Creative Stitches and Crafts Show Calgary

The Creative Stitches and Crafts Show was held just in time for winter! Yesterday it started softly snowing and it continues today. Nothing says crafts like winter :-) Mom and I enjoyed bobbling about, even though the show is mostly aimed at quilters. There was so much fabric, and I managed to resist buying any despite often deep discounts. There were some lovely art quilts on display, including a "Crow Tea Party" that I know Magic Love Crow would like! Fortunately there's a picture on Flickr, as picture taking was not allowed. All the new sewing machines there were amazing, especially the Brother Dreamweaver XE. It lets you trace a drawing right into the machine and get stitching right away. You can design your own stitches too! There was something fascinating about watching it work away - one could easily fire it up and do something else. The cost is prohibitive though - it costs the same as a decent used car. There was a scrapbooking section and a crop corral. Again, I didn't buy anything here as nothing caught my eye. I was really surprised at that. Usually I go a little crazy when it comes to paper. But I did cave and bought two beautiful balls of yarn called "Marble" dyed in blue, purple and green. I want to make something special with it, like a shawl or maybe a hat and scarf set. We'll see!

Nice Needle Tools

Here's a post that I saved as a draft back in July!

One thing that has always interested me are nice needle tools. It seems a shame to have to make do with cheap plastic bits and bobs. When my great aunt passed away ten years ago, I thought I would find something fun in her old sewing basket. It would seem plastic bits and bobs existed in the 50s too.

Searching online was fruitless. When I did find nice needle tools, they tended to be made from sterling silver and really $$$!

Quite by chance, I found a cool little store called The Stitcher's Muse in Nanaimo. I couldn’t have missed it - because it was conveniently connected to our hotel. It was everything any crafter would want in a store - cozy and packed to the gills with everything for lace tatting to hardanger.

Had I been employed at the time, I would have bought more than the three things below - a magnetic needle holder, a needle case and a mother of pearl embroidery winder. Perhaps it's just as well to have a reason to go again.

Bird Humour

Just testing out the new official Blogger apply - the unofficial one I used to use had ads. Anyhow, I am alive and hope to reconnect with my online friends!

If there's one thing Muffin loves, it's bread. He'll slice through a bread bag in seconds!