It’s September! My favorite month of the year!

September!  What is it about September that draws me to the office supply store and the clothing stores?  I guess I never lost and back-to-school anticipation of this month with all the new beginnings that come with it.  There are a couple of events coming up this month that ould be a lot of fun for a fiber junky like me.  First the Third Coast Fiber Festival at Wayne State this weekend and then the Novi Sewing Expo Next weekend.

The Third Coast Fiber festival will be a real treat. The producers of this one have been to fiber festivals all over the country and are bringing the best of them here to Michigan. I can’t wait to see the offerings, classes and fellow fiber lovers there.

Next week the Novi Sewing Expo begins. This is an annual event for me. I’ve learned so much from attending the Expo and all the classes it offers over the years. There’s always something new to inspire the creative flow.  First the Third Coast Fiber Festival at Wayne State this weekend and then the Novi Sewing Expo Next weekend

In addition to my fiber addictions I’m afraid I’ve gained another love this year – Copic Markers! I’ve been a card-maker for a number of years and have been searching for the best way to color in stamped impressions. Everything so far has fallen short for me. I’ve been through water-color pencils, water-color crayon, regular marker, gel pens, inks and inking techniques and paints. I’ve never been satisfied with the results. I think I’ve finally found the solution. I’ve been dancing around the idea of Copic markers for a while but was held back by the price of them. It’s an expensive hobby but the price is a bit more affordable at The Happy Scrapper .  The test that convinced me was how they worked with this one stamp I’ve got.

Here’s the card I made using my new Copic markers.

My daughter gave me this stamp years ago for Christmas and I love the impression it makes but I’ve never been able to get just the right coloring for it…until now.  I bought the marker I would need to color it the way I’d wanted to and it came out wonderful!  I’m hooked!  Just what I needed – a new addiction!  Ah well, coloring is a great way to relief stress.  That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

I know that Card Making is not a needle art but each craft inspires the other for me.  It’s all about color, texture and fun!

Missing you Beverly!

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I’m sitting here surfing some of my favorite web-sites and missing Beverly Maxvill.  I heard from a friend that she passed away a couple of weeks ago from Breast Cancer.  Another lovely women lost to that terrible malady.  Her cancer went undetected because she had no medical insurance.  (Don’t get me started on that subject!)

I’ve been looking forward to  seeing her new line of fabric.  Its being produced through Benartex.  They have an interesting but short bio of her Quilting/Artistic career on their web-site.  http://www.benartex.com/page/page/beverly-maxvill-280.htm  Check it out.  I love her line of fabrics and I wish she were around today to give her a call and congratulate her.

Without Beverly I don’t think I’d be as into quilting as I am today.  She was an inspiration to so many of us in the Macomb County, Michigan area.  Beverly was our “go-to” gal whenever we had a design dilemma or technical question.  She always challenged us to go beyond our current skills, learn new things and try new techniques. 

I remember I was working on a large hand appliqued wall hanging and while hand quilting it I cut a tiny hole into the background fabric.  I was very distraught about it.  She advised to look at it as a design opportunity and suggested covering the hole with a hand embroidered bumble bee.  Now its my favorite part of that quilt.  The lesson I learned – there’s nothing you can screw up on your quilt that can’t be fixed with a “design opportunity”. 

Thanks Beverly!  You’ll be sorely missed.

Don’t let Breast Cancer take another creative woman like Beverly Maxvill – http://www.karmanos.org/detroitraceforthecure/index.asp 

Beverly’s last days were made more comfortable at the Harbor Hospice in Muskegon, MI.  If you’d like to do something in her memory, a donation to them would have pleased Beverly.

Here’s a sale you don’t want to miss!

I just got the notification of this sale in my email box.  Sisters in Quilting always throw a great sale: 

Sisters in Quilting 2nd Annual Pajama Sale!  Saturday July 30th, 2011.  Here’s how is works.  You wear  your P.J.’s to the shop and based on the time you arrive you get a great store-wide discount.  7:00am to 8:30am gets you 40% off,  8:30am t0 9:30am gets you 30%, 9:30am to 11:30am is 20% and 11:30am to 3:30pm is 10%.  They have opened up their new space in the back of the store and will have more cutting stations and check out areas.  Breakfast will be served.  But,  y0u must wear your pajamas to qualify.    For address and regular store hours check out their web-site by clicking here.

Cristina’s Quilt Shoppe

I finally got out to Rochester Michigan to check out Cristina’s Quilt Shoppe.  What a cute store.  It just off the main drag in Downtown Rochester. It’s housed in a former residence so to the shop has surprise rooms around each corner.  They carry a wall full of each of black and white fabrics, batik’s, Christmas fabric, children’s fabric..on and on.  The shop is bright open and cheerful.  They have also converted the garage out back to a heated training room.  The books they offer are shown as always 20% off.  This shop is definitely worth the  trip out to Rochester!

While you’re out there, there’s plenty more shopping to do.  There’s another favorite stop of my – Skeins on Main for all you knitters.  They have an entrance in front on Rochester road and in the back from the parking area.  The shop offers an area of hand dyed and specialty yarn,  a small room filled with books and a wall of tools and accessories.  There’s an area in the back for customers and patrons to sit, knit and chat.  I wouldn’t miss it.

While I was out in the area I stopped at the Rochester Hills Museum at Van Hoosen Farm.  There’s an exhibit of Hand Hooked Rugs by the Great Lakes Rug  Hooking guild there now thru June 18th.  I’m not a “hooker”  but the exhibit was fascinating.  The president of the guild was on hand to tell us about the rug hooking process and provide a demo using 2 different widths of wool strips.  She also explained a bit about the tools used to create the strips and the different types of hooks used to work the rugs. The pieces in the show are amazing!  Each were museum quality and worked by members of the guild.  You can certainly see how this craft can be addicting.  The color possibilities are endless.  The rugs were made from recycled old wool clothes, purchased new wool fabrics, roving and even dog hair!   Some were hand dyed, dipped dyed, and over dyed.   Some fabrics were plaids or textured woolens.  If I didn’t already have so many other needle work hobbies I’d have been sorely tempted to take this craft on as another love.  My good friend was with me and I can see that she was similarly inspired.  You don’t have to be a “hooker” to love  this exhibit.

The Sewing Expo in Novi

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I was lucky enough to have the time to visit the Sewing Expo in Novi, MI last weekend.  It’s always a lot of fun and an inspiring experience.  This year I took a class from Linda McGehee on Zippers.  I thought the class was going to be about adding zippers to clothing but it wasn’t.  The class talked all about the wonderful and creative uses for zippers in creating purses and bags.  She had one bag that zipped out flat or zipped up into a mid-sized tote bag.  Really cool!  Her company carries all sorts of zippers in a rainbow of colors.  She’s working directly with zipper manufactures to produce some very interesting zippers for artsy purses and bags.

Another class I took was called “Guide to Marking for Measurements” offered by Kat Lind of Complete clothier.  Kat is a world-class mathematician/engineer and she’s has designed a software package that allows you to create custom clothing patterns to fit your exact measurements and body shape.  The class taught us to identify the “Landmark Measurement Points” of the body to create comfortable clothing with an accurate and flattering fit.  I picked up some great tips that I’m sure I’ll use in my knitting and sewing projects.  An enlightening class!

The vendor floor was filled with innovative products and ideas to make your sewing projects fun and unique.  SueAnn Bishop of Victorian Purses by Sue was there and I was able to choose 2 lovely metal handles for knitted purses I’ve been working on.  Her booth was full of beads, Perle cotton and yarns of every color.  She offers a wide selection of purse handles for small knitted ore sewn purses.  I’m hoping to be able to take a class from her on how to knit a beaded evening purse.  The samples at the shop were gorgeous to say the least. 

Another of my favorite booths to visit was The Stitching Well from Bay City Michigan.  They carry thousands of items for hand embroidery and stitching.  In their booth I found a lovely seam ripper with a hand-turned cherry wood handle.  It feels wonderful in my hand and I know I’ll have it for years to come.  It was a little pricey but its an heirloom tool that I will cherish for years to come I’m sure.  The shop offers silk ribbons, Perle cotton, needles of every description, hundreds of charms, books and patterns.  Her booth was chock-full of inspiration.  (I think its time to work on my crazy quilt again.)

If you weren’t able to visit the Novi Sewing Expo this year, be sure to look for it in September of 2011.  Jo-ann ect. always has their class brochure available in July.  Don’t miss the fun!

Victoria’s has moved!

I happened to be visiting Sister’s in Quilting in Marlettle this weekend and picked up a Country Register.  I spotted and ad for Vitoria’s Sewing & Heirloom Supplies.  I’ve been longing to stop in and check out this store for some time but I never seemed to be passing by at a time when it was open in Port Huron.  Now they’re new location is in Lexington!  My favorite “up-north” place to be.  Since I was already up there I decided to check it out.  Her new address is 6894 Lakeshore Road, Lexington Heights, MI.  Just accross the street from the Worth Township Offices on M25 and a little north of the water tower there.

I plugged the address into my GPS and headed down M25. ( I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss it.  That’s the reason for the GPS.)  I found it after one wrong turn into the lumber yard parking lot next door…then almost getting run down by a semi when I was hopping over to the correct lot.  (that was close!)  I finally arrived!

They had a wonderful “moving” sale going on and I was able to select over 38 different yards of quality quilt fabric for $2 a yard!  A great opportunity for my church project.  The owner is still in the process of unpacking and organizing and  the little shop is starting to shape up.  She still has the quality quilting fabrics and Brother, Janome and Juki sewing machines too.  Now, at her new location she will also be offering yarns and classes in Knitting and crochet!   Her new hours are perfect for all of us weekend visitors too – Thursday through Monday 10a-6pm.

I’m very happy about this.  Since Lexington is my “happy place” and there hasn’t been a quilt shop there for a couple of years, this is a wonderful addition to the area.  I know I’ll be a regular customer!  I wonder if she’ll be a part of the “Quilt Festival” Lexington is planning for next spring?  Don’t forget to check out the shop when you’re up for the fall colors next month.