Karen Lewis Stash Additions and a Marvelous Sale!

I returned from Sewtopia to find a *Few* stash additions waiting at my door. As you do, you know...

This luscious Full Panel Club Bundle had arrived from Karen Lewis Textiles. I love how well they go with her pattern from Issue 16 of Quilt Now (available from Pink Castle Fabrics). I adore this mag!! Every single thing in it is first class.
These are her actual screen printed fabrics. What luscious colors!!! And I adore that she has made them herself, and sent them along. I really admire that artistic spirit. I don't think I'll achieve her brilliance, but Someday, I'd like to try my hand at screen printing, wouldn't you? In the meantime, you can join the fabric clubs for half or full panel bundles every two months, or sign up for a full year. If you sign up for January, you will be part of a fun project Karen has going on that includes these desperados!!!

Hee Hee!!! You better bet I already signed up!!!

And these fabulous bundles of Blueberry Park Joy (Bright and Neutral) happened to fall into my bag over at Sewtopia... Or that's the story I'm telling. Not the story where I spotted them across a crowded lobby and lunged like a rabid Vertblatten to reach them before anyone else saw them... And don't you tell that story, either!! 

Now all I have to add to my collection is the Cool Colorway, available through Suppose Fabric Shop. I cannot tell you how much I love this Mother Daughter fabric shop. I'll have a whole post about them, for you, later :) 

But what I REALLY wanted to tell you about is the Cyber Monday SALE that is going to happen over at Calico Cat Fabrics!!! Holy smokes does she have some lovely fabric!! Tanya and I have three coupons for you, so write them down! 

CYBER25 - $25 off of any purchase of $100 or more. (Christmas gifts, anyone??? That's 25% off!!)

CYBERFREE - Free domestic shipping on any order between $50 and $99.99. (See what she's done there?! Saved you a bundle on all of your smaller orders, ya?)

INTERNATIONAL10 - $10 off of shipping on any International order of $95 and Up. In my experience, that's almost half off of International shipping!!! Unless you can buy even more than I can, which I DARE you to try to do!! 

So what should you do??? Write these coupon codes down, and head on over to Calico Cat Fabrics, Now, to see what you just can't live without, and be ready to jump on that fabric bandwagon first thing Monday morning 11/30/15. Wooooooooo! 

We've finally had snow over here in Alaska. First real snow of the year and a hopeful start to a fabulous winter. At last!!! 

Wishing you and yours a Wonderful and Peaceful Thanksgiving!!!

XO!

Lori

Bears!!

This is a story that I've had to wait a whole year to tell. 
Because the telling of it makes my heart beat faster.
Makes my palms sweat.
Fills my soul with horror. 
I do not want you to live this story...

No sh*t, there I was. 
Walking along the dirt road just down from our warm, springtime home. Just the Dawg and I. A meandering walk to end a happy busy day. A walk to enjoy the freshness of the air and watch the stars begin to come out as the sun sets. A walk of silent joys. And then...
snap. 
Not a big SNAP, but a little wood twiggy snap, off to my left, slightly uphill from me. 
I turn to see what has made the twig snap, curious.
There, silhouetted against the evening sky, a perfect, huge, outline of a Brown bear's head. 
Dread.
The Head and shoulders begin to move swiftly and silently down the alder choked hill, toward me.
Disbelief.
I've never seen a live Grizzly bear out in the Wild before. I wished I wasn't seeing one now.
I knew I shouldn't run. I knew I couldn't stand. I knew there was Nothing between us but my son's raincoat I was wearing and a coupla branches. She was coming closer, fast. If I'd fainted, I'd have hit her in the nose with my head. 
So, I backed up.
Quickly.
Up the road in the direction I had come, she was keeping pace with me, her bulk appearing out of the alders, easily brushing through them, without a sound. 
Time and space slowed to bare movement. Don't Breathe, raise foot, she keeps pace, put foot down... 
I carefully take my bear spray out of my pocket, hoping not to incite an attack. Slip the guard off, and step back one more time. 
I spray a wall of spray in front of me, like I had just seen in a video from the Colorado Fish and Game. 
She stops. Lowered head and bulk of body directly in front of me and oriented towards me. She raises and lowers her head at me. 

Shit.

Shit shit shit shit SHIT!

 I think. What the hell am I doing out here on this road, with no one around, at this time of night, and the immense emptiness of nothing between me and this absolutely undoubtedly pinnacle predator, but AIR. Clear. Insubstantial. 
Nothing. But. 
Naked.
Her claws extend a good six inches past the end of her toes, and their impact on the ground arches her toes upwards. She looks exactly like the pictures. I marvel at her. I realize I haven't breathed yet. I take a deep slow quiet breath. 
"Bear!"
 I yell. "Bear!"
Despite the fact that it was actually a squeak, all of the windows on the house nearby are thrown up. A woman's voice silences a barking dog. A hairy man in nothing but boxer shorts and an enormous colt 45, comes bounding out onto his porch. 
The Bear huffs, and turns towards the man in boxers. 
Another huge bear pops out of the woods, and steps up behind her. They are the Same Size. 
I only have 1/4 of a can of bear spray left. The rest is slowly precipitating out of the air in front of me, between me and the bears. 
The man waves his pistol in the air. I look at that second bear, Think of how little spray I have left, Think of how the first bear will Obliterate me right there in the road with nothing around and no where to hide, if I hurt her cub by spraying it with bear spray, and speak quietly to the woman inside the house. 
"It's just me, here in the road. Please don't scare the bears."
"ok." She whispers. 
The bear starts towards the man, and what I realize must be his trash can, out on the porch, 25 feet away. I breathe again.
Look down and realize the Dawg is by my side. I take her collar in my hand, grateful she is ok. She is not scared, but alert and on point. 
She is looking at the Second Bear. 
He has begun to roll towards the house, stiff legged. He disappears behind the bare trunk of a large pine tree ahead and to my right. 
Then he charges me.
Time slows to a point so small it squeezes and hurts. I see the wet spring turf spurting up behind him as all four of his feet and claws dig in as he charges at me. I cannot bring myself to focus on his teeth, but I can see past them, right down to the start of his throat. 
I hold my 1/4 can of bear spray, arm out, pointed straight towards his face. Stand as stock still as I can. I don't want to spray him. I don't want to die. 
I can't pray because I have to be brave. I lean slightly towards him, my focus on his face is so sharp. Just my arm, and a rattly can between us. 
He stops quickly in front of me,Front legs straight and stiff; the moss covered clay from his approach rolling down and hitting my foot. If I lean more now, I can hit him with my hand. 
He stares at me, mouth agape. I stand. Arm out, not moving. Everything is silent. 
He shakes his head back and forth at me, lowering it. I stand, arm out, intent on him. The silence is so deep it's a burden upon us. I wait, suffocating. 
He growls. And turns slowly away. The First Bear has huffed and called him. He walks stiffly toward her, turning to charge back at me every 3 feet or so. I stand with my arm out. Can at the end pointed at him.
The two of them proceed along the outside edge of the house, 20 feet away, the second charging me every few feet until they go around a curve in the road, and are,
Gone. 
I lower the can. I look down. I have the dog's collar in my hand, and have tightened up so much, that her front feet are off of the ground. She is looking up at me. I quickly put her down and let her loose.  "Leave it" I say. She does. 
I blink and breathe and time starts up again. Color seems bright. I want to pet the dog all over.
The man in the boxer shorts and the enormous useless Colt 45, dances across the wet, pitted grass up to me. 
He hasn't seen the second bear, or the charge. He wants to hear what a hero he is for saving me. I wish I could smack him with that gun. Can you hear it. Ca- CHUNK, right upside the head. But that would be wrong. His trash can is on the porch, overflowing onto the boards. 
I call my son, who is home for a break, to come and get me in the old pickup truck. The sound of my voice scares him so badly he gets lost coming the mile to me; tears stain his face when he arrives. 
"It's ok, I tell him. Please don't cry. Did you see the bears?"
I have not told him this whole story. 

At the time, and now, all I can think is,

"What if I had been a 10 year old kid on a bike???"

So I am here begging you. Please use bear proof trash cans. I've spoken with my neighbors who don't have bear proof cans. They don't know this story. They feel they have the right to use what ever can they want.
I don't think they have the right to kill someone else's Kid. 
And that's my point. Not that I was scared. Not that I shouldn't have been out walking in the late evening. Not that you should always carry bear spray, no matter what (I now carry two cans). But that someone unaware, could have been killed because you refuse to keep your trash in the garage, with the door closed, and use bear proof cans. 
Every time a bear gets reward from eating from your can, you are teaching them to forage and defend their food, where your neighbors' kids play. And that is inexcusably selfish.

Dave Battle, from Alaska Fish and Game, called me the next day to tell me that they had had to shoot the bear that charged me. It had charged another family, while raiding their trash cans. They figured that his sibling (not his mom) would be so traumatized at seeing him killed, that she would stay out of the neighborhood for the foreseeable future. 
I am watching for her this Spring. I hope she has found good forage out in the State Park, and won't go back to making her living from trash cans. I am hoping she won't be able to because my neighbors will take care of their trash. I don't want to see her dead. Or someone's Kid.
** UPDATE: 
Dave Battle says never to spray a wall of spray between you and a bear, but to use the spray you have more effectively by spraying the bear right in the eyes and mouth. Will do, Dave!

 XX!

Lori

Sew My Stash 2015 March Challenge. It's on!!

Woo!!!
It's March, the heat's back on (after three weeks, brrr!), and the Sun is shinin'! Now what could be better than that??
I know what!! Another Sew My Stash 2015 Throwdown!!

You haven't seen me here for awhile, 'cause it was too cold to sit next to the window, without heat, and type. But that doesn't mean that I didn't accomplish anything during February! No, I and my handy dandy sit-upon heating pad manned up and got it done!!

So here are my finishes for February for the Sew My Stash 2015. Eat your hearts out, they're all going as gifts to other folks!!

First up is my mini quilt for Madi at Shop Corner 52. We were partners in the #BitchesgetstitchesSwap. If the hashtag doesn't give enough of a clue, it was a swap of items that were bawdy, or swearing. I tell ya, I learned that there is a whole world out there about which I knew nothing!! Check out the #bitchesgetstitchesswap hashtag on Instagram and roll down the feed for alot of fun! But I'm warning you... Some of the items will light your eyes on fire!! Who knew the Brits and Aussies were so naughty??!

I will do an entire post on the construction of this mini. Such great paper piecing patterns from Quiet Play!

Second, I completed this mini wall hanging for a friend, but noone gets to see the whole thing until she has received it. Lol!! But you know I'll fill you in as soon as she does!

Velvet ribbon!! I just cannot get enough of it! 

Then, I finished this purse for my Niecey... I was pattern testing the pattern for The Littlest Thistle, so I can only give you a glimpse. A full reveal will occur when she releases the pattern. All I can say is, WOW!! Katy really puts alot of time and thought into her patterns, and it sure shows when you make them! Easy Peasy!!! Now I have two more that I have to make!! Lol!

Somebody's watchin' you! Sing it!

And, last, but certainly not least, I was a participant in a Round Robin quilt exchange with my quilting ladies, and I finished the last quilt. Woo!! We had our exchange last Wednesday, and I will do a complete post on all 8 of the quilts. They are AMAZING!!!! The one I received, is the best. I'm just sayin'. 

This is Rebecca's quilt. Have you been in a Round Robin exchange? I'd love to hear your stories!!

AND NOW...

MARCH'S SEW MY STASH 2015 THROWDOWN!!!

Ok, Anita!!! Here I go!! I challenge you to complete your list before I do mine.... or I owe you CHOCOLATE!!!

That's right!!! CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE!

(and no fair cheating, what with the stakes being so high, and all!!) ;)

I will complete:

1) The pattern for Cheeky Lattice, for Fat Quarterly. The top has been done for a month, and it is killing me to not show you all!!!! SOONNN!!!!!!! My quilting lady Denise, a fibre artist extraordinaire, is quilting it. But I still have to do the actual work of writing the instructions. 

2) PJ Pants. I. WILL. complete. a. pair. Even if it kills me. Which it might. I am not showing a pic of the materials, because I will probably change my mind twice, and make them out of entirely different stash than I originally intended. No wise cracks about my having a stash big enough to have several options in pj potential yardage ;)

3) Box Car Tote: Or TWO!!

What a nice sized tote to carry all of your stuff to retreats and sewing days!  One for me and one for ??? I'm taking a class with my quilty peeps from the SewAlaskan instagrammers. Fun!!! 

This is my project for  A Lovely Year of Finishes over at Sew Bittersweet Designs. 

4) Another Mini Messenger Bag, or two!!! Here are my stash pulls for them. What do you think??

Flap of Anna Marie Horner Echinacea, body of Aubergine and blue, gusset of aubergine, interior of Alison Glass.

AND

Flap of Joel Dewberry mod, interior of Alison Glass at left, pocket of Pickle, exterior of Kona Charcoal, flap lining of Kona Teal Shade. I tell you, these things are worse than potato chips! You can't make just one!!

6) I am also incredibly honored to have been asked to participate in the International blog hop for Oakshott Fabrics new line, Scandinavia.

Oh my!!! Aren't they completely Delicious??!!!

Oakshott fabrics are shot cottons, which means that the warp and weft are two different colors. This gives them an iridescent glow and a luxuriousness that is really so lovely. I like them better than my Kaffe Fasset shot cottons, because they are softer to the hand, and are such a nice weight. Perfect!!

I cannot wait to get started on this project!! Woo!

I hope you had a Fabulous February and are ready for a Marvelous March!!
XX!
Lori

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Fabric Clubs - A Boom or a Bust??

Welcome to Sunday Stash over at the Splendiferous Molli Sparkles!!

This week I wanted to talk a little bit about Fabric Clubs, and whether or not they are the thing for you.

So, what makes a fabric club worth joining? In general, fabric clubs send out fabrics of their choosing, once a month, for a predetermined subscription fee. Most can be cancelled at any time, and many offer a discount over the retail price found in the online store through which you are obtaining your stash additions. I have experience with fabric clubs through Karen Lewis Textiles, Westwood Acres Fabrics and Marmalade Fabrics. 

I have to tell ya, it is super wonderful, addicting, fabulous, addicting, time saving, oh yes, and addicting, to have fabric show up at your door as if elves had read your thoughts and left it there. What is more appealing than coming home at the end of a long day, to happy mail filled with gorgeousness that you never knew existed, and which is curated by queen bees with an enviable eye for color??! 

Oh My GOODNESS! See what I mean??!

I chose to participate in Karen Lewis' (@karenlewistextiles) half panels club because she hand prints her own designs onto Kona cottons, and selects colors that really appeal to me. Now that I have been online shopping for awhile, ahem, I have seen the light and will be changing my subscription to a larger size as soon as it is available. Karen has clubs in 5" Charms, above, (Deelish!), Half Panel bundles, and Full Panel bundles. Click the link to check them out, if you like.

It is my opinion that if you can find an artist who is printing their own fabrics, and who is working their tail off to ensure quality and customer service, you should patronize them. I chose Karen because of her designs, her color selection, and her personality. I just adore her! Now, I'm not gonna lie, buying fabric from the UK if you're in America, is not for the faint of heart. But like I said, I am actually going to change around my subscription because I have discovered that it is more valuable to me as a stash addition than other fabric lines that I could buy, Stateside. I will be doing an entire post on Karen's work, but with MUCH better pictures. For now, here is a sample from her website. 

Right??!!!

Next up is WestWood Acres Fabric. Now, I love me a mom and pop store, and this one just takes the cake. Amanda (@acraftyfox_amanda) and her husband run their shop from their home. I have yet to be disappointed with their product, their price or their customer service. And I have bought A LOT (Alot alot!) of fabric from them!! Their newsletter occasionally has an additional percentage off of fabric in their store, but be warned... once you turn that corner, you won't be able to go back!! 

I was a member of Amanda's Low Volume Club (Inside Voices club! Lol! 10 Fqs), 

and her Liberty Club (FQ, F8, F16th). 

Ohhhhh Yessssss!

Both were excellent. I am no longer a member because I have a limited budget (I know, gasp!) and I wanted to try out some other clubs featuring other styles of fabric not available here in AK.  Thanks to these clubs, my stash is now very nicely filled with fat quarters of perfect low volume fabrics, and fat eights of liberty lawns. No! You can't have any! 

I am booking through them at a very respectable clip, so I'm sure I will become a member again. In the meantime, I'm pretty sure they're naming their unborn child after me due to the sheer volume of purchases I make. Hey, any way I can support a child's education is good with me! ;)

Now, Marmalade Fabrics has been one of the best purchasing decisions I have ever made. And I'm no newbie to the Halls of Commerce! 

I am a member of their Around the Color Wheel monthly bundles. I like it so much, they are on perpetual auto-pay. Each month, I receive a FQ bundle of 12 FQs. My bundle is half solids and half prints. I love it because not only do I receive the entire new range of Kona cotton solid colors without having to hunt them down, but I also get coordinating prints from the latest hot trends and designers. And these are not your joe schmoe matchings. They are brilliant! I just made an entire quilt with 25 different solids in it, and all of the ones I chose were from my Marmalade Fabrics club! Man, they should hire me!! Lol! 

Another thing that they do is label each solid FQ with the name. So handy!! Then when you've gone to the stash and hunted up the perfect color for the background of your next masterpiece, you just look right there and the name is ready for ya. Brilliant, I tell you, brilliant. I have a Kona color card, and it is surely handy, but with the name right there on the fabric, I don't have any of those low light guessings to do. Know what I mean?

This year, I will up my subscription to half yards, as I find that a FQ is not enough fabric for my needs. I like to make a coordinating pillow or other doodad to go with my quilts, and my scraps look like squirrels chewed them by the time they get picked up off of the floor, put in a pile, spilled over onto the floor again, and finally put under the cutting table for later sorting into storage. I know you know what I'm talking about. 

So, now that you know WAY too much about my spending habits, what are the downsides to participating in a monthly fabric club?
Shipping is sometimes additional. That may break your budget, as every little bit counts. 
You may find that you forget that you have fabric coming, and buy more, and then have too much. 
But who am I kidding?!
Check carefully to be sure that you can cancel at any time if your needs change and you no longer wish to participate. 
Every now and again, your taste does not match with the person's who is choosing the bundles. Shops should have representative pictures of bundles from the past, like you see above for Westwood Acres, but if they don't, email the shop and ask what the names are for the upcoming fabrics in their bundles. They should tell you and hopefully also send along a pic. If they don't know, choose another club. 
Sometimes having a fabric club come to your door, blunts the thrill of the chase of finding fabulous deals. If this could be the case for you, set aside a specific amount of money to spend only on fabric detection. The rest can go for chocolate. 

Check out Anita and Cynthia's fabric club suggestions in the comments. Excellent! What are your experiences or opinions about fabric clubs?? Weigh in below!! 

XX!

Lori

Alison Glass Handcrafted Stash Sunday

It's Sunday Stash time over at the ineffable Molli Sparkles! 

And here are my purchases for this week. Well, those that have arrived, anyway!

Shh! Don't rat me out to Santa. Cause a little Naughty, makes a Girl rather Nice, don't you think??!

 Alison Glass!! 

Now, Alison's work is always stunning. And I am, admittedly, a collector of her astounding work. I like the way she uses colors that are unlike others you see everywhere else. And yet, her fabrics go so very well with everything! Wouldn't these beauties look great snuggled up with a litta Tula Pink?  Why, yes they would! Don't you think I should go make that happen?!

Now, you all know what a huge fan I am of shot cotton. I would literally sew everything from them, including a dog. But Kaffe Fasset shot cottons, although glorious in color and sheen, are on the light side, weave wise. In contrast, there are pepper cottons, by Pepper Cory, which are thick and luxurious, but generally lack that luxurious sheen a girl yearns for. So, when I received these AG prints, I was worried that they would be very course fiber or sheer. But no! They have a very nice hand! I could absolutely see everything made from these, from blouses, to skirts and dresses, to quilted items, to lamp shades and decor loveliness. So GOOD!!

 I am sorry that you can't see these in person. The colors are rich and actually glow!! I am not kidding you!! I like to buy directly from artists if I can. You can purchase AG products, including embroidery templates that will knock your socks off, at Alison Glass.

And how do you like my other purchase? From Angelina McKenna (@weenchaweena on IG where I am a member of the Bitches Get Stitches Swap; A bawdy swap for the inner broad in all of us).

Every girl needs a super hero alter ego to help her take over the world!! 

Now get out and Show us your Shine!

What have you purchased this week, or what do you have your eye on??

XX!

Lori

Super Quick Car Seat Quilt

Welcome to another edition of Finish It Up Friday, over at Crazy Mom Quilts!! Check out what everyone else has been up to, Woohoo!
Have you ever wanted to make a baby quilt as a gift for someone, but didn't have the time to make a large enough one to fit a crib or playspace?  Why not make a Car Seat Quilt?! They are about half the size of a regular baby quilt, and something that new parents won't be able to purchase in a store. Woot! 

A simple Irish Chain, pieced, this time, square by square, is a quick make if pieced in strip sets. 

Go here for a great tutorial. Or Here, Or check out Quilt in a Day by Eleanor Burns. You can never go wrong with Eleanor!! I used wool batting and spaced the quilting wide apart so it would be extra toasty for cold upstate New York winters. Love ya Niecey2!!

Sorry for the horrible pictures! We are down to just 5 hours of good sun and two hours of duskiness, so natural daylight is getting hard to come by! 

But here is the reward!

Our Glorious sunrises begin directly East of the house, then

Do a little Showing Off, and then,

Swing around to the side and front of the house

to really Jazz up the morning. Never mind that at this point it is 10 am ;) Who cares when each day

greets you in such a spectacular way?

And when it's light enough to see, guess who has stopped by to help you prune the perennials you were hoping to keep going???

And help clean up the birdseed...

I wondered why the birds were so hungry!!!

I wonder if he knows that all of that homegrown forage is making him extra tasty??!!!

I also finished up a coupla pillow cases to go with an ALLMOOOST completed Enchanted/Frozen/Name another Movie mash quilt for the Niecey. 

Just in time for my Sis to inform me that, being 8 years old, Niecey has now decided she hates princessy things, and Blue, and wants only black and white zebra stripes, with Purple!! 

Lol!!!! 

Have a Wonder-Filled Day!!

So nice to see ya!

Lori

Granny Square Quilt and Other Fabulous WIPs

It's WIP Wednesday!! And time to share a little more of what has been going on since my return to the sewing room and making. Woohoo!!! 

We've had our first snowfalls, and the most recent one has stuck around, so we've been out every day playing and rolling in it!! 

The days are still just shy of 12 hours, and we have night again. The night is Cold enough to nip your cheek, and just right for taking walks and stargazing. Don't peek in the neighbors windows!! They haven't gotten used to the dark yet, and haven't learned to close their blinds again with this new season ;) 

I'm finishing quilting the Granny Squares Quilt. It's nice to spend some time each day, working on each project, in succession... First this, 

Then This ( the quilt! Not the guy!! Well, he sure doesn't hurt;)

Then, This...

Since I put the Bikini Quilt into a leaders and enders position, I have really been booking along with it. Soon, my lovelies!!

And, finally, THIS...

I moved the Sewing Room over into this guy's room...

Because he's doing an internship in LA and job hunting. So very proud of him!! He and his girlfriend, Madison, are really taking great care of themselves and their budgets, even though they are on 

opposite sides of the continent. You go, kids!!!!! We've got their backs, but they haven't even needed it:)

But the real reason I moved my sewing room across the hall, was to have room for my desk and work area in the same place as I sew. Because...

I am writing a book!!!!!

Are you so excited??!!

I am!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Now, I don't usually go to Nora Roberts for life advice, but she sure has nailed it.

And if I can do it, so can you!!!

So, I urge you, TODAY, to step out of your comfort zone and take a step towards one of your dreams. 

You can do it!!!!!!!!!!!

XX!

Lori

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