Good-bye Kathreen

17 May 2013 | Other RSS posts by

Sad news in the crafting world today. Author, designer, quilter, blogger and force for all, Kathreen Ricketson died tragically. The woman behind Whip Up and author of some pretty cool books was on a year long adventure with her family, backpacking around Australia.

I had the pleasure of working with Kathreen on occasion. I greatly admired her career trajectory and found inspiration in her quilting and writing. She will be missed by many.

Please take a moment to learn



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Category: Uncategorized

Circles Inside a Pieced Background

15 May 2013 | Other RSS posts by

More circles going on here. Shocker!

Someone in my Craftsy class asked about doing inset circles inside pieced backgrounds. I promised to try and let them know how it worked. What a fun experiment! I took leftover blocks from the Denyse Schmidt class at QuiltCon. No one claimed these early improv efforts and I couldn't let them go to



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Category: Craftsy, quiltcon, quilts, teaching

Graphic Circle Pillow – Or How I’m Using my Craftsy Step-outs

13 May 2013 | Other RSS posts by

A simple pillow with great impact. Fun for my living room and I used up blocks, unfinished blocks, laying around the sewing room. Win-win!

I had these blocks from filming my Craftsy class. They were the step-outs from the Reverse Circles lesson. So I took a few minutes to finish all the blocks and turned them into this pillow. I can't lie, I chose the fabrics for the filming so that I could do this afterwards. These fabrics are a



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Category: circles, Craftsy, fabric, home

Friday Favourite – Great British Sewing Bee

10 May 2013 | Other RSS posts by

When you've got three kids you are very good at multitasking. You are also very good of milking every single second of any free time you've got. So when I was blessed with a unexpected afternoon off (school, playdate, long nap) I decided to sew and watch The Great British Sewing Bee. And it was awesome, all of it.

I worked



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Category: friday favourites, not quilting

Workshop in Progress – Inspired by a Little Boy Painting

08 May 2013 | Other RSS posts by

Sometimes inspiration hits and you just have to run with it. Regardless of what the to-do list looks like. The moment I saw this photo I knew I would translate it into fabric. There was just something about the energy of his painting, the colours, the shape... It all combined into a flood of Must Make That Into a Quilt Now!

My friend here



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Category: Inspiration, quilts, workshop in progress

Teaching at The Workroom

06 May 2013 | Other RSS posts by

It's been a week since I was in this lovely space known as The Workroom. What a delightfully different  quilt store! For one, it is not located in a strip mall or out in the boonies. No, it is on an urban street filled with hipsters and streetcars and bums and roti and taco shops. And it is filled with light. Oh, the light! I imagine those same windows make it stifling in the Toronto summers, but right now it was



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Category: Creativity, Sunday Morning Quilts, teaching

Friday Favourite – Granite Balloon Animals from Paul Slipper and Nadine Stefan

03 May 2013 | Other RSS posts by

Balloon Animals made of granite. I almost feel like I don't need to say anything else.

A series of animals all made to look like classic balloon animals - dogs, swans, horses and the like - are part of a public art installation on the Thunder Bay Waterfront. And how cool is it that kids were part of the decision making process on



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Category: art, friday favourites

Superior Quilt Show

02 May 2013 | Other RSS posts by


I'm not sure how many people go to Thunder Bay and say they had an awesome time (unless you are from a town in Northern Ontario and Thunder Bay counts as the big city) but I am officially one of them.

Last weekend I spent three days in Thunder Bay. Three very intense and fun days.



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Category: quilts, Sunday Morning Quilts, teaching

Gum on Concrete

30 Apr 2013 | Other RSS posts by

Gum on Concrete
52'' by 68''

Another quilt from Sunday Morning Quilts, done with my scraps in a totally new colourway. This quilt, quite honestly, reflects the journey I've taken since the book came out a year ago.

... It is me, sewing up a pattern Amanda Jean created. I feel a bit of her, her friendship and enthusiasm, in each stitch.
... It is my never ending obsession with grey. And yes, I only



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Category: quilts, scraps, Sunday Morning Quilts

Friday Favourite – Blueberry Park Wash Bag

26 Apr 2013 | Other RSS posts by


Sitting in a hotel room this morning. I've worked out already, done a bit a work, and am packing up for two full days of teaching at the Superior Quilt Show. Needless to say, I am feeling quite productive! It's amazing how that is when there are no diapers to change, lunches to pack, or walks to school. But then there are no morning reading sessions, nekkid butts to pinch, and walks to school.

Small consolation on this trip



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Category: friday favourites, me
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