by Sherri Sylvester | Jun 2, 2015
June is a good month! We are leaving to go on vacation tomorrow, school will be out at the end of the month – and it’s my month to pick the bundle for my sponsor Fabric Spark’s fabric subscription program!
This subscription features a bundle of 12 fat quarters from Maureen Cracknell, Very Shannon, Fresh Lemons, Blue Elephant Stitches, Modern Sewciety + The Tattooed Quilter, and me! It was finally my month pick a bundle, and so mid-May I visited Daryl from Fabric Spark and spend a couple of hours choosing my bundle. Not an easy task with such an amazing collection! In the end this fun bundle (loaded with my favorites and lots of Cotton + Steel!) was born and I decided to make a quilt with the bundle she gave me.
If you follow the blog you know I’m not a quilter – but I was determined to make something with all of these fat quarters in it. Because I put them together, so they must remain together! I sorted them by colour (there are 3 of each) and started with a “Trip around the World” in mind. Here’s where I went wrong….
- The groups of colours were not all the same value – ie. 2 dark navy and 1 lighter – they didn’t produce the nice even diamond shape I was aiming for.
- The bicycle fabric ended up all on one side because I made another newbie mistake – I wanted all of the fabrics “right side up”. This meant I needed to make each block with the diagonal lines going in the correct direction, and I couldn’t change them later based on how everything looked.
- The backing is going to be a (most gorgeous ever) border print, but the quilt is a bit larger – so I need to add to it. And since the quilting was going to be in straight lines, I have no idea how to pull off making the quilt top and backing line up so the lines are not crooked on the back.
- I have a navy backing and multi colourful front fabrics – which colour do I quilt in without ruining one or the other by having the thread show up “too much”?
Thankfully my friend Lisa (from Lisa in Port Hope) was over for our Sewcial and gave me a few tips that I think will help.
- Unless a quilt is hanging for a show, you don’t have to have everything to be right side up. You can lie under it whichever way you’d like, so aim for the fabrics to be right-side-up from the centre out.
- If I had not made everything right-side-up I could have moved the blocks around so the fabrics were spread out more evenly.
- Quilt on the diagonal to avoid having straight lines that are not parallel to any lines on the back.
I am not certain that I have solved the quilting thread colour issue. It was suggested that I use gray, but I don’t know that I want it to show up that much? Any suggestions?
Don’t get me wrong – I am not in any way sad or disillusioned about the quilt. I really LOVE the fabrics. It’s the picky details that are bugging me and I could have made it so much simpler by following the second list of “rules” above! (“Wasting” time gets on my nerves!)
I’m taking my machine and quilt(s) with me on vacation, hoping for a bit of down time during our 10 days off. If all goes well I’ll sort everything out and come back with a finished quilt! That would be fun!
Disclaimer: Fabric Spark is a sponsor of this blog. I was given this fat quarter bundle in return for this blog post. As always, my opinion is my own – thanks for reading!
by Sherri Sylvester | May 25, 2015
Happy Monday to you. Why don’t we start this week off with a giveaway. Sound good?!
Today, I am happy to introduce you to Seam Allowance, a Canadian Online Fabric Store – and the 14th post in our Canadian Online Fabric Store series. I recently found out about this new Canadian Etsy shop. Seam Allowance has curated such a lovely selection of fabrics that I emailed right away to ask if I could feature them here! #shopCanadian
Nikki opened shop last September, and by the looks of things she’s got exactly the same taste in fabric as I do – lots of Cotton + Steel, Art Gallery & knits. So good!
I love their tagline. “sew happiness” sounds right to me! Before we get too far, here are my favorites from her shop:
Here’s a little bit more about Seam Allowance:
“I’m a wife and a mother to four young children, and a maternity nurse on the side. I really started sewing when I was pregnant with my third son. I discovered sewing blogs for the first time, and was suddenly inundated with ideas and inspiration! Sewing seems to bring a little bit of sanity and a sense of accomplishment to my sometimes harried life, and I love it for that.” ~ Nikki, owner
Seam Allowance currently ships within Canada and the US. Canadian orders over $125 ship free and all other Canadian orders ship for their $8 flat rate. US orders have a $15 flat rate shipping fee.
Thread Riding Hood: Why did you decide to start Seam Allowance?
Nikki: I started Seam Allowance after being constantly frustrated by the selection at my local fabric shops. I usually ended up purchasing fabric online, but could only find American shops that carried what I like. The shipping, exchange, and duty were getting to be too much for me, so I took things into my own hands, and Seam Allowance was born!
Thread Riding Hood: What is your favorite type of sewing project? Quilting, Apparel… ?
Nikki: I love all kinds of sewing, EXCEPT alterations or mending. I usually end up sewing clothing for my kids or my nieces, although I recently sewed myself a shirt for the first time ever, and I love it! I’ve made a couple of quilts for my family, and although I consider myself a total amateur, I really really love making them.
Thread Riding Hood: What is something coming up in the near future that you are especially excited about?
Nikki: I’m really excited to be expanding the fabric selection I have in shop. My shop is new, and I started small, but now I’m able to bring in some more from my long-time favorite designers, and I’m super excited. I’m also VERY excited about getting my first-ever serger, and learning how to use it.
Thread Riding Hood: Thanks Nikki!
Today, you can enter for your chance to win a $30 shop credit from Seam Allowance!
This giveaway is open to Canadian and US readers, from today (May 25th) until midnight June 1, 2015. Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter – and if you don’t have Facebook to sign in with, just use your name and email address. There’s a “click to enter”, no social media login entry too!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thanks for reading. Don’t miss a post – Follow along!
Disclosure and Privacy Policy: I asked Seam Allowance to be a part of this series. I will never recommend or highlight a shop that I do not love, and my opinions will and have always been my own. Thanks for reading! Photo credits: Seam Allowance Fabrics
by Sherri Sylvester | May 20, 2015
This is a quick post to let you know that Double Decker Fabric is clearing out their inventory. Please head over to get some great deals as they close up shop. Everything is priced to sell quickly, so don’t miss out!
If I can add in a personal request – would you please take the time to send Dorienne a message thanking her for providing a great Canadian online shop? (As she closes up, I’d love it if we could send her out with a “thank you” and warm wishes for the future. ) You can easily send a message on her contact page.
As another major Canadian online shop makes its way out, please remember that your support of online Canadian fabric shops allows them to stay open. Because they are online we rarely get to meet the owners face-to-face. I think sometimes we forget that behind every store is an amazing owner. That they love fabric and want to provide us with amazing service here in Canada – so we can get our fabric faster and without paying extra to get it from the US.
I have been a supporter of Double Decker Fabric since I was lucky to interview her for my Canadian Online Shop series. She was my second interview in the series just over 2 years ago! Dorienne is an amazing person. She has been so kind and considerate over the years. I’m lucky to have gotten to know her. She even sent me my first “surprise” fabric in the mail – a Red Riding Hood print! I so appreciate her support and sponsorship of this blog.
Ok – my speech is over! Head over to Double Decker Fabric and get those deals!
by Sherri Sylvester | May 13, 2015
How are you doing this week? Good I hope? I’m well – and feeling a tad behind – but my list is my own, so maybe I should not try to be so productive?! I’m excited to be working on more than one secret project right now. And that means I get to show you other things I’ve made in the past month! I love having a backlog of projects to post about, it makes me feel like I’m actually on top of things.
Oooh! And can I talk about how much I LOVE this fabric? 16th Century Selfie is part of Tula Pink’s latest collection – Elizabeth. It’s amazing, super intricate and Tula Pink has somehow managed to get the facial expression perfect – as usual. She even stares at you while you are sewing! I’ve polled quite a few people and apparently it’s a love-it or hate-it kind of fabric – what do you think?
I love Fabric Spark’s description of Tula Pink’s latest collection “Elizabeth“ – Daryl writes:
“I’d use {these fabrics} everywhere, for bedding/quilts, drapes, chair cushions, pajamas, the lot. But do it with a sense of humour – why be a princess when you can be a queen.”
So true – a Queen it is! My smallest princess loves her “fancy lady” dress! (and I love the vintage buttons on the back!) This is another Creativ Festival project that I made for Fabric Spark to display in their booth. I used my favorite easy/fast/cute pattern – the First Day Dress from MADE. I have used this pattern to make dresses so many times (listed at the bottom of this post) – and I made a couple of peplum tops you haven’t seen yet too!
Since I’ve already written a lot about the First Day dress in previous posts, I’ll refrain from too much gushing here – suffice is to say that if you like quick projects the First Day Dress pattern is for you. I think my favorite part is the fact that a circle skirt doesn’t require any gathering and still gives the girls’ dresses their required twirl factor.
It’s an amazing base pattern with sleeves (or not) an a-line top/dress and peplum top and circle skirt dress, + lined or partially lined with an attached or unattached lining. Enough already! If this pattern had set-in sleeves it would be 120% perfect.
Spring Bloom Giveaway Winner!
I realized earlier this week that I had not yet let you know that the winner of the Spring Bloom Fat Quarter set was: Mary L! She just received her bundle this past Monday and emailed to let me know. I can’t wait to see what she will make with it!
You can find the Elizabeth “16th Century Selfie” fabric I used for the dress bodice at Fabric Spark in two colourways: Sky or Tart, or check out Fabric Spark’s stock of Tula Pink’s Elizabeth Collection. The lining is a solid from Fabric Spark’s Free Spirit collection. {The skirt fabric is Elizabeth “Chain Mail” in the Sky colourway and is unfortunately sold out at Fabric Spark.}
Other First Day Dress posts:
Disclaimer: I received the fabric for this dress at no cost in exchange for this post and its use at the Fabric Spark booth during Creativ Festival. All of my opinions are my own and I won’t take on projects I don’t believe in. Thanks for reading!
by Sherri Sylvester | May 1, 2015
I got to meet so many amazing people at this year’s Creativ Festival. I was so much more involved this year – and I met a ton of new creative people and shops! Instead of featuring each shop individually like I have in the past, I’ve assembled photos from quite a few and linked them to their shop. So, if you are looking for something you can find it! (If there isn’t a corresponding website, I’ve captioned the photo with the shop name.)
The spring Creativ Festival is definitely smaller than the Fall show. There are less booths in a smaller overall space – however, I think that the modern fabric presence was only slightly less than the last Fall show. Many traditional shops are buying more modern fabrics, so there is generally something I want to pick up from each shop. Dangerous, yes?!
I think my focus and view on fabric has changed as well – slowly over time – to involve more types of fabrics and more lines. Not so much “all modern, all the time” and now more “use the fabric that’s right for the job”. Apparel fabric for apparel, quilting cotton for quilting (and kids clothes!).
In the vein of trying not to be “all modern, all the time”, I was so happy to find a lovely use of batik fabric that surprised me! The amazing quilt pattern (above, ) from Border Creek Station Pattern Company, incorporates a lot of white for a modern look and the colour is added with batiks. It gives it a lovely watery look that I really love – softer than the solids against white.
I also found an online Canadian source for shot cotton that I’ll be taking full advantage of. I’ve got lots of apparel projects lined up in the next few months and it’s a lovely summery option to work with. I’ve got Flare Fabrics to thank for that! You should see all the colours she stocks!
It was interesting to see a change in the way each booth decided to show their products. Many sellers are not bringing all of their bolts. Instead they are replacing them with 2 yard cuts and some bolts, and lots of fat quarters and 1/2 metre cuts. Even some super cute scrappy bundles. The jars from Country Clothesline below were so cute!
One of the things I really love is to see all of the projects shop owners have created. I got a chance to work on a few projects this year, and it was fun to see a lot of others too. The feather quilt below that Daryl from Fabric Spark made from Echino fabrics is AMAZING! So, so gorgeous, and my favorite piece at the show. The added texture in the Echino lends so much more depth to the colours.
Seems quite a few of the online shops are now also stocking Aurifil as well. I was happy to find that and some knits at the show! Lovely Monaluna knits from Fabric Please. They feel amazing and my youngest has claimed the yard I bought for herself. I think I’ll have some left over, to use for a yoke on something for me. I hope!
Hopefully this post didn’t sound too sales-driven. It’s tricky writing a review without sounding like a sales person, especially when you are writing about lots of shops! I talked to a few new stores as well and am hoping to be able to team up with lots of them to bring you more Canadian online shop interviews and giveaways – yippee! Maybe we’ll see you at the Fall show?
Ruby Pearl Quilts
by Sherri Sylvester | Apr 28, 2015
I’m tired y’all! I had an amazing weekend at Creativ Festival – but I think the amount of time and energy I put into getting everything ready is now showing – I haven’t even unpacked or pre-washed any stash yet! I’m going to post a review of the weekend, but first I’ve got a quilt for you. (And, if you are expecting an email from me about the weekend I’ll hopefully get it out tomorrow!)
This is one of the projects I made in collaboration with my sponsor, Fabric Spark – for use at Creativ Festival. It’s a blanket/play mat made using the Wee Gallery collection from Dear Stella. I’d already fallen in love with the front “Dress Me” fabric when Daryl suggested making this quilt for the show. (I’ve got a yard stashed away from when Daryl first listed it!)
After I got the kit I was totally smitten with the backing fabric – Wild – Alphabet! Would you believe it’s even got a “N is for Narwhal” on there? (If you are looking for the “Dress Me” fabric, this little quilt did its job and now Fabric Spark is sold out of the “Dress Me” print. You can still get Wild – Alphabet here. *EDIT: Apparently Daryl is all sold out of the Alphabet as well.)
The quilt is made using the free “Dress Me Up!” Tutorial by Modern Handcraft on the Dear Stella blog. It’s such a cute idea! The only thing I changed is to use coloured thread for the quilting. In an effort to make it unisex, I used pink, blue, orange, yellow, gray and cream – generally matching the colours on the Alphabet backing – but lighter. I had a false start with a few quilted lines in bright pink and darkish blue that “showed up” too much for my liking.
Using wool felt for the character’s clothing is such a great idea. My oldest has already been designing clothes for them with the left-over felt. I’ve never used wool felt before, and I was so pleased with the quality and feel of the pieces provided in the kit. You can get wool felt from Fabric Spark as well – they have wonderful names like “Pea Soup”, “Vanilla Latte”, “Fresh Linen” and “Bluer than Blue”!
I learned a good lesson from this quilt as well – a quilt does not have to be hard, or even pieced! This whole-cloth quilt was so simple to make – and the end result is so cute! My favorite part is the coloured quilting. I didn’t even use any fancy quilting thread.
My new motto more often needs to be “Simplify Your Projects” and “Done is better than Perfect”!
Your Turn! What is your favorite sewing motto?
Disclaimer: I received this quilt kit at no cost in exchange for it’s use at the Fabric Spark booth during Creativ Festival. All of my opinions are my own and I won’t take on projects I don’t believe in. Thanks for reading!
