A Little of This and That...

Preparations are well under way at Mrs Pugsley's Emporium Inc for the Nova Scotia Fibre Arts Festival beginning Tues Oct 13th and running until Sat Oct 17th!  

Although, there is nothing in the official schedule for Mrs P's, drop in and enjoy the fabric and quilting related notions!  There are new items/fabrics, fingers crossed, that will just arrive in time for Fibrefest! 

We will also be having a draw or two, so drop in to enter.  

There are at least 2 confirmed bus tours arriving for the quilt shows on Friday, so the town should be just a hopping!  Quilt shows include, Quilting Modern Show at the town hall: Cumberland Quilter's Guild Quilt Show at the Baptist Church: Quilt Expressions at Christ Church!  New for this year, the quilt shows run on both Friday and Saturday! 

Do not forget, the Zonta Fibre Bazaar is now on the Sat from from 10am to 5pm at the Armouries. New day, new location! 

On Thursday, Oct 15th, you can create your own...Miss Fibrefest or Chilly the Snowman !  This workshop costs $60 and everything is provided including the pattern! Yes, it is hand sewing and at the end, you will have made...

Miss Fibrefest or...

Chilly, the snowman!  

Beth equally fun!  I think there is still room left in this class and if you are a bit interested, I urge you to contact the instructor directly at diannmcdonald@gmail.com for more info or to register!  

Check out the classes at www.fibreartsfestival.com  Again, if at all interested, contact the instructors directly, to see if there is room- you may be surprised and learn something new about yourself!  

Mrs P's will be open Fibrefest week as much as possible.  Officially, 10am to 5pm for Tues to Friday and 10am til 4pm on Sat but may be longer hours as requested!  

New in, Misty Fuse...  a very lightweight fusible stabilizer, great for sheer fabrics or for some appliqué.

 

And remember those blue, white and cream half square triangles from awhile ago?  

They've been percolating and now resemble this...

But as its only laid out... It may look different next week!  

It snowed again! ...spring-y fabrics...

It's been another day, well half day, of snow here in Amherst, NS, so I thought you would like to see some spring fabric that has arrived!  

Drumroll, please!

Introducing....'Spring Hare' by Lewis & Irene....

Also by Lewis & Irene is the 'Make a Wish' line...

And the Hoffman Challenge Fabric - Mandalay ( hoffmanchallenge.com ) is still available....

If you are interested in any of these fabrics, please e-mail and they can be shipped out to you! I'll be showing more of the Lewis & Irene fabric in another post and you'll be able to see more of the individual fabrics.  

Mrs P's also has notions! I thought I might be able to show some fun things of those too!

So, do you know what this is?! 

Hint...the plyable plastic discs hold something that usually gets all tangled up...and sits one on top of the other or can be separated....

Hmmm,  yes! A Bobbin Holder! 

A Stack'nStore Bobbin Tower by Clover gives a place to store up to 30 bobbins and keeps them neat.  You are also able to see the colours at a glance and, if going to a class or sewing date, take just the disc that you need!  You can also order via e-mail, the Stack'nStore Bobbin Tower to ship to you.  

Mrs P's and the 'Terrible' 2's...

Its hard to believe but Mrs P's is in 'her' 2nd year of business as a quilt shop!  That's pretty cool ! 

Thank you to all who have dropped in or emailed supporting the shop ( & me) with kind words of encouragements, gentle nudges to carry certain items and for purchasing items, no matter how small or big.  Purchases are obviously important for a shop but sometimes you just need to browse to get inspiration and that's okay, too.  I want you to feel comfortable in the shop and browse.  It's a place for you to come and enjoy yourself.  

I have also learned I like seeing what you have created!  I'm very envious of every finish but sometimes, someone will bring in a project in progress and that's really neat too. I will encourage you all to look at your 'works in progress' and try them again.  Why did you stop- you didn't like the colour choices, the blocks didn't go together as easily as expected or you got busy and forgot how much fun it is to create something yourself?  What ever the reason it got set down, I encourage you to pick it up and go a bit further on it.  

Just to put unfinished projects in perspective, Mrs P's started a Half Square Triangle (HST) blog post for you.

To make a 'proper' HST a pencil line is marked on the diagonal on one side...

A sharp pencil with a soft point is recommended.  I used a dull one, and sometimes it got hung up on the fabric and that's the 'pulls' you see on the white squares.  If you look even closer, one end took 2 or 3 lines to get to the point!  Somedays, you should just stop, but I persevered...

The one on the left shows shows the stitching a 1/4 inch from the pencil line with the lines fairly parallel.  If you look closer, you will see in my eagerness, I stitched right through the pencil line the 1st time.  I did that for 2 or 3 before, I clued in what I was supposed to be doing.  In my head- a line, whoopie!  I have something to sew on!  

The 2nd square shows another whoopsie.  On the 3rd one, parallel or 2 lines running side by side are more like converging lines and the 4th one seems to be reasonable.

Needless to say, I will continue to work on HSTs and when I am able to make them fairly proficiently, I will blog about them.  I share the above pictures so that you will realize, your quilting and piecing skills will not get better unless you practise!  It doesn't mean that I cannot do HST; it means, I am learning from my mistakes and practice is needed.  

Like in business, quilting takes patience and ground work or skills need to be worked on before the bigger quilt is made.  Take your time and enjoy quilting.  It is a wonderful way to find things out about yourself.  Being 2 isn't so terrible, as long as I keep learning!