Splurging at the Creativ Festival

This past weekend I went to the Creativ Festival in Toronto with my mother.  She had never heard of the festival before, but once I told her about it she did some searching online and happened upon The Crochet Crowd where she landed some free tickets.  Beginner's Luck, I say!  Except that she wins stuff all the time, *sigh* must by why I rarely win anything - she has all the luck!

I've been to the festival a couple of times in the spring, and usually am able to find some interesting things.  This time however, I found that there really wasn't a lot in the way of fabric or yarn (my two loves).  It seems that beading and scrapbooking are taking over the show.  The quilting/sewing booths that were there were mostly traditional fabrics and batiks.  In the way of modern fabric, I didn't find much and what I did find seemed like last season's news. The good news is, this helped the pocketbook.

Here are some pictures of what I did pick up.

Variegated thread from the Wonderfil Booth

Liberty of London Fabrics from the Hyggeligt booth

Shot cotton and a Cloud9 Fat Quarter, also from the Hyggeligt booth

I also had a VERY nice surprise while I was at the show, but since I have no pictures yet I will post about that later.  Let's just say my mother was VERY generous.  I love you mom!

Hot Hot Hot!

The past few days have been the warmest this summer, and with no a/c I am melting!

Despite the heat, we did manage to get out a bit this past weekend. When I heard that the Tall Ships were at the Toronto Waterfront Festival, I knew I needed to take a trip down to see them.  One thing that I love is water and wish that my home floated, so that we could sail it down somewhere tropical.  Ahhh, only in my dreams I'm afraid (for now)!

This is the Europa from The Netherlands.















After we wandered around the waterfront for a bit looking at all of the ships, we headed up Spadina for some lunch at Jumbo Empanadas in Kensington.

I worked for a few months near Kensington and really enjoyed eating at Jumbo Empanadas.  I love their beef empanadas and their salsa is fantastic.  Andrew had never been there before, so when we decided to go down to Toronto, I knew right away that I wanted to bring him there for lunch.  Being so close, how could I resist!

And for the quilters/sewists out there, I thought you would enjoy this picture.  This sculpture at the corner of Richmond and Spadina is a great representation of the Fashion District.  You can find stores in Toronto's Fashion District that only sell buttons.  Buttons!  I love it, and can wander those streets all day looking in all the great little shops.

 

This sculpture is of a giant thimble resting on a stack of buttons. Sitting on a corner, there is also a measuring tape that follows the curve of the corner and heads on down the street (you can see it at the bottom of the picture).

That was our Sunday, hot but fun!