Really due for another trip to SOMA. This particular chocolate was filled with pop rocks – so much fun!

On Thursday I attended the opening celebration of a store built by Mercy (for whom I previously did some illustrations for a t-shirt line). It’s perfectly located between Clafouti and White Squirrel on Queen West, right across from Trinity Bellwoods.

I’m so excited their line will be available in Toronto again, and the other brands they carry are also terribly impressive, including Italian jewellery designers Iosselliani (I’m a huge fan), Les Prairies de Paris, La Botte Gardiane, and Ascher London – a scarf in the shop inspired my little sketch up top. It was a great night: seeing familiar faces and meeting new, very stylish, people. Congratulations to Jennifer and Richard on their new shop!

Waiting for my parents to get ready for the game, I snapped a few shots in their hotel.

Ever since this whole mug rug trend came along in the crafting community, I’ve wanted to make some of my own. They are bigger than coasters, yet smaller than a placemat: the perfect size for a mug (an iced hot chocolate perhaps?) and a treat. I first saw this mug rug concept on Karyn’s blog, then on Katherine’s blog, and even my mom beat me to the project, only she calls them rug rats. From what I understand, the project originated here, where you can purchase a pattern, though using their approximate dimensions of 9.5”h x 6.5”w is probably enough to get you started.

When I signed up for Carolanne’s Whole Cloth Quilt class at The Workroom, it was the perfect opportunity to experiment with lots of hand quilting on a small, manageable scale. Which is a bit contrary to my normal approach to classes, which is usually to make something 3 times the size of everyone else’s, or make 2 instead of 1, or if everyone is making a square, make a circle. You get the idea.

The pattern I quilted was interlocking circles, and I’ve come away from the class with great interest in quilting more geometric patterns. I must admit that whole cloth quilting is a bit more calculated than it seems. The choice of fabric, thread, and pattern are crucial. The three fabrics I chose for the mug rugs (top, binding, bottom) look great together and would have worked well in a traditional pieced quilt. Whereas with the mug rugs, the quilting, which is supposed to be focus, is almost completely lost in the print, even though the print isn’t particularly busy with respect to colour. In general, I would recommend using a solid fabric for a quilting project like this, or at least one that has a muted and loosely space print. Learning from this first try, I am already gearing up for my next whole cloth quilt, which will potentially be the size of a quilt. For this next project, in consultation with Carolanne, I have selected a fabric, thread, and new geometric pattern to quilt that all complement each other, and am excited to move forward more whole cloth quilting adventures.

Post Toronto Fashion Week this Spring, Yorkville hosted a Fashion Week of it’s own, put on by the Italian Trade Commission along with Fashion Television. The week was highlighted by a fashion show dance performance at the Glass Factory in Liberty Village.

I was asked by the Yorkville News to create an illustration for their site in celebration of the event. After visiting Via Cavour, I decided to work with the idea of accessories, and the made in Italy stamp you see on the soles of some great shoes. So, the blue men’s shoe is one of my favorites at the shop, and the women’s shoes are Valentino studded ankle-wrap pumps from this season (which I have yet to come across in person). Though I do LOVE LOVE LOVE them. What a fun drawing to do!

This afternoon, over coffee, I had a lovely meeting about an exciting new illustration project. Coffee meetings are the best.

PS my new umbrella reveals a cherry blossom pattern when wet (thanks L!)
Click here to see a close up of the action!

An interview I did with Hardly magazine was posted on their website today. I’ve done two interviews recently and it’s a new experience – normally I’m reading interviews of other artists or I’m the one asking the questions.  Check out the Q&A here!

I needed to finish writing a letter. So I went for coffee.

Brownie, peanut butter cookie, and most importantly: frozen custard. (too much?)

If you’ve never had frozen custard, it’s like ice cream made with the addition of egg yolks. And it’s pretty delicious. They normally have chocolate, vanilla, and a flavour of the day. They’re all good, but the vanilla is my favorite.

Jedd’s Patisserie Cafe is at Yonge and Eglinton. And PS he’s very nice.

(1) felt balls, (2) roving before felting, (3) flat felted sheets

On Friday I learned how to felt wool roving from Julie Sinden at the workroom and it was so much fun. It really only involves soap, hot water, wool roving, and hands for agitating (or dancing feet, if your project is large!)

One of the most gratifying and addictive objects to make would have to be mini felt balls. There are so many things you can make with these things! Zipper-pulls, trivets, and a personal favorite: necklaces like these made by Jenny Gordy.

So excited to have learned these new techniques! Felting is totally good, clean fun.

To follow Julie’s textile experiments, check out her new blog.