I was reading all about the recent Toronto Sewing Blogger Meetup and I thought, we should do that in Montreal! Who’s in?
I was thinking it would be nice to meet on a Saturday afternoon, grab coffee around 1 p.m and hit the fabric shops on Saint-Hubert: Effiloché, Couture-Elle, Rubans, Boutons and more (or less, if everyone finds what they need right away). Montreal has some great fabric shops, but there is so much to choose from that it can be overwhelming, at least for me. I need a second opinion. That could be you!
But when? My schedule is just crazy, but the following dates would work. Do you have a preference? Let me know in the comments, or contact me directly.
April 20
May 18
May 25
I know some would prefer a Sunday, but most of the shops are closed that day.
And of course, out-of-towners are welcome and having a blog is entirely optional. If you are worried about language, don’t. All the shop clerks will speak both English and French.
Si vous êtes francophone, soyez la bienvenue. Je serai heureuse de converser avec vous dans la langue de votre choix. Je blogue surtout en anglais (question de paresse), mais je suis complètement bilingue (à part quelques coquilles ici et là).
So who’s in?
Update: The Sewing Meetup will take place on May 25. Read more here.
At least I think the last one is Turks & Caicos. There are a couple solids in similar colours on the website.
It’s just in time for Easter and the colours just scream spring. It’s perfect timing as well. I bought some small toys for the kids for Easter – we don’t like giving too many treats. Now there is something for me from the Easter bunny too. Fun!
Now what to make… Zip bags? Something for the baby? The diamonds would make some pretty spectacular quilt binding. I’m going to have to think about this.
Just recently, the very friendly Dorienne of Double Decker Fabric contacted me asking if I’d like to host a fabric giveaway for my readers. Would I ever!
Double Decker Fabric is a Canadian online business that Dorienne runs near the Rocky Mountains of Alberta. She has some very nice quilting cottons in gorgeous bright colours. These are great for modern quilting but would also work really well for craft projects and kids’ clothing. She has some fun prints but also solids and geometrics. Overall, a really nice, modern selection.
Double Decker carries lots of bright, colourful, modern fabric.
It’s so exciting to see some more modern quilting fabrics available in Canada! No?
The Give Away
The Prize
Dorienne has generously provided the following collection of 5 fat quarters. These are from the new Safari Soirée collection by Birch Fabrics and are all 100% organic! (I love organic fabrics.)
The winner of the Double Decker Fabrics Give Away Prize will win 5 fat quarters from the Safari Soirée collection by Birch Fabrics.
How to Enter
All you need to do, is leave a comment on this blog post letting me know what you would do with the fabric if you won.
The Rules
I’ll pick one winner at random, and Dorienne will send the winner the Safari Soirée fat quarters. Please make sure you leave a valid email address when you comment so that I can get in touch with you, if you win.
The contest closes on April 2nd, 2013 at 12pm (noon) EST.
I’ll announce the winner here on my blog.
So, what would you do with these fun fabrics? Let me know in the comments.
Note: I will be sharing the email address of the winner only with Double Decker Fabrics for the sole purpose of getting their prize delivered. No other email addresses will be shared.
The internet is abuzz with talk of Google Reader shutting down. If you’ve been using Google Reader to follow me on this blog, and are looking for a replacement, here are some alternatives.
What Is Google Reader?
Google Reader is an online RSS reader. It lets you add blogs and websites to a list that you manage. Whenever those sites add new content, it shows up in Google Reader. You can categorize the list of websites into groups. That way you can just read the types of articles you want to, when you want to. I use Google reader and have a “sewing” list, a “world news” list, a “silly news” list, etc.. It helps me prioritize my reading when I’m short on time. I often ignore the “silly news”, for example.
What Is an RSS Feed?
Most blogs, including those that use WordPress (like this one), Blogger and tumblr, produce an RSS feed automatically. These feeds contain either entire articles (blog posts) or article summaries – the website owner controls what shows up in the feed. You can subscribe to these feeds and be notified whenever your favourite blogs and websites add new content. In order to subscribe, you need an RSS feed reader (sometimes called a feed aggregator). This can be an online tool like Google Reader, or a software application on your computer or mobile device.
How Do I Subscribe to The Finished Garment?
You can get the RSS feed link for this blog here: http://finishedgarment.ca/feed/
Just copy this link and put it into the RSS reader of your choice.
Don’t have an RSS Reader?
Here are some options.
Feedly is a nice, intuitive RSS Reader that lets you see your blog subscriptions in your web browser, or on your iPhone, iPad or Android phone.
Flipboard is a slick RSS reader for iPhone, iPad and Android phones. You can’t use it on a desktop computer though.
Reeder is a good tool if you are a Mac user. It has apps for iPhone, iPad and Apple computers.
Most of the above tools have a quick easy way to sync your Google Reader account with their app or service. Google Reader will be shutting down in July 2013. If you switch before then, you will be able to take your existing feed list with you quite easily. That means that you won’t have to enter each feed into a new application manually. So make your choice before July to save yourself some headaches.
Prefer to Use a Social Network?
You can also find The Finished Garment on the following social networks.
