The Canadian Sampler - Meet the Designers - Kathy Schwartz & Lori Suss

We hope you are enjoying making your Canadian Sampler Blocks!
Keep sharing your blocks on facebook and instagram with #thecanadiansampler and remember to tag us!

April's blocks are Snowflake by Kathy Schwartz & Lori Suss from Highway 10 Designs and Parliament Gate by Stacey Lee O’Malley from SLOstudio.

Snowflake
Kathy Schwartz & Lori Suss from Highway 10 Designs

Snowflake by Kathy Schwartz & Lori Suss from Highway 10 Designs

Kathy Schwartz and Lori Suss met in Flin Flon, Manitoba at a local guild meeting in 2003.  An instant friendship began and soon they were co-hosting guild programs that affectionately became known as the "Lori & Kathy Show" because of their completely different approaches to working on any project.

 In the fall of 2011 Lori moved to Dauphin and joined the local guild. The idea of designing their own quilt pattern to use as a Mystery project to be presented at both guilds is what sparked the start of their design business. From there Highway 10 Designs was born, named after the highway that connects their two towns. Now seven patterns later, the drive to create is stronger than ever and they are looking forward to seeing what is around the next corner for Highway 10 Designs. 

Visit their Facebook page where they share pictures of their quilts and quilts made by others using their patterns.

Lori Suss & Kathy Schwartz from Highway 10 Designs

Besides being pattern designers both are professional Longarm quilters—a dream that came true for Kathy in 2009 and for Lori in 2012.

Kathy is the owner of Tamarack Shack Longarm Quilting located at Schist Lake near Flin Flon, MB. Visit her blog: Tamarack Shack

Lori is the owner of Night Owl Quilting and Dye Works located in Dauphin, MB. You can visit her blog: Night Owl Quilting & Dye Works  

Inspiration for Snowflake 

Lori and Kathy both grew up in Winnipeg and developed an appreciation for winter activities at a young age. Now as adults living in central (prairies) and northern (shield) Manitoba they still enjoy many winter activities like snow shoeing, cross country skiing, ice fishing or snow dyeing.  The Snowflake is a reflection of their love of winter and how they embrace Manitoba’s six months of snow each year.

Sign up for The Canadian Sampler and make this gorgeous quilt to Celebrate Canada's 150th Anniversary!

Registrations for The Canadian Sampler starting July 2017 are now open. 

Tabby Road is Here!

Tabby Road is the illustrated adventures of a fabulously sophisticated polka-dotted house cat with flare to spare and her sassy striped kitty sister.

These two crazy kittens spend their days climbing delightfully proportioned banded fruit trees, chasing mice up and down elegant acanthus leaves for sport, coughing up brightly colored fur balls and ending their days with bellies full of artisan-crafted consciously canned, organic cat snacks. If ever there was a cat to envy, this is the one.

Tabby Road is the life of the common house cat as seen through Tula Pink's eyes, transformed into an imaginary world of quirk and color, mischief and mayhem.

Click here to purchase: Tabby Road by Tula Pink

Deal of the Month - March - 31% Off Kona Basics - Black, Medium Grey, Canada Red, White, and Snow

Our Deal of the Month for March is 31% Off Kona Basics - Black, Medium Grey, Canada Red, White, and Snow. *

This is a great time to stock up on those basics you know you will use and get some Canada Red for your Sesquicentennial Projects!

*Please note:

• There is a 1m minimum cut on the Deal of the Month colours. Buy as much as you want!
• Offer is valid through the month of March 2017 online and in the store. 
• Offer is valid on Kona Black, Medium Grey, Canada Red, White, and Snow. All other Kona Cotton colours can be purchased at our regular price of $12.99/metre. 
• This offer does not apply to Kona Mini Bolts. The Deal of the Month cannot be combined with other offers. 

Click here to purchase: Deal of the Month - March -  31% Off Kona Basics - Black, Medium Grey, Canada Red, White, and Snow. 

The Canadian Sampler - Meet the Designers - Felicity Ronaghan

We're in the third month of The Canadian Sampler and we love seeing your gorgeous Keep'n Warm, Pacific Stars, Thousand Islands Star, and Canada by Code blocks.

This project has been a labour of love for all of us involved and it makes us so happy to see you enjoying it.

March's blocks are Maple Leaf 4 Ever by Felicity Ronaghan from Felicity Quilts and Grain Elevator by Jennifer Houlden from Quilts by Jen.

Maple Leaf 4 Ever
by Felicity Ronaghan from Felicity Quilts

Maple Leaf 4 Ever by Felicity Ronaghan from Felicity Quilts

Felicity has been a passionate quilter since the first minute of her first quilting class over 15 years ago. Felicity started her blog, Felicity Quilts, in 2010 to be a journal of sorts, and blogging led her to discover the online world of modern quilting.

It's literally changed my life - I've met friends, expanded my creative life and travelled in ways I'd never imagined. 

When Felicity is not not quilting, she's a wife and mom, and now a job-seeker since her family relocated from Vancouver, BC to Naramata, a small community on Lake Okanagan in BC's wine region.

 Follow Felicity on her blog, Instagram & Twitter 

Felicity Ronaghan

Inspiration for Maple Leaf 4 Ever

As a centennial baby, I feel especially connected to Canada's Sesquicentennial, so I was thrilled to be asked to participate in this Sampler! I really wanted my block to exude Canadiana and I think four maple leaf blocks fits the bill. Having the colours alternate as leaf/background adds a bit of movement and interest.

Sign up for The Canadian Sampler and make this gorgeous quilt to Celebrate Canada's 150th Anniversary!

Registrations for Round II of The Canadian Sampler starting July 2017 are now open. 

Maple Leaf 4 Ever in The Canadian Sampler

The Canadian Sampler - Meet the Designers - Jennifer Houlden

We're in the third month of The Canadian Sampler and we love seeing your gorgeous Keep'n Warm, Pacific Stars, Thousand Islands Star, and Canada by Code blocks.

This project has been a labour of love for all of us involved and it makes us so happy to see you enjoying it.

March's blocks are Grain Elevator by Jennifer Houlden from Quilts by Jen & Maple Leaf 4 Ever by Felicity Ronaghan from Felicity Quilts.


Grain Elevator
by Jennifer Houlden from Quilts by Jen

Grain Elevator by Jennifer Houlden from Quilts by Jen

Jennifer is a quilt designer, pattern writer, teacher, lover of colour and fabric/fibre addict. She is the proprietor of Quilts by Jen and loves to share her passion for quilting. 

As a young child Jennifer was always creating something with her hands – every craft imaginable - but sewing was never something she wanted to do. Then she found quilting and her whole world changed! She learned how to quilt when living in Yellowknife, NWT and continued quilting when she moved to the Australian Outback. She moved into the world of designing and writing patterns for Arbee Designs while living in Australia. 

Upon her return to Canada in 2011 Jennifer developed her own company and started writing patterns under her own label as well as teaching and speaking at local guilds and shops. 

Follow Jennifer on her website, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Jennifer Houlden from Quilts by Jen

Inspiration for Grain Elevator

I grew up in Saskatchewan where grain elevators dotted the landscape and were an icon of the prairies. These wooden elevators are few and far between now as most have burnt, collapsed or been removed and replaced by large concrete versions. My block for this great project is a tribute to the wooden grain elevators that lined the prairie landscape as we travelled the prairie roads to visit friends and relatives.

Sign up for The Canadian Sampler and make this gorgeous quilt to Celebrate Canada's 150th Anniversary!

Registrations for Round II of The Canadian Sampler starting July 2017 are now open. 

Grain Elevator in The Canadian Sampler