Fabric Finds From New York City

The first full day I was in NYC, I hit the fabric shops. In the garment district, there is an entire city block (both sides of the street) of fabric and sewing shops. So much to see and buy! There were also a few others scattered around the city that I had read about and made sure to stop by.

My favorite fabric and sewing stores I visited in New York were: Mood Fabrics, Diana Fabrics, The City Quilter and Tender Buttons.

I was pleasantly surprised by the prices of the fabrics (or at least the fabrics I was interested in). The most I paid for anything was $12/m, and many of the shop workers were willing to negotiate. I wish it was that way in more Canadian fabric stores. Here is what I found:

Coral-patterned silk with coordinating silk lining. I was hoping to whip this into a dress to wear to my friend's wedding but that has since passed.

Teal and coral floral rayon, likely to be sewn into a top.

Ivory coloured floral lace to play and experiment with.

Large geometric print cotton for a dress or top, or maybe both!

Brown leather remnant for a wristlet and orange leather for a new purse.

I started planning my newest quilt project at the City Quilter and this is what I have so far. I'll have to add another fabric or two to make it a tad more balanced.

I bought more fabric that I thought I would. I'm getting better at not buying fabric unless I have a specific project in the works. But one thing I was hoping to find in NYC was cute and happy sewing notions (e.g. clipper scissors, unique rulers, pins, etc.) but all I found was a needle case!

Handmade marbled Fimo needle case by Off the Grid Designs

New York Trip Highlights

Finally getting around to posting about my trip to New York City, 2 months later. Where to start? I could tell you about the awesome hotel we stayed at, or the coffee shop nearby that we visited everyday (sometimes twice a day!). Or I could bore you with details of the usual tourist traps: Staten Island, Top of the Rock, Broadway, Yankees Stadium, etc. Instead, I'll just inspire you with a few highlights.

Brooklyn Art Library

When looking up things online to see in New York City, I learned that I needed to visit the Brooklyn Art Library and that I would love it, but I didn't quite yet understand why. The Brooklyn Art Library houses the Sketchbook Project, which is a collection of sketchbooks from all over the world. You may 'sign out' sketchbooks to view while visiting the library, but they also take smaller collections on tours around the US and sometimes even Canada. The Sketchbook Project should come to Edmonton, AB!!! ;)

After looking through a couple of sketchbooks, I was feeling inspired and decided to join the project by purchasing my own sketchbook to fill. This will be a huge creative challenge for me as painting/drawing is not my strong suit. Once my book is complete, I need to mail it back before the January 2014 deadline for it to be added to the collection. I'll let you know when it is complete because I'm sure you'll be dying to go visit it in Brooklyn, right? OR... My book will be digitized and available for viewing online early in 2014. I'll keep you posted!

Chelsea Market

It wasn't on our to-do list, but after TWO native New Yorkers recommended it, we took at trip to the Chelsea Market. This place is full of unique restaurants and shops, but lucky for me, it also hosted the I Artist & Fleas Pop-Up Shop that week. The room was packed with NYC/BK artists and designers and I easily could have spent my full travel budget in there. Highlights for me were:

• Brooklyn Charms -They had a variety of charms, chains and other treasures to create your own custom jewelry on the spot.
• Shara Porter Designs -Little wallets and bags with adorable designs screened on them.
• Black Lamb -Where silkscreening and embroidery collide!

Fabric Shopping

This occupied much of my time and deserves it's own post. Check back tomorrow to see my sweet fabric finds!

Week 11: An Heirloom Quilt

77 unique scrap fabrics,  672 - 2 1/2" squares sewn into 42 blocks, joined together with 71 - 8 1/2" x 3 1/2" rectangles and 30 - 3 1/2" squares of sashing, makes this heirloom quilt complete.

The entire time I was piecing my blocks together, I imagined having a light-coloured sashing to tie all my blocks together. When I went to the fabric store with a few of my blocks, it ended up being the navy polkadots that best complemented the wild array of fabrics.

What I enjoyed the most: Normally when I quilt, I am extremely particular with how and where I place the different fabrics in the quilt for a perfect balance of colour and pattern. With this quilt, I quickly realized that strategy had no benefit! There were too many different colours and patterns that it didn't matter where they went. I liked not having to think about it as I sewed and not having to hum and ha over the perfect layout for days on end.

Next time I would... Make sure I sourced enough fabric from my Gramma! I wasn't really sure how much fabric I was going to need until long after I had visited, so I ended up adding some scraps from my own stash. But in the end, I suppose it became a quilt composed of 3 generations of fabric scraps!

Sunday Funday: Ironing Boards

I've been working hard on piecing my quilt together, which means lots and lots of ironing! I just couldn't help but think of Brian Regan. Because of him, I will never take airports, emergency rooms, or ironing boards so seriously again.

Week 11: Piecing a Quilt

Gave myself 2 weeks for this one -it's a doozy!

Why I want to make this: Cutting and piecing together tiny blocks for a quilt is one of my favourite sewing activities. I find it extremely relaxing. This will be my 3rd quilt -I would love to do more, but it's so darn expensive to make them!

Ideas & Inspirations: Last summer, while visiting my Gramma in NB, we ended up sorting through her old fabric scraps that she had kept from various projects over the years. She remembered just about every project she had made with each fabric: a dress for herself she made in 1967, an outfit for my aunt when she was a teenager, or curtains from a previous house. I brought home a variety of small fabric pieces and vowed to someday piece them together in a quilt.

What I intend to do with said project: I'm not sure what I will end up doing with this quilt. Sadly, it may go into storage until I've got a bit more space of my own! Maybe I can lend it to a family member -I'm sure they'd be quite reminiscent as they examine each piece. 

Week 10: A Recovered Chair

This project has been a huge challenge for me. It was a tonne of work! Once I had put in a certain number of hours and made a certain number of mistakes, I had no motivation to complete it. But alas, here it is.

I loved the grey fabric that I chose but wanted to add a little punch. I found some cheap lime green floral fabric and used it to create the piping.

You can't really tell from the picture above, but there is a piece missing. There is a button on the front of one armrest, but there should be one on the left side too. This piece was the very last step in completing this epic project, but while trying to attach it -it broke! I think I'm gonna have to make friends with an upholsterer because I have no idea where to find this piece.

Have you ever lost things down in the depths of your furniture? Apparently the previous owners of my chair did. I found some cash money: a complete $4.36! Yay for coffee money!

What I enjoyed the most: I really enjoyed taking the chair apart, discovering how everything went together, and using the staple-gun to quickly put most of it back together. I thought my love of sewing would mean that stitching the chair pieces back together would be the best part. Oddly, this was my least favourite part. I'm not used to sewing in such odd 3-dimensional shapes.

Next time I would... Be sure to include all pieces when putting things back together again. There was a white batting-type layer stapled on the sides and back of the chair. I didn't think it was necessary, but turns out it helps keep the batting from falling into the frame. Who knew!?

A Whole New Life

It's been a while since I've updated and I decided to summarize what has been going on in my life.

Goodbye 9-5: Mid-April I said farewell to my 9-5 office job. This was more than a step in the right direction for my life. I'll keep it brief, but that atmosphere was killing my soul a little bit! It did make my creativity spurt out like crazy in the evenings, so that is the positive. Yes, let's focus on the positive.

Travel just for the heck of it! Never in my adult life have I been on a vacation just for the sake of a vacation. All of my time off has been to visit family -which is great but I wanted to explore this big beautiful world. The day after my job ended, I hopped on a plane to New York to see the sites with a dear friend.

Cycling through Central Park

Finding my roots: Since I was on that side of the continent, I took a quick trip from NYC to see my family in NB & NS. I consider Edmonton my home now and I love it, but there's something so healing about being in the Maritimes. I think it has a bit to do with the ocean, or being surrounded by people who have known me my whole life, or perhaps just intense feelings of nostalgia. Whatever it was, I felt like I knew who I was again.

Foggy day at Lawrencetown beach, Nova Scotia

Hello awesome new job: This has been in the works for months now, but I am absolutely delighted to say that I have begun a sweet new job with Whiteout Workshop. I've been helping produce and sell some great locally-produced silk-screened art and apparel. It's a very fun and inspiring place to be, and hanging out at shows and markets with the wonderful people of Edmonton has been a blast so far!

A new lifestyle: Working part-time and somewhat flexible hours means more crafting and blogging, right!? I sure hope so. I'm still settling into my new routine and lifestyle. I'm choosing to put the crappy commute and ultra-scheduled life behind me and enjoy doing more of what I want, when I want to do it.

Thanks for being patient with me. I'm excited to be posting again. Check back Wednesday for the long-awaited reveal of my chair project!