A Couple of Flimsies

Just a quick post today to update you on the latest project. Here is the flimsy for my Bookish quilt.

I am so pleased! I got this picture first thing this morning before any real wind came up, often a problem around here. It took me quite a while to shuffle the blocks around to try to evenly distribute colours and patterns!

It started with this block, the Meadowland quilt pattern by Then Came June, which I put on Gander (should put a link on my sidebar, duh) and Instagram (see sidebar) just four days ago.

Getting the glasses all going the right way was not hard with the four-at-a-time construction method used in the Meadowland pattern. I love this method, and I don't know if it's because the pieces are bigger, or my sewing accuracy for these has vastly improved, but wow, they all came out almost perfect every single time with just dog ears or a minuscule amount to trim!

Getting the 'wings' to all go the right way was a lot more challenging, and since I did not even realize that every single piece of the twelve fabrics here actually are directional, some, like the bookmarks there, do not all go in the same direction. However, I didn't find that annoying, so I left it here and in a couple of others. All the glasses go the right way, but for the plus in two of them, and all the handwriting and knitted sweater or afghan fabric go the right way. I did have to re-cut a couple of fabrics to ensure that happened. Even the two fabrics, the brown one and the cream/salmon one which have open books standing upright, are directional!

I have a back picked out (finally), so I will piece it today and load it and quilt it up in no time. I have an all-over design figured out so it will go quickly. Picking the backing has led to a fabric pull for a tote bag, one in a different design than my go-to interlocking plus blocks bag. This is the beginning of a pattern I've wanted to publish for well over a year, four totes, one for each season! I'm excited. However, I aim to publish the pattern for Dayna's Holiday Star quilt first, and have the fabrics for the cushion cover ready to chop up. There's never a lack of projects to sew in my studio!

Also, because I try to constantly chain sew, I have the two sides for another makeup bag ready to quilt and assemble.

My Etsy shop has bee eerily quiet all summer, so maybe one of these will spark a little more interest. I did hit 900 sales in the third week of August, which amazes me. I found it fitting that my very first professionally edited pattern, Grace, was the 900th! This pattern holds such meaning too.

Like a lot of other small and, in my case, 'hobby' businesses, I've stopped shipping my tangible items to the US because of the tariffs. I have had to put a big "not available in the US at this time" statement across my makeup bag listings, as well as my baby and throw quilts, teapot and mug cosies, and other small quilted items. For one sales where the person didn't see that notice, I had to refund her and lost money on the exchange, and for two others where it happened again, I did go through the rigamarole with the tariffs, and happily both were not tariffed. That was back in the spring and in June. Now all art has a 50% tariff on it, and these items are considered art. Thankfully, my 'hobby' little business is not necessary to put food on my table, but there are many where it does.

Tod and Jocelyn Maffin have decided to do something for these tiny businesses, (in their free time--not sure if these two ever sleep, and they are doing this totally FREE) so if you, especially my sister and fellow Canadians, haven't already caught any of their posts, (episode 11 below)

or checked out the online directory, Main Street Canada, it's really worthwhile. His posts will make you smile as you watch all the ingenuity in the many businesses, and you may need a tissue or two when you watch the end bits where people share how much they have been impacted by the sales they've gotten thanks to Tod's posts! CBC wrote a very good article about this right here.

Canada has not reciprocated on the 50% tariffs on art. Relentless decency.🇨🇦