In celebration of Krista’s book coming out in a few days! I’d like to share this interview with you. First let me set it up…

I first heard Krista talk at a Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild meeting in 2011. She gave an impromptu chat about do’s and don’ts in swaps. It was pretty pertinent information at the time, since I had just signed up for my first online quilting bee. I quickly realized Krista really knew her stuff and that she’s one smart cookie! It doesn’t take long to figure that out from reading her blog “PoppyPrint” As it happens at that same meeting I had shown a drawing of my own stash at show and tell. Krista was very keen about the drawing. In the spring of 2012 I started my Drawing project with Berene Campbell’s stash, who happens to be one of Krista’s BFF’s. After I finished Berene’s drawings I remembered Krista’s enthusiasm and asked her next. After seeing Krista skip wildly to the front to collect her door prize I figured she’d probably say yes to my adventurous invite. Which she did!

Krista has just released a new book called “Make It, Take It: 16 Cute and Clever Project to Sew with Friends” (due out February 10 of 2015!). We’re all just thrilled for Krista and can’t wait to get our hands on it! However, luckily for me Krista took time out of her busy schedule to answer these questions while she was in the midst of editing her book this past summer. She’s pretty awesome that way. 

1. You moved your stash since I last drew it. Where is it now? Did you do anything different when you set it up this last time? My daughter and I switched rooms, so now she sleeps with the spiders in the basement and I get a lovely view of Vancouver to Metrotown while I sew. I completely culled all of my out-of-date, out-of-my-style fabric and chopped it up into 2 1/2″ squares with an Accuquilt Go cutter over the Christmas holidays last year. I’ve already made 2 “scrap vomit” quilts out of the squares and I think I could make 3 more! I rolled all my yardage onto acid-free boards and arranged my stash in colour order on shelves. Everything is so much easier to see, find and use now.

2. I noticed you’re a big fan of wrapping your stash around comic book boards. How and when did that come about? See above! I noticed several bloggers I read were doing this and having worked at an LQS, I already had an affinity for vertically-displayed fabric. Now, instead of looking at a disaster of crooked piles, I have a pretty display. My non-quilting friends routinely react in shock at the sheer magnitude of my stash. Result!

3.What are your top three go to online or brick and mortar stores to buy fabric from? Do you have a preference to online or in person shopping? And is there a reason behind your choice, for example I enjoy buying online but I still love and prefer to feel the fabric before I buy it. I freely admit to buying most of my yardage from U.S. online shops as the selection is always much better than what is available locally (plus, I am fairly in tune with upcoming lines and they are typically available sooner in the U.S.). I started doing this when our dollar was at par, however now that it has dropped again, my buying is much more selective and I’m trying to use what I’ve got first. I shop at Sew-Sisters, Mad About Patchwork (both Canadian Stores), Marmalade Fabric and Fabric.com. Locally, I look to Spool of Thread for modern prints and Kona solids.

4. Do you have a method to your madness, do you buy per project, when you find a good price or just when you see something you like? Price has a lot to do with it – I’m definitely a sale shopper. I am trying to avoid hype-buying (hello, Cotton & Steel?) because when I look at my stash I do see quite a bit of ‘trendy’ fabric that remains untouched. I have a large enough stash now that I don’t need to buy to fulfill most of the projects I have in mind.

5. If you were on a deserted Island and all your fabric was floating off into the water, what three pieces couldn’t you live without? Keeping in mind, these are shark infested waters and some of those pieces may have floated off into the distance. Is there a story to these three pieces or are they simply your favourites? I love my Liberty tana lawns and Echino linen blends the most. I’d fend off sharks for them, I swear.

…And speaking of December 1st, here is our,  last page of the Warp & Weft’s Calendar. You can download it HERE.  It feels bitter-sweet some how. A big, big thanks to Esmari for supplying me with such lovely goodies to draw all year long. As well for inviting me to join the Warp & Weft Sewing Society. I’ve loved every moment of it! Side note: Did you know Esmari is having a HUGE sale today? She is! And this is the last day, quick go have a look!

Let me start by saying, Happy Birthday Mom! Everyone sing it with me, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you,  Happy Birthday dear Lysa’s Mooooom, Happy Birthday to you! Today isn’t her birthday but it is her birthday month. My Mom is the hardest person in the world to buy gifts for.  This is the conversation we’ve been having since I was little:

“Mom, what do you want for your <insert occasion>?”

“Hmmm, I don’t know. Oh you know me, anything is fine.”

That’s all of not helpful. Like not even a hint or a crumb. This year she changed it up a bit and was a little more cryptic, I sent her a text, it went like this:

“Hey you (see I’m getting more direct now, Ha! Lovingly direct however <3) What do you want for your Birthday?”

Her reply,  “Hey you! (appropriate directness, I thought) I don’t know same as last year only a differert type.” Ended with two emoji hearts and a blushing smiley face.

Problem is I can’t remember what I got her last year. What do I do with that?

I do toy with just getting her things I like. And I LOVE these folding rulers. Well, I love rulers (and measuring tapes) in general but a folding one, c’mon! A Merchant and Mills folding ruler. You know I’m a sucker for that kind of stuff. And now you can have a picture of one too by downloading it here.

I wanted to send out a big thank you as well to Esmari for displaying my calendars in her booth at the Creativ Festival this past weekend. It’s always a treat to show your work. I do believe my work enjoys sitting in my closet but still it was a real treat for them to leave the house, travel and go to a show in the big city of Toronto. Even better, some of them are getting settled in their new homes. I have Cathy from Steam Trunk Craft Works to thank for transporting them.

Happy November! And if you see my Mom tell her I said Happy Birthday!

A years worth of work. All stacked up. I played with the stack as I tried to let it soak in. I feel pretty proud of it. It started out as an idea, then a phone call to Esmari, owner of Warp & Weft Exquisite Textiles. A package arrived with loads of goodies, fabric, pins, sewing accessories… January 1st was the first calendar drawing, next came February… you get the picture. They’ve been free to download each month this year. Did you collect them all? I was quite tickled when I found out people actually had. Well, I guess we still have 2 months left to go don’t we.

Recently I finished up my November and December calendars (you get a sneak peek today!). It was important to get them done now since they were put on a skid and shipped to Toronto the Tuesday after Thanksgiving (graciously by Cathy of Steam Trunk Craft Works). Toronto? Yup, Toronto!

The original drawings have been converted into 2015 calendars. They are going to be on display and for sale at Esmari’s Warp & Weft’s booth at Creativ Festival! Drawn with coloured pencils, these wood canvases measure 11 by 14 inches and are 2 inches deep. The paper calendars are held on by magnets. The whole calendar is hung by a ribbon. You’ll also notice there are only 11 calendars here. The calendar that was done for October is already in Toronto. It was sent out last month for the Wildwood Challenge.

There was a time when I had a hard time letting go of my work. I’m glad to say I’m quite fine with doing it now.

I often compare selling work as giving away kittens. You want them to go to a good home, a home where they will be appreciated and loved.

A friend of mine noted that she always has calendar’s she can write on. I thought about this. I realized I have two kinds of calendars in my home. One contains all my appointments, family stuff etc. I keep this one out of the way, where it’s not in plain view. Quite frankly this calendar has a tendency to stress me out. It’s close enough that I can quickly write down information in a rush, especially if I’m on the phone. My other calendar I keep in plain site, it’s the one I love to look at!

I glance at it through-out the day, every time it makes me smile on the inside (awww, sappy, I know!) I love lifting my head and looking at it when I’m working in the kitchen. Like I said sometimes it’s just a glance, but it’s pretty, it isn’t crammed with do this, do that. It’s peaceful and it feels like *sigh*, there is enough time, everything and anything is possible. And I hope one feels the same way about these calendars too.

In my humble opinion, September is the month that gets a raw deal in most calendars. I know this because I’ve always skipped ahead in calendars to check out September’s picture. Why would I do that? It’s my birthday month. You do it for your birthday month too, don’t you?!  September always gets the busy looking trees, with all the changing colours of the season. Yes, the changing leaves are pretty but I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’s predictable (wink, wink, see what I did there, limb, ha!), which is why I chose one of my favourite designers (Melody Miller) for this month’s calendar (and really haven’t we all been ga-ga over the much anticipated Cotton + Steel collection!). I pre-ordered mine through Warp & Weft and bought some down in Oregon, at Modern Domestic, when I was there this summer.

Feel free to download this non-leafy September Calendar here.

…and yes, as I stood back and looked at my finished calendar, I realized it is a little Cowboys and Indians… but at least they’re not autumn leaves!

It’s August 1st, which means it’s Warp & Weft Calendar Day!

I made this downloadable calendar especially for you!

Let me start by stating, “I love TRIANGLES!” It’s this month’s theme for the calendar and in real life! Our guild is bringing in Barb Mortell (back by popular demand) to do a couple of workshops with us.

What are the workshops about?

Funny you should ask.

Triangles!

Last week I mentioned, I took a Deynse Schmidt workshop in Portland two years ago. In the workshop we de-constructed triangles.  I never did make the blocks into a quilt. I’m glad I waited though. Now I have a plan that I’m really excited about and I can’t wait to play with it in Barb’s workshops.

Our guild also has our Warp & Weft’s Challenge due this month. I snuck some of the fabric in this month’s calendar. Shh, don’t tell anyone, wink wink!

Oh and P.S., did you know Warp & Weft now has an $8 (within Canada) flat shipping fee! And it’s FREE if you spend over $100! How’s that for snazzy? I must add, Esmari sends the prettiest packages too! She’s the best!

This has been an amazing four days! I’m happily overwhelmed by the response I’ve gotten this week! It went well beyond my expectations. So thank you, thank you everyone for taking the time to visit my blog, it makes my heart swell!… And speaking of hearts! Here is today’s giveaway!

A 10″x 10″ drawing of Cynthia Frenette’s fabric from her Spoonflower collection. She now designs for Robert Kaufman! Yup, I can proudly say I knew her when. It seems appropriate to end today with this drawing, since this whole giveaway thing was to celebrate my newly designed site that Cynthia and her husband Norm (Green Couch Designs) did for me. I’m also including a calendar with the drawing. You can decide if you want to keep the drawing as is, or use it as a calendar (I use magnets to hold up the calendar pages). The other option is to use it as a bulletin board. Your choice!

Okay on to the nitty gritty! Same rules as yesterday but a new question to answer. Scratch that, sentence to finish.

1) Please finish this sentence, ” I heart…”  Maybe you Heart NY, like on the T-shirts or perhaps you heart Alberta Beef, like the bumper stickers. Really there is no wrong answer. For example, I heart YOU! Aw…but I really do! I’m so glad you popped by and we got a chance to chat.

2) Now remember you can have more than one chance to win! In your comment just let me know how you follow me. Are you subscribed to my site, or do you follow me on Bloglovin?  Perhaps you’ve liked my Facebook page, or I know you from Instagram, or  Twitter, or Flickr or maybe Pinterest? A few people have told me they follow on Feedly, which I had never heard of but still counts! Any or all will work! You’ll be entered for each way you follow. How’s that for snazzy! Oh and, international entries are totally welcome!

3) Check back tomorrow, Saturday July 12th! The winner of each day (you can only win once) will be announced.  The prizes will be mailed out the following Monday July 14th.

Good luck, I hope you win!

Here is my June calendar drawing… just click here.

Last weekend I went to visit my friend Cori in Vancouver. She lives in Coal Harbour and it’s beautiful. Everyone was outside enjoying the parks which made me think of this Warp & Weft bundle of fabric Esmari sent me called  Bluebird Park by Kate and Birdie for Moda.  Just like the fabric, we saw…

Bicycles

Birds

Hedgehogs (okay you got me there, we didn’t see any hedgehogs but I have seen one in real life and I almost held it. Almost.)

Fountain Magnolias

Peach Magnolias

Rabbits

Stones (a really great low volume fabric by the way!) 

…at the City Park that evening.

Yup, the fabric pretty much summed up everything we saw at the park that day… well, except for the giant public art sculpture that we thought possibly could be Godzilla poo. You gotta think it would be substantial. Funny I never thought to take a picture of it… and I don’t think we’ll see in in any park themed fabric any time soon. I’m just say’n.

Thanks for popping by! (whoops I almost wrote pooping! I know potty humour, the best!)

April showers brings… for this month of May (here’s the link for you to download-just click here) I drew these Warp & Weft beautiful Sajou Linen Thread Star cards. I thought they looked like flowers and followed up last month’s calendar nicely. 

What do you have planned on your calendar this month? May is a pretty big deal of a month for us. It was a pretty life altering month 14 years ago when our oldest son was born. 14? 14! As you can tell I’m  having a hard time digesting it. I keep thinking if I repeat it enough times it will feel more… un-weird. How can time fly like that? It seems like only yesterday I was 14!

Oh wait, I forgot to tell you what happened last month! Esmari from Warp & Weft came to Vancouver for a visit and we were able to meet up at the Londale Quay. As you can tell Esmari has a wicked sense of humour and before these ladies crashed our party we had a chance to chat about pretty mail, our mad computer skills and the lovely and exciting Warp & Weft Sewing Society!