I'll be teaching. The workshop is called, "How to Design a Paper Pieced Block." Here's the write up and the details: 

When I learned to paper piece (from VMQG’s very own Sonja Callaghan) my brain exploded with possibilities. There were a ton of great blocks out there already but the challenge to design my own blocks was too irresistible to not give it a whirl. I didn’t jump in right away though, it was intimidating… all those pieces!

People seem to LOVE or really not love paper piecing but I’ve never met anyone who feels indifferent about it. If you love the process and the graphic nature of it then I bet you’re ready to design your own block. All you need is a basic understanding of paper piecing and you can join me on April 22 at the Croatian Cultural Centre, as we walk through the process of designing your own individual paper pieced blocks.

Registration is open! email workshops@vancouvermodernquiltguild.ca to register or to be added to the waiting list.

When: Sunday, April 22nd

Where: Croatian Cultural Center

Cost: $50 members; $65 non-members (fees are non-refundable)

Also on May 26th, I will be teaching a workshop for The Fraser Valley Modern Quilt Guild. The location, times and price are all still to be announced BUT we will be making Cassette Tape Zippy pouches! Small, medium and large. Yay! And if we have any left over time, maybe we can squeak in a Match Book Needle Book too! Fingers crossed. I'll keep you posted closer to the date.

Speaking of the FVMQG, Sherri Chalke and I have been invited to be the featured quilters at their Creative Stitches booth on March 16 and 17th at the Abbotsford Tradex. It's coming up quick AND it was a HUGE honour to be asked.

So there you go, hopefully we'll bump into each other at at least one of those venues!

Okay now for HAVE YOU SEEN: Sarah Watts' Craftedmoon enamel pins? BACK THE TRUCK UP! They're the BEST! I may have bought a few at Quiltcon...or three...but who's counting: wink, wink! And for the record, I hope they get to open that mini golf course one day!

And Last but not least RECOMMENDED FOR YOUR PLAYLIST: When deep down a Youtube rabbit hole I discovered this band called the FRIGHTS. The song is called "You are going to hate this" BUT I don't! I HEART IT!

 

WHY I HEART THE MQG AND THEIR NEW BOOK! : : PLUS A BLOG HOP : :

Where to begin? In art school I so badly longed to be part of a movement. Like impressionism or cubism but all those ships had sailed. I have always LOVED fabric but it was a well kept secret through my art education. It was well... girly, not big (as in scale) and too colourful (another big no, no). Fast forward to the year 2000. One of the gifts of having my first son other than intense nesting fever, I made several baby quilts (including one where I hand painted the fabric). He didn't sleep much (err, I know that doesn't sound like a perk) so my life whittled down to what I had time for. If I was going to use my precious time it had to be doing something I really, REALLY loved to do. So long horror films! My husband loves you but I've been faking it this whole time! I started to really embrace things I loved/needed to do. I still wasn't quilting yet but I had started buying fabric, making kick ass Halloween costumes and taking the odd printing workshop here and there.

Fast forward to 2010. New to Twitter I had seen this little tweet about the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild starting up. This tweet changed my life and put me on a trajectory that landed me here. I had very little knowledge of what The Modern Quilt Guild was. All I knew was that I wanted to be part of it so bad I could taste it! I couldn't even put into words what modern quilting was but I knew it when I saw it. And I LOVED everything I saw. E V E R Y T H I N G. It was a movement. YES! Fist Pump!

I went to that first VMQG meeting and then quickly co-founded the Fraser Valley Modern Quilt Guild. With very little experience I started sewing every challenge, sewing in quilt bees and took every workshop I could. That first year I made 12 quilts! I was so in love with the movement that this shy girl went to a LAMQG meeting... by herself! I'm not sure where the courage came from but a big perk was meeting Latifah Saafir. I remember her telling me about this idea they had, which became Quiltcon! (Side note: are you going in 2018? ME TOO! I just decided. High five!)

Fast forward to November 2016. After my Cassette Tape quilt had been accepted the year before I thought I'd like to expand on that idea with another design. I research A LOT before I start a project and when I came across the old movie poster of John Cusack from Say Anything holding his Boombox over his head... everything kind of fell into place. I posted on Instagram as I made the Say Anything quilt. It was an intense month but people were so generous in cheering me on. Gosh I love that November 30th deadline. (Shout out to @mscattergood for mocking up my boombox over John Cusacks head!)

I was thrilled when Say Anything was accepted into Quiltcon! And I was doubly thrilled when I received an email invitation for it to be a part of a book by the MQG, Modern Quilts: Designs of the New Century. M I N D B L O W N .

I've seen the list of quilters included and, understanding this is totally cliche, I'm humbled. There's just no other good way to say it. I mean, my heroes are in there. And then! My quilt will be joining the Museum tour! The location details can be found HERE.

It's been an incredible year but the party doesn't stop here! We're celebrating with a blog hop! So many great blogs, quilts and people Have a look-see HERE. 

While you're checking that out, stay cozy over this winter holiday break okay! Again thank you for a wonderful 2017. I swear every time I saw a boombox being sewn I gasped with delight! Hugs all around. I'll see you in the new year. Until then I'll leave you with my favourite holiday song: FATHER CHRISTMAS by the KINKS! Warning once you listen to it you'll be singing it all day. My gift to you, wink! Wink!