Category Archive for ‘traveling’ at make something

Archive for the 'traveling' Category

QUILT MARKET : PART TWO

Published

on October 23, 2009

in patchwork, stitchery, textiles, the workroom and traveling

. 11 Comments

Okay, so the majority of my trip to Quilt Market was actually spent wandering around in a bit of a daze surrounded by ridiculous amounts of fabric and more quilts that you can ever imagine. Whoa. For someone who loves textiles, it’s definitely sensory overload.

Let me start by explaining exactly what Quilt Market is. It’s a huge trade show for the quilting industry that happens twice a year. The fall show is in Houston Texas, while the spring show moves around from city to city. The spring 2010 show will be in Minneapolis. The first part of quilt market is to the ‘trade only’ and all the fabric manufacturers, designers and distributers have booths where they show off all their new collections. The booths are usually filled with quilts, accessories and clothing made up from the fabrics and you can sit down and look through all the collections and place orders for your shop. Sewing machines, notions, quilt patterns, books and magazines are also represented. You would not believe all the sewing gadgets, accessories, and even lotions and potions that are represented. I was surprised to see several vintage dealers who sold fabrics, quilts and even buttons and jewellry. I treated myself to a sweet pink vintage feedsack and a few yards of an old orange floral fabric.

There is also a Quilt Festival that happens right after Quilt Market and this is open to the public. There is a huge exhibit of vintage quilts, along with quilts that have been entered into competition. The lighting was pretty awful in the convention centre and especially in the exhibit, but I tried to get photos of my favourites. It’s fascinating to see all the different types of techniques that are used in these modern quilts, including all kinds of hand painting, beading and photo transfers.

Since I was hanging out with the Soak gals, I got to tag along to their meetings with some of the designers. I got to meet (and secretly gawk at) Amy Butler, Anna Maria Horner, Heather Bailey, Joanne Figuerora, and Sandi Henderson. Each of these talented ladies were so incredibly sweet and I was just blown away with the new amazing collections and patterns they have come up with. You can be sure to find lots of their new stuff coming to the workroom a.s.a.p. I was especially charmed by Anna Maria Horner’s new line of flannels for kids – FINALLY, flannel prints that are modern and not too cutesy. Heather Bailey won for best booth design at the show and it was well deserved. I loved her wallpaper, clothes line and she even had real sod laid out. Check out her cute new patterns – Henrietta turtle and Claira & Clancy pig dolls. I can’t wait to get them in the shop.

There were so many independent quilt pattern designers at the show, but the one that stood out for me was Carolina Patchworks. In particular her Another Brick in the Wall and Golden Waves seemed like super fun quilts to make. I picked up four of her patterns for the shop and can’t wait to try them out.

I told you before I left that I had two missions – Japanese fabric and felt. Sadly I didn’t discover a good source for felt, but I hit many home runs on Japanese fabrics! I made great new contacts and ordered some unbelievably awesome Japanese prints. I was so excited about them that I completely forgot to take photographs of them, but this way you’ll be surprised and delighted when they arrive.

I do have a sneak peak for you of my favourite find – Puti de Pome. I ordered quite a few of these prints including this sweet map fabric, these cars and this border print. Of course, I also ordered some of the new echino line. I tried not to go overboard, but it was really hard.

To sum up all that – great food (not counting the convention centre food), quilt mania, inspiring designers and new fabrics and lots of J-A-P-A-N-E-S-E cuteness on the way!!

Check out part two of my slide show…

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

QUILT MARKET : PART ONE

Published

Karyn

on October 19, 2009

in delicious, the workroom and traveling

. 6 Comments

I was super lucky last weekend to tag along to Quilt Market in Houston Texas with Jacqueline and Chris from Soak. (Guess which cute bunny tagged along with me!) I’ve been curious to check out this huge trade show and quilt festival since I opened the workroom.

Funny thing is, this first post has nothing to do with the fabric or the quilts!

We left insanely early on Friday morning to catch a 6am flight. We had a stop over in Cincinnati and then got detoured to Austin because of bad weather. I actually really wanted to go to Austin, but all I got to see this time was the rainy tarmac from the open door of our tiny aircraft as we got extra fuel to make it to Houston.

I’ve never been to Texas and I was hoping for warm weather, but it was cold and rainy the whole time. I had packed my bathing suit for the trip, but didn’t even make it up to see the rooftop pool at our hotel.

One of the tricky things with traveling is finding good local food. I’ll admit that I didn’t do any research on Houston before the trip, so I certainly wasn’t prepared with any suggestions. By some chance, both Jacqueline and I spotted a cute looking restaurant outside the downtown core on a cab ride back to the hotel Friday night. I had the good sense to write down the name, T’afia, so that we could check it out online later.

Saturday night was the famous Moda dinner party. We had originally planned on going to this free dinner. After a bit of thought we made the best decision of the trip and made a reservation at T’afia instead.

If you ever go to Houston, you must visit T’afia. T’Afia is owned by Monica Pope and the focus is all local. Every Saturday morning they host a farmers market in their parking lot and develop their menus based on what’s available. It was one of the best meals that I can ever remember having. Absolutely everything we had from start to finish was delightful, including the service. It was so good that we wanted to return on Sunday night so that we could keep eating through the menu. I wanted to try EVERYTHING. Sadly, they are closed both Sundays and Mondays.

I’m listing what I had for dinner because I really don’t want to forget it.

Medjool dates stuffed with chorizo, wrapped in bacon
Butter lettuce, radicchio & cucumbers, pinenut, goat cheese, sherry walnut vinaigrette
Yaokum Co. flat iron steak, roasted sweet potatoes, miso sauce
Texas cheese selection: veldhuizen bosque blue & gruyere and paula’s hoja santa with house crackers and panforte
Beet brownie with honeycomb and blue cheese
Inwood Estates Tempranillo/Cabernet Sauvignon

Before we left, we coerced our kind waiter at T’afia to give us a list of his recommended restaurants for our Sunday night dinner. We picked a Texas BBQ joint, Beaver’s. When we met up with Heather Bailey and her husband Isaac during the day, we invited them to have dinner with us. They brought along their friends Joey and Jona of Fabritopia. My mind is a blur of what we talked about during dinner but it was super fun and filled with laughs. Heather and I both tackled the ‘Pit boss Chickwhich’ sandwich for dinner (All-natural smoked shredded chicken made sloppy with “Ring of Fire” BBQ sauce, a fried egg, crispy cornmeal onions, cole slaw and pickle) and for dessert we all shared Candied Bacon Ice Cream, Brown Butter Ice Cream and Brownie Balls (Fried brownies, peanut butter and vanilla ice cream).

I have to tell you, I would go back to Quilt Market again just for all this delicious food. That’s not to say the fabrics were not amazing. They were! The next post is all about the fabric. Check out the first slide show of my trip…

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

PARIS : LES PUCES

Published

Karyn

on June 30, 2009

in traveling and vintage

. 7 Comments

This is the last time I’m going to mention pickpocketing, I promise. Since Les Puces flea market was the scene of my pickpocketing experience many years ago, I have to talk about it one last time. I had just emerged from the Metro with my friend, Elise, into the crowded street when a guy brushed past us and ashed his cigarette onto my coat. He proceeded to apologize in french (Je suis désolé) over and over while brushing the ‘ash’ away. Needless to say when I turned around, my bag was open and my wallet was gone. I did not get to see the flea market that day, instead I visited a Paris police station.

I was nervous to visit again, but definitely felt very prepared with my impenetrable Paris tote and a ‘don’t mess with me’ face. Once we got through the crowded section of discount running shoes and knock off handbags and into the antique section, the atmosphere was instantly less tense and very charming. The market is almost like a shanty town in some parts with eccentric vendors selling all sorts of bric-a-brack and collectibles. Interestingly, we didn’t buy anything but just enjoyed all the eye candy. Besides, our favourite things seemed to be anything large, metal and over 100 pounds.

Les Puces de Saint-Ouen – Porte de Clignancourt Metro station

PARIS TOTE WITH ‘FAIRFORD’ LINING

Published

Karyn

on June 29, 2009

in stitchery, textiles and traveling

. 14 Comments

Liberty of London Summer Challenge : Project 2
Paris Tote Bag with ‘Fairford’ Tana Lawn Cotton Lining

I was determined to have a specially designed bag for our trip to Paris. The key feature being ‘impossible to pickpocket’. I was heavily inspired by the Leather Ruffle Bag by Tanaz Ghaffari. I especially liked how the bag closed with a zipper that sits under your arm as you held the bag on your shoulder. And of course, it’s hard to resist anything with ruffles.

For supplies, I decided to head to the Leather & Sewing Supply Depot (7 Vanauley Street, Toronto, ON – 416-913-4868). It was the first time that I had been there, but they have an incredible selection of zippers and I was looking for some heavy duty metal ones. I also happened to find the cool taupe-y denim that I used for the outside of the bag.

In my limited bag designing experience, I’ve found it really helpful to create a mini mock up version, in order to work out any problems with the pattern and figure out the construction. It’s a great way to test out your pattern quickly without using too much fabric. My mock up looked good but when I blew up the pattern and cut out the fabric, the bag was way more over-sized than I wanted. As I went along, I just adjusted the pattern to make it work.

The bag is lined with Liberty of London Tana Lawn Cotton in the Fairford print. I have to say that it is delightful to sew with. Every time my fingers ran against the fabric I had a little thrill. This sweet little floral goes perfectly with the denim I used.

There is a little zippered pocket sewn into the lining and inside the pocket is a special typewritten label in French. For the trip, I left my big wallet at home and only carried my snap coin purse. The snap coin purse was kept in the inside zippered pocket. Thus, any pickpocket would have to get under my arm to unzip the first zipper and then unzip another zipper to get to my money. My Euros were well protected!

I added the cutest popsicle zipper pull from Magic Pony as a final touch.

The bag is not the most refined design, but it fit all my requirements. It was big enough to carry around my camera, a sweater and anything else we needed for our days around Paris. I was also able to fit everything I bought into it while we were shopping, so I only ever had to carry the one bag. Lastly, my money was secure without me having to tape it to my body.

The last photo here was taken at Pearson Airport waiting for our flight to Paris. Perfect Bunny did join us in Paris, but this was the only shot I got of her!

PARIS : MERCI

Published

Karyn

on June 17, 2009

in gardening, i heart and traveling

. 4 Comments

Thank goodness for twitter! Without it, I never would have found out about Merci, a very new & amazing concept boutique that was just down the street from our apartment in Paris. Thanks Martina for the fantastic tip.

This was definitely one of my favourite shops of the whole trip. It is set in a beautiful three floor space that was previously a factory. Merci is a flower shop, used book store and cafe. They also sell home furnishings, clothing (men’s, women’s and children’s), fabric and perfume. If I lived in Paris, I would shop here all the time. (or I would try to move in) I loved everything they had. The shop is owned by the couple who started Bonpoint which happens to be my favourite children’s clothing shop. (mostly because I wish I could wear the lovely clothing it sells) Merci is also a not-for-profit operation, all the proceeds go towards children’s charities. Yes, this shop is incredible in every way.

My photos are not that great, I was too busy oohing and ahhing over everything. I just found this set on flickr that really shows you how drool-worthy the shop is. Her blog is also a treasure for things about Paris. Yes, I am making notes for my next trip back.

One of the things I saw at a few places in Paris were these Bac Sacs for plants. Essentially they are fabric buckets made with 100% recyclable materials. They have handles on them, so you can hang them on your balcony or wall. I think it’s such a fantastic idea and I’m going to try to make some myself.

If you go to Paris (or if you live in Paris, Elise!) you MUST go to Merci. You will see lots of pretty things (and buy some of them) and thank me.

MERCI – 111 boulevard Beaumarchais, 3rd Arrondissement, Paris

PARIS : SPACE INVADER

Published

Karyn

on June 15, 2009

in art, found, i heart and traveling

. 3 Comments

Did you have a great weekend? I did. I love coming home after a trip, settling back in and feeling freshly inspired. This week should be action packed here at make something. I’m continuing my Paris posts, introducing you to some awesome designers (for the upcoming Garden Party Trunk Show) and announcing a fun giveaway (later today)!

I’ve been collecting snapshots of Space Invader’s mosaic pixel installations for many years now. (from New York and my first trip to Paris many years ago) He’s one of my favourite street artists and I knew I’d be able to add more to my collection while in Paris, since that is where he’s from. I was pretty thrilled that I spotted eleven ‘invasions’ during our trip but I just found out that in Paris alone, there are over 763 invasions. Whoa. That means, I only collected 1.45% of them. That’s not a very high score. I hope to do better on my next trip.

Awesome video of an Invader installation here and an interview here. I have a really big weakness for mysterious street artists.

PARIS : MACARONS

Published

Karyn

on June 13, 2009

in delicious and traveling

. 9 Comments

I only ate 8 macarons while I was in Paris. (a few made it back to Toronto and I’ve just finally finished them off)

It’s kinda crazy after fantasizing about eating them by the dozen, comparing the flavours and seriously judging them from all the different famous places. Half way through the trip I got some mild food poisoning and didn’t want to eat anything for about 24 hours. During that time we passed by Ladurée and Pierre Hermé and I couldn’t even bring myself to go in and buy some for when I was feeling better. If you know me even slightly, you will know that this is alarming behaviour. I can eat baked goods and sweets all day long and often do.

That said… YUM! I’m glad I waited until Paris to try them, they are delightful. I did try them from 3 different places. One place was just a random shop to see what the difference is between a renowned macaron and a regular one. There is a definitely a difference. The fillings on the ‘regular’ macarons seems more like jam than a flavourful filling.

The first macaron I had was framboise (raspberry) from Jean-Paul Hévin who is a well known chocolatier. The other flavours I got there were various chocolate combinations and they were also delicious. The other place I tried was Arnaud Delmontel. His creations were more colourful and the flavours more varied. Unfortunately, I let these ones get a bit smushed up carrying them around and only got one good photo (the cracked pink and white macaron below). The standout flavour for me here was the salted caramel.

Hopefully next time I’m in Paris I’ll really get to enjoy the world of macarons. For now, I’m happy to finally know what all the fuss is about.

PARIS : THE EIFFEL TOWER

Published

Karyn

on June 11, 2009

in traveling

. 14 Comments

Let’s start this Paris party off with one of my favourite (and deliciously cheesy) memories of the trip. It reminded me a bit of the Audrey Hepburn movie, “Funny Face” where the three main characters each head secretly to the Eiffel Tower as soon as they land in Paris.

We actually hadn’t planned on going to see the Eiffel Tower at all. It’s located in 7th Arrondissement which is not close to anything else. I was definitely a bit surprised, but excited when Andrew suggested a cab ride to the tower after dinner on Sunday.

The timing was perfect, the sun was just starting to go down while we buzzed along through the city towards the tower. When we arrived, the sky was so pretty with pinks and blues. If you’ve never seen it in person, the Eiffel Tower is really impressive and the detailed ironwork is ornate and quite feminine up close. As we crossed over the bridge to the other side of the Siene, the tower lit up for the night and hundreds of people up on the Trocadero (meant to be one of the best views of the city) started taking photos like crazy. I wonder how many photos have been taken of this famous structure??

OFF TO PARIS

Published

Karyn

on June 2, 2009

in textiles, the workroom and traveling

. 16 Comments

I just wanted to say ‘have a good week’! We’re leaving this afternoon for Paris and we’ll be back next Tuesday. Thank you to everyone who has given me so many wonderful suggestions. I’m writing them all down in my Paris City Guide Moleskine. (I got this idea from Jeska) My camera is all charged up and I somehow managed to finish my very secure (hopefully from pickpockets) tote bag. I will have a billion photos to show you when we get back.

You might catch a tweet or two from me while we’re gone, but mostly I’m trying my best to be ‘unplugged’ for the week and eat as many macarons as I possibly can. Would anyone like to wager on just how many I can consume in 7 days?

I kinda don’t want to tell you, in case it’s all gone before I get back, but we’re expecting a shipment of Heather Ross’ Far Far Away collection this week. It’s made of that lovely double gauze cotton that is so nice to make clothing with. Yes, you can make a dress out of unicorns!

This sweet handbound notebook was given to me by Melodie using Kokka’s Eiffel Tower fabric. It’s so adorable, I don’t know if I’ll be able to use it, but I promised I would.

I can’t believe I’m actually going on vacation!

PARIS IN JUNE!

Published

Karyn

on April 2, 2009

in traveling

. 20 Comments

We’re going to Paris! Our flights are booked and we rented a cute apartment in Le Marais for an entire week. I’m excited to try macarons for the first time, eat pain au chocolat everyday and simply wander the streets of Paris with Andrew.

I would be delighted to hear any insights you have on your favourite Paris secrets. Do tell!

Of course, a special trip to France deserves some custom-made items. Top priority are – a summery dress made from white eyelet fabric, a versatile bag with pockets and zippers that will be secure from pickpocketers (It happened to me once before!) and a new strap for my camera. I’ve added these to my crafty list.

The stack of reading/viewing on my bedside table has been kept fresh with special thanks to Isabelle (Buttons), Shana (Twilight!), Paris (Julie N), and Katrina (How to improve your quilting stitch). I’m working my way through this pile as quickly as my 16 hour days will let me.