Bat in the Moonlight Stained Glass Lap Quilt

Finished Bat in the Moonlight Stained Glass Lap Quilt

I started this quilt a very long time ago, so I’m afraid I don’t have many work-in-progress photos, and none of making the quilt top itself.

It all started when I was in Vancouver at Dressew and they had fusible narrow bias packages on sale for $0.99. Since these normally sell for between $18-30 per package depending on where I looked, I scooped up a bunch in black and a few in gold and knew I’d use them… eventually.

From there, I started thinking about stained glass quilting, something I haven’t really seen much of since, but I suppose was a little micro-trend in quilting just long enough for me to get ideas. (I expect that $20/package for the bias might have something to do with the trend falling out of favour!)

Gothic Chaos Quilt

The top corner of my gothic chaos quilt

Instead of “Victorian Crazy Quilt” which this style is is most commonly called… I’m calling this my Chaos Quilt – and it is a very, very long time coming.

I actually started this many years ago, collecting the scraps from all of my fanciest projects – the corsets, the costumes, the fancy dresses, the crafts. I opted to focus nearly entirely on a darker colour scheme, partially intentionally, but also partially by opportunity since that’s what I most commonly sew with anyways, and that’s what would be left over. I collected velvets, velveteens, silks, satins, silk-like polyesters, brocades, sheers (including some fishnet, netting, and lace), flocked fabrics, and a few other fabrics added into the mix when I thought I needed a little more contrast to help the showstoppers shine a bit brighter. Each fabric in this project reminds me of a previous project…

Courtesy masks

A huge order of 18 adult-sized fabric courtesy masks and 3 child-sized mask for a good friend of mine

Like so many people during the covid-19 crisis, I was laid off in March. Unlike so many – I haven’t been making sourdough bread (yet!) but I have been making courtesy masks. I started off with a number of different possible patterns – trying five different ones out, and finally settling on two patterns that I merged together and altered to give more room between my lips and the fabric.

This was the best design for both my housemate and myself, and I had a good supply of round elastic cord for ear-loops. I also tried ties, but ultimately with long hair… I hated them for me. Others seem to like them which is awesome though, and they’re definitely more adjustable for a variety of faces/heads.

Once I made five for her (two shaped, and three of the pleated style which she also really liked) and five for myself (all shaped) I posted them on Facebook and I had a friend ask if I’d be willing to make some for her as well… and then another… and another… and another…

Fabric shopping in YYC and YEG

Fabricland on Gateway in Edmonton

I’ve posted a few photos from various fabric shopping trips over the past few weeks on my Instagram account, and I have a few more to share from different places. Most of these I’ve reviewed before, so I’m mostly sharing photos today… (YEG – Edmonton, YYC – Calgary)

Creative Stitches & Crafting Alive 2016

I only got a few things at the 2013 Creative Stitches show

I’ve written in the past about the Creative Stitches & Crafting Alive trade show… in the past I really enjoyed the show, but over time it became less about sewing, and more about scrapbooking. Originally there were a number of free-to-attend classes and workshops, along with a few paid all or half-day classes… then it seemed to move to free “classes” that weren’t much more than sales pitches, and more paid classes. The vendors also seemed to shift away from the good out-of-town fabric and notion stores I adored (Gala Fabrics from Victoria, Great Notion Supply from Abbotsfort/Surrey, etc) and had more of the regular “women’s show” trade show vendors… less interesting to me.

So for several years I haven’t bothered to attend.

All the same… there is a class on redwork at the Calgary show this time around, as well as a few others, and I thought I’d share it to my local readers.