Guys… the internet is a very dangerous place….

A couple weeks ago, I was just innocently hanging out on Facebook when one of the women in my quilting group posted about this…

… a little sewing machine bird house.

I had to check it out. A quick google search told me that it was sold at Joann. Bummer… Joann is a U.S. company, no good for me here in Canada. But I decide to take a closer look anyway.

And guys!!!!! JOANN NOW SHIPS TO CANADA!!!!!!

You have no idea how excited I got. For YEARS I’ve been listening to all my American crafting friends go on and on about all these great deals they got at Joann. But none of it was any good for me!

To make it even better, they show the Canadian price on the website… AND they offer free shipping on orders over $80 Canadian. This is HUGE!!!!

I wasn’t planning on placing an order right then and there, but then I scrolled down. There was a doorbuster deal… almost all flannel was $4.99 a yard. That’s crazy cheap compared to most places, especially around here! And you know how much I love putting flannel on the back of quilts.

I started filling my basket. However, I am very proud to say, I didn’t just throw in anything that caught my eye (thought I wanted to.). I asked myself what fabric I had that I could use it for. If, and only if I had a fabric collection that would work with it, did it go in my cart.

In the end, I ordered seven fabrics at 4 yards each (enough for a good sized lap quilt/small double)

• The penguins will go with a penguin panel and set of fabrics I got recently
• The lighthouses are for a lap-sized ship quilt similar to Brigantine Baby
• The bees are for some bright, bee-themed fat quarters I have.
• The black with pink hearts, stars and flowers are for a Barbie-themed fat quarter pack
• The jellyfish are for another ocean themed fat quarter pack
• The daisies are for my gnome quilt
• The grey cat faces will go with my Mod Cat Fat quarter bundle
• The multi-coloured cats will go with another cat fat quarter bundle with similar colours.

These should keep me going for the next few months without having to order more stash (or at least backs!)

Before I leave, a small story about picking this up from the post office.

Our actual mailbox at the post office is very tiny, it basically only fits letters. For any parcels, we have to go to the actual post office desk where they keep everything behind a counter.

With all the stuff Dave and I order, the post office ladies have gotten to know me pretty well in the short time we’ve lived her.

So as soon as they see me walking in, they are usually retrieving my parcels before I even show the the parcel card. This particular day she had it on the counter already and as soon as I walked in, she gasped. “Valerie!”

Thinking about the size of the box, I said “I know… I’m sorry, it’s a big heavy one, but it was a really good deal”

She said “No! I had no idea they shipped to Canada!” and pointed to the packing tape the declared the package was from Joann for all to see.

I laughed and explained to her how I found out. Apparently, she used to drive to Port Huron frequently (the border is only a 40 minute drive) to shop at Joann, but hasn’t been since COVID hit. She’s been missing those deals! She was very excited to find out she could have them delivered right to her!