Blogathon Canada Winner

Wow! What a week! I've had the most visitors ever at my little blog and it was a treat to see all the comments you left on my Blogathon Canada post. I had fun visiting other Canadian quilting blogs from coast to coast! Thanks again to Sew Sisters Quilt Shop for hosting the blog and all the fabulous giveaways. Speaking of giveaways, do you want to hear who won the ten FQs of beautiful Kona Cottons?

It was Jan Baker, who left comment number 285 out of 287 comments. Just goes to show that it's never too close to the deadline to enter the draw! Congratulations, Jan!

I happen to agree with Jan, you can never have enough solids! Here's my Kona solids stash after I did some rainbow-order organizing. Do you have a stash of solids? What is your favourite type of solids?

Road trip to Portland!

Tomorrow morning, I'm meeting up with Amy, Sonja, and Constance, and road tripping down to Portland, Oregon for the second annual Pacific Northwest Modern Quilt Guild Meetup! Four days of sewing, socializing, classes, fabric shopping, and more (and did I mention, this is all child-free?!). I can't wait!

It's been almost exactly six months since the awesomeness that was QuiltCon and I'm looking forward to re-connecting with friends I met there! I also can't wait to meet new soon-to-be friends. I always have something to talk about with fellow modern quilters, so my usual introverted self isn't too worried about the large group! Plus, I met a bunch of these folks in Seattle last year at the first meetup between the Vancouver, Seattle and Portland MQGs. I had so much fun at that event (just check my flickr set!) and I can't wait to attend my second meetup!

If you don't know me yet and you've just found my blog, here's a picture of me with the tote I'm working on for the tote bag swap:

And here are a few facts about me:

1) I'm a SAHM to two delightful girls (ages 6.5 and 2.5)

2) I married my high school sweetheart, who I met in math class because we were both math geeks

3) Hip hop is one of my favourite musical genres (especially stuff that's easy to sing along with like "Inner Ninja" by Classified who I just learned is from Nova Scotia!)

4) I'm from Vancouver Island, British Columbia, a gorgeous island off the West Coast of BC. Therefore, I take the ferry a lot to visit family who still live on the island. I moved to the lower mainland (that's what we call the southwest corner of BC that includes Vancouver and surrounding cities) in 1995 to go to university.

5) I'm a biology geek with a BSc in Ecology. I'm also a substitute teacher so I get thrown into random classrooms to teach subjects as diverse as organic chemistry, tap dance, and Punjabi!

6) I'm the founder and president of the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild. I love my guild!

What a way to start the day!

I awoke this morning to a lovely email from Katie saying that I'd won a fat quarter bundle from Fat Quarter Shop for commenting on her Winterkist Blog Hop post. I was completely surprised because I hadn't realized it was a giveaway post and I was just commenting to say I loved her work (check out the stitching on her gnomas beard!).

Pretty nice way to start the day, eh? It extra nice because Katie is an online friend who lives close by (just a ferry ride away!) and I'm expecting to meet her in September at the VMQG retreat that Krista is organizing for the guild. 

Now comes the hard work, choosing a bundle out of all the amazing choices at Fat Quarter Shop! 

Since I won the fabric as part of the Winterkist Blog Hop, I could get some of Winterkist of my own (it's not quite available yet, but is expected soon). It would be extra special since I got to meet Monica Solorio-Snow (who is hilarious!) two weeks ago at the meet up in Seattle.

Or should I go with the newly released Bella line by Lotta Jansdotter?

 Erin McMorris's new La Dee Da collection is fun! 

It looks like Fat Quarter Shop only stocks Cynthia Frenette's Kona Modern Quilts fabric in half yard bundles, so it doesn't qualify for this prize. It's still fun to look at!

Maybe I should get a bundle of the new Kona colours to round out my collection?

And the Simpatico collection just makes me happy:

When I was searching through the list, I came across this awesome Strawberry Shortcake fabric, that took me immediately back to my childhood in the 80's! It's not available til October, but check it out:

What would you do with a bundle of fat quarters? I bought the Swoon quilt pattern awhile back and I know it's fat quarter friendly. Any other suggestions?