Carol's Endangered Species

 

Drumroll, please! If you follow my page, you know that Sew Karenly Created has participated as a dealer for the Aurifil Color Builder program for the past 2 years. Last year, the BOM patterns which accompanied the thread were designed by Cassandra Beaver of "The Not so Dramatic Life.". One of my subscribers was Carol Jackson from Pictou Co., N.S. I know that Carol really enjoyed the program, especially the quilting videos by Holly Anne Knight of String and Story, so much so in fact that she was one of the first to sign up again this year. Carol is loving building her awesome aurifilthread stash!

Carol shared this picture of her finished quilt, and wrote: “Here I am with my quilt. I think you can tell I’m pretty happy. It is my first free motion quilt, as well as quilt as you go. A lot of new things experienced during this time. Lots of beautiful Aurifil thread used. Lots of enjoyable back and forth with you. It has been an amazing experience. I am going to enter it in our local exhibition. Maybe I’ll win a prize."

I think you've already won, Carol! 😊 Sincere congratulations on this accomplishment. Can't wait to see your Flora quilt from this year's program!!

Socks!

 For the final day of this year's Nova Scotia Fibre Arts Festival I've filled the line with socks!

There is nothing that feels better on your feet than a pair of homemade wool socks! Here are some beauties made mostly by others, but some by me (I've given away most of the ones I've made!). On the left, these fancy colourful socks were knitted by Beth Munroe of Mrs Pugsley's Emporium Inc, a woman of many talents! The next two pairs were made by Lou Harrington, who is seldom without a pair of needles in her hands. The red ones with the tulip embroidered on the heels are the best socks I've ever worn, and sadly they are showing how much I've enjoyed them. Next to Lou's teal pair are a trio made for hubby by family members. His sister Fay did the variegated spiral socks, and his Mom made him (and everyone!) a pair of fine wool cable socks every Christmas. If you zoom in you can see where he has darned the heels and toes on one pair. (Imagine: a man who darns his own socks!!) The next 4 pairs were knitted by my Mom, the smaller ones for the boys and the red toed ones for me. When she finally had to hang up her needles, I knit her the natural coloured ones to wear in bed to keep her feet warm. The final 3 pairs on the right are also made by me, the heavy wool socks for hubby's curling shoes. And yes...there are needles sticking out of the pair on the right as they are NOT QUITE finished yet! (Second sock syndrome is real.)

I hope you have enjoyed the clothesline fibre art show this week, and have been posting your own projects!

Miniature Quilts

 It was fun to hang out these miniature quilts as part of the Nova Scotia Fibre Arts Festival "Hang Out" days.

L-R, a mini heart log cabin, and a daffodil stitched as a test block for a larger quilt. Third from the left is a miniature version of Maritime Beauty, the class I am teaching today. I think the blocks are 2". The colourful one is made from silk shirts purchased at Frenchy's, and the red and white is a mini version of X and O. The Amish nine-patch is from my early days, as it's hand quilted. The beauty on the right is an exquisite piece made by my exchange partner Terry McCloskey in 2018. We took part in an International Miniature Quilt Exchange organized by The Quilt Show. Terry's quilt is all hand-pieced and quilted with tiny stitches, and features the most perfect mitred corners I've seen. I admire Terry's workmanship a great deal.

Mittens!

Today the clothesline is filled with hand made mittens. Frankly, I've never quite gotten the hang of gloves, so we have lots of mittens in the bin to choose from on cold winter mornings. These are from an assortment of makers. On the far left are a pair of stranded Lopi mittens I knitted for my now-hubby when we were courting. (He says that's why he married me.) The white ones next to those are also made from Lopi yarn, but I made those for myself so there is no fancy pattern to them! The three pairs of honeycomb mittens were made by my Mom, as were the plain green and beige pair. The green trigger mitts were knit by my mother-in-law Myrna for my hubby. The trigger he used was the shutter on his camera. The bright red mittens are felted wool, made by my SIL Fay, and the pale blue are "tube mittens" by my friend Jill in Fredericton Junction. The yellow and gold thrum mittens were made by our Nova Scotia Fibre Arts Festival coordinator Lynn Bourgeois many winters ago. Lynn, you can see how much I have worn those mittens - they are my first choice on the coldest mornings. I believe these mittens were the result of a course taught by Sally Austin that Lynn took at a Fibre Arts Festival several years back. And the mitts on the right...well, good golly Miss Polly, those are an original by Cheryl of Grandma Coco Designs. I confess I saved them for "good" the first couple of winters I had them, but I soon discovered how comfy they are , and how well they wash.

I love how makers share their special talents and there's always a story connected to each piece.

I Hung Out My Aprons For The Festival!

 My clothesline today features hand made aprons...which you can see are all well loved and well used!

From left to right in the top picture is one given to me by Diane Shink .It was made in Ghana, and is lined with a flour sack.

The blue and pink aprons were both gifted to me on my first Christmas as a married woman (the blue one was made by Mom, who preferred a half-apron, and the pink over-the-head one by my mother-in-law Myrna. I guess both of them figured (correctly, as it turns out) that I would be a messy cook.) The next two were made by my sons in their Grade 7 Home Economics classes. Peter's features a Sponge Bob Square Pants print, and Patrick's plain green one has his name written boldly with marker across the pocket. I don't know how either of them passed this class!

The white apron on the far right is a real treasure which my Mom entrusted to me. It was made by my great-grandmother (Mrs Davie (Christina) Patterson) in her church sewing circle and the fine threads and fabric mean it was her "dress" apron.

The apron was passed to my Gram, and I remember Gram showing it to me when I was little, along with the picture of the Ladies Aid. She said that her mother was wearing the apron at the time of the picture, but the photographer made the women in the front row remove their aprons. You can see some in the back row still wearing theirs.

As much as I would have loved her to be wearing the apron in this photo, at least it gives the date of 1912 so I know it's at least that old.

The First Day of the Festival!

It's the first day of the Nova Scotia Fibre Arts Festival and we are "hanging out" with the rest of the town to show off our fibre arts. This Global Warming quilt is so big it had a bit of a conflict clearing hubby's tomatoes (!). You can see my helper Polly supervising from the deck.

My clothesline isn't really visible from the street, so I decided to add a few quilts out front as well.

Because there is rain expected, I've hung a few small ones in the front windows.

There's even a miniature on the mailbox!

The Festival is encouraging everyone in Amherst to get involved and show off their fibre art - mittens, socks, tea towels - anything hand made.