It helps to follow directions!

It is amazing how information gets out there and even worse - how rumours start.  I was at a guild meeting last night.  Of course, there are a number of members who read my blog (good morning to members of the Brampton Quilter's Guild) and obviously those readers know that I now work at Northcott and in chatting with friends of theirs, this information gets passed along. 

However I was chatting to a member whom I haven't seen in a while and she was happy about my new job, but said that she was surprised to see me.  Why I asked?  Well - she had been told by someone that my working at Northcott would be in conflict of being a guild member.   Hmmmmm - if I check my job responsibilites - one of them is keeping up with industry trends.  I would STRONGLY think that my employer would be thrilled that I go to guild meetings. It is one way to stay connected with what quilters are doing. 

Trust me - before I accepted this position, I had a very indepth conversation regarding what is conflict and what isn't.  And quite frankly - there is NOTHING that is conflict of interest unless I do something directly with a competitor of ours.  

There you have it - right from the horse's mouth - no conflicts of interest. And I have to give the person credit who chatted with me last night because she couldn't figure out why it would be conflict of interest.  Thanks for letting me know!!!!

So yesterday, I was back sewing and I decided that I would check out the pattern instructions - afterall this is a brand new pattern and I might as well test it as I am sewing it. However you know me and half square triangles - I am not a fan of taking a square and cutting it in half and then sewing two different colours together to get the half square triangle.  But I did one to test the pattern. And look - hardly any waste to trim off. 

Almost no waste when trimming that to 2 5/8"

However, there wouldn't have been much waste either if I had done the math correctly.  I think what I did was to use the TRIMMED (or unfinished size) as the FINISHED size and so I added one inch.  It happens and thank goodness for having loads of fabric to work with.

Once I had all 160 of those half square triangles complete, I moved onto the next batch.  This time I only need 96 and I did the size correct on these ones.

Half square triangles - batch two - to trim

While I was at the guild last night - I spotted two people who had projects made with Northcott fabric. This lady whose name I have forgotten was wearing this gorgeous jacket that she had made with Northcott Artisan Spirit - Shimmer.  This is the Earth colourway.   The jacket looks gorgeous on her and see how coordinated her entire outfit was.

Jacket made from Northcott - Artisan Spirit - Shimmer - Earth colourway

Then as I was leaving, I spotted this bag and again asked if I could take a picture.  You see where this is going.  If I spot you and you have a project made from Northcott fabric - I am going to ask to take a picture.  Even better - why not send pictures of your projects to me and I will post them!  It is super fun to see what others are making.

This bag was made with the leftovers from a couple of quilts and other items and this is what was left. I love the bag!!!!   I also love how she used the beaver strip for the handles.  That gives me a couple of ideas as I am going to have leftovers from my FREE download which I am currently testing.

These fabrics are from the Northcott Stonehenge OH Canada 4 line.  Yes - there have been four different releases of this line and it is going strong and more is on the way.  Matter of fact - stay tuned because we have some very exciting stuff coming up with this line. Here is the link to other fabrics available in this line. And it also comes in flannel!!!!

Bag made from Northcott Stonehenge OH Canada 4

The speaker last night was AMAZING.  A very talented lady who dabbles in patchwork quilts AND is also an artist and PAINTS some of her quilts.

I was holding up the quilts so I couldn't take pictures, but I snapped this one after the presention.  Do you know who that is?????

A painted quilt by Dorothy FU

Have a peek at her web site - her name is Dorothy Fu and I absolutely loved her stuff!!!!!

Here are two quilts from our show n tell that I snapped.  I love the red and white. She had to shop a LONG time in order to find the right shades of red and as a result this quilt is stunning.  It is a very simple design, but the colors were chosen well.

Red and white quilt

Here is another quilt that was done with half square triangles that I also think is amazing.  Something to keep in the back of my mind for all my half square triangles.

Quilt made with half square triangles

Back to my office - I finally got everything up and yes - I feel very much at home here.  This is my view.  Yep - great quilts - a row by row license plate ' Crazy quilter', my sewing machine - what more could a girl want!!!!

My daily view

Speaking of license plates - the darn things keep rolling in.  Thanks to Wendy for these ones.  Oh yes - I am going to be very embarrased to show you how many I amassed this summer. And I bet that my collection is small compared to some others. That picture will come once I have finished.

More license plates

It is going to be exciting to find out the new theme in about one month.  I plan to be at the unveiling - wherever or whenever it is.  I might try to find that out today.

And old habits die hard.  Yes - I was walking Little Sammy yesterday morning and as I walked through the forest, I happened upon this sign which someone had tossed in the forest.  Well - I just could NOT leave GOOD corrugated plastic go to waste so I brought it home!   I had better get sewing up some bags - FAST!!!!!!   Sorry - I did not have my camera with me to document where I found the sign to really show that it was tossed in the forest and that I did NOT pull it from someone's lawn!!!!

Abandoned sign

On that note - I am out of here.  There are so many ideas swimming in my head - I have so many quilts that I want to make with the Northcott fabric that I could sew FOREVER and never get them all made. Never mind  my own that are started at home.

Oh yes - I did forget to mention that these are very exciting times at work as we get to see the quilts that are going to be in the booth for Market.  Every day new ones arrive (we have seen only the images before) and now we get to see the real thing.  Never a dull moment here!!!!

OK - now I am out of here.

Have a great day!!!!

Ciao!!!!