Quilter Wannabee?

It isn't confirmed as yet, but rumour has it this fellow might join us for the Fibre Arts Festival workshop this fall.

From the placement of his hands, it looks as though he is doing some free motion quilting.  Wonder how his feathers look?
Photo courtesy of The Telegraph (and Beth!).

Calming TheTerror

Last year at Fibre Arts Festival, I taught a workshop entitled Free Motion Quilting For The Absolutely Terrified.  This was our project for the day, a small wallhanging:

It was a very successful day and the students left feeling much more in control of losing control of their machines. Lynn decided to turn her stitching into this very pretty tote bag. As Lynn says, "It is not dramatic in colour, but it does have a soft beauty that I like."  It's always difficult to get a good picture of a wholecloth, but if you click to zoom in you can see the stitching details she has added. 

Thank you for sharing the photo, Lynn.  I hope readers will leave a comment to pat Lynn on the back for tackling - and conquering - her fear. 

First Finish - And It's A Beauty!

No surprise, it's Joan, and look at this - she's even got it all quilted and bound.  (Look at those feathers! )

Skip on over to Joan's blog Ouvrages d'une Acadienne to see a picture of the entire quilt.  It's BEAUTIFUL, Joan!

First Finish?

It's sort of, kind of, the first finish from the workshop...(the qualifiers are because it isn't really the whole quilt and the maker wasn't really in the class!)  However, it is the New York Beauty block from Roundabout Again, and Beth did pop into the class for a few minutes to pick up the pattern and see what was going on.  That counts.

Beth Munroe is a beginner quilter but has been a sewist for a good many years. (I almost termed her a "sewer" but that term written always makes me chuckle as I think of underground waste pipes...I don't want to call anyone a seew-er) Beth watched a quick paper-piecing tutorial at Fibre Festival Headquarters last week by Phyllis Cameron and decided she was ready to tackle a block.  Built-in decorative machine stitches were used to quilt the block.  Beth followed the directions in the pattern to make continuous bias binding which transformed her block into a potholder.  Now Beth is feeling confident and ready to start the quilt!

A Little Inspiration

Last week during the demonstration at dayle's, I finished up the machine quilting on this Christmas version of Roundabout Again.  The angle is a little odd in this picture as it is spread out on the dining room table.  I will take it full on when I get a hanging sleeve on the back.

I put a little flicker of gold metallic thread in each point and did a continuous curve in the spaces between.   The outer ring was quilted in unmarked, free hand feathers using the curved edge of the archband as the spine of the feather.

I used this piece in the workshop to demonstrate the application of binding an inside corner, and also my really easy method of joining the ends of the binding in a diagonal seam. 

New York Roundabout Again pattern #112 is available here.

Roundabout Again Workshop

Here are some pictures of my Saturday workshop, part of the Nova Scotia Fibre Arts Festival.
Many of the quilters shown here have been coming for the past several years, making this an annual destination.  Most average about a 6 hour car ride, with the ones from Ontario logging substantially more hours.

Tina and Sheila have both attended for several years.

This year, 7 members of La Guilde Acadienne de Clare were in attendance.  Here you see Joan and Elaine busily working away.  There are more pictures of the workshop on Joan's blog.

Mary and I have corresponded for many years so it was wonderful to finally meet up.

We welcomed a few new faces as well;  here's Helen from Havre Boucher, N.S.  In the background are Elaine, Joan and Simone.

Brenda from Truro is working on making continuous bias binding to finish her project.



Gaile, Tina, Sheila, Jean and Amanda showing off their blocks

(that one in the middle always has to be different *-)

The colours and fabrics chosen by the participants were all so varied, I can't wait to see the finished projects.  I've had emails from a couple of folks who hurried home to finish their blocks so hopefully it won't be long before we see some results. It was an absolutely wonderful day.  I am always humbled by how generous quilters are in sharing their talents.  Mark your calendars, and we'll do it all again next year: October 15 - 19, 2013. 

Demo at Dayle's

If you are in Amherst today, I hope you will drop by the Dry Goods department on the second floor of Dayle's Department Store.  I will be there from 11am - 1 pm with my machine set up, quilting away.

A good day is one where you get to sew. :)

More Festival Windows

Since all thumbs are fingers but not all fingers are thumbs (wait for it...you'll get the analogy...!) I am posting some pictures here as well as on the Festival blog.  Here are more store windows in downtown Amherst, decked out for the Fibre Arts Festival. 

These 3D hooked pieces by Pauline Verstraten in the window at Dayle's are so well done.  I love the sheep!

Polly also has a pumpkin hooked from wool.  Love it!

A beautiful quilt in fall colours by Barb Hood.

These displays are all part of the downtown Fibre Walk.  You can purchase a Passport for $5.00 with a map to all the displays and information about each artist.  There is a ballot on the Passport for your chance to win these prizes:

Passports are available at Festival Headquarters;  it's a lot of fun!

New York Beauty Workshop

A spot has opened up in my Roundabout Again workshop for Fibre Arts Festival so if you are interested just email

You can read more details here.http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/sewkaren/workshops.html

 

Fibre Arts Festival Countdown

The Nova Scotia Fibre Arts Festival is only a week away and Amherst is busily preparing for the influx of visiting fibre artists.  Posters have begun appearing around the downtown and shop windows are sporting arrays of beautiful handwork.  I have piles and piles stacked up around the house;  one pile of items necessary for the workshop, another for my quilting display at dayle's.  Later today I will haul quilts out of my closet and begin deciding which ones will go in dayle's window display, so that will be yet another pile.  I am thinking it will be all New York Beauties this year;  I seem to have a lot of those.

Although not directly involved in the festival as such, hubby has his own pile:  jars of honey to be sold at Festival Headquarters.

The diningroom table is buried under almost 50 aprons from the collection of Diane Shink.  Diane has amassed a rather substantial apron collection, currently numbering around 1000 vintage aprons.  Shortly, these aprons will head to the library where they will be on display throughout festival week.

Naturally, I had to go through the group to see what treasures she had brought.  This is my favourite.

I love the scalloped bottom, the fan shaped pockets, and that embroidery is over the top gorgeous.  (Do you suppose she would notice if this one didn't make it home to her again?)

This apron is one of many which Diane has featured in her weekly minder entitled, "My Grandmother Always Wore One."

The books will be available during Fibre Arts Festival at Festival Headquarters.

Roundabout Again...Again

This morning on a trip to dayle's to drop off some patterns, I spotted this gorgeous black print. 

 Granted, it doesn't look so gorgeous in this picture, but trust me...it is.  They also had it in red and green;  all three colourways were equally stunning.  I couldn't resist and came home with a couple of metres of the black with no project in mind, but just to have.  I petted and admired it as I worked away, all the while hearing this little voice whispering, "really, Karen?  They had it in red and you bought BLACK?"  So we all know I trotted back down to dayle's to get that red. 

I introduced it to the rest of my Christmas collection and love how it goes with...well, everything.  It is red after all. ( I've never met a red I didn't like.)

And of course, once that fabric was laid out there was nothing I could do except start sewing...

Individual Consumption

For the first time in what feels like years, Polly and I spent the day at the sewing machine. We had to. We needed to feel the fabric and hear the purr of the machine; most of all we needed the fulfillment of creating something lovely...from nothing . That's magic, you know.Because we chose to work with selvedges, the "nothing" was almost literal in this case. It was such fun to rifle through the basket of selvedges...old friends left from prior projects. Some of the ends are years and years old, so it's nostalgic to remember what was made from each, and from whence each was acquired. Some of the Moda and Kansas Troubles I recognize as coming from Joan. There are a few Darlene Zimmerman fabric edges which were sent by Robin, a reader from Henrico, VA. (Do you still visit, Robin?) Each of these leftover snippets is unique, as individual manufacturers word their edges to suit their needs. One in particular caught my eye as I stitched it in place. This one from Northcott reads, "Licence is required for any use beyond individual c..." That's where it cut off, at the "c".
Naturally I had to go through the pile to find another with the same wording. Consumption. "Licence is required for any use beyond individual consumption".

I thought for a bit on how I am consuming the fabric...then I thought even longer about how fabric consumes me...it's a two-way street. Then it dawned on me because Polly and I are both involved in the process - and therefore not individuals being consumed - perhaps Northcott should be required to have a license to work with us... ?

When You're Hot, You're Hot

It's a special thing to get interviewed for an online blog post, but it's an extra-special, out-of-the-ordinary thing to have it happen, independently, on two different sites on the same day. It happened recently for Kathy Tidswell whom I read about first here on the Canadian Quilter's Association blog and then a few minutes later on the NS Fibre Arts Festival blog . Way to go, Kathy! Kathy is well deserving of such recognition. Though long a fan of her work, I first met her only a few years' back when she came to teach at the N.S. Fibre Arts Festival. Last year I had the pleasure of taking one of her thread-painting classes. She is coming again this year to do a two-day class on thread painting a portrait of your pet. I'd dearly love to do one of Polly; just look at that sweet face :)

Kathy is a wonderful, patient teacher and in high demand; so much so in fact that she was invited to teach in Luxembourg. Wow!

I will be taking care of the registration for her class after September 2oth, but in the meantime you can contact Kathy directly for the details.

5 Down, 4 To Go...

Other than the addition of leaves with a few hand stitches, the Thanksgiving antependium is finished. I am indeed giving thanks for its completion. I cannot show the finished piece until it is presented in church, but it came out looking exactly like my original sketch. Can you use your imagination to envision it? I like the shape.
Before I shift gears and begin the Advent parament, some time will be spent on getting kits together for the N.S. Fibre Arts Festival. That week is quickly approaching and there's lots to do to prepare. Be sure to check out the Festival website for details, and watch the Fibre Arts Festival blog for updates.

Roundabout Again In Blue

The Roundabout Again design in the Belle Provence fabric is finished, and I am really pleased with how it turned out. Here you see it pictured with Staffordshire "Blue Willow" china, and a delft blue and white mustard jar my Mom brought back from Holland a few years back.
Finishing at 50" long, it is a perfect size for our round table when the leaf is added.
Saturday was great weather for a drive, so I headed to Alumni Gardens at the Nova Scotia Agricultural College in Truro, N.S. It's a beautiful spot and I love going there.
My Mom came along to help with the shoot.
There was a wedding set to take place that afternoon in the garden and folks were decorating the gazebo. You can see some red streamers on the railing here.
The piece features a striped bias binding, which I just love. Because it is an even stripe, it is possible to match up the line in the joins almost invisibly when the binding is made in a continuous fashion. We will be doing it this way in the Fibre Arts Festival workshop.
The high-thread count cotton backing I used presented a few issues but nothing insurmountable. In the end, I changed the needle three times throughout the quilting. There was an obvious, audible "plunk plunk" when the needles started to dull, my clue to switch them out for a fresh one. The quilting for the most part was simply free hand, although I did mark the three motifs running down the middle to keep them somewhat regular.
In between the points, I did a continuous loop around the insides and then back across the bottom.

You can see it here from the back. It was quick and easy to do, as well as forming an attractive pattern, so I will certainly add that one to my bag of tricks.
The pattern is available online from my website, or ask your local quilt shop to order it in.

Zipping Along

My blue New York Roundabout Again is basted (yeah!) and the quilting is underway. Since this is a workshop sample, I decided to go with a plain, pale cream backing so that students can easily see the quilting.
This backing is a problematic fabric I've had on hand for sometime. It's a fine, wickedly expensive cotton with a very high thread count which I purchased to use on a hand-quilted storm at sea a couple of years' back. I had the king-sized quilt all basted and began the hand stitching, only to discover that the needle would not go through the fabric without a fight. It turned out to be a fight I lost, as I wasn't long replacing that backing with something a little more needle-friendly. I used part of the backing on a smaller quilt I was machine quilting, but had issues doing that as well; the needle left visible holes where it pierced the fabric. My frugal nature would not allow me to throw the remainder out and enough time has passed that I've regained my determination to use it up. I tested out the stitching with several different needles and found that a Microtex (Sharp) Size 80/12 gave good results. Often it is all about using the right needle. As I am using 100 wt. navy Invisifil thread on top and cream coloured 50 wt. cotton thread on the bottom, I doodled some motifs to get my thread tension correct. This is the back of the work I am showing you here. You can see in the right hand section below that the navy thread grows fainter and fainter as I tighten my top tension. By the time I move onto the second motif (on the left) there is no navy showing at all on the back and no cream showing on the front - just the way it should be.
The feathers are all free handed, using the inside curve of the ring as the spine.
As I quilt, I have my new fabric in view so I can work on its design in my head. I had seen this fabric in a picture posted from Spring Quilt Market and knew it would be perfect for a Thanksgiving antependium. I ordered it online from Craft Town Fabrics in Indiana, and their service was terrific. The fabric is from Studio e, called Blessings II .
I ordered a companion piece for the lettering on the banner.
I am not sure yet exactly of the design, but I am thinking a plain cream with these printed words woven into the background, then overlaid with appliqué, would be very effective. I suspect by the time I have the quilting on Roundabout Again complete, this design will have gelled. Or at least I hope so :)