Oh and another thing I really like is Pinterest. It's a virtual pin board.
Say you are wandering around the web and you see a cool picture of a quilt you like or a book you would like to read or a place you would like to visit or recipe you want to try. Before you would bookmark each site and then forget about it. Now you can 'pin' a picture to your pin board as a visual bookmark to the original site. Your friends (even me) can follow what you are pinning so your inspirations are shared and vice versa.
Right now you need an invite to join the site but if you want one just email me and I will send you one.
Have fun!

I'm still here. Until I get something up check out this YouTube video from Heirloom Creations. I really love Wonder Clips and the video will show you why. wonder clips

Go to the library

Reading books is fun and educational. This month you can have the added bonus of seeing my quilt and those of others hanging in the White Rock Library, 15342 Buena Vista White Rock. It's part of the Outside The Box fiber arts festival. http://www.outsidetheboxwhiterock.com/
Check it out!

Wow!

So I have a new toy for my Bernina and I must say it works like a charm. It's a Stitch in the Ditch sole plate for the walking foot.
I was working on a top secret project this afternoon and my part was to stitch in the ditch before it goes to Ariadne for free motion. It was pedal to the metal and usually that spells a mess but not this time. The stitch was in the ditch every time. Yeah for things like this.

Finished!

You know when you want to make a quilt but other quilts keep getting made before the one you really want to do? The Rose of Sharon quilt was that quilt to me.

Last summer I spotted an advertisement tucked in the back of a quilting magazine for a beautiful Rose of Sharon quilt. I really liked the quilt so I ripped out the page from the magazine and hung it up.


Then much to my delight OESD produced a set of applique embroidery designs which I promptly downloaded. The design set is great but the one thing it didn't include was the pattern to make the quilt!?? So I went poking around the internets until I found Sharon Pederson's website. Sharon had started a Rose of Sharon block challenge in support of Alzheimer's research and had written a book with the winning blocks and quilt patterns. Of course I had to have the book. Trouble was the book wasn't released for a couple of months. So I start to wait. 


In the mean time I'm quilting away as I usually do. I ran out of my trusty mega roll of Aurifil thread. This is a thread emergency. Aurifil is great piecing thread. It isn't linty and never breaks. Trouble is it's hard to find locally. Carola's Quilt Shop has it but that's up in Gibson's two and a half hours drive away.  I give them a call and in less then 24 hours a box of thread was on my door step thanks to the mailman. Crisis averted. 

Anyhow on the Aurifil website I spy a thread set for the Rose of Sharon quilt. I put it on the top of the  buy it for myself Christmas list. (Brian's great but he doesn't get how thread can be thrilling.) Just before Christmas the mailman delivered the box of thread from Carola's. They are really beautiful threads. Brilliant red, orange, blue and green colours.


Off I went to the LQS with my box of threads to pick out fabrics. My buddy Donna works at the shop and she liked my fabric choices so that was good enough for me.

I thought and worked on this quilt for the better part of a year. Even though there were lots of things to help me make the quilt the putting together of it was thought of and put together by me. I used the sashing method in Reversible Quilts by Sharon Pederson, battilizer by Hoopsisters made everything easier, the thread box set choose the fabric for me and the embroidery designs did the appliquéing for me.


I'm really happy with how it turned out.


Now what do I do next....

Thread is the new fabric

So the Sewing and Craft Show had been and gone. What did I learn by attending? I think it was that Thread is the new fabric. I saw lots of fabric, even brought some home with me but nothing excited me more then the thread. I brought home a Wonderfil box of assorted threads that was exactly in my palette. Thanks to Maureen and her keen shopping eye for spotting it. I put the threads into use and made a little bag with the threads sewn outside to show them off. No hiding in seams for these beauties.

Here's my thread drawer with my Wonderfil pack and some Superior thread of the month. (thread by mail- best idea ever)

A little shot of Superior thread

Here's the bag

Sewing Show

Very happy to be attending the Sewing and Crafts show in the morning. It's not a once a year thing for me maybe a once every 5 years thing. So tomorrow is it. I'm always in need of thread so hopefully I will report back on my findings on the weekend.