*** The giveaway is now closed. Thanks to all those who entered! ***ย
I haven’t had a Canadian Online Fabric Store feature in a while, so today I am happy to introduce Alanna, owner of Friday’s Off Fabric Shop located in Toronto, Ontario. She started her shop recently and has a great (and growing!) selection ofย 100% cotton designer fabrics. Her fabric is available by the metre, in fat quarter bundles, and in quilt kits. She also sells patterns if you need some inspiration!
Alanna has a full time job, a toddler at home and a baby on the way, she blogs for UrbanMoms.caย (which has some really great information on it) and she decided to start Fridays Off Fabric Shop too! She’s not busy at all – ha!
So, with all that going on she’s also generously offered to give away a Valori Wells Wrenly fat quarter bundle to one very fortunate Thread Riding Hood reader! Hooray! I love this fabric and am so jealous of you guys… it makes such a pretty quilt. And (of course!) Alanna stocks the Valori Wells Wrenly Christmas Quilt kit – so you can get started on your gifts for this year!
Let’s meet Alanna!
Thread Riding Hood:ย What inspired you to start Fridays Off?
Alanna:ย It was kind of one of those light bulb moments. I’ve been sewing a lot over the last 10 years and buying really great fabrics at shops in my neighborhood downtown Toronto. People always admire the fabrics I buy because they’re modern and fresh and not available at large fabric stores like Fabricland and Fabricville. I also started buying fabrics online from US sources (which are expensive!) and that’s when I realized there was a huge lack of online fabric shops catering to the Canadian market. So, ย I just went for it and set up my own shop online. It’s still a work in progress, but I’m having so much fun with it and I’ll be continuing to stock beautiful designer fabrics as we move forward. Most of my customers live in rural areas or in cities that don’t have great quality fabric stores.
Thread Riding Hood:ย What is your best trick for making sure you find time to sew?
Alanna:ย With a toddler running around, a full time job, a budding business and a baby on the way (4 more weeks!) I don’t have very much time at all to sew at the moment. I try to sneak in time by sharing the bath and bed routine with my husband, so some nights he does bath and bed with my son and I’ll sneak downstairs and do some sewing or I take advantage of my son’s nap time on the weekends. Now that I’m on maternity leave I’ve got my days free to get a bit in here and there. I often have to make something in stages though. Like I’ll cut a pattern one weekend and then sew it up in parts the next weekend.
Thread Riding Hood:ย Which of your upcoming fabric lines are you most excited about right now?
Alanna:ย I’ve got lots of great lines coming in over the summer. Like Lotta Jansdotter’s Glimma collection, Madhurri Cottons, Hooty Hoot Returns, Ashbury Heights Cottons
Thread Riding Hood: Ooohhh, nice selections, I’m excited! Thanks Alanna.
Alright – so you’d like to win some fabric?! The prize consists of 8 fat quarters, 1 each of 8 different fabrics from Valori Wells’ Wrenly collection. This giveaway will run from June 14th (today!)- Friday, June 21st at 10pm. Canadian and US residents are free to enter.
Hereโs how to win: (Make sure to leaveย one comment per entry on this postย so we can count them all properly.)
- Check out Friday’s Off Fabric Shop. Pick your favorite fabric/bundle/kit/pattern and leave a comment on this post to tell us how you would use it!
- Optional Extra Entry:ย Like Fridays Offย on Facebook and/or follow onย Twitter.ย Leave a comment on this post to say that you did, include your Facebook name or Twitter handle.
- Optional Extra Entry:ย Like Thread Riding Hoodย on Facebook and/or follow onย Twitter.ย Leave a comment on this post to say that you did, include your Facebook name or Twitter handle. (If you already like Thread Riding Hood on Facebook or follow on Twitter this is an easy entry for you โ Leave a comment!)
What a fabulous write up Sherri. Thank you.
I’m looking forward to seeing the giveaway entries come through ๐
Glad you like it Alanna, Thanks for providing the giveaway prize!
I love the Matryoshka print. and the Red Riding Hood one. So fun for making granddaughter things! ๐
Love the Matryoshka print too… I had a hard time only choosing 3 prints for the post!
http://fridaysoff.ca/collections/all-fabric/products/wildfield-in-pine Love that fabric the colours are great. Mind you so are all the cars fabric. Wouldn’t mind making a baby quilt for a boy in that.
The Wildfield in Pine is great! Why is it not on my favorites list?! How hard it is to choose favorites. The cars would be so cute in a quilt. Great idea!
facebook follower for Thread Riding Hood
facebook follower of Friday’s Off
I love the “Little Red Riding Hood and Ladybug Garden Fat Quarter Bundle”!
It would make such a sweet quilt for my girls.
I “liked” Fridays Off Fabric Shop on Facebook…Leanne Habermehl
I also “liked” Thread Riding Hood on facebook ๐
Leanne Habermehl
I’ll be sure to pin this contest too!!! Great to hear about new Canadian companies!
Ooohhh… if you end up making a quilt can I see it?! Of course I can’t help liking any Red Riding Hood fabrics! ๐ Thanks for pinning!
I like the Little Red Riding Hood bundle and the Cruiser Cars fabric. I would love to make some hats for the kids!
I “liked” Fridays Off Fabric Shop on Facebook – my FB name is Laura Medrea Edwards.
And since I already “like” Thread Riding Hood on Facebook, I’ll just comment and thank you for bringing the Candian online fabric store into the limelight! When our only local fabric store consists of Fabricland, this is such a breath of fresh “fabric air”!! My husband may not be a fan of yours though since I’m spending all this money on fabrics now ๐ Great stuff Sherri! Nicely done.
Thanks Laura! Hats would be super-cute in those fabrics! I hope I can redeem myself by also having helped to introduce you to making so many useful things for your family?! Ha! Likely not – the best prints are not cheap… It’s more of an obsession than a hobby for most I think! Ah, well – what can you do!
The fabric from Valori Wells contains some prints I would love to pet, I mean add to my stash, I mean use in my sewing!
Love this, Made me laugh! I too have many fabrics that I have bought for “sewing”, the life of a sewer… we all need larger closets to keep (hide?) all of our stashing!
liked Fridays Off in facebook
liked Thread Riding Hood in facebook
What a fabulous grouping of fabrics….. very difficult to make a choice…but when pushed I guess my favourite for the moment is…..Fine Feathered in Whisper by Anna Maria Horner. I have been looking for something for our granddaughters drapery and I think that may be the winner.
Anna Maria Horner is pretty hard to beat… for the moment! Fine Feathered would make really cool drapes. Good luck on the contest!
liked you on facebook….under my married name
Cathy Holman
liked fridaysoff on facebook again under my married name
Cathy Holman
Love the ladybugs. I’ve been eyeing up that fabric for awhile now ๐ And love the Little Red Riding Hood and Ladybug fat quarter bundle.
Hi Ashley – those ladybugs seem to be calling everyone! They would make a perfect summer project. Thanks for the likes!
Liked Friday’s off on Facebook under name Ashley Drudge.
Liked Thread Riding Hood on facebook as well under name Ashley Drudge.
I like Tula Pink’s Cameo in Mist. Thanks for the introduction to this delightful store!
You’re welcome Pam! Tula Pink is also one of my new favorite designers. LOVE her stuff!
I like Fridays Off on Facebook. And I love the name of this shop! ๐
I like Thread Riding Hood on Facebook (PK Sews)
My wallet thanks you for introducing me to another Canadian online fabric shop! I would pick Sinister Swarm in Leaf by Anna Maria Horne as a favourite,, it would go nicely along with my other AMH prints in my butterfly quilt backing.
Hi Lisa! I’m not sure if your wallet thanks me or is groaning at another “easier/faster” way to buy more fabric! I’ll take it though ๐ LOVE the butterflies! Do you think you might do a tutorial with the pieced pattern on your blog?
For anyone else reading this, Lisa has provided a pattern for the modern butterflies she mentions on her blog here: http://lisainporthope.wordpress.com/2013/03/17/modern-butterfly-my-first-pattern/
Liked the Friday’s Off fb page!
The mushrooms in red are just too cute! I’d love to make a summer dress with it for my youngest. thanks for the giveaway:)
Rachel! Great choice, I love using quilting fabric to make kids clothes – there are so many cute options!
I “like” thread Riding Hood on fb!
I would totally get “Wildfield in Pine” by Valori Wells. I love the pops of colour & dandelion motif! It would be perfect for a bag I’m currently working on, and possibly in the quilt I’m about to start… Hmm! Thank you for introducing me to this store, I’d love to buy more from Canadian sources!
I’m also following FridaysOffShop on Twitter (@lisahjamieson).
Hi Lisa! I’m so glad you like the blog ๐ Thanks so much! I love my “diaper bag” turned tote bag and use it all the time. It’s great for holding everything and would also make a great project bag since you can customize all of the inner pockets to suit whatever you want to hold. Have fun with your projects. I’m jealous of anyone that can make quilts – for some reason they seem to take me forever to finish!
Like Tread Riding Hood fb page!
Hi Sara! Thanks for the likes – good luck on the contest! I just checked out your Etsy shop. You’ve got some really great stuff there! Nice fabric choices ๐
To all the people who have entered the giveaway and who have visited my shop so far – thank you! This is just a reminder that all of my prices include shipping! There are no additional fees added to your total for shipping or handling at checkout.
This is amazing Alanna! What a great idea ๐ I have also shared your post on my FB page.
I love the colours in Cruiser Hexi Blue. I’ve been determined to make my son a backpack, and I think that fabric would be great. Thanks for directing us to another great Canadian Online Fabric Store.
Hi Jenn – The cruisers would be super cute as a back pack. Great idea! Helpful for me too – I’m collecting things I should not to make him for his birthday ๐ LOL
Liked Fridays Off on Facebook (Jennifer Sra)
Beautiful witty collection! Thanks for sharing the collection ๐
Christie! Nice to hear from you again ๐ I’m sure Alanna would be pleased to hear that you like her taste in fabric!
Fine Feathered in Whisper, by Anna Maria is my fave right now. Thanks for the chance Sherri, and congrats Alanna on your coming bundle of joy.
Nice choice! Great to see you here again! Thanks for reading.
I like the Ladybug Fat Quarters. It would be such a cute jumping off point for a nursery quilt, or a tummy time mat.
Niki – you’re right! Would be lovely. I made one of these (http://sewing.patternreview.com/patterns/33193) from a Burda pattern for my youngest – this fabric would have been perfect for it!
I would LOVE to use the Ladybug quarters to make a nursery quilt or a tummy time mat. That would sooo cute!
I love the Wren in Snow fabric and I would probably make a vintage inspired dress for my daughter with it ^_^ I also followed you both on twitter!~ I’m @linsie_hunny Thanx!~
Love Vintage Inspired patterns! What a great idea. Thanks for the follows ๐
Red Ladybug Dance I would use in a spring quilt or where I need that shade of red.
Red Ladybug Dance would make a great quilt! The all-over pattern would be perfect, even for a small block.
I already like you on Facebook. ๐