#AGFMakersSpotlight Surprise

A few months ago I posted a picture on my IG account of a work in progress (dress skirt not yet attached to the bodice). Dear Eleri from Sew and Tell Project commented saying “You should add #agfmakersspotlight”. I had no idea what that was so I tapped the link and that didn’t really help! I just saw a lot of pictures with Art Gallery  fabrics, but I wasn’t sure what the point was. I can’t remember where, but somewhere I figured it out and started adding the hashtag. This is how it goes. Anytime someone makes any type of creation whether it’s clothes or quilts or even jewellery using Art Gallery fabrics they can use that hashtag and it goes into a monthly draw.

I was walking to Trish’s house a few weeks after I figured this out and decided to check my account and see what was new while I walked the 5 houses down. It was sunny, I was squinting and seemed to notice there was a message for me. It was from Art Gallery!!

“Hi Sherri! We’re happy to tell you that you’re the winner of April’s AGF Makers Spotlight! Congrats! We love how you captured the essence of Boardwalk Delight with the cute dress and beautiful picture. Please email so we can send you the prize bundle of fabrics. Have a great weekend!!”

Remember I was squinting? I thought for sure I was misreading something. I showed Trish the moment I got in the house and she verified I had not lost my mind and commented that she seemed more excited than I was. I was simply just not convinced it was real yet.

It did kick in! As I was making supper. Picture me flitting around my kitchen making supper and very excitedly telling my husband all about it. Not really focusing on the task at hand which was supper. I went to grab my cast iron skillet….. and forgot that I had JUST taken it out of the 400º oven!!!! Thankfully I only tapped the handle and realized what I was doing before full on grabbing it. But that still REALLY hurt!!

Back to the contest though. There were two parts to the prize. First, a bundle of fabrics from Art Gallery themselves. They pulled together a number of prints and it was pretty exciting to get it in the mail without knowing what it was going to be. I haven’t used any of it just yet, but I have a few ideas that I think I’m going to try.

The second part was an interview on the Art Gallery blog. I felt so special!! This is my interview here. Please go have a quick read. But come back!

And here are some more pics of the actual dress. This is a Molly dress by no other than Simple Life Pattern Company. I have loved them from the first time I caught sight of the beautifully designed patterns. The deep scoop in the back is so gorgeous and now you can make this dress in adult version!!

The fabric is from the Boardwalk Delight collection by Dana Willard. The moment I saw these ice cream cones I was hooked. And it is definitely not the only piece from that collection that I love! One of my favourites for sure. And, yes, I say that a lot are my favourites, but this one is FOR SURE!!

I didn’t have enough fabric to do the whole dress so this became a result of “inspiration”, we’ll call it. I added a black band to separate the two fabrics and to balance the black collar. I don’t know if I could ever make this pattern without that collar.

The photo shoot itself wasn’t actually done with any intentions of entering a contest! I simply wanted to practice using my camera in a different location. This was Spring Break time and we had just had a huge, and I mean huge, snow storm so I was ready to get outside for some practice.

One night while in Cuba, I quickly got the girls dressed and headed out to the beach before we went for supper. I fiddled with that camera and tried my best to try and make something pretty happen. Unfortunately, what appeared to be amazing on that little screen wasn’t quite as impressive on the computer so these were basically a fun project in editing. They say practice makes perfect and at least this was a fun practice. AND it got me a great win!!!! Totally unexpected.