• Nearing the Finish

    First off, thank you for all the kind comments and notes on the passing of my grandfather.

    I’ve been trying to power through some projects both as a distraction and to clear things out of my workspace, and my quilt is nearly done. I just finished attaching the binding (some areas had to be re-done, and I screwed up the corners pretty royally the first time) so now I just need to sew down the binding to the back.

    nearly there...

    The binding fabric is a remnant piece that I got at the Textile museum sale, and I think it goes quite nicely with the muted tones of the other fabrics. I’ve made a LOT of mistakes with this project and sticklers for quilting perfection would be horrified! But I really loved the process, and I’m totally fine with a quilt full of learning experiences as long as I can put it on my bed!

    That said, I would like to make my next one better! What are your favourite quilting resources? Books, blogs, websites, inspiring quilts, anything really. I don’t have a sewing machine so I’m doing everything by hand. I’d love to check out some examples of great work!

  • Season

    Yaya (paternal grandfather)

    african violet

    grey

    My grandfather passed away last week in hospital at the age of 90, surrounded by family. It’s been a tough time but we all know that now he’s no longer in pain. He lived a good, long life, worked hard to provide a good life for his family here in Canada, and was able to see adorable great-grandchildren. I didn’t speak the same language as him, but we understood each other anyway. He was an awesome cook.

    I’ll miss him.

  • fabric hunting

    Every May the Textile Museum holds its “More Than Just a Yardage Sale”, which is like a giant rummage sale, with all the goods having been donated to the museum throughout the year. There’s tons of fabric, yarn, craft stuff, patterns, and household textiles, and it’s super fun! I was there on Friday morning when they opened – there was a line the length of a municipal parking lot waiting to get into the tents when I got there. It’s free to check out, so there are lots of people. It gets crowded in there but I managed to pick up a healthy amount of stuff that I’m really excited about. I didn’t really even go into the yarn tent at all!

    about 30m of fabric!

    The big pile – I added up all the yardage, and I got nearly 30 metres!

    wools

    Wools – I didn’t realize at the time but the thick fabric on the bottom left is actually a bundle of about five 1m cuts. The others are 2-3m continuous yardage.

    wool, chambray, jersey, wool blend

    Clockwise from top left – red wool, chambray, jersey, and something that feels like maybe a wool/rayon blend. There’s 3m so I’m thinking maybe a nice skirt or two for the fall.

    quilting cottons

    From the quilting section of the sale. I might use the yellow or the green for the binding on my current quilt.

    tapestry wool

    Lastly a few boxes of tapestry wool – I think it would be perfect for edging and/or embroidering on wool fabric for a blanket!

    If you don’t get along so well with crowds or having to elbow your way in to see things, I’d suggest going in the afternoon – the first shoppers are done and there’s a bit of breathing room. The truck just keeps unloading stuff throughout the day and on Saturday, so it’s not like you can really miss out on anything! I’m very inspired for my summer sewing this year.