SUNDAY MUSINGS

Things are slowly but surely coming together at the shop. We had a painting day yesterday.

Our foreman just sat on his quilt barking out orders : )

a little sampling of what I will be carrying

cute buttons are hard to find in town so I've been on the lookout

speaking of cute!  This is one of my store models. We have a photo shoot pending..........

and I finally made Cindy's block for the mid century modern bee. She is making a quilt for her newest grand daughter, and asked for book blocks.

Enjoy your Sunday!

It seems a little dust has settled here since I last posted. However no dust has landed on me!  It's been hair straight back these last couple of weeks.  I've been busy working, sewing, knitting, and sourcing out suppliers : )  Oooooh the goodies I'm going to have in the shop!

First things first tho. I made a spelling bee block for Lisa. Can you guess?

 I had no spider fabric in my stash (ack!) but I had ants. 'Spider' was one of the words she wanted for her quilt

My living room has boxes and boxes of yarn. More is expected any day and it's fun to see!

I'm always inspired by samples when I go into shops so I've been working on a few.  Zauberball is a sock yarn that I fell for years ago. There is so much more you can make than just socks : )  But wouldn't they be fabulous?

.........and the colours !

Also, I have been working on a 'river rock' scarf with wool from Smith and Ewe. I love her yarns and she's local too

I am off to have coffee with Carol. She's knit me a couple of samples for the shop and I am ever so grateful. Thanks Carol!

linking up with Wool on Sundays

ACCESSORIES

The other day, this cute little 'cotton and steel' print came into the shop and right away I knew what I could make from it.  Being organized is not one of my strong points. I tend to thrive on chaos! Anyway, I can never find my knitting needles when I want them, so I decided to whip up a needle holder for myself. Years ago, I gave my mother one so I used hers as a pattern.  It's simple, but will do the job.

The little sheep. Seriously : )

There is room for 12 sets. If I can find that many matching pairs, I'll put them away...........

I've had this trim in my stash for a very long time. I thought it was just right for the ties.

Many of you have asked how plans are coming for the new yarn shop.  I am happy to say very well!

I have 3 big orders on the way and am working on a fourth.  It's exciting!

No website yet but I do have a Facebook page that I invite you to visit.  Knit2 Yarns

Thanks for stopping by and happy stitching !

PATCHWORK CITY -- MONTH 6

First off I have to say thank you to all of you who took the time to comment and e-mail me after my last post.  I tried to reply to every one that I could. Some of you have no e-mail address on your profile, so I couldn't reply, but thank you so much! It's been a roller coaster of emotions this week : /

This month marks the half way point of our block of the month.  Time sure flies when you're having fun !

This pinky red was nice to work with during the dark month of January : )

......and these orange blocks sewed up quick as there were no templates to fiddle with

Here they are all sashed and tidied up.  For those of you quilting along with me, your blocks will be popped into the mail this afternoon.   Enjoy!

A BIG ANNOUNCEMENT

Where to start. This is a blog post that is not easily written. I've sat down more than once to write it, but just couldn't find the words....

I have so many emotions going on inside me right now. After nearly 14 years of working at Katja's Quilt Shoppe, I am resigning.  This is a decision that didn't come easily.  Working there has been a lot of fun and a great challenge.  Katja has been so amazing to work for and I will truly miss her and my co-workers.  Having said that, I'm not going far.

In my last post I mentioned a project that was both exciting and terrifying.  Just a few doors down from Katja's, a retail space has become available and I have leased it.

I'm opening a yarn shop !  Knit2 will open it's doors early spring and I am so excited !
The knitters in town, me included, travel quite a distance to buy yarns we can't get here. So many people have expressed their wishes for a yarn shop, so I thought "why not?"

Things are coming together and I'm officially in freak out mode.  To settle my nerves, I've been knitting of course.  I want to open with samples to inspire : )

a finished pair of work socks that my daughter wants SO bad

Just a little sampling of some of the yarns I will be carrying. My goal is to support local artisans as well as those from farther abroad.  Suppliers have been sourced and meet-ups arranged.

Now comes the fun part of designing the space.  Oh the possibilities !  I'm so looking forward to showing you before and after photos  : )  Squeeeeeeel

This huge project will be a window display.  I want to make sure people know it's a yarn shop : )

Thanks for reading today.

 If you are local, do you have a favourite yarn?  Is there a particular one you think I should know about?  Let me know in the comments or e-mail me the info.
Also, I hope you will pop in and say hello !

A JANUARY FINISH

It's a small finish but a finish just the same.  This little pillow was for no other reason than I wanted to make it : )  I really love how it turned out

  A few weeks ago, I asked hubby if he would make me some ginormous knitting needles for a project I had planned.  I came home from work the other day and they were standing by my chair !

They are 5 feet tall

Here I am knitting a swatch.  I've taken on a project that is both exciting and terrifying at the same time.  More on that in the coming days/weeks.

It's so fluffy and soft.  Reminds me of Pavlova........minus the fruit : )

I'm linking up with Granny Maud's Girl for selfish sewing
and Finish It Up Friday and
wool on Sundays

have a lovely week-end

SPELLING TEST

This year I have pared down my sewing commitments to two groups.  One of them is a Spelling Bee group that I just couldn't resist.  I love words on fabric and sewing words into quilts sounded even better.  This month Elizabeth is piecing together a poem with our help.  I offered the words 'woman' and 'man'.  The W was a bit of a challenge, but turned out ok I think

After the first few letters it was easy.   Improv piecing is kind of fun : )

Elizabeth wants all shades of pink/red and light backgrounds.  I thought this little print made the perfect background for this word, and it's been in my stash for a long time. Good thing fabric doesn't go bad

Once I was on a roll, I pieced a few letters for a little project I'm working on for myself

It's going to be a fun year seeing what other words I have to piece.

Enjoy your week end!