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! 

I can not wait any longer....drumroll please...

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Nova Scotia Fibre Arts Festival this past week!

I can't wait any longer!  I was at the official and public Pin It Draw on Sat afternoon at 2 pm. I waited until now because I think it's only right that the Fibre Arts Festival officials get a hold of the winners and that the winner should know 1st!  I'm old, what can I say.  

I am now posting the list of names and prizes they won, in part because I had a lot of calls over the past 2 days, who won the trip? Mrs P's donated a trip for two to New York City via Showcase Productions ( also an Amherst group)  in support of Karen Neary ( another Amherst connection)  and her fabulous New York Beauty quilts.  (Some of those quilts were on display last week during the festival. Hope you had time to drop in and see them.)

Please note that I may have names spelled wrong or changes may have occurred if people had to refuse a prize. The official list would be with the NS Fibre Arts Festival.  Please check with them to confirm if your name is here and you have not been notified. I may have goofed and I apologize!  

Drumroll please .....

The New York trip- Congrats to Jan Boiduk

Karen's NY, NY quilt- Congrats to Heather Kellerman

Hand Woven Scarf- Congrats to Carol Gothreau

Cowl- Congrats to Faith Drinnan

Tapestry Bag- Congrats to Tammy Goodwink

Cross Stitch Kit- Congrats to Suzanne Costin

Shawlette- Congrats to Beth Dickinson

Crazy Quilt Pillow- Congrats to Katrina Furlong

Workshop-Congrats to Gail Baker

Moccasins - Congrats to Barb Black

Baby Booties/Brooch- Congrats to Diane Champagne

Handwoven Scarf- Congrats to Carol Baldock

Like I mentioned earlier....I may not have all the spellings right so please check with the NS Fibre Arts Festival to learn more. 

Thank you to all who bought a ticket and helped to support the NS Fibre Arts Festival.  

Introducing, The Flannel & Panel Room...

The Nova Scotia Fibre Arts Festival starts on Tuesday!  Mrs Pugsley's Emporium Inc will be open at 10 am.

In order to give more room to move around in the main room, I decided to locate the flannels and panels to the back room!  

Introducing the Panel & Flannel Room...

Some panels are pinned to the wall with spares on the racks.  The flannels are in the cart.  On the right, just out of the picture, is where the Paper Pieces are hanging in an semi-organized state!  

More than hexies, the company, Paper Pieces, makes stars, diamonds and curved pieces, to name a few.  There are also different sizes of hexies now available.  Drop into the panel/Flannel room to have a browse.

More blogging to come soon! Mrs P's is also tweeting under @MrsPsAmherst 

It's here too!...

The Fall 2014 issue of Quilter's Connection magazine is here!  On the front cover is local pattern designer and free motion quilter, Karen Neary's spectacular New York, New York quilt! ( kind of poignant to be posting on today- Sept 11th ) 

Peeking out from behind those magazine covers is the actual quilt.  That's a really proud feeling for this quilt shop owner.  It's pretty neat to have both these on display together!  Remember, you could win this quilt for $10 on the NS Fibrefest draw in Oct or now....with the magazine, you have the ability to make one like it! 

It's here!...

This lovely quilt by local and internationally renowned quilter, Karen Neary, is actually here at Mrs P's! 

It's also the cover quilt of the Fall 2014 Quilter's Connection magazine....meaning that the pattern to create this luscious, New York Beauty quilt is inside.  The magazine is travelling at Canda Post speed towards Mrs P's and hopefully the print copies will be here next week.  If you do not want to wait or do not have access to this great CANADIAN quilting magazine! it can be downloaded from their site. www.quiltersconnection.ca    http://quiltersconnection.ca ( not sure the links will work but you can copy and paste if necessary) 

 

Their magazine cover!  It's so pretty. The coolest part is, Karen has graciously allowed this quilt to be part of the prizes to be awarded in the Nova Scotia Fibre Arts Festival Pin-It draw.  The tickets may be purchased at a variety of fibre places around town ( and yes, Mrs P's has the tickets for sale :) 

The money raised goes back into The FAF ( Fibre Arts Festival) budget.  Tickets are $10 each but you may also win one of 11 other prizes.  The quilt  is one of 2 Grand Prizes!  The other is a trip for 2 to New York City via Showcase Production Tours ( also from Amherst).  You will stay at the Muse Hotel and I think it is tour C-1 that you are on.  www.showcaseproductions.ca and pick the tour, Christmas on Broadway.   Mrs Pugsley's Emporium Inc is very happy to offer this as a prize on the ticket.

 http://www.showcaseproductions.ca/Theatre%20Tours/2014%20Tours%20PDFs/Brochure-Christmas-on-Broadway-2014.pdf

The tour is in recognition of Karen's other project, a new book! It's a book on New York Beauty Blocks and it's cover will look like this...

Mrs P's is hoping to launch this book as part of the FAF 2014 celebrations.  It really depends if the book is back from the printers and it up to the publisher not the author, so we live in hope it will work for FAF. 

I want people to understand, Karen has put a lot of hard work and energy into making all these things happen together to give the Nova Scotia Fibre Arts Festival, this kind of publicity.  Writing a book on any scale is a daunting project, but to make a pattern book and have people actually make your samples and give you imput back to help tweak the pattern for the book and still keep it on track is amazing.  There's also the, 'wow, look what I created', but because you are under contract to the book publisher, you cannot show your work!   To a hugely talented artist as Karen, that had to be the worst part.  

In addition to these accomplishments, Karen had a run on Craftsy.com ( an American based crafting site) where her Rhythmic pattern was the number one seller for a week or more.

You certainly need to be a dedicated business women to create this much hype and deliver! 

Kudos Karen- you have worked hard this past year and hopefully this fall, all that hard work will deliver your book when you want it!  

I'm so looking forward to the fun and creativity in the book!  

Yes, this post is all about singing Karen's praises and recognizing what a moving force she is for both the Nova Scotia Fibre Arts Festival and the quilting world in general.  Awesome! Awesome! 

For more on this proffesional quilt designer and artist, her web site is located at www3.ns.sympatico.ca/sewkaren/

...And her quilt sparked me back to blogging, which I've been terrible at over the summer.  Mrs P's is also on twitter occasionally under @MrsPsAmherst  ... 

Be an exhibitor! ....

If you've never taken anything to your local fair or exhibition to be judged, then this post is for you.  

Exhibitions want people to come and enjoy themselves and see what has been happening in your community but they need people to exhibit their goods too!  Cumberland County Exhibition charges a modest $3 per exhibitor and you can fill your sheet up with all kinds of handiwork or just one.

Do not be afraid! All you have to do is show up at the Multipurpose building in Oxford-Sunday, August 24th (today)  in the afternoon starting around 1:30pm with your item(s) and the folks that are there will help make sure you enter in the proper classes.  

Then you wait all day Monday while the judging happens and the folks sort out all the items and display them with their ribbons.  Tuesday is when you can get back into the multipurpose building to see how you did.  If you are lucky enough to have a ribbon you can get quite giddy!  Other times, you look at your item and compare it to the prize winner and see where there are obvious things that you could do better next year.  

The sticky part is, the item will not be available to be picked up until Saturday after the building closes to the public at 8pm, although you may also pick up your item on Sunday.  If you need a different pick up date, check with the folks in the handicraft department and see if they can help.

There are over 10 sections in the Quilt Class alone to enter including; machined, group, baby panels, original designs, patchwork and more.  In the Seasonal crafts you might enter a tree skirt or wall hanging.  In Sewing there are stuffed toys, placemats, apron, clothing articles and more.  Knitting, hooked mats, embroidery and photography are all things that can be entered on the one form.  

Look around at your items you made this year and see if there is any you would be willing to exhibit!  Even if you do not have anything to exhibit this year- try to make time to check out the multipurpose building, see the exhibits, ask to see a list of classes and start planning for next year!  

Oh, I nearly forgot....prize winning for the quilt (in each section)..1st- $9.00 2nd- $7.00 3rd- $5.00 .... and you get a ribbon and bragging rights! :)  

 

Back from vacation!

I took a summer vacation for the 1st time in a long time.  I was very fortunate to have Karen Neary mind the shop while I was away.  I came home to an order all priced and set out- which was fabulous!

This line by Moda was in the order- 'The Boathouse' by Sweetwater for Moda.  It's a nautical themed fabric line and makes you think of sailing rather than beachcombing. You can almost feel the saltiness of the sea as you imagine racing along our Atlantic coast.   It's evokes the feelings of cool evenings and warm days.  Days spent enjoying the breezes off the ocean...you can hear the boats rubbing on the docks and tugging on their moorings inviting you to one more sail...

There was a special surprise in the order- the mini charm or candy square of 2&1/2 inches. It is small & full of the same charm as it's bigger siblings- just on a much smaller scale.  

I couldn't resist,...

42 squares of 'The Boathouse' laid out...Finished it would be 12 inches across the top and 14 inches long...or maybe they will be rearranged into something else....

The above pitcure shows, 10x10 layer cake, a jelly roll, 5x5 charm squares and the cute 2.5x2.5 mini charm or candy laid out on the mini charm squares.  These precuts are now currently available at Mrs Pugsley's Emporium Inc.  

You may wish to visit the Moda Bake Shop web site to see what their designers have done with the mini charms...