Kicking off 2017 with a Party -- A Slab Block Linky Party That Is!

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you were able to get a little 'you time' after the hustle and bustle of the holidays. I, for one, was really looking forward to slamming the door on 2016 and greeting 2017 with wide open arms. One of the ways I'll be trying to make 2017 better is by participating in Canada's Big Quilt Bee with the Canadian Quilter's Association (CQA) and Fabric Please!

Check out my last post for more details, but in a nutshell, CQA is looking for 12.5" slab blocks with some Canada 150 fabric to make 1,000 quilts for kids at Ronald McDonald House.

Slab blocks are really easy to make and you can find the instructions on the Canadian Quilters Association site (thank you to Cheryl Arkinson for providing them!).

Fabric Please!, in addition to carrying the Glowing Hearts Canada 150 fabric, has offered up some prizes for people who donate slab blocks to the project. Woo hoo!

For the prizes, we have:

Three gift certificates to Fabric Please!

And this gorgeous black and white fabric (selection of fabrics may vary), thread and pattern pack:

Thank you, Fabric Please!

Here are my first two finished slab blocks -- just love that red, aqua, grey, black and white goodness! I'll share more of them over the next few months.

You can link up the slab blocks you make for the project in this linky party until 8:17 p.m. on May 17, 2017 so you have lots of time.

Only slab blocks please -- this isn't TGIFF! or W.I.P. Wednesdays or Sew Thursdays or New Project Tuesdays or Manic Mondays or any of those other linky parties. This is just for slab blocks for Canada's Big Quilt Bee. I will remove your post (with love though) from the linky party if it's anything other than slab blocks.

Also, we need to spread the word so please link back to the party so your readers can find us too -- we will need a lot of blocks to make 1,000 quilts! You can mail your unfinished quilt tops and/or slab blocks to: Leslie Whitby, 2895 Almonte Road, Carp, ON, K0A 1L0. Last day to mail is May 30, 2017 so they can make it in time for the Big Quilt Bee.

Note: your slab blocks do not have to have Glowing Hearts fabric in them, but they do need to have Canadian 150 fabric somewhere in it. Also, you do not have to be Canadian for this either, just use a bit of Canadian fabric in your block. 

An InLinkz Link-up

With Glowing Hearts

Have you heard about Canada's Big Quilt Bee with the Canadian Quilters Association (CQA)? They have a set a pretty BHAG (big, hairy audacious goal) for 2017. 1,000 quilts for Ronald McDonald House! The Big Quilt Bee will be held June 14-17, 2017 at Quilt Canada 2017 in Toronto, ON. They’ll have sewing machines, long arms, mid arms and lots of volunteers to work on quilt tops and stacks of slabs made by hundreds of Canadian quilters. It's going to be fun!

Hmm, I wondered if there's a Guinness World Record for the biggest quilt bee? So I looked it up. There's a record for the largest patchwork quilt, the largest bee house and the largest gathering of people dressed as bees (why?), but I did not find a record of the largest quilt bee. Something to think about, CQA?

But I digress. CQA is looking for blocks to get this party started. 12.5" slab blocks in particular with at least one piece of special Canada 150 fabric in it. Slab blocks are really easy to make and you can find the instructions on the Canadian Quilters Association site.

When Rita from Fabric Please approached me for this bee, I was game and I figured some of you would be too. She sent me this great charm pack of the Glowing Hearts fabric line by Grace Noël for Trendtex to get me started. She is carrying the entire With Glowing Hearts line that is available for purchase here.

I'm currently sitting in an arena so that hockey stick is very à propos!  

It's a beautiful fabric line, done to celebrate Canada's 150th anniversary, which officially kicks off in 20 days by the way!

I've added in some of my red, aqua, grey and white scraps to the Glowing Hearts charm pack. I didn't think I had that many in those colours, but I've used a lot of them already and I still have more. Here's one of my blocks so far. I still need to add more rows to get it to 12.5". but it's coming along. A perfect low-stress project to do before or after the holidays.

Now here's the exciting part where there's something in it for you! Fabric Please! has offered up some prizes for people who donate slab blocks to the project. Woo hoo!

I will run a linky party here starting next week and running until May 17, 2017. You can link up the slab blocks you make for the project. Only slab blocks please -- this isn't TGIFF! or W.I.P. Wednesdays or Sew Thursdays or New Project Tuesdays or Manic Mondays or any of those other linky parties. This is just for slab blocks for Canada's Big Quilt Bee. I will remove your post (with love though) from the linky party if it's anything other than slab blocks. More details to come about the prizes from Fabric Please! next week when the linky party starts.

Note: your slab blocks do not have to have Glowing Hearts fabric in them, but they do need to have Canadian fabric somewhere in it. Also, you do not have to be Canadian for this either, just use a bit of Canadian fabric in your block. 💋

Mail your unfinished quilt tops and/or slab blocks to: Leslie Whitby 2895 Almonte Road, Carp, ON, K0A 1L0. Last day to mail is May 30, 2017.

More Fabric Please!

I'm very happy to welcome Fabric Please! as a new sponsor for Quilt Matters. Fabric Please! is a Canadian online fabric store based in New Dundee, Ontario and owned by Rita Ferber.

Rita opened her online shop in February 2014 and has been loving every second of it. She has a great site, where you can find products by designer, fabric type (she carries apparel fabric!), theme, notions and manufacturers, etc. Fabric Please! carries a sweet collection of precuts, Aurifil thread (yay!) and has a great sale section.

Did you know that Fabric Please! has the whole Glowing Hearts fabric line? Yes ma'am! Look at those colours...

Designed by fellow Canadian Grace Noël, this line was commissioned by Trendex (Canadian supplier of Moda products) to celebrate Canada’s 150th Anniversary next year. Get it while it lasts 'cause it won't last long!

So welcome Fabric Please! and thank you for becoming a sponsor!

You'll be hearing more about this line and Fabric Please! in a few weeks because we'll be partnering up for Canada's Big Quilt Bee. Stay tuned!