Fabric fabric fabric

I went on a bit of a shopping spree when Canada Post was on strike.. ... and for a bit after they went back to work - almost all of it is in.
Get your bib, its drool worthy:

Wrenly!! I got this from my awesome friend Julie over at The Intrepid Thread.

 Julie has some awesome new fabric coming soon to her shop. Please click here to check out her site.

Then I got a big box of greatness from Sew Fresh.

There are some great new items in their store to. Click here to check it out!

 ha ha, OK, don't laugh - but look I have another box to pick up from the post office!!
HA - OK you can laugh at me!

Heeheheeheeheheheeeeeheheeeee this is so awesome!! I have no idea what I am going to make with this stuff! Maybe I will just lay it all out on the spare bed and look at it all! HA
Have you bought anything new? What new lines are you drooling over?

**Note** My fellow Canadian friends! Both of these shops are in the USA - but they charge you the real shipping cost. I know when you start to fill your cart you see the ginormous shipping fee and say Heck No. But fear not - both will after getting the correct shipping cost (very quickly) they credit back to you the difference - so Free Of Fear - fill that cart! ha ha

Cheers,
Carolyn

Dreaming of something new

I went to Central Sewing yesterday for my very first time - Awesome! I met Linda whom not only showed me the machines - she let me use them!! Did you know there is a machine that does "hand quilting". I put that in brackets as obviously it is not hand quilting if done by machine, but it does it - the look is perfection! That is all the machine does though - I cannot recall the brand name - but I promised Linda if I win the lottery - I was coming right back to buy that machine. ha ha ha

So, I have a crush on two machines. If any of you currently or previously owned these machines or one from the same brand name - can you please oh pretty please leave me a comment with your honest opinion regarding it?

OK, here are my new crushes:

Elna Excellence 740

Here is the Elna site for this machine - click here.

Husqvarna Sapphire 875

Here is the Husqvarna site for this machine - click here.

Feel free to drool, I did. I cannot believe she let me use both of them. I love the space of the Elna, quilting a larger quilt on this machine does not look as painful as it has been with my Phaff. My Phaff is brilliant for sewing - when its not on fire - ha ha, but it does not have any room to quilt anything bigger then a small blanket.

Central Sewing even allows a payment plan.

I am such a meanie - my Phaff is not even back from the sewing hospital and I am looking to replace it. I do feel a little guilty for dreaming of something new.

Poor little Phaff 2058.. ... So many stitches, 'tis a good machine, when its working, but look at the tiny space under the arm. I think if I do get a new machine - this will still be my retreat/class machine as it is fantastic for sewing blocks.

Cheers,

Carolyn

Graffiti Thursday part 3

Here is this weeks graffiti picture:

Look at those teeth, RAWRR
Cheers,
Carolyn

Sewing machine update

Thank you to everyone whom commented and emailed me redarding my sewing machine. I know I told you  that my machine went missing for a short time period, but thankfully it arrived at the shops south location and their specialist was able to take a look at it. Not only that, but its repairable!
For $325 bucks, I will have a new motherboard installed and be able to get back to sewing. The woman I spoke with at the store told me the current one was all black from the fire. I do not know why it happened and I am hoping they can tell me when I pick up the machine.
The new motherboard has to come from Phaff and I did not get an estimated time as to when the work will be done - hopefully soon. I miss my machine =(
In the meantime - I made what I think is a good start to a brilliant pattern and some hexis.
I hope everyone if having a great week thus far.
Cheers,
Carolyn

One Plate Tuesday 7

Getting tired of these plates yet? There are only a few left to post.
Here is this weeks:

Cheers,
Carolyn

Crying in my tea cup

So.... .. ... if you read my post yesterday, you saw I got lots of stuff done on FNSI, and I was pretty proud of myself.

I got up, got all my morning cleaning done and happily sat down at my machine, fully prepped, excited and ready to start. I ironed my runner to get the drawn lines to show bolder - got my Fast Fade pen out and touched up all the spots that had faded overnight, re ironed and turned to my threads. I decided I would do not only lots of feather quilting on this runner, but I wanted it to be bold as well. I picked thread colors green and a red wanting to use them on the opposite color of the piece to make them really stand out.

Here is that runner again:

The completed top - made at the last Seba Beach quilting retreat.

If you click on the picture, you may be able to see my drawn quilting lines better, the pattern of the green fabric makes it really tuff to see, but my drawing is in purple.

OK, ready set make bobbins! Made just one of each. Ready to thread my machine, I tapped the pedal to get the needle in the correct position - but wait!!! ERrrrrrrCH!! There was a very loud spark noise and billows of thick yellow/grey smoke started to plume out of the top of my baby!! AWWW, the computer screen was still on, but was blank, I shut the power switch off so fast it was like lightening! The smoke stopped, but the whole house smelled of burnt out electrical and melted plastic. I screamed for Mr. Hunter - my reaction being like I just witnessed a horrible accident - and this was horrible. He told me to take it straight to the shop.

Yes of course - take action! So I rushed my baby into the car and drove straight to Johnson's Sewing Centre. The gentleman in the back listened to my story - I did not cry, he plugged it in, flipped the switch and instantly even thicker smoke then when it sparked started to plume out of the machine. Now my eyes started to water - but I still did not cry. He turned it off as quickly as I had earlier and advised me this had to see his specialist on the south side.

My heart sank - of course I knew me machine could not be fixed right away - but now I had to wait until Monday for someone to even look at it! At least I know it is in good hands. I just need to be patient.. ... not really one of my virtues, but I can try.

In the meantime - my pattern I drew on the runner has faded away. Third times the charm though right? As this was the second pattern I have drawn on there. HA. At least now I can work on my hexis and draw out my table runner patterns I have made up in my head!!

Cheers,

Carolyn

FNSI accomplishments

Last night was Friday Night Sew In and I was pretty productive. I managed to make my Lets Bee Together Block, since she asked for a specific pattern and its not a surprise, I will show it:

 I will mail this to Wendy on Monday.

 June was my month to receive blocks for the Lets Bee Together group and I asked to have any pattern the recipients wanted to make and to please stitch on it their name (first or last or initials - what ever they preferred) and their state. A couple of my new friends do not hand stitch but they signed in pen so I could stitch over it. I stitched two signatures on Thursday and this one last night for FNSI.

The last thing I managed to complete last night was to draw my quilting design onto this table runner that was the first on the pile of UFO's I need to finish! I used a quilting pen I bought from Fabricland. It is called a Fast Fade marker from Unique. It fades a bit too fast for me - but its good motivation to get it done quickly. If you iron the lines, they show up darker. I had already done a pattern on this runner - but I did not stitch it right away and its completely faded away. The pen washes out with just water so if I draw a line I do not like - I use a wash cloth and wipe it away. I think all in all, the pen works really well - but I wish it did stay bolder longer, and the pen seems to dry out when making the lines. I had not used the pen in months and it seemed "juicier" this time, but after drawing this out, it seemed pretty dry again by the time I went to bed.
Have a great weekend - I have to quilt this runner before this design fades away too!
Cheers,
Carolyn

Graffiti Thursday part 2

Here is my second picture for Graffiti Thursday. Such a contrast to my pretty plates on Tuesday isn't it? But still fun!
Here you go:

Cheers,
Carolyn

Missing Quilts alert

SewCalGal has a post you can see by clicking here. At a recent quilt show a few quilts have gone missing. She is trying to help locate them. The peoples whom put on the show are offering a no questions asked reward of $4000.00 for the return of the items. To see her post and the pictures of the items - or to link up to her post to raise awareness and try to help get them returned, please see her post.
Cheers,
Carolyn

One Plate Tuesday 6

Here is this weeks China Plate:

Cheers,
Carolyn

Blocks for art and quilting awareness

My friend Christina from A Few Scraps is taking a sewing machine to Burning Man and they are making quilts and inviting people at the festival to create with her. Raising awareness  for our awesome craft.
She is asking people to donate 12.5" square blocks to help with the project. Anyone interested in making blocks (they can be totally scrappy, no pattern required - use up those scraps my friends!) please head over to her blog by clicking here, and leave her a comment.
Here are the blocks I have going her way.

Making these blocks has been great practise as I have to make one for the first Orange Quilting Bee group I joined. Hopefully the third block will be the best as I am off to make the Bee group block next!
Thank you to all my great friends who respond to this call, and to all those who just came and read my blog today!
Cheers,
Carolyn

60th Wedding Anniversay Party!!

My Great Uncle Tony and his beautiful wife Anne celebrated last weekend their 60th wedding anniversary. They had a table when you walked into the hall they rented for the party, covered in photos. I was able with my Uncle Donny's help (he should me how to better use my camera) take pictures of the pictures. Here they are:

Uncle Guy, Great Uncle Tony, My brother Charles



I did not meet the man standing left, the rest is: Great Auntie Veronica - we call her Roni, Great Auntie Anne, Auntie Debbie



Auntie Debbie, Uncle Guy and Great Uncle Tony - he is telling us a joke.

Charles and his beautiful wife and my friend, Michelle

Mr Hunter and my Uncle Donny - he is telling him how to use the camera.

This is a silly picture, Mr Hunter was taking his teachings to practise taking motion pictures - I was moving around all zig zaggy to see if he could get a clear picture. His worked out.

This was my picture trying to capture movement - I failed, I think my hands shake too much. I notice I always get the shaking warning on my display screen when I am trying to take pictures.

Auntie Debbie, I did not catch the lady in pinks name but she was awesome, Uncle Guy. These two make a fantastic couple, they are both so kind and funny, I always enjoy seeing them. I wish we all lived closer!

Last but not least, my Uncle Darrell talking to his twin sister, Auntie Debbie! He is super awesome too. So are all their kids/my cousins, but they were not able to come.

Happy Sunday.
Cheers,
Carolyn

And its finally done!!

It was starting to feel like I would never get this custom quilt done, but finally I reached the end! Its done, I have given it to my friend, she loved it and I have been paid.
Funny about that - I did some math and not including anything for my time, I paid $191.00 not including any taxes for all the materials, batting and thread. I was paid $175.00 total for the quilt.
So I lost about 25 bucks and a lot of time - but she loves it and her daughter is going to love it and at least I got some money.
Here it is:

Cheers,
Carolyn

Graffiti Thursday part 1

I thought since I was doing One plate Tuesday - I should do Graffiti Thursday. That is because I found (its actually along my bike path to work so I kinda could not miss it) an entire wall of graffiti.
Without further ado, here is my first image:

Disclaimer - I do not condone graffiti - but since it was there.. .. and some of it is pretty good.
I only took pictures of the good ones. This is a long wall and there is some that looked like it had potential to be good - but someone came along and they were not completed. Some look pro and are really high up. I saw a couple of summers ago that a building on Whyte Ave was allowing and actually promoting graffiti artists so some of these higher up art works could be part of that.
I hope you like my Graffiti Thursdays, till I run out of pictures that is!
Cheers,
Carolyn

A welcome visiter at my house

It had rained all night and was raining still when I went to leave the house for work a couple of days ago. As I struggled to get my dumb umbrella open, I realized I forgot my lunch inside. When I turned to go back into the house, I saw my visitor!! I told him he could stay as long as he liked and visit anytime! I should have known he was there as the mosquitoes were not!

He was huge! Sadly, he was gone when I got home - and the mosquitoes were back.
Look at those wings!
Cheers,
Carolyn

Give away over at Melissa's blog

Hello my friends, there is a give away going on over at Melissa's blog, Happy Quilting. She has a sponsored give away by my friend Julie from the Intrepid Thread!
Here is a pic of what she has up for grabs:

Its Wrenly!! I love this collection. Mr. Hunter has been buying toys for his truck like crazy, plus he got tons of clothing and new glasses. He has told me twice now that I need to spend some money too so we are even. lol. I told him we could not afford for us both to go hog wild with the spending.. ... but maybe I should check out Julie's shop.. ... she has another line coming in this July called Pernilla's Journey. I may have to wait and get both.. ... hee hee hee
Cheers,
Carolyn

One Plate Tuesday 5

Here is the China Plate for this week:

This is one of my favorites, love the yellow rose.
Cheers,
Carolyn

Fashion Television

I sometimes like to watch Fashion Television, I find all the fashion completely ridiculous and it makes me chuckle at the awful clothing they call amazing. Last week I was watching and in one runway show - I do not remember which designer it was for, but the pant and shorts the girls were wearing made them look like there was a monster in their panties trying to get out! It was hilarious, then the show all the actresses saying how amazing it was and yes they want to buy so much of it. HA! I know that these fashion creations trickle down and influence the creation of my much more subdued and affordable clothing but come on! Who wants a monster in their pants? Not me.

Another show came on and it was showing highlights of some show that had all these girls competing to be the next supermodel. I am surfing while watching so I am not really paying attention until I hear the person who is picking the winner say that the girls didn't look very good in the beginning but now that they are two months in and have lost weight, they are starting to look better. Ah - they looked gross. They were thin before, they showed the before and after. OMG, it was awful, they had not weight at all to them. Looked horrible.
Then I started to watch more and you can see their shoulder blades stick grotesquely out of their backs. Ick. I am thin, always have been, but I never want to be that thin!

Just say no girls and  get something to eat.
Alexander McQueen however I enjoyed his show, again things I would never wear, but his models were not gross, in fact, they were healthy looking! Their arms were not twigs and they looked like just thin healthy girls who get to eat every day. I hope more designers start using these healthier models! Then the scrawny ones can start eating and work for them too.
Cheers,
Carolyn

Canada Post finally getting back to normal and I got some goodies!

On day one of Canada Post finally going back to work (I am slow to post this - this was June 27 I think), I got my order from Intrepid Thread that was stuck in postal limbo for the month of the strike/lock out. I had received notice that it was going to be delivered over a month ago and then bam! STRIKE! Oh noooooo. But it was finally in my mail box. Here it is:

Sherbet Pips

Sherbet Pips

Sherbet Pips

Anna Maria Horner's LouLou Thi 

Julie threw these in for me along with a lovely thank you card.

I for some reason got pretty antsy waiting for this order so while waiting, I placed another one! I decided I had to have more of Anna Maria Horner's new line so Julie from The Intrepid Tread allowed me to customize my own bundle. It should be here anytime now that the post is working. Yeah!
I also should be getting my order from Connecting Threads - I ordered some of their batting to try and a whole lot of their solids they were clearing out for super cheap.
In theme with my new love of Anna Maria Horner, I also was able to locate some of her Innocent Crush from Sew Fresh Fabrics. Oh and wait till you see what else I got from this place!
Anyone else in love with Anna Maria Horner?
Cheers,
Carolyn

Just some fun English paper piecing pictures

Just playing with my camera in between basting these fun English paper pieces.

 Are you English paper piecing? What is your favorite shape to paper piece?
Cheers,
Carolyn