Free Motion Quilting For The Absolutely Joyful

Friday was the first presentation of a brand new workshop on free motion quilting, and even though many registrants wrote to tell me it was aptly named just for them (Absolutely Terrified), there was no sign of fear in class. Three carloads of happy quilters from Shelburne County, Nova Scotia arrived in Amherst Thursday night to be part of this workshop and brought fun and enthusiasm along with them. Hubby and I ran into them Thursday night at Mrs. Pugsley's Emporium, where one of their group -Donna- was busy modelling hats. She chose this one and wore it to class Friday. It set the tone for the day: we were there to have fun while learning.
The class was held in the Alma MacLean Room of Trinity St. Stephens United Church. It was a terrific location, ground floor and lots of sunlight streaming through the windows. There were 21 of us and we pretty much filled the space.
I always like to arrange the tables in a U shape, as it makes it easy to walk around and view the work. It is interesting to have folks from so many different places around the Maritimes and beyond together sewing. It is a patchwork of quilters, each with different styles and abilities. Many, including Lynn, were pretty much finished their wallhanging by the end of the day.
No one left frustrated, or feeling they couldn't master the technique.
Mary looks pretty pleased with hers.
Already I am receiving pictures of completed pieces, so check back to view the results of our day together.
At the end of the day, the happy crew from Shelburne posed for a group picture.

Donna, Mary, Helena, Sheila, Gail, Tina, Eunice, Janice and Amanda.

Thursday Quilt Show and Sale

Thursday during the N.S. Fibre Arts Festival I had booked space to set up a few quilts. That was the original plan...which grew and grew and grew...until I ended up with 120 quilted pieces, books, patterns and thread. It was a lot of work to put in place and as the building opened only 2 hours before the show, it all had to be set up in a rush. I expect it rather looked that way, but we did our best. The bags of quilts filled two cars.
I am grateful for such willing helpers who gave generously of their time and talent. My husband Jamie and friends Lesley Bonang and Lynn Bourgeois all pitched in. Lynn being Lynn, she arrived with a dozen beautiful roses which were a perfect accent on the table.
It turned out to be serendipitous timing for the roses, as when the CTV "Live at 5" news team arrived unexpectedly, they faded their shots in and out on those roses. How did you know, Lynn? :) This is David Bell of CTV News.
Lynn also acted as photographer for the day, and the pictures are still on her camera. I only snapped a couple on my little Nikon but will post more as they arrive. Despite all the rushing we did, it was a great day and a wonderful opportunity to meet people who came from all over. Fredericton friends Linda and Gail have both blogged about their time at the Festival so check out the pictures on their sites.

Marilyn's Minis

Two of the quilts on display at the N.S. Fibre Arts Festival were by my friend and hand-quilter extraordinaire Marilyn Manzer. Marilyn is very well known for her tiny, (dare I say?) perfect quilting stitches. The whole-cloth miniature above was hanging at Mrs. Pugsley's Emporium, and the miniature Flying Geese was at Studio 8 on Havelock Street. I didn't think to measure the triangles, but they are tiny and Marilyn is a traditional piecer (no foundations).
It was a treat to see these pieces in person; this is where the term "eye candy" applies.
While at Studio 8, I spotted this framed print of a crazy quilt I had made a couple of years' back, photographed by owner Meaghan Lewis. I love it; the angle of the shot is so unusual. I think it needs to come live in my house.

Festival Headquarters...And Dayle's

Wednesday was the only day of the week where I had a few minutes to take in some of the displays around town. I started at Festival Headquarters, which was a new addition to this year's event. Having a central gathering spot worked brilliantly.
Mrs. Pugsley's Emporium, located in the Old Clock Tower on Victoria Street was Festival Headquarters. In real life, this historic building houses a quirky gift shop which features all kinds of unique items. As the sign says, "Odd Gifts For Interesting People". If you met the shop's owner Beth Munroe, you would agree this is an apt description for her: interesting!
There were lots of fibre art pieces for sale and display in the shop.
I drooled over this Singer hand crank, which looks like it has been well loved. I've never seen one in such great shape, with all the keys and accessories intact and the finish still bright and shiny. The hand crank in my collection is in rather sad shape and I envy Beth owning this machine.
This New York Beauty which was hanging in her front window has the unlikely title "Imperious Emporium: Mrs. Pugsley's Patronus" and naturally (like every quilt) there is a story behind it. When Canadian Heritage Quilting was released, Beth very generously offered The Old Clock Tower building to launch the book. Beth is a huge Harry Potter fan and the event she staged for the release of the Harry Potter books is legendary in this area. She goes all out. As a very small thank you for hosting our launch, I made this quilt for her. The theme colours at her shop are orange and purple (check the bag if you made a purchase there: it's purple, and the item is wrapped in orange tissue paper!) If you read Harry Potter, you will know that a Petronus is a special spell that is characterized by a big bursting ball of light. You can see the details of the quilting on this post. Having it hang in the window emphasizes the bright colours. I love how it looked, and apparently the CTV crew did too, as they featured it in several shots (more on this later!)
I sewed the New York Beauty blocks in a "snake" setting, to mimic the set of the Grandmother's Fan Quilt on the cover of Canadian Heritage Quilting. Even though I am referring to this as a NYB quilt, if you look closely you will see one block is not this type, but rather a Grandmother's Fan block. For the book launch, Beth had these incredible cookies custom ordered to match the quilt on the book cover, and I used that block in the quilt above. Can you see it? I still have my cookie in the freezer. Notice it is wrapped in purple cellophane and tied with an orange ribbon? A piece of that orange ribbon is stitched in that fan block.
After taking these pictures, I had just enough time to set up for a display of quilts and patterns at Dayle's Department Store. I love going to Dayle's. I spend a lot of time in the Dry Good Department there and I feel right at home. Thanks to everyone who stopped by to say hi.

Painting With The Sewing Machine

It is an understatement to say the 2011 Nova Scotia Fibre Arts Festival was an amazing week. Think of all the superlatives you can and then supersize them; it was that kind of an event. The whole town was hopping busy from the moment it began until the time it finished. I packed a peanut butter sandwich for my lunch on Tuesday and finally had a chance on Friday to eat it! In response to the many impatient emails looking for updates on this blog, here we go...

My week began in Kathy Tidswell's thread painting class. Kathy is an experienced teacher and an incredible artist. She made it look really easy when she sat down to her machine (a Bernina of course!); it was anything but easy for me.
I am used to doing free motion work, but I missed the feel and weight of the quilt batt on the machine bed. My fabric felt naked under the needle, and it was an adjustment - mentally and physically - to get my head around working on a piece this scale, and this THIN. Despite the awkwardness I felt, I am really pleased with what I learned. (Never mind that Kathy complimented me on my lovely palm tree...which was actually intended to be a daisy...) Kathy had some fine wooden hoops which she picked up in England on her last trip over, so I have the tools, I just need the time. I can see doing this sort of stitching and then combining it in a quilted piece (once a quilter, always a quilter, I guess.) In fact last night in reading a call for entry for a show in Ireland, immediately I could see how I will use my new skills. Thank you Kathy for an excellent, excellent class.
Monika - a skilled thread painting artist from Saskatoon- is itching to see what I made, so here it is Monika. I don't think you need be worried about competition from me anytime soon. :)
As we discovered in class, as with any fine work of art you need to stand back from the piece to properly admire the effect. With that in mind, I encourage you to stand out in the hallway and perhaps around the corner when viewing this artwork!

Fibre Arts Festival - Live At 5

Day 3 of Fibre Arts Festival...and we're all just having more fun than a barrel of those sock monkeys they are making over at Mrs. Pugsley's Emporium. Amherst has so many exciting things going on this week that TV crews arrived to film it for the evening news!



Honestly...If you aren't in Amherst this week, you are missing so much fun! Check out some more pictures on Linda's blog; Linda drove up from Halifax again, as she did last year. I love Linda's headline: Amherst Is Awesome!

You're Invited!

Thread Painting With Kathy Tidswell

It was a wonderful, eye-opening day in the classroom with Kathy Tidswell. When the dust settles from F.A.Festival, I will post more including a picture of the project I stitched in class.

Emporiatum

Where's Waldo

If any readers of this blog are around for Festival and would like to say hi, here's where I'll be hanging out this week:
Tuesday: 9 - 4 in Kathy Tidswell's Thread Painting Class
7-830 at the Opening Celebration at Tantramar Theatre
Wednesday: 11-2 with a pattern display in Dry Goods (2nd floor) of Dayle's Department Store
Thursday: 10-3 displaying 25 years of non-stop quilting (!) at Burgess Hall, Trinity St. Stephens United Church. At last count I had 120 pieces packed up to go- everything from the sublime to the "what was I thinking?" included :)
Friday: 9-330 Presenting the workshop Free Motion Quilting For The Absolutely Terrified at Trinity St Stephens United Church
Saturday: 9-330 Presenting the workshop Free Motion Quilting For The Absolutely Terrified at Trinity St Stephens United Church

In between times, I hope to pop in to Mrs. Pugsley's Emporium to see all the wonderful goings on there. Thankfully there are lots of turkey leftovers to feed the family this week.

Thanksgiving

The turkey is in the oven and family is on the way. There are just enough minutes to share the first of the pictures from this year's Nova Scotia Fibre Arts Festival. The store windows downtown are decked out with fibre art; these shops are located on Victoria Street in the block between Acadia and Havelock. It is really difficult to take pictures of windows because of the reflection, so look past that. This is Bella's Café.

Next is the window at Shear Impressions. These are stitcheries by Mary Farrow-Sinclair.

I am really pleased to have some pieces in the window of dayle's again. Über-talented store decorator Jackie Estabrooks always displays things so beautifully.

The vintage machine is a nice touch.

I am so pleased to have this stunning batik Farrago, sewn by dear friend Jeanne Huntley.

My posting will be sporadic (and erratic !) this week as the busy week of Fibre Festival begins. Be sure to check the Fibre Arts Festival blog regularly for updates. Happy Thanksgiving!

Victoria's Quilts Canada-Quilt Raffle

This beautiful quilt “Stars Galore” can be yours, for the price of a ticket. It is being raffled off by the Tantramar Branch of Victoria's Quilts Canada, a non-profit volunteer run organization that makes and distributes quilts to cancer patients.

Pictured left to right are VQC members Marilyn Farrow, Gayle Janes, Shirley Young, & Marilyn Leblanc.
Victoria's Quilts Canada will have a display and workshop as part of the N.S. Fibre Arts Festival on Oct 12, 9:00am - 3:00pm at the Masonic Temple, 20 Lawrence Street in Amherst. Tickets will be available there, as well as other spots around town until the draw date on December 14th. For more information on where you can get your tickets, email Mary.

How Sweet It Is

The Neary Apiary is very pleased to announce that Mrs. Pugsley's Emporium now carries our delicious fresh honey for sale. These 500 ml jars are available exclusively at the Emporium.
What a perfect treat to take home from the N.S. Fibre Arts Festival!
Mrs. Pugsley's Emporium, located in the Old Clock Tower Building at 50 Victoria Street in Amherst (right across from Tim Horton's), is serving as Headquarters for this year's Fibre Arts Festival. (More on that later.)

Norman's Blankie

I received this delightful little book in the mail on Friday, and all I can say is "wow." Norman's Blankie is written and illustrated by the very talented Cheryl Coville, who many know as Grandma Coco. I've long been familiar with Cheryl's unique work in which she combines knitting and patchwork to great effect. Her skill with illustrations is incredible, and she weaves them around a very special story. When my boys were young, two favourites in our household were Sheree Fitch's Sleeping Dragons All Around, and Phoebe Gilman's Something From Nothing. I can see Norman's Blankie fitting in with these as bedtime regulars. You can read more about the book at this post on Cheryl's blog. Norman's Blankie would make a lovely gift to accompany a quilt for a new baby, one sure to be read and re-read. Congratulations to you Cheryl.