Binding Choices...

On a roll now... I've got this almost whole cloth quilt finished up. I'm just stuck on binding choices. It seems like a no brainer when you only have two neutral fabrics on the front, but it is remarkably hard for me to narrow it down.

It is completely quilted with a vivid orange thread. The back is a combo of bold fabrics, so nearly any colour would work there.

What do you think?

And while you are helping me out, take a moment to check out some other WIP posts at the newly launched Needle and Thread Network. More Canadian love! It's great to see this out there as I've been unable to carry on with the Workshop in Progress.

Backseat Adventure - Sidewalk Citizen Bakery

Down a street lined with offices, carpet stores, and body shops you can find, arguably, the best bakery in Calgary. It isn't so large that the smell of fresh bread comes through your air conditioning. But the line of cars and bikes outside the nondescript entrance on a Saturday morning, opposite the line of smashed up cars, is your giveaway that you've arrived.

Then you step in the door. It all seems so sterile and clinical because you walk right into the kitchen. There are bags of flour, sometimes loaves being kneaded, large ovens, and racks of trays. Then you see Aviv and his partner. The warmth emanates from them before they've even smiled a greeting. Before you've finished saying hello a hunk of bread, buttered and salted, is placed in your hand. And before you've finished that bread you're already calculating just how much of the other goodies you can fit in the paltry one shopping bag you brought.

If you're lucky you arrived at the bakery location early enough to grab a danish, cinnamon bun, and a cheese stick. Or maybe a scone is more your speed. Or, if you are my family, all of the above, plus a brioche, some bread, and a macaron from M for Macarons (They share the commercial kitchen space).

If you're really lucky, and you are my husband, and you ask nicely for raspberries there will be danishes covered with a crabapple and maple syrup cream topped with raspberries waiting for you when you arrive. And you will buy 4 of them.

Taking a weekend trip to see Aviv has become such a family ritual for us that it is the first thing the Evil Genius asks about once her Saturday morning cartoons are on. Sadly, for her and us, she does not sleep in that much, so we have a few hours to wait until the 10 am opening. My kind of bakery - it's not open ridiculously early. But don't wait too late or you might find yourself fighting over the last baguette and that's it. Sidewalk Citizen Bakery is only open 10-2/3 on Friday and Saturdays.

If you can't make the weekend trip to the bakery there are still options for gathering the incredible goods. In fact, you can find their stuff all over town! I first met Aviv when he started out delivering bread to offices off the back of his bike. My office all became addicted to his bread and I've been following him since. He still does office deliveries. He's also got a pop-up cargo cart that sets up downtown (check out his Twitter stream for times and locations) as well as selling at the Hillhurst Sunnyside Market on Wednesdays in season. For a full list of locations that sell his amazing products check out his site.

We are still making the journey as a family to the bakery. We love the chance for a visit, to buy more bread that one should eat in a day, a journey that takes us away from the manufactured markets and yuppie food we're used to finding. This is honest food, served by enthusiastic and kind people. It is kneaded and baked with love, full of the best things that can be found around Calgary (from Silk Road spices to crab apples from down the street). And damn, it's all so good.

Sidewalk Citizen Bakery

5524-1A Street SW

More Catch-up

I told you I was in a finishing mood... Time to get some overdue bee blocks out and tackle new ones as soon as they come in.

This is the Lucienne Day inspired block for the last round of my Mid Mod Bee. I can't wait to see what Yahaira does with her blocks.

This summer saw a new bee start for me. An all Canadian, all Improv group called Unscripted. It's nice to save on postage and see such vibrancy in Canada too.

The first block has this dreamy colour combo and takes its inspiration right from Block Party. Donna over at Kindred Crafters had us make this block for her.

The second month belonged to Holly. She was greatly inspired by Elizabeth Fransson's Put a Bird on It Quilt. Having never worked with Echino myself, this was a fun little challenge. And I must say, I can see how the colour becomes addictive.

One of the best parts about working on a Canadian bee? I can write colour and favourite and no one says anything funny!

Finished Room

I finally got the finishing touches put on the girls' room this week. That is, I got the curtains hemmed, cleaned it up again, and Hubby was home with his tools to help hang the artwork. Here is the before of their room.

Much brighter, filled with far more functional space. Table for crafts, writing, and more. Open space for games, building things, and a landing pad for jumping off the bed. Only one bookshelf now with edited items. A revamped dresser. A new quilt.

Here is The Triangle Quilt in its new home. See how it fits the bed perfectly? 90'' by 90'' is my new favourite queen quilt size. Perfect if you don't want a pillow tuck.

(On the right side there, behind the red curtain, lives my fabric stash.)

I still think this was needs more artwork, but Hubby and I are in negotiations about that. It is nice to have a bit of quiet space, but even thought the embroidery is large I'm not sure it fills the space.

My Baba was an incredible cross-stitcher. Her house and ours was filled with pillows, table toppers, and framed pieces of hers. She made enough of these bowls of poppies for all her family. To my Mom's dismay I reframed it last year. It used to have a very gold, very ornate frame. With this clean look I find the embroidery shines.

The cabinet, repurposed from my husband, is filled with games and extra quilts. Unfortunately, that damn Hungry Hippo game doesn't fit in it.

On The Monster's side of the bed she gets a tray to hold her favourite books and her water bottle. The tray also adds some colour in the darkest corner of the room.

The Evil Genius gets the cabinet holding the collections of figurines and the closest we get to toys that aren't blocks and games. Fairies, dinosaurs, and an airport. All together. Makes perfect sense in our house.

This bookshelf holds all their books, dress-up items, puzzles, arts and craft supplies, building blocks/Lego, and mementos. Not to mention the collections up top. The rocking chair is from Hubby's grandparents, passed down from his younger cousins that are now grown.

This is our collection of shells, rocks, and seaglass. All gathered on trips we've taken together as a family. Nova Scotia, Mexico, and camping this summer. I've got a dozen more of these jars in reserve for additional trips.

On top we house the piggy bank collection they seem to have amassed, including Hubby's from when he was a kid (the frog), and one of my favourite prints from Marisa Haedike at Creative Thursday.

Don't you love the rainbow book sorting? It appeals to my anal nature to have things sorted and helps the girls put things away cleanly.

The repainted dresser and the girls' bulletin board wall. I had other artwork here, but they asked for a place to display their stuff. Fair enough. So we picked up these squares of cork and some thumbtacks. I love how it echoes the bookshelf on the opposite side.

As you can see, I didn't change the colours on the dresser. I loved that green! But I did give it a fresh coat. And yes, that is a basket of dirty laundry on the side there. Hey, it's a room that is lived in.

Every time my girls ask me to draw a picture I can't help but think of that SNL skit about Simon who likes to draw drawings. As you can see, I can't draw! That's a family portrait done by yours truly. It gets a place above our engagement photo. And that rests on some crochet my Dad did for the girls. He picked up the needle shortly after his cancer diagnosis. This isn't the delicate work I remember him doing when I was a kid, but a brighter and more energized version.

And this is why I have to keep the thumbtacks hidden - there is a lot of climbing on furniture done by our resident monkey.

Details

The girls asked me to keep the walls red. I'll admit, I wanted to lighten it up but I was pretty happy I didn't have to spend a week painting. The red is what Hubby and I painted this room when it was ours. They told me they loved the colour. They are so my kids!

The only new purchases for this redo were the paint for the dresser, the sheer curtains, the bird tray, and the bulletin boards. Everything else was repurposed from their room, the basement, my mom's basement, or even my husband's no-longer-existent home office.

When the girls returned from their week at Camp Baba/Jojo/Grandma they were surprised by the room and for days would come up to me and hug me, telling me that it was so pretty. That made it worth it. But what has also made it worth it (aside from the crap I got to throw out) is that they are respecting the space in a new way. I don't have to tell them to put things away because they get that everything has a home. They want to keep it functional for themselves.

The other great feature is that we can spend hours in here and not run out of activities - crafts, practicing our writing, sorting shells, pretending we're tigers or skunks, pulling out the games, reading books, building things. If I let them eat in here we would be set.