Comment-er, number 16! Carole “Marie” Wylie!!!!! Yay congratulations! I will be sending it out your way today!
Thank you everyone for your lovely, touching comments. You made me *blush*. I was so glad to have shared this whole magazine experience with you!
I got a call late Saturday night.
In a covert voice I heard, “Hey! It’s me Carol (Browne), I’m at Chapters downtown. They have two copies of Love Patchwork & Quilting. They have issue 17 but it’s covered in a plastic bag. So I’m not sure if this is the one you’re in? Do you want me to pick up a copy for you?”
I’ve been waiting… I check last week but no copies were in… I was worried I’d miss it. 17, it’s the issue I’m in. I can feel the excitement flood me… Somehow, since I’m on my cel phone, I’ve managed to press my face so I’ve hit some numbers making the buttons beep. Then somehow I inadvertently hit the mute button at the same time. Carol can’t hear me. All I can hear is Carol saying, “Hello? Hello? What is going on?” She giggles and I hear her say, “Hello?” one more time as I try to figure out how to un-mute my phone. Quickly I abort the call, I hang up and try to call Carol back.
“Hello?” Carol giggles “What happened?”
I now have the task of explaining my whole excitement face to phone, button mute thing.
Yeah, I’d like to be all nonchalant… Sigh, yup, no biggie, I’m just in a magazine (like it’s an everyday occurrence) but clearly, that’s not me! Carol graciously picked up the magazine for me then posted about her buddy (that’s me) who was in a UK magazine (Love Patchwork & Quilting) on Facebook. Loads of lovely comments and likes came in. My husband shared Carol’s post on his feed, again lovely comments and likes.
Since, we were in Vancouver yesterday for the Chinese New Year’s parade we thought (okay I insisted) we stop at the Chapters on Granville and Broadway, to see if they have any more copies. They DID!
We picked up two copies. The one from Carol, I’ve decided I’d give to my Mom. Another copy I’d thought would be fun to giveaway on my blog! And one I’d keep. So here I am with it in my hand, unopened. You think I’d want to tear into. That’s how I assumed I’d feel. For some reason, I feel reluctant to open it. I’m not sure why? I am slightly nervous about seeing myself and my work… My son even brought it to me this morning as I was making lunches and said “Here’s you magazine!” I said, thanks, can you put it over there so we don’t get anything on it.
This is my year of living fearlessly, right? Okay, it’s you and me together, here I go…
I’m looking at it. It’s so beautiful. Is that why I’m so weirded out? I mean I’ve always dreamed of being in a magazine but this surpassed my wishlist! Big breath… savouring.
The plastic is off.
Ooo, the Sew your own sewing set book and diamond paper pieces, very cute. I should learn to English paper piece with this kit! … Putting aside.
Looking at the front cover. God it’s so pretty! … Ooh, spool bunting (hello Darlene Barns!)
Opening.
Three pages in… feeling shaky…
BAM! My face! Ack! giggle!
WHAT! Get out I’m under the same section LOVELIFE, that Lisa Congdon is in! Get OUT! I love her! … Oh man I gotta check out Mabel & Bird and Peony & Thistle… oh look at the cute little crabs, I want one….
OMG, I’m sitting beside Lee Heinrich patterns from Freshly Pieced!
Ooo, Skinny La Minx? What’s that? (just googled it! It’s awesome!)
Okay, the coast is clear, I can check out the rest of the magazine now. Flip, flip, flip…
Wow, thanks so much for sharing this BIG moment with me. A big thanks to Florence from Flossie Teacakes for the blog post that lead to all of this. And of course BIG, BIG thanks to Love Patchwork & Quilting for this opportunity!
I wish I could give EVERYONE a copy. Sadly I only have one to give and the only way to decide who gets it is by a random draw. Which will require you to leave a comment. I know it seems like a trick doesn’t it? Sorry about that, it’s the only way I know how to contact you and to get your address to send it to you. No big burning question to answer, but that is fun… hmm, how about this, I love middle names, I’m always so curious about people’s middle names. Feel free to leave a comment saying what your middle name is… or if it’s horrendous and that’s a comment deal breaker, feel free to just say hi and maybe where you’re from. How’s that? Thanks so much for popping by!
P.S. And as an added bonus I sold two packs of cards from my Etsy shop! (Note to self, relist) How nice is that? Lisa Congdon is right “Today is going to be awesome!”
One of the best perks to co-founding the FVMQG was meeting, or I should getting to know Vera. I met first met Vera at a Bernina club we both attended back in 2008. We did two years together. Whoops!I just made it sound like prison! I didn’t mean to do that, it was actually really fun! Vera was one of our first FVMQG members. It wasn’t until we had a few meetings (back in 2010) under our belt, that we started to get to know each other. At Bernina club she sat wayyyy down on the other end, so we never got to chat much. Vera, often volunteered for FVMQG shows at the same time I did (we both liked doing set up!). It was during one of those instances (May 2013) that I first learned that Vera’s husband was very ill with Parkinson’s. He passed away later that September.
Back in 2010 Vera saw my show of dresses. She very sweetly said she wanted to buy one but couldn’t decide on which one. We chatted about having her her fabric stash drawn instead but it didn’t seem quite right either. After Vera’s husband passed away, she asked me draw her wedding dress. I was more than honoured. Vera assembled everything she wanted for the drawing: her ring case, a bible like the one she carried, their favourite (unofficial) wedding photo that hung in their home, shoes similar to the ones she wore (Vera just had a big clear out and had gotten rid of her original shoes, darn it!), a chair from their home, her veil and of course her dress.
Vera gave me a studio photo of her as a bride to reference the dress. It was beautiful, however it wasn’t the first time I had seen the dress. Shortly after Vera’s husband passed away, I saw a snapshot on Facebook that Vera’s niece had posted of their wedding. The photo was of Vera and her husband leaving the church. Instantly I was in love with the length of dress. It was beautiful, smart, understated and so very Vera.
When the drawing was complete we met up and checked out frames together. Vera loves frames and even though she looked at the selection in the store, she had brought a frame from home that was perfect! She picked out a lovely silk pale teal mat. It was stunning and brought the drawing and the frame together just beautifully!
Vera and George were married in Agassiz at their Catholic Church, September 17, 1960… or as Vera likes to say, “a long time ago.”
Happy Valentine’s Day!
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.
When I sit down with a stash to draw, I aim to do four drawings. With Krista’s stash, I did four drawings but they ended up being two diptychs. “Up, Up … And Away”, which I posted about last week, was drawn in July of 2012. This drawing… “Over Under … And Through” was drawn shortly before.
And I have to admit, every time I say “Over, Under … And Through” I hear Grover’s voice from Sesame Street in my head. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t see it as bad thing. I LOVE Grover! Although after watching that link maybe I needed to a third diptych called “Around, Near… and Far”?!
Again, these drawings were done on 2″ deep wood canvases and drawn with Prismacolor coloured pencils. “Over, Under” is 14″ high and 18″ wide. “… And Through” is 14″ high and 11″ wide.
Hmmm, you’re never going to read or say the title “Over, Under … And Through” without hearing Grover’s voice now either are you? Well, you can’t UN-know it now! In the meantime stay being “Super” like Grover!
Oh and P.S. due to requests, I’ve posted two packs of cards in my ETSY shop. (Although most people I know don’t use the cards as greeting cards, they frame and hang them).
AND
I’ve opened a Society 6 shop, which does have art prints!
Yay!