It’s time to head to Creativ Festival again! This will be my fourth time going, the others are blogged here: Spring & Fall 2013 and Spring 2014. I’ll be on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter a lot this weekend, I’m sure. So if you can’t be there I’ll try my best to share it with you.
I love being able to see my favorite online shops in person, buying fabric, and browsing fabric, talking to some of my local shops that have booths… buying fabric… ummm…. more fabric?! This year, though, I’m going to concentrate on talking to people, (instead of the fabric!) I am feeling that my stash is a tad overwhelming. While I’m sure I will buy more than fabric than I “need”, I’m going to do my best to keep the total down!
My friend Laura (Seams Sew Laura) and I are taking my brand new postcards down to Creativ early Friday afternoon. Side note… As I think of the number of amazing blog related things happening during the next little while I’m reminded how grateful I am to be working with so many amazing people – and especially for all of you reading! Thank you all so much.
Once we get to Creativ, I’m going to abandon my usual methodical (start at row 1) way of shopping and make a beeline straight for the centre booths. I’ve got two very exciting things to see right away. I’m super happy to say that I’ve been working with Fabric Spark (booth 525) and Warp & Weft (booth 624) behind the scenes to kit my new patterns and sell them during Creativ!
Here’s a sneak peek of two new patterns I’ll be releasing as pdf patterns here next week. (I’ll save the proper introductions, and just write about the kits today.) Daryl from Fabric Spark and I have been working together to produce The Reusable Lunch Bag and Fabric Gift Bag Patterns specifically for the Creativ Festival! They are super beginner friendly and super-fast and fun advanced sewist projects! I was over at Daryl’s shop Monday of this week kitting them with her. It was a treat to see her stash of fabric and get to mix and match bolts together for the kits. (Wow!)
The Fabric Gift Bags are kitted in several different combinations (including the amazing one above!) – everything from gorgeous pinks and yellows to masculine gray and blue to Christmas-themed (… yes.. it’s coming!). The Lunch Bag Kit will be available in 4 different laminated cottons – Tula Pink (x2), AMH and Amy Butler. These two patterns will be available for sale un-kitted as well, and the Gift Bags are especially made to fit in exactly 1 yard of fabric – so you can mix and match whatever colour scheme your holiday season fits into!
The Forest Glen Satchel pattern is finished and I’ll be releasing it as a pdf download here in the next few weeks. In the meantime, it is available as a paper pattern, exclusively from Warp and Weft during Creativ Festival. The satchel was designed with Elizabeth Olwen’s Cloud9 collection, Wildwood, and kits of all three Wildwood fabric combinations chosen by Elizabeth will be available. It was also fun to collect six of my Warp & Weft-related projects from around my house and deliver them to Esmari today. It’s a shame I didn’t think to take a photo! They are all related to free tutorials that I’ve written for use with Warp & Weft fabrics and will be on display over the weekend, so you can see them up close and in person.
On a seriously amazing other note! The Forest Glen Satchel is photographed in Elizabeth Olwen’s Wildwood Look Book and I’m fairly certain the Satchel Elizabeth made at the workshop is on its way to Quilt Market in Houston to live at her booth. (Eeeeekkkk!) I am so re-gramming any photos it shows up in this weekend!
I’ve got a list of other booths to visit at Creativ and I’m hoping to be surprised by a more modern fabric selection. Every year it seems to increase – lucky us! There are also a few sponsor shops and some I’ve interviewed that I can visit as well. Fabric Spot (booth 327) always has a huge selection – and I picked up the Cotton & Steel tigers (above) from her last week, along with a Lush Uptown charm pack. I’m excited to see Sylvia from Country Clothesline (booth 323) and Alanna from Fridays Off (booth 118) again as well.
Wow – I guess that’s “it” for now. What a lot of stuff to fit in with such a small word! Most of all I’d love to meet you. I’ll be there Friday and Saturday if you’re in the area. The most fun part of my job is connecting with all the fabric lovers I’m surrounded with!
Will you be at Creativ this weekend? What are you most looking forward to doing there?
I am getting ready to travel to Oakville today, where I will stay with a friend and then head into TO tomorrow for Creative. Excited to see the new fabrics available, that I cannot get here at home, In London.
Hooray! Maybe I’ll see you there – we’re going in the afternoon until close likely.
Sounds like tons of fun. Wish I could come along and see it all. I am sure it would be dangerous to my budget! 🙂 Really like the kits you’ve made. Awesome!
Yes! Yes – bit hard on my budget also!
Hooray!! This is awesome! Can’t wait to see pictures from the weekend 🙂
Yes! So awesome 🙂
Hi Sherri,
I am loving your site, the fantastic rise of fabrics available IN CANADA ;), your patterns and above all your enthusiasm. Your precious sweeties add to the happy factor 😉 I can’t make the Festival this weekend but am adding my best wishes for you to have a great time. Love the ‘postcards’, take care.
Hooray Ann! Thank you so much for reading and following along! Your comment is amazing – thanks for taking the time to let me know 🙂
Wow ! Creativ is a busy place. Thanks so much for posting photos of the new fabric sellers. Love your ‘helpers’ outfit 😉 Is her skirt pattern available from your site? I have 2 sweet granddaughters who love the girlie look. All the best for your kits. So exciting! As I have mentioned before, so exciting for Canadian sewists of all callings to have some fresh fabric options here as opposed to shopping across the border. I will now own up to making a last purchase from across the border. I have a quilt order from a young nephew – in – law who wants a Dallas Cowboy quilt. The fabric isn’t available in Canada.
A quandry for those of us that are sewing for wee ones. Quality corduroy ie. Robert Kaufman, isn’t available in Canada.
Other than my few negatives, love your site and the growing Canadian fabric stores that you are headlining on your site. Thank you, take care.
I’d love to see the Robert Kaufmann corduroy here – that would be amazing! And yes – I’ve ordered NFL fabric from the US also, a few years back. I think it’s pretty well 90% here and maybe 10% from other sources at the moment. And apparel fabric is tricky too.