May Wrap-Up

I did a little more shopping, Indie style over the past week.  This was in support of some wonderful designers who, like those I already purchased from in a previous post, give a lot of free stuff to QBL in the form of tips and tutorials, patterns, quilt-alongs, and so on.

May is for Makers is the initiative of Lindsey of LRStitched. You can read her post there, where she talks about the philosophy behind her mandate.

The pattern I purchased first in the last week of May is by a lovely Canadian quilter, who lives about 3.5 hours north of me: Lorna of Sew Fresh Quilts.  Lorna hosts one of my favourite linky parties each Wednesday, Let's Bee Social.  It's a great place to find some new blogs, maybe make some new friends and oh, you betcha, find some new distractions, er, inspirations!

I plan to make her free QAL Doggone Cute quilt yet, just couldn't stuff it into the projects list when it was going on, but oh did it look fun.  And IMHO, the 'poster dog' for the quilt is a pibble!  Um yeah?!  After much thought (she has some fabulous designs), I decided to buy her Black Birds Quilt pattern.  I have a lovely neighbour down the street who is an avid bird guy, raises them, and has forgotten more about birds than I will ever know.  He knows a ton about trees and plants around here too, has taught this Alberta-girl much about the Carolinian forest where I now reside.  So this quilt will eventually go to him.

I also (finally) ordered some "mmm! quilts" labels to sew into my quilts that I list for sale on Etsy.  I followed Lorna's link on her blog to Ikaprint so she should get a little commission off my order.  More than one way to support a blogger/designer. ;-)

Second on the purchase list was from Cindy of Stitchin' At Home, also another Canadian quilter and now good friend of mine.  She lives even closer to me than Lorna does, just 'up the lake' a ways, maybe a couple hours?  For Buzzin Bumble Lara's Crafted Appliqué blog hop, Cindy designed her own pattern and did such a sweet little quilt.  Then she decided to offer her design for sale on her Craftsy pattern store!  This is her first 'for bucks' pattern. And uh, it's just over one buck you guys!

Love her fabric choices - used with permission

Third is my friend Beth, at Cooking Up Quilts, who is, like my good friend Tish, a West Virginia gal.  We met during the New Bloggers Group last summer, and got to know each other better through a mutual friend, Julie at Pink Doxies.  We got to know each other even better through the Craftsy blog hop that Julie and I hosted in February, as well as through some email conversations that occurred following her wonderful linky, Main Crush Monday.  See how linking up, or joining in a hop can bring you new friendships?  Love that.  Beth has some lovely patterns.  It was a hard decision!  I chose Floating.

My favourite colour combination - used with permission

I've bought patterns over the years from independent designers; I am a firm believer in supporting them.  However, having this gentle reminder and encouraging others to remember to support designers and bloggers was a terrific idea.  Buying something through a blogger's Craftsy affiliate link is another way to show someone a little love....which brings me to this:  can I ask each of you a favour?  Because I've had more than a couple of orders from friends and even a family member NOT get credited or tracked to me, can you shoot me an email if you do order through my Craftsy link?  I don't need specifics, just an order # and then I can be sure that it went through me.  This has been going on now for nearly 6 months, so I'm concerned, since these are only the orders I know about; how many will I never know about?

Speaking of Craftsy, who I do love, despite this glitch, which I hope will be figured out asap, the pattern for Blue Skies & Sunny Days is about to launch through my Pattern Store!  You can bet I will have it on sale for the launch, and you can also bet there will be a giveaway or three.  Should be this Friday.  Eeep!

Linking up with Let's Bee Social.

May is for Makers

The original post for this topic can be found at LRstitched.  I think Lindsey makes a great point, and one I support wholeheartedly.

In a nutshell, she is reminding us to support each other.  It's lovely to get things for free, yes, and as a bargain hunter extraordinaire myself, I proclaim my love for freebies.  There are several freebies right here on my blog, with more to come.  Why can't I find more free time, huh??

I have not been purchasing each week from a different independent designer, as Lindsey, and many others who have jumped on this wonderful crazy train, are.  However, I would like to point out a couple of fairly recent purchases from indie designers that I have made:

In September, I bought the pattern for Quilting Jet Girl Yvonne's Triangle Transparency, available here from Craftsy.

and then made my own version in March, which I call Radiance.  You can read the flimsy post here.

This is going to nephew #2, Aidan, but I am going to add to the top and bottom so it will keep him warm from toes to neck!

Could I have figured out the measurements and HSTs math by myself?  Sure.  However, I decided to support Yvonne (she may also have had a sale, just sayin') as she's been such a supporter of my blog, always commenting (I have no idea how she flies around to so many people, leaving meaningful comments so you know there was no skimming going on when she reads, and then designs and writes her patterns, and is co-hosting another New Bloggers Blog Hop this summer, and quilts, and does yoga....)  Oh! And writes tutorials too from time to time, one of which, her how to bind a mini-mini, I was happy to use for my first mini-mini. Thanks Yvonne!

In December I bought Meadow Mist Designs Cheryl's Outlined Plus pattern, available here from Craftsy.  Cheryl is another one of the 'hive mamas', like Yvonne, and is also once again co-hosting the blog hop this summer, such a worthwhile wagon to hop onto.  Last June I pattern-tested for Cheryl, which was a great experience, and I took part in her Midnight Mystery, such fun.  The Midnight Mystery was free and all the directions can be found on her blog.  For pattern-testing, not only did I get Grande Scrappy Tiles free, but Cheryl let me pick 3 other patterns from her gorgeous designs!  Cheryl also somehow makes time to visit and comment on my blog on a regular basis.  That warms my heart.
So when Cheryl published Outlined Plus in December, I bought it.

I haven't made it yet, oh but I will.  Cheryl also spent a TON of time writing a Pattern Writing Blog Series, which has a wealth of invaluable information and guidance.  Thanks so much Cheryl!

Another blogger for whom I have pattern tested is Joanne at Canuck Quilter.  She took me on as a newbie pattern-tester and barely a year-old blogger, back in the summer of 2014, and we quickly became friends.   Thanks so much for your trust and friendship Joanne!  So this week I decided I would support her by buying her latest release, Blaze from her pattern store on Craftsy.

I love designs where a block is superimposed over another block or design.  Her quilt Star Steps, which was the one I tested, is similar.  Here is my version which I called Watercolour Steps.

Speaking of steps, here is a glimpse of my current project, Fairy Steps, a wheelchair-size lap quilt for my aunt in England, as requested by my mum.

Isn't that "Quilters" bookmark just too adorable? A gift from Lara, made using her Crafted Appliqué technique

In other news, Rocco is feeling better, chomped on his Nylabone for a bit two days in a row now.  :-)

He gets his staples out next Tuesday.  Yay.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone, a long one for those of us here in Canada.  I hope to get caught up with my RSC projects, and finish my aunt's lap quilt. Oh, and finish writing up a pattern of my own, for my intrepid pattern-tester, Tish's husband!  See his fabric choices here.

Remember Craftsy is having a great sale on classes this weekend too!  All their top ones are 50% off.  I hope also (what's one more item to the weekend list, right?) to watch Christina Cameli's Wild Quilting, which I got when it first came out and still haven't watched, and yep, it's on sale! Stay tuned for that review post.

One last reminder of the giveaway, on until this Sunday, for a signed copy of Crafted Appliqué, Buzzin Bumble Lara's new book and the pattern for the dogs/cats pillow I made.  Go here to see what you have to do!

Linking up with
Confessions of a Fabric Addict