DRESSEW + LYSA FLOWER = MURAL

Dressew has been an iconic business in Vancouver since the early sixties. They moved a few times but they’ve been in their current location for as long as I can remember. We moved to Vancouver in the early 90’s and witnessed the Halloween lineups around the block throughout the month of October for years. After we moved out of the city in the early 2000’s, friends and I would plan day trips around going into shop at Dressew. It has EVERYTHING! Fabric, thread, walls of buttons, trims up to wahzoo and those zipper aisles get me every time! You name it, they have it! After all it is called "your selection store".

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March 2022

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February 2023

Fast forward to 2020 and the COVID years… that’s when Dressew, like many Vancouver businesses, boarded up their windows to protect them and had a mural, painted by artist Tierney Milne, that said in giant text, “DO THE BEST YOU CAN”. Unfortunately when COVID subsided, windows kept getting broken, and Dressew decided to keep their boards up. The first mural lasted for quite a while and was cleverly designed so graffiti could be easily painted over. Eventually it was hit so hard, there was no going back.

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Fast forward to spring of 2021. I was perusing the Dressew aisles and I ran into my friend Anna, who was now working there. As we caught up I asked about the plans for the mural out front. She said she didn’t know but would introduced me to the owner Jessica. It was great fun meeting Jessica for the first time in person. My first three fabric collections had come out during COVID and I had never gotten the chance to see them in a store, until I saw them at Dressew… a store that means so much to me! I asked Jessica about the mural outside, and let her know I was looking for one to do. She said she’d talk to David and let me know.

Fast forward to the middle of January 2023. Jessica DM'd me on Instagram asking if I was still interested in doing a mural for Dressew! ABSOLUTELY! I asked if they wanted anything specific. Their only requirements were no profanity, nudity and to include their hours and address. Easy enough. Wait? How large is it?! Only 75 feet wide and 8 to 11 feet tall (it is on an angle)! Gulp!

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Sunshine Inn : : Three prints

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OPEN 9-5 Tuesday to Sunday

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David of DRESSEW

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by 3pm the wall was blasted with sun!

Since they have a giant yellow awning I used my Sunshine Inn collection as inspiration, knowing it would match well. I used one of the signs from the collection to show off their address and hours (closed only on Sunday and Mondays folks! So many people showed up on those days were bummed they weren’t open). In the doorway I used my groovy (hexie) floral with the message “Your Sewjo Awaits” for those entering. For the biggest and tallest section I blew up my vintage floral (I always wanted to see that print large - wish granted!). I used selvage like strips to separate the three parts. David and Jessica wanted one change to my mock up, they wanted my name closer to the door. Um, okay. Done! Later David told me when he received the mock up, he gasped, they LOVED it so much!

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our first day

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our last day

Fast forward to April 26th, finally no rain! The paint had been bought and the breakdown of the mural had been made. I’ve never been so excited to get out of bed each morning, we had SOOOO much fun! My main partner in crime was Dianne, my (72 year old) mother in law! She was with me almost every day. My husband Chris was with me every weekend and when he could get away from work. Dressew is on West Hastings. Just a few blocks away, on East Hastings, the community is really hurting. I don’t even know how to describe it: it’s shocking to see so many people needing help. Unfortunately the situation has been growing and moving more west so painting solo wasn’t an option. While there are design and post secondary schools, trending cafes, bakeries and restaurants around, chatting with David and Jessica about it, vandalism, theft, overdoses and open drug use all co-exist in this community.

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the wall, the first day we arrived

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It might sound weird but we were never afraid. In fact encouragement from passersby started on the first day and increased as we went on. Some were business people, some were students but many were also unhoused people and people who lived nearby. Many people asked how long we thought it would last until it was tagged. My standard answer was 12. They would laugh, I would laugh. We all knew it was a possibility and we all knew we would be sad to see it happen. It was really nice to hear that the local people would also be upset if someone damaged the mural. We did in fact get tagged a few times. Two of the tags were small, while the one was a long sharpie line throughout the mural. It was all easily painted out but you could feel the unhappiness of the person as we removed the sharpie. Before we started the mural we agreed with David that we would put an anti graffiti coat on. We didn’t know if it would 100% protect it but we knew it was worth a try. It did protect the mural and hopefully minimizes any damage in the future.

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Many delightful things happened on this epic journey of a mural. A family of Canada Geese walked through the ladder I was on, this was after they were ushered from walking down the middle of the road in busy traffic. There were visits by our regulars for a daily chat, many puppies visits and from people we hadn’t seen in forever! People brought us fresh baked cookies and lattes! We got to know the staff at Dressew and saw behind the scenes. I had an abundant amount of friends stop by and help out on the mural for hours and sometimes days!

(From left to right: @ninjasaremammals, @danorvil, @bettina_harvey, @stevenhakwinsyvr (taking the photo), @puneet.datewas, @fatcatmango, @carolwilson, @giulia.levrini.illustration, @trendywalrus. Sadly the day we painted together and ate our lunch on ladders was the last day we spent with @janaraynemac, who suddenly passed away May 17.

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The biggest surprise working on this mural was at least once a day, someone would be sure to stop us because they wanted us to know how much they appreciated what we were doing and the impact it was having on their community. One story that stood out to me was from a lawyer. One afternoon, he stopped because he wanted me to know that he had been walking by each day. When he left from work, he could feel a dark cloud over his head. Each time he reached the mural he could feel his mood change. He'd feel lighter, energized and happy. I never would have guess the mural would have that kind of effect but we'd get stories like that daily from everyone who existed in the neighbourhood. Even bus drivers would honk at us and give us the thumbs up as they drove by! It was humbling and an honour to be embraced by this community.

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In the past there have been times when I’ve struggled with my WHY as an artist. Why do I do what I do? I’m not tackling any major travesty. I make pretty and happy things sitting in my studio alone. I look at them and think, I don’t know, I like it! But does it matter? Will it make any difference? This community proved to me, yes. Yes, it does! I saw and was told daily the impact it had. I’m still being DM’ed photos of the impact it has. It took this community and a 75 foot wall to understand my why, but here it is: I do what I do to, sprinkle the world with a little bit of …

P.S. And big thanks especially to Christopher Mair, Bambi Edlund, Crissy Arseneau and Britney Berrner for their generous sharing of knowledge, support and cheerleading!

SEWING INSPIRATION + A GIVEAWAY!

Spring is in the air! Which means time to get out the … Le Mini Golf Fabric! Me and my friends took a whack at playing with the Paintbrush Studio fabric... the results… well they just knocked it out of the park! Wait! Or in this case I should say, got a whole in one! Enjoy the inspiration and the makers below!

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Lysa Flower : Um, bags are HARD, lol! I have a much greater appreciation for bag makers. This is a pattern I picked up from Oliver + S, called A Day In the Park Backpack Tote. It’s a little hard to see from these photos but I loved the handles also being backpack straps. So Clever! I had fun with the inside pockets of the bag, a little treat for the user. Plus you know my moto: it must be as pretty on the outside as the inside!

Then of course there’s something so lovely about a nine patch basic baby quilt!

I recreated the above triangle quilt (or flag quilt as I like to call it) using most of the prints from the collection. I LOVE how it turned out and how retro it looks!

Luckily our friends had the perfect model for this new collection. She was adorable! Especially in her large golf ball polka dot See Katie Sew, Infant Gold Collar Dress! We excitedly tucked the Flag quilt into her crib and handed her all the toys: flower golf balls, a putter and a score card. I really got into toy making and added a pencil from the scorecard fabric to the green score card. All the toys were made from the Le Mini Golf panel. A tutorial for the putter can be found HERE.

One of my very favourite parts of this collection was the panel. I wanted to create the easiest baby quilt EVAR! Sandwich, bind, done!

But I also had dreams of …

PILLOWS!!! And I absolutely loved how the quilting turned out! I backed each one with a different print from the collection. I did a snazzy little video of it on Instagram!

Arabesque Scissors : I am so in LOVE with Ali’s Compact Carry Bag! She wrote a Tutorial and a Blog post about it HERE.

Rock Baby Scissors : Kristy has an AH-may-ZING Etsy shop!! While it looks like her Sew Together Bag in the photo below is gone, the booklet pouch is still listed!

Ember Craft Company : This girlie is ready!!! She’s got her Sorrento Bucket Hat, her Ferris Bag and she’s standing in front of her Hexie Pop Quilt ready to go! Side note, I was deeply smitten with Mary’s scrappy binding. It inspired ME to give machine binding a go again! And I’m loving it!

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Modern Handcraft: Nicole did her Asterisks Quilt - Le Mini Golf version and wrote a blog post about it HERE. I couldn’t get enough of watching it in progress on Instagram! Then to see it styled all dreamy on a bed… PERFECTION!

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Marvelous Auntie M: This quilt has over 300 HSTs!!!!! That’s insane and AWESOME!!! Maryanna’s adorable dog Tank, LOVES it when she unpacks her quilts from her longarmer @hellomynameisquilt. You can watch a video of it HERE. How does he do that so perfectly?! He’s such a good quilt dog!

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Holly Clarke: Inspired by Argyle golf pants, this quilt may look like two quilts but it's actually only one! And you can see by the second photo the hand stitching she did. She claims she’s never hand quilted before but I don’t know. I think she already looks like a pro!

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Joe June and Mae : I had the pleasure of meeting Ingrid in person this year! Right before she was going to Paris! So when I told her about this collection, she was pretty dang excited! Which I was too when I saw the pattern she create for this fabric! C'est manifique!!!

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The Zeyer Show : Tara has the cutest little girls who she makes the loveliest clothes for! I remember my mom making a few things for me when I was little, mostly I remember feeling itchy. These are clearly not itchy, which makes me adore these Peony Pattern dresses even more! AND not only is Tara and amazing maker, she also makes the most amazing videos!

A big thank you to all the makers! And for the heaps of sewing inspiration they’ve left us with! AND thank you for being here and sampling my newsletter! Subscribers get to find out about all the good stuff first AND they get 10% off my patterns!

Enjoy all your sewing fun times! Keep #sewinglikeamothertrucker! But wait! Don’t forget …

the GIVEAWAY!

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Joining my good friends, Jenni from Nollie + Bean and Sheri from Whole Circle Studio, we are giving away bundle of PDF quilt patterns to celebrate spring!

Included in this bundle is: my never released before “We Got the Beat” pattern! Jenni ‘s beautiful Avalon Quilt pattern (see more details HERE)! Sheri’s Modern Moth pattern (which isn’t even out yet! It releases April 20th, wanna see a sneak peek? Check it out HERE). The giveaway is open until April 8th at midnight EDT. Good luck!

DESIGNER FEATURE : : LOVE PATCHWORK & QUILTING #121

Love Patchwork & Quilting has always been one of my very favorite magazines. They reached out to me for the first time in 2018 and inquired about doing a feature on me and my sewing designs. I had no idea I was even on their radar! In fact, at that exact time I was finishing up a quilt pattern to submit to them (that was the We Got the Beat pattern). Since then I’ve written 5 sewing patterns for them, plus that first feature issue (not including various "OUT THERE" fabric collection features). I was super excited when Sadina Nowshin contacted me about a fabric designer feature! In Issue 121 we chatted about my design process and comfort zones!

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Thank you to Love Patchwork & Quilting for being such huge supporters of my work, love ya right back!

Episode 101 of The Quilter on Fire (PLUS a FREE Mini Calendar!)

With butterflies in my tummy, I'm super excited to share that I'm on a podcast! Episode 101 of The Quilter on Fire. Brandy and I had a blast chatting and being that it was my very first podcast interview, she was very kind! Because she's awesome like that! It can be found on your favourite podcast app or here: quilteronfire.com/podcast.

ALSO there’s a GIVEAWAY! And who doesn't love a giveaway! Win a Fat Flat Stack Le Mini Golf Bundle from Paintbrush Studio Fabrics! You have until Sunday Jan 15th at 1pm PST to enter.

WELCOME to those of you who have joined my newsletter through the podcast! If you’ve been subscribing since forever, or whenever you joined this Lysa Flower party, I’m so glad you’re here! Now. I have a little something for all of you!

While Le Mini Golf is being stocked on the shelves, I thought we’d celebrate together with a FREE downloadable mini calendar!

Each month is a print from the collection and is the size of a business card, which fits anywhere! Personally I'm going to keep mine on my keyboard. Nice and handy!

Just download the pdf, print it on 8.5" x 11" cardstock, trim and display! Easy peasy! Voila! 2023 sorted! Here's to a new year of full of play and creativity!

Now before we head off into 2023, wanna play a choose your own adventure game?!

You're a store. You want to know where you can order wholesale the Le Mini Golf fabric collection. Click to…

I'm a maker. Where can I see the fabric in action and get inspiration to rev up my sewjo? Click for where…

Yay! Thanks for playing and subscribing, enjoy your calendar! We're gonna have SO much fun this year!

YOU WANNA PLAY, OUI?! Le MINI GOLF!

I have always loved mini golf! I also fell in love with Paris when we were there in 2016. Then, fast forward to 2020 when I was taking Stacie Boomfield’s Leverage Your Art course, we were given an assignment to do a map. I used that assignment as a jumping off point and created the first version of the illustration you see in the panel of this new collection. This past May, I reworked it and it became the backbone of my Le Mini Golf fabric collection for Paintbrush Studio Fabrics!

Here are few fun facts that inspired each print:

MONUMENTS: When I was in Paris my mom and I did a speed run through the Musee d'Orsay. We had 45 minutes before it closed. It was the first time I had ever seen an actual Monet! His colours are to die for!

FLOWERS-PLAY DAY: In high school we’d take the bus to the big city (an hour away) just to play mini-golf! * This print also comes in RAYON! it’s so dreamy soft!

FLAGS: Well I love geometrics, triangles and colours. I only wish real mini golf had flags you had to take out of the holes!

POLKA DOT-GOLF BALLS: When I submitted this collection to PBS Fabrics and they accepted it, they requested this print with larger golf balls, which I loved the idea of!

SCORE CARDS: Truth be told, I don’t keep score when I play (I find it more fun that way) but I do LOVE the little pencils!

Le MINI GOLF SIGNS: This is the print that inspired the Sunshine Inn signs!

HOLE IN ONE: I love pink and green together AND I love BIG stripes! I can imagine these flowers popping out of each hole like whack-a-mole!

WOOD-TEXTURE: This is the texture behind the panel repeated… because who doesn’t love a snazzy tone on tone?!

PARIS GOLF COURSE: Paris is everything everyone and every movie tells you it is! I would love to go again even if I could only go back for another 45 minutes in the Musee d'Orsay!

This I did not know: The Eiffel Tower isn’t black, it’s beige! I was shocked standing in front of it, what the heck! I guess I had seen so many black and white photos of it, I just assumed. Also did you know there’s an apartment at the very top! Yeah! Me either!

HELLO BIRDY: It feels weird to have an odd number in a collection, so when I submitted the golf balls, I also submitted this print. I took the layout of the Paris print but used my text instead and added a few flowers. I used one of my favourite colour combos, red and pink. Although what I consider red some people consider orange. If we split the difference we can call it orangie-red :D

So there you have it, the whole scoop behind this collection. Le MINI GOLF will start shipping to stores in November and if I had to guess (and it’s 100% a guess) it will be in stores January-ish.

Lots of people ask me where they can buy my fabric. Unfortunately, I don’t get to see the distribution list but when stores tag me on Instagram I make sure I link to them on my website under COLLABS and under the specific collection. Also local fabric stores will often happily bring in a collection if it’s requested.

In the mean time, we will be sewing up a storm of projects and samples that will be posted on Instagram (@lysaflower) and under Le MINI GOLF COLLABS on my website. AND of course one of my very favourite things is to see what you make! Please tag me, I’d love to see it and repost it!

And lastly, as tradition has it, I have created a playlist for this collection on Spotify. I actually curate these and listen to them while I’m creating each collection! Enjoy! FORE!

SUNSHINE INN! WELCOME!

I’ll admit, every time I finish a collection I think… “This one is my very favourite!”… and that’s how I feel about Sunshine Inn, my fourth collection for Paintbrush Studio Fabric! It was created deep in the dogdays of last year’s COVID summer. We were all itching to travel, relax by a pool and be carefree! Since I couldn’t do that I dreamt of being welcome to the Sunshine Inn:

“The ultimate destination to relax and recharge! The sun is warm but the breeze is cool, perfect weather for summer VINTAGE or GROOVY FLORAL dresses. Dip your toes POOLSIDE. Complementary TOWELS are provided. Loungers are by the BREEZE BLOCKS, left of the snack shack, they have POPSICLES! They also have FILM for your POLAROID camera, to capture all your vacation getaway memories. When you've filled your day to the brim be sure to pick up your ROOM KEY at the SUNSHINE INN!”

I bet they’d have tiny umbrellas in the drinks too! So now you can join me there! The fabric is shipping as we speak! P.S. The large Hexi’s are a panel print.

I often get asked if I know which stores sell my fabric. Unfortunately, I don’t get to see the distribution list but if a store tags me on Instagram or sends me an email I happily add them to the list on my website. Also I always suggest people ask their local quilt or fabric store to bring it in. All they have to do is reach out to Paintbrush Studio Fabrics Wholesale and they can hook you up! Personally, I can’t wait to get sewing with this collection! Because, yeah… it’s my new favourite! And as tradition would have it I also made a Sunshine Inn playlist. Double enjoy!

In other news! I was just notified that I’ve been accepted into Print & Patterns Designer’s for Hire! I can’t even begin to tell you how over the moon I am about this! So many of my design heroes are on that list. The second photo is my banner (AND you might notice the new logo!). I’ve Oooohed and Aaaawed over the Print + Patterns site for years! So I’m super pumped to have now been featured on it!

Coming up: from May 7th to June 4th, I’ll be showing work at the Seymour Art Gallery. Here’s a little sneak peak. I’ve never done art prints before and I LOVE how they turned out! Maybe I’ll see you at the opening! It’s May 15th from 2-4pm.

Again, I’ve collaborated with Mad About Patchwork for some “What would Dolly Do?” bind and winds… because what would Dolly do? She’d finish that darn quilt, but in style! Using a snazzy bind and winder!

Later this month I’m going to be interviewed by Brandy for her podcast Quilter on Fire. She invited me after I did a talk for her Okanagan Modern quilt guild last month. It’ll be out in June!

And Lastly, I have a present for you! A tutorial for making the Nesting Boombox bags from the Let The Good Times Roll Panel… and yes there are some still out there! Or again, your local quilt or fabric store can still order them. In the mean time you can download the tutorial HERE.

Wow, so much has happened since February… I’m ready for a getaway vacation!

HUGS AND KISS KISSES!

Whether you celebrate Valentine’s or Galentine’s day, I wanted to send you some HUGS AND KISS KISSES! This is a personal project I JUST completed (while listening to Kiss’s ENTIRE Discography!). I couldn’t wait to share them with you! You are the very first people EVAR to see them. A perk to joining the Lysa Flower newsletter!

9 to 5 is in stores now! Exciting BUT I also wanted you to be the first to know… I have another fabric collection coming out later this year! Don’t worry, I will be posting about it here first! In the meantime, I’ve added a list of stores that sell the 9 to 5 collection at the bottom of my COLLABS page HERE. *If you are a store that would like to be added to the list please email me.

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And by way of sending MORE love, in case you want to whip something up for your sweetie (or for yourself!), here are three FREE Lysa Flower patterns: The Matchbook Needle Book, The Cassingle Quilt, The Rewind Quilt …AAAAAand one Cassette Tape Zippy Pouch tutorial! The Cassette Tape pattern is required for the zippy pouch and can be purchased HERE. All others tutorials are on my website under SEWING DESIGNS if you’d like to have a poke around!

Now remember! I SEW heart you! AND Happy VAL/GAL- entine’s DAY!

FABRIC.COM DESIGNER SPOTLIGHT!

So this happened! I’ve been dying to share it with you forever… Now I finally can!

Big thanks to Paintbrush Studio Fabrics for EVERYTHING! To my sewing community that rallied around and embraced #sewinglikeamothertrucker to prepare for this… WE DID IT! A specific post about all the makers is coming soon! And especially a BIG thanks to Steve Hawkins for the bang up job on the video. To see it and the feature just click…

Then stay tuned throughout the month on Fabric.com for more Lysa Flower sewing / fabric fun times! HIGH FIVE!!!

REBEL GIRL! A * NEW * FABRIC COLLECTION!

Rebel Girl is my latest collection with Paintbrush Studio Fabrics! I was so thrilled that I took the month of December, along with the help of my friends (and my mom!), to sew ALL THE THINGS!… And I wanted to share them with you first!

Number one on the project list, was the Rebel Girl jacket. This was an absolute must make. If you follow me on Instagram you might know of the illustration I did of five women, each having their own Rebel Girl jacket in different colours. I did a second illustration of the inside of the jacket with the Rebel Girl text pattern. Now, it’s almost a year later, and it’s REAL! After I appliqued the Rebel Girl on the back I sent it to my Mom to sew the bomber jacket. I’d love to share the pattern she used but honestly it was the WORST. It had instructions like, “sew the collar, sew in the zipper”. Yep, that was it for instructions. If anyone comes across an actual bomber jacket pattern, I’d love to know the name of it. Luckily, my mom figured it out and crushed it! Thanks Mom : )

On the top of my to do list is to sew all my patterns in my very own fabric. My good friend Sherri helped me out with that by sewing my Cassingle pattern! We added the text part (again applique) and it was Sherri’s idea to center the flying Vs in the hearts! Brilliant! I should note here I used HeatnBond Lite-On Adhesive for both Rebel Girl appliques (and I see a lot more appliqueing happening in the future!).

My mother in law and I made the Tilly and the Buttons Francoise Dress. It had been a while since either of us had sewn clothing and we had a blast doing it! The Leopard print was screaming to be a dress!!! We’re both super jazzed with how it turned out, especially after seeing it on our model Jaden!

Reece, makes the most amazing bags and she made two back packs for me. The one with the drums on the inside (because every girl has a drum solo in her!) is a Sew Hungry Hippie pattern .*Also check out Natalie’s Rebel Girl sewing!!!* The pattern comes as a two for one called, Trina and Wendy. This one Reece made is the Trina pattern. Before taking the fabric to Reece I pre ironed on Therm-o-web HeatnbBond Iron-on Vinyl Roll-Gloss Finish. I mean, let’s face it, I live near Vancouver and it’s a raining 98% of the time. I LOVE the way it turned out! Plus it was super fun ironing on the Vinyl! It was Reece’s idea to do the drums on the backs of the straps too! Which I LOVE!

Reece also made Noodlehead’s Making Backpack! I knew this one HAD to be in the Cassettes print! It just HAD to be! While the backpack turned out larger than I had anticipated, I ADORE it! It’s going to be a great travel bag, which is lined with guitars, because I believe every girl has a guitar solo in her too!

Early in December my husband and I binge watched a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers documentary (side note, I never knew much about them or cared BUT now I’m a huge FAN!). In some late 70’s, maybe early 80’s footage of the guitar player, Mike Campbell, was wearing a tie and I thought, “That’s like my checker print. I’m making that!!”. I also fussy cut the Flying V fabric for the backing. I had an old fashioned tissue paper pattern to make it but wow, it was silly hard. Hello YouTube! Easy peasy! I used this tutorial. Thank you MADE Everyday! You were a lifesaver! I may never buy another tie again!

Now, there’s lots of reasons I love PBS Fabrics, but, among them is their selvages! I’d like to take credit for designing them but I can’t. It’s a great surprise when I get the fabric! And you know how I love a good selvage! So, of course, I had to make my Cassette Tape Zippy pouches with them! These were made from my Cassette Tape Quilt pattern and my zippy pouch tutorial… and with those patterns I came up with something new! Cassette Tape BOXES! A tutorial for those will be coming out sometime this year!

So yeah, the fabric will be in stores soon! So clear a place wherever you store your fabric!

P.S. Here’s another sneak peek! A Boombox Pattern is coming out made specifically for the fabric and panel from my first collection Let The Good Times Roll! For each size of Boombox! Eep! But shhh, it’s still a secret! Just between you and me! xo

I ALWAYS DREAMED OF DOING A FABRIC COLLECTION...

To quote Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth (from Futurama) “GOOD NEWS EVERYONE!”

I am THRILLED to announce I have a fabric collection coming out with PaintBrush Studio Fabrics this fall! If you’ve been along with me for this wild ride you’ll know this is a HUGE dream come true!!! I can’t even begin to tell you how many things I have planned for this collection. But not to worry you won’t miss out on any of it… EVERYTHING will be announced here first. Because I love you!

My first collection with PBS Fabrics is called Let the Good Times Roll. You might remember waaaaaaaaaaaay back in 2017 seeing some roller skates pop up on my Instagram feed and website. I always loved that piece and this last fall I felt inspired and decided to expand it, adding some new prints and illustrations. I polished off my portfolio and met with the good folks of PBS Fabrics this February at Quiltcon. FUN FACT: as I was writing an email to arrange a meeting with them, they emailed me asking if I would be interested in doing a fabric collection with them! Crazy, right! Yes, I would! I heart their line up of designers big time!: Suzy Ultman. Ampersand Design Studio. A Beautiful Mess (who I hear has a podcast now). Katie Larson (definitely check out her Halloween collection, I WANT those pink SKULLS). Teresa Chan I met online back in 2017, she’s incredible! Carolyn Suzuki’s Friends and Faces, love that collection. Love Dogs? You’ll love Bikini Sous La Pluie’s Best in Show. Oh and check out Austins Chapman’s BBQ Block Party! Again WANT! AND that’s just to name a few!

By March we added some new prints to the collection, and by their request (which I LOVED) a Boombox panel! Oh the things I have planned for that panel! Eep! We’re going to have so much FUN! To see the full collection click HERE. There’s also a ton of FREE patterns for the collection, plus one designed by yours truly, called LACE UP! I’m just doing my final pass on it and it will be on their site October 1st. I’ll also be releasing a PDF pattern on my own to go with the collection. I’ll keep you posted.

So how do you get the fabric? Just ask your local fabric store to carry it! Simple as that! Locally, in the Fraser Valley, Dinkydoo Fabrics will be carrying the collection. I’m thrilled about that because they’ve always been so supportive! They also have a fantastic online shop if you don’t live near by!

So, yeah… that’s the big news! Stay tuned for the line up of sew-ers, patterns, projects and tutorials! Oh and to start in the sharing, I put together a Spotify Let The Good Times Roll playlist for you too! To check it out click HERE. Let the sewing fun-ness BEGIN!!!

WINK*

Hey how are you? Are you doing alright? I’ve been thinking about you. I hope you and your family are safe and doing well. Are you keeping your spirits up? Have you been sewing? Started any projects? I started a “Project #What She Said, A-Z Comedians”. It’s helped get me through. I’ve been posting about it on IG. These ladies have been inspiring me big time! I’m almost through the alphabet!  

Back before Covid hit, I was approached by our friends at Mollie Makes! They sent me a brief for a chenille eyeball pillow. “Hmm…” I thought, ”if I’m doing an eyeball pillow, I definitely need to do a wink pillow to go with it!”.

So here it is, Issue 121! To see the sneak preview click HERE. !t’s on the stands in the UK now. Sadly, we have to wait a few months for here in North America… BUT! They do have digital subscriptions if you don’t want to wait that long. To subscribe click HERE

Mollie Makes has long been a favorite magazine of mine since I received one as a birthday present eight years ago. The photos are scrumptious and the projects are always super snazzy! Here’s their official blurb:

Mollie Makes is a lifestyle magazine bringing contemporary craft to today’s makers. Designed for the engaged, connected generation who make up the handmade revolution, each issue of Mollie Makes is filled with unique home décor, fashion and children’s projects, all showcased with inspirational styling and photography. 

The go-to brand for craft and lifestyle trends around the world, Mollie Makes lovingly curated ideas and projects across a wide range of craft genres, straight from the table tops and workshops of the most influential designer-makers. Through beautifully crafted modern makes, thought-provoking features and studios and home tours, Mollie Makes enable readers to live a creative life. Come join our community!

Yeah, that’s pretty much what I said with snazzy right, lol! Did I mention they have great copy too!

Fun fact: due to Covid I had to take the photos for this project. It’s kind of surreal, not only to see your projects in a magazine but knowing you took the the photos too! Yep, that’s my house, my chairs and bowling pins! And Mollie Makes always does a fantastic job of their layouts. it’s not quite as easy as it looks. I’ve been playing with layouts lately, not so easy!

In other news. I have some BIG news!... coming soon! I’m busting to let you know. Not to worry though, I’ll be announcing it here first! As always I like my subscribers to get first dibs! Thank you for being here, I really appreciate it!

And speaking of first dibs, someone pointed out to me that my patterns in my Etsy shop are below the standard price for PDF patterns. They also pointed out by doing that I’m inadvertently under cutting other designers. You can imagine my horror, that was never my intention. I priced them years ago and hadn’t been paying attention. My bad. As of September 15th 2020 my PDF pattern prices will be going up to $10 USD. Again I wanted to let you know first because you’re awesome! AND if you wanted to take advantage of the savings, you’ll have a bit of time to do that!

Hugs! Stay safe and happy sewing fun-times!

PLEASE BE KIND AND REWIND. A FREE SEWING PATTERN FOR YOU!

Hi! How are you doing? Weird times right? How’s your family? Is everyone alright? Are you staying safe? What have you been up too? Have you made a million masks and cleaned out all your closets? Binge watched a few shows lately? Have you finished up any old projects?

Speaking of finishing up projects and binge watching shows, a while back I was asked to write a pattern to go with Libs Elliot’s Mixed Tape collection. Which I happily did… then this, that and the other thing happened and I never got around to releasing it on my own site. Well today is the day! AND I wanted you to have it first before anyone else. Thank you for subscribe to the newsletter! I really appreciate it and I will always release everything here first!

This free pattern is called REWIND. It’s a quick quilt that can be pieced in an evening. Measuring 53 x 78 inches (135 x 198 cm), this quilt was built in mind for snuggling under on the couch with your favorite (fur or no fur) person and binge watching your favorite show. AND! I discovered in the making of the larger quilt, I had enough left over to make a baby quilt top. I figured our (fur or no fur) babies might like their very own quilt too, right?! it measures to 48 x 53 inches ( 122 x 135 cm). You can download it HERE.

Stay safe, we’ll chat soon. I’ve got a few things cooking I can’t wait to tell you about BUT I have to hold off for now! TeeHee!

CAN THAT FIT INTO A STOCKING? IT'LL FIT DEFINITELY UNDER THE TREE!

This time next month we’ll all be recovering from the flurry that Christmas time is! Can you believe it?! I have to admit, this year I’m quite excited about all the hoopla. I love to put on a Christmas record… make hot chocolate… put on a fire and write out my Christmas cards… er, at least that’s what I fantasize doing each year. The great thing about Christmas, there’s always another one next year to try again. Fingers crossed, this is the year!

It’s a busy time of year so I’ve compiled a little list to help you with your Christmas shopping experience… (One for them, one for you, one for them, two for you… wink, wink!)

MAGAZINES

I have a Present Sack pattern in Issue 80 of Love Patchwork and Quilting. I’m thinking you can justify this two ways:

1. Get the magazine for yourself and make it for your favourite person (I also think this pattern would lend it self to a pillow or a table runner).

2. Roll that baby up and put it in your favourite sewing person’s stocking! (Who might be yourself!)

Mollie Makes just came out with a new issue called Mollie Makes - a Quilting special! My cassette tape zippy pouch is in it, along with a whole bunch of other neato patterns! (#1 and #2 can be also applied here)

BOOKS

I’ve been collecting Uppercase Magazine since issue 24. I’m a huge lover of all things Uppercase (she has three fabric collections too!). When Janine invited me to share a Quilt Story in her latest Encyclopedia series, Quilted, I was super tickled. Not only that, it was a pretty important project in my creative journey. I’m on page 180/181!

ART

The more times I’ve circled around the sun, I’ve asked myself how much stuff do I really need? Then I asked what feels like a real treat anymore? My answer? Art! I’ve begun a small collection but it’s growing and I LOVE each and every piece SO much. This December Bettina Harvey, Chelsey Hornsby, Puneet Datewas, Dominque Norville, Bambi EdLund, Laura Clark and I are in a group show at the COUP, called Square Roots. If you’re local, join us at the opening December 13th at 7pm! We’d love to see you! All pieces will be 6”x 6” ($80) or 8” x 8” ($100). I will be showing my cassette tape tower that I’ve been posting on Instagram! And a few other pieces (that aren’t cassettes. I know “gasp!” lol!) .

CARDS

This lovely lady Gail Mayerscough is who I bought my Christmas cards from last year. Check out her new collection HERE!

VINYL

Want something extra ordinary for the maker in your life? This clear vinyl with white hearts made my heart skip a beat. Check it out at Natalie Santini’s, Sew Hungry Hippie’s shop HERE.

CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS

I’m madly in love with Bambi EdLund’s Beatrix and Midge’s Instagram account. Her pets are HI-LARRY-US! I highly recommend going into their highlights and scroll all the way to the right to “Bea’s photo bomb”. That one cracks me up every time! Anyhoo! They also have a shop where they release these snazzy ornaments. They sell out fast so you gotta be quick! The hardest part will be figuring out which one… or maybe buy them all! HERE

QUILT PATTERNS

I L O V E this pattern by Devon Iott. What maker wouldn’t want this pattern? (just between you and me, I applied #1 and #2 to this. Hey I figure, everyone will benefit from snuggling under it right?! Purchase justified!). Buy the digital PDF or the printed paper version HERE.

Let the mayhem begin! And all the while have a safe, cozy holiday season with your lovely people. I wish you all the very, very best! xo

WE GOT THE BEAT!

Wow, another summer is almost gone! It’s hard to believe this time last year I had a bazillion tiny squares on my work table partially sewn …and here we are this summer and it’s in the pages of Love Patchwork and Quilting Issue 75. I’m pretty delighted about it, dream come true! I’ve always loved their magazine. I was especially thrilled about the photos they took. They’re always so dreamy!

This issue came out a few months ago in the UK but it’s now on the shelves in North America. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll see that I had a heart to heart with my mom to not buy up all the issues. Chapters and Indigo carry them here in Canada… that is if my mom hasn’t been there yet! Wink, wink!.

Hey Heart-breaker: Pop culture and music has always been a huge part of my work. The quilt in LP&Q was named after the Go-Go’s, We got the beat. It influenced the vibe and the colour way big time. Which means I’m always on the hunt for new music and when I find a girl band, EVEN BETTER! Right now I can’t get enough of Dream Wife! They are a UK feminist group that started as an art school performance project in 2015.

Being brave: I completed my first #the100dayproject! And it was HARD. But it was such an incredible experience. I rolled into a second one the day I finished the first. A little a day goes a long way. It took me 75 days in to figure that out-HA! I posted all of the first 100 days in my IG stories and stored them in my Highlights. I also created a “Sketchbook” on my website to show case my favourite ones. These ones I haven’t add yet. I wanted to show you first!

Hot summer WALLS?!: Have you heard of the Vancouver Mural Festival? It happens every August. I was super happy to help out my Thrive sister Carmen Chan on her first mural. Her wall was HUGE and it was so hot out! Holy moly! Her glorious mural can be found by 33 Acres Brewery.

The superstar muralist they brought in was Shepard Fairey. You know, the OBEY guy. LOVE! I was super pumped to see 30 years worth of his work at the Burrard Art Foundation. AND! I was able to pick up one of the 300 posters printed just for the Vancouver show. I’m extra pumped about that! The show runs until September 28th but if you can’t make it I highly suggest watching Beautiful Losers and Exit Through the Gift-shop. Two of my all time favourite movies that he happens to be in.

Have a great rest of the summer and a happy getting back into it this fall to you!

"BYTE ME"_GIRLS WHO CODE

It feels seems silly to cite a TV show as inspiration. Although, when I think about it, technology is all around, plus with a husband that makes video games and two die hard gamer sons… maybe it was inevitable? After all it was my husband who gave me a white rainbow mechanical keyboard for Christmas (another inspiration) and suggested using the Atari 2500 colour palette for the collection. However the TV show I’m referring to is Halt and Catch Fire. It’s set in the early 80’s when the race was on to make the next best computer. Cameron, a young technological prodigy, is poached from university to help reverse engineer an IBM PC. Oh did I mention, she’s a female coder? A punk female coder! Gah! I loved her character so much!

This got me thinking about women in games, coders and the ones I know. I think it’s fair to say, at least in the gaming industry, the male to female ratio is still disproportionate and that male interest still dominates the themes of most games. I have hope though, especially after listening to an interview with Tina Fey on “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction”, with David Letterman. She talked about being the first female writer on SNL and how the male writers weren’t trying to be anti-women, they just didn’t understand Kotex pads could be funny. It was a boy’s club but with women on the team, adding diversity, the writing became stronger. I’d like to think games are going that way too.

Zoe Flower (her real last name, not mine) is one of those women. She can hold her own in a room full of rah, rah men. I’ve see it. It’s glorious! She’s been around since the early 90’s and has paved the way for a new generation of women in games. She started off as an animator but eventually became a host on Electric Playground. She left EP to produce her own show called Hardcore Candy (about women competing in extreme sports). Then she went on to become a game designer and then a mom, and kept kicking ass as a design director… phew! She’s packed in a lot!

Which leads me to the next generation. Our oldest son has been working on his own indie game with a gifted programmer (she’s on the left). Taylor is a brilliant coder, one that in her spare time orders drills off Amazon so she can take them apart to build grappling hooks. Why? Because she can and I love that! She tries something, if it doesn’t work, she keeps at it. “Fail Fast” is a coder saying and she lives by it. If she makes mistakes, she figures it out and moves on (note to self!). The DIY attitude Taylor has, reminds me of Cameron in Halt and Catch Fire and I’m SO excited for her future.

And last, but not least, in noodling around the internet I found this: Girls who Code, self explanatory title right?! They have American and Canadian groups, in case you have any young women in your life who are interested. I’d love to hear how they like it.

Long way around, this collection with floppy disks, ASCII, binary, keyboards, joysticks, printed circuit boards and pixels is about these women: the ones before, the ones now and the ones to come.

*GASP!*

She had seen them in the wild, the first time in North America! She texted me immediately of their location. I felt incredibly alert and knew it was time to go hunting. Not long after, there it was, among the heavy dense magazine rack at Chapters/Indigo… Love Patchwork and Quilting Issue #70! *Gasp* I had received my advanced copy in January but this?! I excitedly picked up one for you (and your friend!)! Luckily my mom lives in a different province, so we had a fighting chance (my apologies to any Albertans out there).

You read that right. I picked one up for you (and a friend)! I’ll be doing a GIVEAWAY on Instagram starting this Saturday March 16th. I wanted you to be be the first to know about it! It’s the same rules as always, you must follow me @lysaflower on Instagram and tag a friend to play… BUT you will both receive a copy! I’ll also be emailing you both one of my patterns! And it doesn’t have to be the same pattern! International entries are welcome. The winner(s) will be announced Monday, March 18th on Instagram.

I’m sure you can imagine I was stunned when I was asked to do this feature. My favourite part was being asked about my quilt-y heros. It’s an amazing community isn’t it?! We’re all in this together. I’m always floored and greatly honoured when my patterns are sewn, especially when they’re sewn for someone they love. Thank you for that! Having said that, I’d like to share with you some photos of projects people have done: @chelsealanefields’s boombox pillow (she won first place at her local fair for it!). @bespokeoutlaw made both the bag and the cassette thread catcher. @needleplusthread’s extra rad boombox. @iadorepattern’s cassette LOVE block for a quilt bee baby quilt. @reecemontgomery who combined my cassette tape with @sewsweetness Polaris bag pattern. @sterlingsewn’s B-side for her daughter’s quilt! AND @simplesewendipity’s 28 (yes 28!) cassette tape boarder of her boombox quilt!

As a tradition… RECOMMENDED FOR YOUR PLAYLIST: I love You by Said the Whale. It’s a lyric video so we can sing along together!

Keep on #sewinglikeamothertrucker!

GUESS WHOSE CASSETTE TAPES ARE ON THE COVER OF MOLLIE MAKES!(tee hee mine!)

You guys, it has been crazy surreal! And having to keep this under wraps for so long has almost made me want to burst! But it's true, I've found myself on the cover of Mollie Makes, issue #94!

Dream. Come. True!

I was given my very first Mollie Makes as a birthday present, six years ago. It was love at first sight. The dreamy projects, the snazzy make and takes, the styled photography, the colour palette. I honestly could never get enough... and I have the back issues to prove it! I never dreamed one day my work would be on the cover!

Out of the blue I was approached by Lindsey, of Mollie Makes... and then the secret sewing, photo taking and pattern writing began... and now it's here. In fact I just received my copy in the mail today! 

I picked up issue #92 when I was in LA last week. North American copies seem to take a while to hit stands here. I'm guessing #94 will be in another month or two, depending on your store. If you're subscriber you may have gotten your copy already. Or, if you live in Europe, they hit the stands yesterday, June 21st!

I hadn't realize this but if you subscribe for the paper version of the magazine, you'll received a Liberty "The Cottage Gardens" fabric bundle plus a BONUS Mollie Makes project book! BUT they also have digital versions that can be found on APPLE, itunes and Google Play. Even their newsletter is dreamy!

In the meantime, here's a teaser on ISSUU... and recommended for your listening pleasure, as you stroll through pages: The GO GO's, WE GOT THE BEAT! Happy summer everyone! And remember, "We're not old. We're Retro!"

REFLECTION

A few months back I interviewed Andrea Tsang Jackson on this newsletter. Since then she's created a new project called Our Song, Your Reflection. It's in collaboration between Andrea, and singer-song writer Meaghan Smith. Andrea created a beautiful quilt design and Meagan wrote a song that speaks about the importance of community and the human connections that we make. The song doesn't specifically speak of quilting, but there are references and it reflects the quit design. I was honoured that Andrea asked me to be a part of the project. To find out more about it, they have a great video you can see on IndiGoGo, HERE.

As I sewed my blocks, I thought about my community. I remember in art school, sitting in Art History, learning about the different movements. I longed for something like that. Artists meeting in cafes, encouraging each other, discussing different techniques, sharing information, swapping pieces of art work... jump ahead to 2010. A little tweet about the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild starting up landed in my lap. Shortly after that I co-founded the Fraser Valley Modern Quilt Guild... and as luck would have it I'd have the chance to almost yearly visit the Los Angeles Modern Quilt Guild. I've traveled twice to Quiltcon and to Quilt Market. I had no idea back then I was joining a movement, all I knew is I wanted to PLAY!

And this doesn't even include the huge community on Instagram! Swaps are coordinated there, bee's are formed and challenges are announced.

I'm so grateful for each community and the unique people in them. I'm grateful for the ALL the things they've taught me, their humour, their encouragement, their talent and their friendship. Not to get to sappy, but I'd like to thank you for being a part of this community. It means the world to me! xo

RECOMMENDED FOR YOUR PLAY LIST: Meaghan's song, Your Refelctions. Enjoy!

SO WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY?

Our oldest son just turned 18 ...which is really weird because half the time I still feel 18. His birthday lines up with Canada's Victoria Day long weekend AND Quilt Market, e v e r y single year. Which meant no Quilt Market for me, even if it was in Portland this year (only five hours away). I had resigned the fact that he was only going to turn 18 once and I'd feel a whole lot better not missing his birthday. Funny enough a few days before his birthday we asked him "so what do you want to for your birthday?". His answer, "Why don't we go to Portland." What the?!? It was one of those, "Start the car!" moments, before anyone changes their minds. And so we did, which allowed me to pop into Quilt Market and blast through the show for a few quick hours on Sunday!

The show was significantly different than the one last year in St Louis. I suspect being that is was Sunday, the low key vibe was from everyone being pooped. Or maybe I was projecting my sadness about Cotton + Steel changing. I thought Kim Kight's wilted vase of roses by her Steno collection summed it up best. I'm heart broken for them BUT I'm also super JAZZED to see what these five ground breaking designers will do next. I am I'm prepared for them to bust out and blow our minds!

Oh! Hello Bob Ross! Or should I say, "Happy Painter".  A booth that caught my attention right away was by a company called Quiltoni Superpowered Quilts. Ooh! Look they have a Wonder Woman too! ...I mean an Amazon Warrior.

I had a great chat with Daryl and Giuseppe (AKA Giucy Giuce) from Andover Fabrics. I'm super excited about Guiseppe's new (and first) collection, Quantum! I love the colour palette and I'm intrigued about the panels. Side note: isn't Guiseppe, a great name. We're done having kids but if we ever get another cat...!

Oh and I bumped in to Sandi, Craftyplanner in Alison Glass's booth (thanks for the churros Sandi xo!). You know what else if awesome about Sandi? She remembers to take photos. I get visiting, start oogling and then I forget-d'ohh!

I snuck in a visit with Suzanne from Camelot Fabrics and saw Elizabeth Silvers's Mod Blocks Collection. It looks super cute (and of course I forgot to take photos, see what I mean?). Speaking of these ladies, remember last Fall Quilt Market when I made the Game On quilt for Elizabeth's Game on Collection? I'm gearing up to release that pattern, called "WERD". It's an English paper piecing pattern. I'll be putting a call out for pattern testers on Instagram shortly. 

Sticking with the "ADULT" theme... wait. That didn't sound quite right. Um, you know what I mean, right?! Since my son is now technically an adult (although he'll always be my BABY!). Recommended for your playlist: I'm An Adult Now, by the Pursuit of Happiness. I secretly want to learn the dance the guy in the red coat does!

P.S. We stayed in Seaside after the show, in a place called Grandma's House. It had a lime green salon dryer! How random is that?! With an authentic cigarette tray built in! I kind of fell in love with it!