Hi friends,

It's super busy around here today, so I'm afraid I have to keep it short and sweet. That's OK, because I think that today you should go over to Yarn Harlot and read Stephanie's post "On Becoming Something."

There are many, many metaphors for life: running is one of them. What I know about both is that sometimes it's easy and sometimes it's hard, but that it's important to keep moving forward, even if you have to slow down and walk with your hands on your hips for a bit while you try not to look like you're covered in sweat and gasping for breath. (We all have days like that....don't we?)

I also know that it's important to help out the people you meet along the way. Which is why I'm going to go and sponsor Stephanie for this weekend's Run for the Cure. And why I hope you will too.

I'll see you on Monday.

Hi friends,

As promised, here's a sneak peek at some of the excitement the Creativ Festival holds for quilters, courtesy of Rita Gramsch, producer of the festival.

Things to See

There are more than 260 blocks in the Quilt of Belonging.

The Festival showcases the work of several fibre artists, including award-winning quilt exhibits from Lenore Crawford and Elizabeth Dillinger, as well asthe not-to-be-missed Quilt of Belonging (seen above), a collaborative textile work that portrays the rich cultural legacies of all the First Peoples in Canada and every nation of the world.

Things to Do
Colour and design workshops for quilters are plentiful. Enjoy quilting cool diamonds with fibre artist Kaffe Fassett (England), knitting persian poppies with Brandon Mably (England), creating fabric art with Lenore Crawford (Michigan) and turn fibre rovings into works of art with designers Norm and Gio Gaudet. Thread paint with Elizabeth Dillinger, make memory quilts with Jean Boyd or create stained glass quilts with Susan Purney Mark. If you’re a beginner quilter, make a Kaffe Fassett fabric pillow with Hyggeligt.

People to Learn From
Kaffe Fassett
This incredibly talented artist, visiting from London, England, is renowned world-wide for his colour work. He shares his vision and inspiration in frequent lecture tours, exhibitions and television appearances. He is the author of more than 12 books including Passionate Patchwork and Kaffe Knits Again.

Lenore Crawford won the 2007 AQS 'Best Wall Quilt' award in Nashville, Tennessee. Her new style of art quilting inspires others to reach outside their normal style. Lenore was the hit of our spring show and an absolute must to experience this fall.

Elizabeth Dillinger is an award-winning quilter and a rising international star. Winner of Viewers Choice for 2009 Canadian Nationals and 2nd place Award of Excellence, her work is on display in the Netherlands, featured in magazines and on TV, including Quilters TV.

For your chance to a pair of tickets and class passes to the festival (or to enter to win a book, if you live too far away to attend), leave a comment on the contest post telling me which prize you'd like.

Hello again, fellow crafters.

I'm very excited to be bringing you this special edition of Make+Do's Weekly Giveaway. As I hinted in the winner's post for giveaway #19, this giveaway is the first in a series of four, and it comes to you as a result of the generosity of the Creativ Festival organizers.

Coming to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on October 16, 17, 18, 2009, the Creativ Needlework Festival is celebrating its 22nd year of bringing crafters of all kinds together to learn, to shop, and to have fun! As the website describes it:

"Creativ Festival is… trend spotting, inspiration, new products, spectacular shopping, industry experts, conference classes, how-tos, hands-on activities, seminars, fashion & trunk shows, exquisite displays, book signings, door prizes and more!
"Here you will find fabulous fabrics, to-die-for yarns, textured papers, dazzling beads, techniques, project ideas and all the latest and greatest in equipment, tools and crafting supplies whether beginner or expert.
"Creativ Festival is your one-stop shop where you learn how to create your own singular style."

Each week for the next four weeks, I'll be highlighting one craft that will be represented at the festival – and offering the chance to win a pair of tickets AND each comes with your choice of a 3-hour class. (Conference classes start October 14.) This week, I'll be looking at knitting. Read on for more information (and your chance to enter!)

There's lots to inspire knitters (both beginners and experts) at this year's Festival. One big attraction for me is always the awesome selection of retailers, which this year will include British Yarn (UK), Fur Yarn by Paula Lishman International, Headwater Wool, PassionKnit Ltd., The Purple Purl, Romni Wools, Signatur Handknits (Australia), Spinning Wheel Alpacas, Sweaterkits...and that's not even half of it! Start saving your pennies and clear a space in your stash.

Among the many exhibits, a must-see attraction is the "30 Years of Rowan Exhibit," featuring breathtaking hand-knit garments. Many are original and date back to the year they were published – they echo the world of fashion, yet remain timeless and unique, and could still find a place in the wardrobe of today.

Jo Watson (left) and Brandon Mably (right) will both be teaching at this fall's Creativ Festival.

Workshop-wise, you'll want to check out both Brandon Mably (Kaffe Fassett Design Studio) and Jo Watson (owner of British Yarns and host of UK Ravelry Day), who'll bring British knitting techniques to share in their conference workshops. And, get inspired to knit the colours of Australia at the Signatur Handknits trunk show (free with admission!). (Check out more workshops here.)

And, when you're finally ready for a break, you can relax, sip a latte, knit and pick up purls of wisdom at The Purple Purl Yarn Café.

For your chance to win a pair of tickets and two passes to your choice of a 3-hour class, check out the festival website and tell me what you'd most like to go see at this year's Creativ Fest. Entries will be accepted until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, September 20; a winner will be posted on Monday, September 21. Unfortunately, free plane tickets aren't in my budget, but if you think you can get yourself to Toronto (and really, it's worth the trip), be sure to enter!

Good morning!

Two weekends ago I found myself at Nathan Phillips Square on a hot and sunny Sunday afternoon. I'd completely forgotten that the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition was on, so I was a bit bemused as I wandered into the maze of booths, stepping carefully to avoid the big mud puddles, relics of Saturday's thunderstorm.

Photo courtesy Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition

With more than 500 exhibitors, there was a lot to look at: paintings, photography, sculpture, mixed-media art (not to mention the ice-cream vendors, hot-dog carts and beer garden...ahem). But the booths that caught my eye were the ones occupied by textile artists. From screen-prints to subversive embroidery/fabric collage to baby bonnets knit from fine-gauge wire to rip-stop nylon, reinterpreted, there was plenty to admire and be inspired by.

Photo courtesy Kate Busby

The booth that I enjoyed the most was that of Kate Busby, a Toronto-based textile artist whose work was absolutely beautiful (that's one of her quilts, above). It takes a lot to get me excited about a quilt or a wool blanket on a hot summer's day, but the work Kate had on display had me wishing for a cold winter's night (and a spare $500 or so, but that's another matter). I particularly appreciated the interplay of colour and texture in her meticulous work, and her designs made me think of both Denyse Schmidt and the quilts of Gee's Bend. I'm looking forward to seeing where Kate's work takes her.

Did you make it to the exhibition? What caught your eye? Does your community do something similar?

Have a great day.

(And don't forget to enter this week's contest!)

Hello, crafters!

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend. I had a great adventure on Saturday: I participated in my first ever TTC Knitalong.

The organizers did a great job setting up the routes, figuring out the teams, making tote bags and badges (above) and wrangling all the knitters (50 all told!) on our city-wide shop hop.

Thanks to The Naked Sheep for this team photo!

Tina and I were on Team East, starting at The Naked Sheep* and moving gradually toward the centre of the city, to The Purple Purl, Lettuce Knit, Americo and Romni Wools. Every time we hopped aboard a streetcar the needles came out and the knitting began. It was a great day.

*One last thing: Lisa at The Naked Sheep asked me to share this exciting news with you:

An exciting celebrity guest will be visiting our store this Wednesday and Thursday! Annie Modesitt will be at the Sheep June 10 and 11. She'll be teaching classes in Combination Knitting and Modular Knitting. Each class is $60, or take two classes for just $100. There are only 5 spots left in each of the classes, so sign up soon! (Call 416-691-6320 for more details and to sign up.)

What did you folks get up to?

(Check back later today for the winner of last week's giveaway.)

Hello there,

Continuing with yesterday's theme of crafting for a good cause, today I'd like to share some inspiring words and pictures with you.

Sharon Watson of Wool 'n' Things, a quilting and yarn shop on Manitoulin Island, wrote in to tell me about a great fund-raising event she sponsored last weekend. Here's some of what she wrote:

"The Quilt is a registered charitable organization dedicated to proving emotional and physical support to cancer survivors and their loved ones. (Not just breast cancer, as it was in the beginning about 11 years ago).

I issued a challenge last year to my customers here at Wool 'n' Things, on Manitoulin Island, to make a 12-inch quilt block for this cancer fundraising project.

Myra and Sharon with the finished quilt (from www.woolnthings.org).

We had such a good response that we decided to have our own 30 hour marathon for The Quilt in order to raise more funds for this worthy cause.

Quilters of all ages got in on the fun.

Early in the spring we gathered teams of 6-10 quilters that would donate 3 hours of their time to hand quilt and seek pledges from family and friends. In the end we had 10 teams and 65 quilters registered to help out.

Sharing a laugh.

We started at 6am Friday May 22nd and worked through until midnight, continuing for another 12 hours on Saturday May 23rd. Besides having fun dressing up in various attire, our quilters were pampered with gifts, refreshments and a souvenir t-shirts during the event.

Local politicians lend a hand.

They also had to share their seats with local dignitaries and onlookers who were encouraged to put in a few stitches. Other attractions during the event were a silent and a chance auction, local musical talent and even some dancing in the street.

Look at that - three times the goal!

Our 30-Hour Marathon was a great success. Our goal was to raise $5,000, and we reached over $15,000 for our charity."

Sharon, thanks so much for telling us about this great event - it's so inspiring, and it sounds like it was so much fun. Congratulations on your success! I'm sure someone somewhere is going to get great comfort from that beautiful quilt.

(Have you participated in a community crafting event that you'd like to share? Please, send me an email (agilliland@canadianliving.com) and tell me all about it!)

Have a great night, friends.

PS Don’t forget to leave a comment on Monday’s post for your chance to win the The Unibind PhotoBook Creator Starter Kit and coupon for two free products (with free shipping) from RocketLife. This week, I’m interested in hearing about your favourite craft to take on a road trip.

Hi there,

I spent the summers between my years at university working at Fort George National Historic Site in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont. I loved getting all togged up in period clothing (reproduction, of course). I wasn't much of a seamstress back then, but I was fascinated by the different pieces of my "uniform," and I loved trying to figure out how each one was pieced together, and thinking about how long it would have taken to make a skirt or a shirt – or a corset! – in the days when everything had to be hand-sewn.

So, imagine my delight when my friend Erika (of the Friends of Fort George) emailed me a notice about an upcoming historical costuming workshop. Scheduled for Saturday, May 30, from 9 a.m. 'til noon, workshop attendees will learn all about the ins and outs of getting dressed back in 1812.

Red coats – the height of fashion! (Thanks to the Friends of Fort George for the image.)

Here's a bit more detail:

"The 'Once More Into The Breeches' costume workshop is a chance to learn about the clothing worn by Niagara townsfolk in the early nineteenth century. The 1812 Bicentennial’s Committee has organized this event...as part of the preparation plans for the celebration of 200 years of peace between Canada and the United States.

Sheridan Alder will describe women’s clothing, how it was made and where it was worn, while Peter Twist will cover men’s clothing.

In the expectation that many residents will wish to take part in the celebrations, information will also be given on pattern sources and available seamstresses and tailors for the craft-minded and the craft-challenged. A fashion show of costumes will help you choose a suitable outfit.

Refreshments will be offered by the Friends of Fort George. Everybody is welcome. Free admission. Please register with Leah Wallace at (905) 468- 3266 and don’t forget to visit the 1812 Bicentennial’s website."

The Fife & Drum Corps: snazzy dressers. (Thanks to the Friends of Fort George for the image.)

It's sure to be a fascinating morning. And while you're learning about clothes, why not send the rest of your family up to check out the goings-on at Fort George ? (Just make sure that you rejoin them in time to check out the gift shop!)

Have a great day!

• Is there a craft-related seminar/workshop/conference coming up in your area that you'd like to see on Make+Do? Please, drop me a line with the details!
• Don't forget about this week's giveaway: Hooked for Life: Adventures of a Crochet Zealot by Mary Beth Temple. Leave a comment on Monday's post for your chance to win.