Trick Or Treat!

Cheryl and I were out today having some Hallowe'en fun! I got myself all dressed up as a Queen Batting - complete with crown, cape and of course by batting box!

Here is the "Royal Arrival" at Cador Textiles. Cador is a family-run business in the heart of little Portugal. They are Canadian distributors of Debbie Mumm, Princess Mirah, SSI, Art Gallery Quilts and more.

Here I am with Ricardo, the son and right hand man of Tony Rodriguez the owner of Cador - unfortunately Tony was out for the morning and missed our little visit! Cheryl and I got busy and chose the fabric for next year's Buck A Block program! I am very excited about the two colorways we will have to offer you next year one is a stunning array of batiks that we are calling "Carribbean Sunset" and the second program will be a Christmas Block of the Month!

After our trip to Cador we headed up to visit our good friends at Northcott Silk. Canadian quilters all have reason to be proud of Northcott -- a homegrown Canadian company that is considered one of the premier quilt fabric manufacturers in the world! This is Jack, Bill and I in the vast warehouse!

Finally this is my good buddy Sam who never fails to crack me up whenever I vist Northcott. I didn't leave there empty-handed either I came away with a whole stack of sumptuous flannels that I will have up for you by the end of the weekend!

It was a tremendous day!

O'Cool

In November there is a new magazine being launched called Irish Quilting ... if the cover is any indication than it is sure to be an interesting read. WE don't know the cover price yet but if you would like reserve a copy just let us know!

Christmas Contest!

Christmas Contest

Sew-Sisters are hosting a special contest to help you get ready for the holiday season!
Year after year one of our best selling fabrics are the terrific British made 3" squares.
People use them to make coasters, ornaments, as the center of quilt blocks, in scrapbooking and in cards....amongst other things. Now it's your turn to use your imagination and skills to make something special!

Here's how the contest works...

1. Drop by the store and for a cost of $0.50 we will give you 2 3" Christmas panels. If you would like the panels mailed to you the cost is $1.50.



2. You make up something using one or both of your squares and deliver it to the store with your name, address and phone number attached to it.



3. We will award prizes in the following categories:
   Most original idea
   Viewer's Choice
   Judy's Choice
   Freddy's Choice
   


4. Submissions are due by November 29th.



5. Prizes will be awarded December 6th.

Have fun ladies and gents! If you have any questions just leave a comment on this blog and I will answer them!

Is it Really Snowing?

Well, I can't believe my eyes but it is snowing here in Toronto! I can't imagine a greater harbinger of winter and the long, cozy months of quilting and knitting ahead of us!

Things are in a mild state of disarray as we clean up from the Creativ Festival and prepare for our next show but we have lots of goodies coming in including a whole batch of Hoffman batiks that we have unpacked and loaded up on the shelves...they are absolutely exquisite and there are 50 new ones to choose from.

This weekend the Rouge Valley Quilter's Guild is hosting its Show and Sale at the Pickering Village United Church at 300 Church Street North in Ajax. The show runs on Friday October 24, from 10 am - 8 pm and on Saturday October 25 from 10 am to 5 pm .

There will be:

• Door prizes
• Viewers’ choice
• Raffle of members’ quilt
• Miniature quilt silent auction
• Guild members’ shop
• Vendors’ marketplace (don't forget to visit us!)
• Tea room

Hope to see you in the shop...or at the show!

Landscape Workshop

A few weeks ago we were fortunate enough to have Gordana Brelih teach a landscape quilt workshop at the store. It was a wonderful exploration into the world of "art quilting" and the results were tremendous! Here are a few pictures!

Cheryl, Gordana and Erica

I'm sure the magpie won't be happy about this picture but that wistful gaze is so characteristic of her that I find the picture very endearing! Gordana looks Mah-vellous!

Often times people are intimidated by art quilting and non-traditional techniques ... here are some of the students' landscapes ...I'm sure you will agree that they are all lovely. Even if art quilting isn't something you intend to persue I recommend a one day workshop just to explore your own creativity! These landscapes were all completed during class ... Enjoy!

Susan Branch Fabric and Getting Ready for the Creativ Festival

We have a lovely new grouping from Susan Branch in the store. It is called Tea Party and features small scale, whimsical designs that blend in well with 1930s groupings!

Tea Party - Fat Quarter Bundle

We are keeping busy getting ready for the Creativ Festival ... we have expanded the size of our booth to serve you better this year. The Festival is coming up next Friday, Saturday and Sunday and we do have tickets in the store!


We have 1000s ... that's right 1000s of fat quarters ready for the booth. Batiks, Orientals, Novelties and lots of blenders will all be priced at 4/$10.00! Our sale bins will be overflowing with treasures for $1.50/fat quarter. We have lots of bundles too!


We will also have tonnes of new books for your to choose from and they are all priced at US dollar price (or less)! With the Canadian dollar falling we don't know how long we will be able to keep the books at par so it might be a good time to pick up any titles you were considering!

We will have 100s of bolts of fabric for sale by the yard with prices as low as $4.99/metre. Once again we have brought in a huge grouping of batiks for the show and they will be 9.99 per yard once again.

This is the first time we will be offering yarn and knitting supplies at the booth ... we will have lots of value priced goodies for you to look at!

Hope to see you this week ... if you can't make it to the show please dop by the shop to see all that is new!

Meanwhile I'm back to folding fat quarters!

Winter Grouping and Buried in Batiks!

Today we received another order... this time 143 bolts of fabric ... including 75 new batiks. I'm working as fast as I can to get them online.

Here are two new groupings to look at...there are also new blenders and batiks up on the site!

There is an adorable winter line called Polar Opposites…lots of cute animal prints as well as must-have sky and snow landscape prints!

In case you aren’t ready to let go of summer…check out the Day at the Beach line!

New Books...New Fabric

We have added some new goodies to the store and website again today...here are a sampling!

Now in stock are the much anticipated (at least by me) Family Tree panels. They are well priced at only $8.99 per panel and would make a great family keepsake. My nine year old son and I are already working on one together!

Also this beautiful Oriental print came in that would be wonderful for a One Block Wonder!

Another couple of great new book titles: Not Your Grandmother's Log Cabin and Foolproof Machine Quilting .




The last item for today is Zakka Sewing ... a book that is right up my alley! In Japanese, Zakka means household goods. Referring specifically to hand-sewn items for Domestic use-tableware, kitchenware, Containers of various kinds, even simple clothing. This book contains many patterns from the simple to the simply beautiful to tempt you!