Sometimes you just have to jump, head first.

Now that Sewing Summit 2012 is done & over with, I find myself in a creative + inspired overload of sorts. Spending time with so many talented people from the online sewing community has left me with an overwhelming feeling of renewed energy + inspiration. It's solidified my ambition to continue to create & be involved in this wonderful online sewing community with you all. Which is one of the main reasons I love being involved with Sewing Summit -- there truly is something magical about our community.

The extremely talented Nancy Soriano gave a wonderful closing speech at our Sewing Summit event this year. Her words of wisdom + entrepreneurial encouragement were a great way to end the weekend & motivate people to continue their creative journey. As I remember my favorite moments of Sewing Summit -- late night chats, chocolate brownies, making new friends & connecting with old ones -- I keep coming back to one phrase from Nancy's speech:

"Because sometimes you just have to jump, head first, and see what happens."

How wonderfully simple is that?

So taking Nancy's advice, that's just what I intend to do. I hope in the next few weeks + months those simple words will become apparent in my blog & more importantly, my creative journey.

Thanks to each and every one of you for being a part of my creative journey.
xo, Megan

 

Sewing Summit: Part 1

Hello, all! Did you all have a great weekend? If you follow along on the Canoe Ridge Creations Facebook page, you know I spent the last few days in Salt Lake City for Sewing Summit! In case you missed it, here are a few pictures from my Instagram feed & you can follow me (@canoercreations) too!

I couldn't travel to Sewing Summit without a few handmade items, right?! This year I made two new projects -- a Wiksten tank & a patchwork 241 Tote. I'll be sharing more details of both later this week!

This year, I traveled to Salt Lake City with Jeni & Anna -- and had a sleepover with the two + George the night before. Jeni sure does have the cutest creative sewing space!

Traveling with friends was super fun! And look -- all three of us brought noodle-head bags!

Once we arrived at the airport, Erin picked us up & took us to grab lunch at IN-N-OUT (my first time!) before we loaded + brought all the Sewing Summit swag to the hotel. Speaking of swag -- we had so many boxes!

See, so. many. boxes! My bed was actually under that stack of boxes. Crazy, huh?! 

Tomorrow I'll be back to share more pictures from the rest of Sewing Summit -- new friends + classes + more fun!

Happy Tuesday!

xo, megan. 

sewing summit 2012.

did you all see the exciting 
sewing summit 
news that was released today?!?

like the official dates for Sewing Summit 2012,
October 11th, 12th, & 13th!
that's two FULL days of classes this year!


and I am SUPER excited to say, i
will be a part of the 
sewing summit staff
again this year!


so look out Salt Lake City! 
who's with me?!?
:)


xo, Megan

sewing summit [the loot]

you know you have a fabric addiction when you go back to the quilt store, just to finish filling your carry on bags. yep. been there. done that.
 
friday morning, before the official sewing summit festivities started, i took part in a little bus shop hop with 50 other women. and i shopped.til.i.dropped. literally. we visited two shops that i seriously couldn't get enough of. if you ever find yourself in SLC, you must check out Material Girl Quilts and Pine Needles. they are fab.u.lous. 
 

first up: fabric. my stash at home was in need of some blender fabrics, so i was on a mission. lots of fat quarters.
 

 
i also picked up a couple patterns that have been on my wish list for a while.
 

 
there were lots and LOTS of fabulous door prizes on our shop hop. my prize was this adorable Halloween jelly-roll. so i had to pick up a fat quarter and charm pack to go with it. 
 

at this point i was totally satisfied with my purchases, but i still had room in my carry on. the solution: yarn store! i picked up a few yummy fall yarns to make some cowls. 

phew!

this doesn't even include the fabulous sewing summit swag bags! more on that later. :)

hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!

xo, megan

sewing summit weekend [take 1]

as most of you know, this past weekend was the first annual Sewing Summit in SLC. the entire weekend buzzed by and i am having a hard time even describing how wonderful it really was. there were so many great things about the weekend, i think the best way is to start at the beginning...and in two parts.
 
THURSDAY:
i arrived in SLC early afternoon (and brought my parents along!) and check into the fabulous hotel, Little America. it was one of those picture perfect hotels, with chocolates, turn down service and cute bell boys. :) once we settled in, we decided to kick of our little vacation with a drink at the hotel sports bar. and after a casual twitter invite, our group kept multiplying as more and more sewing summit ladies came down to the sports bar. so fun!

 
later that night i officially met Erin and Amy! which was a surreal experience in itself. for months, the three of us have been swapping emails, google chatting, and tweeting back and forth and WE FINALLY MET! :)


FRIDAY:
this is when the real fun began! i helped out with registration, passed out fabulous swag bags, and there was a bus shop hop -- and LOTS of fabric purchases (more on that later). and then the official sewing summit meet and greet reception. :) just imagine 200 sewing and blogging women, in one room. the excitement was bursting at the seams. 

i remember at one point looking over at the bartender who was working the event and wondering what he was thinking. i'm sure he was throughly confused about so many women, from all across the world, sitting and talking about fabric and sewing. and i'm pretty sure that confusion was aparent all weekend long.  in fact at one point, an older man approached a group of us and asked "so do you all really sew." when we answered with a confident "yes" he responded, "the women i know that sew aren't as attractive as you all." thanks buddy. :)
 
later that night, i went for dinner with most of the ladies from my {sew} beautiful bee. SURREAL! we've all been in an online sewing bee together since January, we've chatted through countless flickr discussions, and we finally met! so, so cool!

{sew} beautiful!!, by emedoodle on flickr

then as if the hadn't already exceeded my expectations, i spent the rest of the night sewing we these fabulous ladies. the amount of crafty concentration was off the charts. love it! 

and that's a wrap on part one. i'll be back soon to share the rest with you all!

xo, Megan

{Sew} Modern Monday #37

It's that time again....

Ever since the day Sewing Summit became a reality, the Amy Butler Weekender has been on my sewing to-do list. I promised myself that no.matter.what I would have a Weekender to take to Salt Lake City. It's the perfect bag--big, tailored, professional. And, intimidating! But I was determined.

I had originally bought a kit a few years back--with some of Ms. Butler's fabric--but after I came across this bag made by Ali, it was thrown right out the back door. I knew had to have those yellow zig-zags--but with gray! And I found it--half price!--at a fabric chain store. Score!

So I cut out my outer fabric. Then I cut out my lining fabric. And I cut out my fusible interfacing. And then I cut out my Peltex.  And then I cut, and I cut, and I cut.  You get the picture, right? Several days (i kid, i kid--hours.) later I started the bag construction.

At this point I realized the most valuable tool of Weekender Bag construction--find a friend to text, lots! Elizabeth and Michelle and I all tackled our Weekenders at the same time and were able to share tips, questions, and frustrations. And it made a world of a difference--especially when you get stuck on tricky steps (was it 10b??). Thanks, ladies!

In the end, I am so happy I conquered the Weekender Bag because it became a sewing right of passage for me. :) There were some serious frustrations, and I may have cursed Amy Butler a time or two, but in the end it's totally worth it. I love this bag!

And now I'm one step closer to Sewing Summit. Just have to finish up my name tag, a little zippy pouch, and possibly a new laptop cover.

On to {Sew} Modern Monday! It's time for you to link up your modern finishes! A special thanks to everyone who linked up last week--50!! But first a few house keeping details:

• Because I will still be in SLC next Monday, we will be taking a break from {Sew} Modern Monday and I promise to be back the following Monday (10/17)!
• Remember--this is SEW Modern Monday.  So....a) your finish should involve sewing. :), b) it should be a finish, and c) please link back to CRC. :) please, and thanks. rule benders will magically disappear. 

Hit it!

this weekend.

well, it's official. my sewing summit nerves have resulted in some serious sewing mojo. it seems the only way i can distract myself from a pile of nerves/excitement is sitting behind my machine. but hey, i'm not complaining!

remember this tumbler quilt i pieced together this summer at the lake?? yep, f.i.n.i.s.h.e.d. i just pulled it out of the dryer this morning, all crinkly and yummy.(: 

so what's on deck for the rest of the weekend?

-a quilty photo shoot for this tumbler quilt.

-still need to take pictures of my finished weekender bag, too!

-work on a FTLOS angel swappy package

-pre-sewing summit meet-up!! :) the bf and i will be heading a few hours south this weekend for a lunch date with deedrie of mybricole, jeni of in color order, and vanessa of v & co. can't.wait.

so, what are you all up to this weekend??

xo, Megan

the count down is on. plus a weekender bag.

there's only a few short weeks between now and sewing summit. and to be honest, i'm starting to feel a bit nervous. it's definitely not a bad nervous. more like the first day at a new school nervous. sharing my creations and blogging in my sweatpants is one thing, but actually meeting all of you face-to-face has me a bit scared.  please tell me i'm not the only one. :) 
 
it all comes down to the "will i fit in" business. 

 

but then i remember, here in the online sewing/quilting community we all have lots in common, right? i mean, we sit behind our laptops/iPads/cellphones/whatever for hours on end searching through sites like flickr and pinterest. we drag our families/husbands/boyfriends along to countless fabric stores searching for a that one new fabric line. we lug quilts out into the front yard and have our own little photo shoots while the neighbors look on in confusion.

 

yep, we have lots in common!

 

and that's the part i'm looking forward to most. being in a room, surrounded by some of my sewing and quilting heros, chatting about lord knows what, and enjoying every minute of it because we all just get "it"! there's no need to explain yourself or your sewing addiction--because we are all the same!

so to all of you that will be in SLC for the sewing summit, be sure to say hi! especially if you see this weekender bag. (yep, it's finished! more pictures soon!) i don't care if it's in the airport, on the street, or during class--be sure to introduce yourself! i can't wait to meet you all!

xo, Megan

oh and if you are feeling lucky, check out this go! baby giveaway! :)

pssst!!

Hey, you there!
Have a finished handmade travel bag or one in the works? 
How about a bag related tutorial? 
Hey, even an inspiration mosaic will do!
 

 
If you answered yes to any of those, then be sure to head on over to the Travel Handmade Linky Party!
There's even a fabulous prize up for grabs!
 
Yes, that's right. Sewing Summit sponsor Beebolt is giving away one copy of Carry Me-20 Boutique Bags to one lucky linker! Plus, Amy and Erin will be throwing in a $25.00 Beebolt gift certificate!
 
So far there are only 11 projects linked up, which means high winning odds for you! :)
 
What are you waiting for? 
Link 'em up!
 
xo, megan

pssst!

Today is the kick off of a series of teacher interviews I am doing 

for The Sewing Summit.

First up is Jeni Baker from In Color Order.

Here's interview!

Be sure to go check it out! :)

if you are looking for {Sew} Modern Monday--it's over here!

{Sew} Modern Monday #23

It's time for another weekly dose of modern sewing finishes!

The other day, when I was making my way through quilty/sewing blogland, I came across this blog post from Amanda of Ms McPorkchop Quilts. 

it may or may not have been that rocking pink bow that first caught my attention. :) 

Totally inspired by all her yummy handmade things, I have decided to do the same.  My goal is to have lots of homemade pouches/cases to take along on my trip to SLC for The Sewing Summit in October.  Yay!  It makes me giddy just thinking about it! :)

First on my to-sew list this weekend was a little pouch for my laptop (which will most definitely be coming along with me!).  I opted to a clean, simple look and incorporated one Amy Butler print along with Kona Ash and Kona Snow.

One purple zipper and a little sewing later and I was done!  

To add a bit of jazz, I lined the pouch in a contrasting Kona.  Love!

I am still contemplating adding a bit of hand stitching along the zipper.  Any thoughts?

And there you have it.  One laptop pouch ready and waiting for October! :)

Now it's your turn.  Have a recent modern sewing finish you would like to share?  Then link up!  

But please, remember--this is a link-up for finishes only.  If you have a work-in-progress post you would like to share--then hold onto it for a few days.  Lee from Freshly Pieced has a wonderful linky party on Wednesdays completely devoted to all those works-in-progress.  

If you need a reminder on all of the rules for {Sew} Modern Monday, head on over here!

The Sewing Summit!

I am very excited to announce that...

And I am even more excited to say that

I am now the

Social Media and Blogging Assistant

for The Sewing Summit!

I am so excited to be a part of The Sewing Summit!  Erin and Amy have a great group of teachers lined up for the October 2011 conference along with some fabulous sponsors, which means this is going to be one great event.  Not to mention the fact that I (and you can too!) will get the chance to meet some seriously awesome bloggers just like you all!

If you are interested (and I hope you all are!) you can find all the details on The Sewing Summit website.  And if you have any questions, feel free to send them this way!  Also, be sure to check out the FAQ page.

You can also stay up to date on all the info via:

• Twitter--@SewingSummit
• Facebook
• The Sewing Summit on Flickr
• and of course, The Sewing Summit blog

So, who else is going?  I would love to meet you! :)

xo, Megan