Showing posts with label Stamp On It Blog Hop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stamp On It Blog Hop. Show all posts

Sunday, 30 June 2013

Happy Canada Day, Eh!

Yes, this beautiful spot is the Rideau River in Ottawa
Happy 146th birthday, Canada!

If you are visiting with the Stamp On It blog hop with Sew We Quilt, welcome! Special thanks to Madame Samm and Thearica for organizing such a fun hop.

There is just something so interesting and beautiful about art than can fit on a piece of paper that is usually less than 1.5" square, don't you think?

I also find it amazing that you can send a letter across Canada, to the States or internationally for less than a dollar (well, just over a dollar for outside of Canada).
Happy Canada Day, Eh!
I used to collect stamps as a kid and I still have my collection...somewhere. I was a philatelist. I was that cool. I know you are jealous. I still can't pronounce philately, but at least I can spell it.

Quilting Detail
Since this challenge required us to have our country, currency and date on our stamp, I decided to take this opportunity to also do something from my bucket list, #10 in particular. Yep, I now have a wallhanging to celebrate Canada Day.

I wanted something very modern. My inspiration came from these stamps, but a maple leaf had to be my theme.

Even though the current cost of a regular domestic P (permanent) stamp is currently 63 cents, I chose $1 because Canada is known for its loonie and 1 is my favourite number. And yes, I now remember that the dollar sign should be placed before the 1. Um, design element, yeah, that's it. ;)
Quilting Detail
Simple quilting to emphasize the design elements. The wavy quilting on the background is for our water.

It measures 20" x 35".

Happy Canada Day, Eh!
Meets the Rideau River



So here is my Happy Canada Day, Eh! stamp quilt. And just in time for Canada Day!



Some notes about its construction:
  • The low volume background are 2" pieced equilateral triangles. Used the HexNMore ruler - love!
  • The maple leaves, letters, numbers, cancellation mark and stamp edge are machine appliquéd. 
  • Quilting is mostly with Aurifil thread (#1103, 2260, 2612, and 2630). The cream on the stamp edge is Coats and Clark because that's what I had on hand and I was running out of time. My machine threw a hissy fit when I free motion quilted with it on the stamp edge and I was very close to making an emergency drive to Kanata for the matching Aurifil. Reason prevailed thankfully because I do not live close to Kanata. I did a major clean of my machine, changed the needle, rethreaded everything and managed to finish that section without too many more hiccups. Totally fabricated conspiracy theory: You know how people say that McDonalds puts something in their fries so people become addicted? I think Aurifil does something like that with their thread so our machines don't want other threads. Just putting that out there. ;)
  • The quilt has a non-mitred facing to finish it off.
Oh, the back? I found this stamp fabric in my stash. Couldn't resist. :)
Happy Canada Day, Eh! - Back
I can't wait to see what my fellow Stamp On It blog hoppers come up with this week:
July 1

July 2

July 3

If you've made it this far, kudos! Because it's Canada Day and I'm doing a happy dance right now, I'm going to share my favourite Canadian dance moves video with you to get you going too:

Thanks for stopping by. I always appreciate the company! Hope your day is fun, full of great stamp eye candy, and fireworks!

Friday, 28 June 2013

Random Acts of Randomness

Pool hopping, splash pads, thunderstorms, soccer, forts, bike rides, and only a bit of Wii is what our summer has started out with. Love it!

Strawberry picking has become a tradition for us to do the week after the boys are done school. The strawberries are huge this year and we were done picking in no time.


Our favourite way to consume said strawberries? Dipping them in plain yogurt (or sour cream) and then brown sugar. Yum! Or just using them to apply lipstick.


There has been a little bit of sewing too. A last year-end gift, again made with Ayumi Mills' lunch bag tutorial:



The Stamp On It blog hop, organized by Sew We Quilt, started on Wednesday and it's been fun to see what others have done with this theme. Definitely worth checking out!

Here's a sneak peek of the background of my Stamp On It piece that I will be sharing on Monday (Canada Day!). I know, low volume? Me? But yes...for the background!



While I'm way ahead of the stage you see here, it's not done yet so I'm getting a little nervous. A late night or two ahead, I think.

Linking up to Alyce @ Blossom Heart Quilts for TGIFF! and Cindy @ Live A Colorful Life for Really Random Thursday (and Friday).

Hope you have a great weekend!
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