I have to admit, I’m speechless. Still. It’s been so long in the making and here it was, finally hanging a show of my fabric stash drawings in the perfect spot, Drygoods Design.

We packed everything up, headed out on the road and within four hours we were hanging the show.

I was so grateful for Keli, Drygoods owner and my husband for all their help hanging the show.

I brought some pencils as “business cards” to give away at the show. And yes, I hand pressed each letter to spell LYSA FLOWER into each pencil. Is that crazy?

I like to think it’s HARDCORE!

After a few little adjustments, adding the write ups about Berene Campbell’s, Lesley Stenning’s, Krista Hennebury’s,  Cheryl Arkison’s and Cathy MacKay’s stash, just like that…

it was hung! And it will be up until the end of September.

“So what do you guys want to do this summer? Where do you want to go?” Asks the mom that doesn’t have much planned, other than a UBC science camp.
“I want to go up North. Or to Alberta!” Says the child who wants to search for fossils.
“I want to go where there’s snow!” Says the child with allergies.
My husband and I look at each other. “Well, it’s going to be hard to go somewhere that has snow in summer. As for Alberta, we are going there in September for a wedding.”
“How about Oregon?” Says the husband who doesn’t want going up North as our only option.
“Can we go to the beach again?” Asks the excited kids!

“I want to spend some time in Portland then.” Says the mom who wants to stop at Modern Domestic, Collage and Powell’s Books again.

Everybody is happy!

It’s been two years since I set foot in Modern Domestic. It’s been far, far too long! When I was there, I ran into Meredith (she works there). We met attending a Denyse Schmidt workshop last time I was in town. It was great catching up… she just got married! As for our blocks we made at the workshop, neither of them are quilts. Yet! Soon though, I’ve got something percolating and it sounds like so does Meredith.

At Modern Domestic I stood in front of the entire, yes! entire!  (minus one bolt that’s already sold out) Cotton and Steel collection! Meredith was saying they bought the whole collection site unseen! And it’s pretty brilliant!

Yup, everybody was happy, especially me with my little mini pencils (splurge), mini mason jars (splurge), book (splurge) and my fabric (splurge)!

I know, I thought I was a goner too! Last thing I remember is looking forward to summer then…POOF! Summer was over. Where did the time go? Now that school is back, oddly enough it seems like all we’ve been doing is… partying!

My Birthday was on the 6th and I had a wonderful day at the Little White House in Fort Langley, again. I know, I know I did that last year but in all fairness I almost forgot about doing anything for my birthday in the midst of the back to school hoopla, so I figured celebrating at the Little White House again would still be fun. And it was! I was joined my my good friends, Cynthia and Trudy…

And my good friend Hana!

They spoiled me rotten!

Vintage buttons, button fabric! Oh they know me so well!

Then of course, this was the present my husband gave to me! I know for a fact he snuck into Favourite Gifts and bought it! Made by The Loving Spoon.

The following week our guild had our third anniversary party! Third! It’s so hard to believe it’s been three years already! I did plan on taking some pictures but I was to busy partying! BUT Carol Browne, photographer, blogger and all around crafty type did! Phew, thank goodness! Although, you gotta keep your eye on her, you never know when she’s taking your picture!

And then! To top off the week it was my youngest son’s birthday. Why is he wearing a Jason mask you ask? He was born on the 13th and his birthday this year was on a Friday. He wasn’t born a Friday though, so we didn’t name him Jason.

Party on Garth!

It was day two of our New York adventure, again cold but there were places to see and places to go, so we couldn’t let freezing wind stop us! Purl Soho was one of those places.

Purl Soho has a great online store and their brick and mortar store was just as beautiful. When you walk in the first half of the store is all yarn. Now I’m not a knitter. I resist the urge just because I know I could easily get sucked into it. It would become a whole other can of worms and I already have a significant UFO pile to manage (Un-Finished Objects). However that didn’t stop me from appreciating the feel and the magnificent colours of  all that yarn.

Then of course at the back of the store, that’s where you find all the bolts of fabric…

… and the quilts…

… and the thread…

… and the kits. How cute are these!

Again, this is my disclaimer, I didn’t buy all this fabric at Purl Soho, but I did buy the last four plus the needles and the silk thread… plus one more treat, that I’m working on as a surprise!

I also bought this fabric! I was really thrilled to find it, I’ve only been searching three years for it! Well, not it specifically but we needed fabric for a curtain in our studio. We just couldn’t find the right fabric to match our colours. I’m proud to say I sewed it up as soon as we got home (one less UFO).

So if you ever find yourself in New York, pop by Purl Soho, it’s a must stop shop!

It was extremely cold in New York City that morning but I was sure it would be worth facing the freezing wind and the subway to make it over to Pins & Needles. When we arrived at the location, that the map had suggested, doubt settled in. We weren’t really sure if we were in the right spot or not. The directions didn’t lead to a store front! We looked around and discovered a small Pins & Needles sandwich sign, and realized we needed to buzz in and head up to the second floor. We didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into. We had walked all the way across town to get here, so we thought we might as well take the plunge as we walked up the stairs. Was this the right place? We didn’t know, it was warm inside and that was inviting enough. We slowly opened the door not sure if we needed to knock.

We were greeted at the door by the owner Rachel and her little dog Molly.

It was bright, warm and full of fabric! Sigh! Definitely worth facing the cold and the walk.

Every where you looked there was eye candy. Yup definitely worth facing the cold!

I tried to soak it all in, looking on every shelf…

Wonderful things were tucked everywhere…

Since our visit I’ve been checking out Rachel’s blog called Start Stitching  and one of my favouite things is her display board by her work table. The display’s are always, hmm, how do I describe them? I want to say yummy! Is that weird? You know what I mean, right? You should see what she has up now! You can tell she puts her heart and soul into her store.

As I was consumed with the store my husband was equally consumed with Molly. He fell in love with her. Unfortunately she was feeling a little under the weather and really didn’t feel like being a model that day. Fair enough.

You can see from the post card I brought back of Molly that she’s super cute.

Now this is my disclaimer; this is all the fabric I brought back from New York, not just from Pins & Needles. However the top four were my Pins & Needles purchases.

So if you ever find yourself in New York, Pins & Needles is a definite must stop shop. Even if it’s freezing cold outside!

Did you have a nice holiday weekend? We certainly did (I even got my garden planted!) We got back from San Francisco last Friday and were very happy to be home, especially with all the great weather and the blue skies we’ve been having! Weather like that always makes me feel extra motivated. There is something about a blue sky that clears away any bit of sluggishness.  I guess that’s why spring cleaning happens, well, in the spring!  Or it could be because the sunshine lets us see how dirty our windows have gotten. The dirt blocks those tiny rays of sunshine and we can’t have that!

Yes, we were in San Francisco last week and it too was wonderful. It’s an amazing city and not just because of the hills, trolleys and bridges. In fact I didn’t even ride a trolley this time. We didn’t even make it across any bridges but I did walk a few big hills.  Mostly I walked around and soaked up the scenery and people watched.  It was such a treat not having to rush anywhere or to have to be anywhere in particular but just be an observer. This I find very rejuvenating and very inspiring. Not to mention they have the best food of anywhere we’ve ever traveled to. Even their food courts have healthy food everywhere, you just can’t go wrong.

I did get a chance to visit Britex Fabric and once again I spent most of my time (and my money) on the third floor, the floor with all the trims and buttons. Mostly I bought trims that I know I can’t get anywhere else. I was especially intrigued with the feathered trims-oo-la-la!  I plan on making us all new Christmas stockings this year. Our old stockings I made back in the 90’s. It’s definitely time for something new and decadent, as Christmas always is.

I also got a chance to visit Anthropologie, one of my all-time favourite stores! I have a secret to tell you. It’s kind of silly but true and since we’ve been going steady for a while now I figure I can let you in on it. The first time I went into an Anthropologie I teared up. I know silly right. I was like Sally Field but instead of, “You like me, you really like me!” It was more like, “You got me, you really got me!” I’ve never been in a store that I have ever felt so at home with.  We have one in Vancouver but I never get to it, oddly it feels more far away than San Francisco’s. Although maybe that’s why it’s so special, I only get to it once a year.

I always walk through the store and walk by each display savouring it. There are certain areas I always know I’ll find something special. This was my little indulgence that I found in the stationary section.  Okay, that’s not true! It wasn’t the only indulgence but since I only get to Anthropologie once a year, how could I leave it there?! I knew I’d regret it if I did. This was one part of San Francisco I really wanted to take back home with me.

Luckily with the wonderful weather this weekend it made easing back into real life a lot smoother.  Also with it came extra motivation and a titch of spring cleaning! In that spirit, I’ve been meaning to post these pics for a while now. These are some Fab Bee Blocks from January, Bea’s month whose theme was stars.  Chris, my husband kept singing Deep in the heart of Texas  while we sewed together. You see Bea is from Texas (she’s recently moved away form there) but my husband, who always seems to surprise me, of course knew all the lyrics to the song. Once he’s got a hold of a song he can’t stop! Then of course it’s kind of contagious.

The stars at night are shining bright…  clap-clap-clap-clap!

And these are the Fab Bee blocks for Sherri, from back in February. Chris and I took a different approach with Sherri’s and Bea’s blocks. We decided since we were sewing at the same time anyways we’d design together as well, instead of working independent of each other like on previous blocks. It worked out nicely. Plus Sherri ended up with a pair of socks that way!

Talk to you soon! Happy Spring!

For the past five years in March my husband and I have gone to San Francisco and it’s that time of year again. We go to San Francisco to attend a work convention for my husband and I get to explore the city. Three years ago I discovered Britex Fabrics! Why did it take me so long to to find it? Well, we had to get all the real touristy stuff out of the way first, Alcatraz, Golden Gate Bridge, Castro street, ride the trolleys, check out Lombard street and one of my favourites, other than Britex, visit the fortune cookie shop in China town (where you can buy hot off the press fortune cookies that are made in a small back alley). Quick bit of trivia: fortune cookies were first made in California in the early 1900’s by the Japanese. They don’t have them in China at all!

I have to admit though, when I finally did come across Britex Fabrics (and it’s pretty close to Union Square where you catch the trolleys) I felt like I had stepped into a little piece of heaven! Actually four floors of heaven! The first floor is mostly fashion fabrics, from silks to wools. The Second floor is home decor. The third floor is my all time favourite – notions! The fourth floor is remnants.

Floor three has quilting cottons and notions, not just notions…

every kind of ribbon…

and every kind of trim you could even imagine!

Shelves and shelves! And just when you thought you’ve seen it all…

you’d find feathered trim!

And faux fir and more feathered trim!

Even though I’m not going to make Gone with the Wind drapes, I  still appreciated their selection.

Then the forth floor is where you find every remnant you could imagine. Although it is the neatest, most organized remnants section I have ever seen. Everything always neatly folded or rolled up.

Sigh! Yup a little piece of heaven. I can’t wait to go back, we head out tomorrow! So, if you ever find yourself visiting San Francisco, I definitely recommend that Britex Fabric is a must stop shop!