Quilting Up North

In Northern Alberta there is an oil town called Ft. McMurray. The list of reasons for going to Ft. McMurray is short- to make money. People from all over the country and probably North America come to Ft. McMurray to make their tidy little fortune working in the oil sands, or 7-Eleven. Even gas station attendants make $18-$20/ hr. Sounds tempting, n'est pas? Well, there is a bit of a trade off. Like the freeze your ass off temps, the lack of stuff to do, and the dismal man-made landscape.
Ft Mac is smack dab in the Boreal Forest and rests beside the point of two converging rivers. The natural landscape is stunning. Unfortunately there is not much that is "nice" or "interesting-in-a-good-way" about the town. I don't want to dump too much on Ft. McMurray as there is a community of people that live there, but even they admit that it isn't much of a place to call home.
I visited the Northern Alberta town recently to visit my Mum. She is not an oil worker, but makes more than she ever has in her life as part of the management team at a major Canadian discount retailer in the shopping mall. She works long, hard hours and earns every penny of that salary.
While she had to work I found my little oasis in an otherwise culturally deserted town. I found Suzy Q's Quilt Shop by doing some online research. All I came up with was the name and address of the shop, not even a photo. This shop is located in the downtown core and has a very unassuming store front. Also, it was a short walk from my Mum's place-though my Mum did offer to leave work and drive me there. Of the seven days in Ft. Mac I was at Suzy Q's three. Here is a tour of the shop:

I especially love the way the dragonfly's wings are stitched.

Quilting Kits

Natural Resources

Wool for needle felting, spinning, wet felting. Suzy Q's also has yarn and other knitting supplies, embroidery patterns, and beads.

This is the owner. She called this machine her "baby".

The ample workspace. My stuff is the second table from the right. I brought my knitting to work on.

I actually really liked this fabric. I am very attracted to orange and green. This fabric went 50% off in the boss is away sale over Easter Weekend.

A quilt hanging out in the work room.

Some photos of my latest additions to my fabric stash. As mentioned before there was a 50% off sale on some of the fabric. The fabric I really liked was included! What luck!! On Saturday everyone got a plastic egg with an additional secret discount tucked inside. My additional discount was 15%. This lot of fat quarters only cost me $22. A steal!!!

I adore the colour and pattern on this fabric. I picked up two versions of it. First of all I am attracted to circles and secondly I am am attracted to leaves.

Well, that concludes my tour of Suzy Q's Quilt Shop in Ft. McMurray, Alberta. Happy quilting and crafting.

Did You Know That You Can Zibbet?

What is Zibbet? It is a new marketplace to sell your handmade goods online. Currently this rad new site is in its infancy and this is just the perfect time to get in on it. I find Zibbet to be an incredible place to sell my buttons and I was able to take advantage of a great promotion on a premium account. For $7/month I get unlimited listings and no commission is taken on my sales. You can stock up your shop without any fear of what's to come when you open your bill at the end of the month, it is always the same! Also, the team at Zibbet is really tuned in to what the sellers want and work hard to meet those needs so your shop can be all you want it to be. Grab a premium account for yourself while it is still $7/ month because in a couple of weeks it is going up to $15/month.

Show and Tell

I am taking a break from crocheting madness and nursing my crochet-wrist injury to finally write in the old bloggeroo.

I find the crafting and art community so supportive...thank goodness. What a great bunch of peeps. Just a little effort seems to return so many rewards when it comes to putting yourself out there as a crafting artist.
A couple of weeks ago I took advantage of the free advertising on Craigslist to direct folks to my etsy site...okay so it didn't garner any sales yet, but a few people contacted me. Some with advice, others with interesting offers. This has lead to my first showing at a real life studio! How cool is that. I am a little nervous-okay a lot nervous and pretty excited...also I have had to do battle with my "depression thoughts". Wanna know what they were? Stuff like "this stuff is not as good as the other people's, my stuff will never sell, do I really have a talent for this?" and on and on and on. I know, what a downer. Mostly though I can manage to be excited and proud.
So I have been busting my hump because the lovely woman who is opening her studio and gallery loves my crochet hats and necklaces...did I have any in stock??? Sure! (a little fib). So consequently I have this wrist injury, but six lovely hats that I want to keep for myself!!!
Studio Nine Gallery is in Leslieville (1400 Queen East, Toronto). This husband and wife team have a shop, teaching space, studio space, and a kitchen in a beautiful old home. It is a wonderful concept and she is so transparently passionate about what she is doing. I am honoured to be a part of it-even in some small way. So tell your friends and tell your friends friends and your friends friends friends to get there tushies on down to Studio Nine to have a gander at the selection of fine arts and crafts and maybe even take a class.

http://www.studioninegallery.com/