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

 

The Three R's

Used to be we had 3 R's - readin', (w)ritin' and 'rithmatic.  Now, with inflation, there are 4:  reduce, reuse, recycle and repurpose.  Check out this very cool bag Mary Farrow Sinclair made for me out of old plastic grocery bags.  It feels like straw, and I expect will wear like iron.

Mary saves different brands to use for the colour;  I understand that's a blue Sears bag at the top.  How clever!

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.

Postcard From France

This week in my mail I was surprised to find a postcard from France.  It was sent by Sandra Reford, who curated the Canadian exhibit at Carrefour Europeen du Patchwork.  It was such a thoughtful move on her part;  she doesn't skimp on any of the details. I am so happy to have this souvenir.  Aren't the houses beautiful?  I expect they've been translated into patchwork many, many times.

I've also heard from several folks who attended the show in Ste. Marie-Aux-Mines, and even got some pictures.  These were sent by Karen Otto's friend Diane.  Karen, who lives in Germany, was kind enough to email me after the show with her wonderful, enthusiastic comments.  Thank you, Karen - I appreciated hearing from you.

This is a picture Sandra sent along showing Log Canada hanging between two pillars at the front of the church.  Sandra writes, "It was on the right when you came in as an announcement that this was the Canadian exhibit... In front of it was a table with a map showing where all the works came from, flyers with all the web sites of the artists, the photo album, another hand out with images of the works in miniature with the names of the artists and the comment book which will be arriving back with the quilts. I only had time to read the comments from the first day and those were great!"

Sandra had an incredibly busy time at the show, and she wowed everyone with her ability to converse in four languages.   What a perfect person to curate an international exhibit.

This picture was taken by magazine editor Chantal Dupont.  You can see Log Canada at the back of the picture, to the left.  The picture was taken when the gallery was closed for mass on Sunday morning.

Sandra reports that the quilts are now all safely back in Canada and she is preparing for their upcoming exhibit at the Joshua Creek Heritage Centre in November.

The Bluenose Is Sailing Once Again

Even though there hasn't been opportunity to blog about the summer much, hubby and I did do some tripping around, including around the south shore of Nova Scotia. One of our goals was to see the Bluenose II being rebuilt in Lunenburg.  These pictures were taken in early August.

  

Now the work is finished and Nova Scotia’s sailing ambassador, the Bluenose II, is headed back to the water. Tomorrow -  Sept. 29 -you can visit Lunenburg to witness the relaunch of this provincial icon. There will also be a live feed showing the launch and some of the day's entertainment. The relaunch begins at 7 a.m., and the celebration will continue throughout the day and into the evening with three concert stages ending with a burst of fireworks.  We won't have a chance to go, but I will be watching online.  One of the highlights will be hearing Michael Stanbury's The Bluenose Song, which was performed for the July 24, 1963 launch of the Bluenose II.  You can read more in the article from The Halifax Chronicle Herald, and listen to this recording of the song from many year's back.

 The Bluenose Song - Michael Stanbury

Now, I've got a story to tell

Of a proud ship that served her people well,

Well, the Bluenose was her name

And she never lost a race;

She won herself a place

In the history of Canada.

Blow, winds, blow,

For the Bluenose is sailing once again.

Beat to the windward once more,

And up, sheath the for's'l as before,

For your country will be proud once again

Of the ship and the men

Who sail her smartly into victory.

Blow, winds, blow,

For the Bluenose is sailing once again.

Built in a Nova Scotia town

Where the shipwrights had earned the world's renown,

Down in Lunenburg they built

A living legend out of skill, sweat, and pride,

And they sailed her masterfully till she died.

Blow, winds, blow,

For the Bluenose is sailing once again.

Beat to the windward once more,

And up, sheath the for's'l as before,

For your country will be proud once again

Of the ship and the men

Who sail her smartly into victory.

Blow, winds, blow,

For the Bluenose is sailing once again.

Beat to the windward once more,

And up, sheath the for's'l as before,

For your country will be proud once again

Of the ship and the men

Who sail her smartly into victory.

Blow, winds, blow,

For the Bluenose is sailing once again.

For the Bluenose is sailing once again.

About Finished

It was a good day of sewing, and the Roundabout Again variation went together beautifully.

My plan in making this was to take it with me for my demonstration at dayle's during Fibre Arts Festival.  I figured I would take my Bernina and show how I machine quilt a piece like this.  However...this is really beckoning me to keep going and finish.  I'm going to have to show real restraint not to finish this before the festival starts...I am itching to quilt bows on those red squares.  I think that will look festive!

The pattern (# 112 Roundabout Again)  is here if you'd like to make your own.

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...

Tradition in Transition: Hanging The Show

This morning are pictures on Sandra Reford's blog showing the quilts being hung for the show in France. Above you can see Log Canada spread out on the pews with some of the others waiting their turn to go up. Sandra reports that there was a line-up for the doors to open and over 1000 visitors to this exhibit on the first day. She also presented a lecture on "Quilting in Canada" which was well attended and enthusiastically received.

Ta-Da!

Ta-Done!

Carrefour Europeen du Patchwork

I had hoped to wake up this morning in France...but it didn't happen. Carrefour Europeen du Patchwork opens today in the Alsace region and my Log Canada quilt went without me to the show. Following is the press release on the Canadian "Tradition in Transition" exhibit, curated by Sandra Reford. Sandra has promised to post lots of pictures on her blog, so I am looking forward with great anticipation to see my quilt hanging in this prestigious exhibit.
From September 13 to 16, 2012, Canada has the place d'honneur at the 18th Carrefour
Européen du Patchwork and will be exhibiting in L'Église de la Madeleine. International award winning textile artist and quilter, Sandra Reford, was asked to curate a body of work that is of an exceptional technical standard and that represents the current state of quilting and textile art in her country, Canada. The Canadian exhibit is just one of many in the carrefour. The event organizers are expecting 22,000 visitors to grace the Val D'Argent area this September. Visitors will be exposed to the European perspective on patchwork and textile art while enjoying the Alsatian culture.
The exhibit, Tradition in Transition, will reflect the diversity of styles and characteristics of the Canadian creators and regions from which they come. It will be for many of the artists their first opportunity to exhibit on an international stage.
Upon its return from France, Tradition in Transition will be displayed at the Joshua
Creek Heritage Art Centre in Oakville, Ontario, from November 23, 2012, to January 6,
2013 with the opening reception on November 25 from 2 to 5 pm. Several participating
artists will be in attendance.

Tote-ally Clicking

The selvedge project is coming along nicely. I've decided to make it into a tote bag...like this one:
I found a piece of batik in my stash that works great with the varied selvedge strips: browns/greens/rosy plums/tans. I chose long selvedge strips with similar colours for the band around the top.

Another floral batik in my stash with the same colour palette is perfect for the lining. The batiks are both by Benartex, and work well together. I love it when you can find the perfect fabric right at hand. Now to find a zipper for an inner pocket.

If you'd like to make a similar selvedge tote, there's a pattern available on the checkout page of my website.

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.

Fibre Arts Festival Flurry

There's been lots of festival activity (which is where we get the term "festivity"!) going on lately, in preparation for the 5th big year. If you haven't checked the Nova Scotia Fibre Arts Festival blog in awhile, you may want to skip over there now. Joan Beswick has posted the first in a series of interviews with folks involved with the festival, beginning with Vera McInnis. The N.S. Fibre Arts Festival website has been completely redone making it mobile friendly, accessible by iPhone and iPad users.
The workshop lineup this year is impressive for the scope of disciplines included. Of particular interest to quilters are workshops which include A Maze Of Colour by Phyllis Cameron, Accidental Landscapes (a Karen Eckmeier technique) by Mary Farrow-Sinclair, Roundabout Again (New York Beauty quilt) by Karen Neary (me!), Crazy Quilt by Vera McInnis, Free Motion Embroidery with Kathy Tidswell and Cathedral Window Quilt by Phyllis Cameron. Registration details for these workshops as well as many others may be found on the website.
Yesterday I picked up the 500+ foundation sheets from the printers which will be used in my workshop. Packaging the kits will be my Labour Day labour.The Nova Scotia Fibre Arts Festival runs October 9-13, 2012 right here in Amherst.

Rolling Out The Red (and white) Carpet

Flags lined the street today leading to Amherst Regional High School to welcome our Prime Minister Stephen Harper to town.Even though Amherst was home to four of Canada's Fathers of Confederation, The Amherst Daily News tells us this is the first visit by a sitting Prime Minister since Diefenbaker, which would be late 50's/early 60's.So much excitement in our town this week!

Heads Up, Moncton!

If you are looking for Sew Karen-ly Created...patterns in the Moncton area, The Covered Bridge Quiltery has a new supply in stock.
Tell them Karen sent you :)

Fire!

What a sad day for beautiful downtown Amherst. Homes and jobs and buildings were lost, but luckily no one was injured.

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.

Odd Gifts From Unusual People

...unusually delivered!
Picture looking out your front window to see this 1917 Ford cruising up your street and turning into your driveway. What fun!

Slow Progress

After several false starts and many interruptions, the Thanksgiving antependium is finally beginning to take shape. Yesterday I stitched leaves which will be added after the piece is quilted. I love that red print, a Kona Bay tonal.
Today I am finishing up the stitching of the letters.

My goal was to have this as well as the one for Advent finished and presented before the end of August, but that would be nothing short of a miracle at this point. A little divine intervention would be welcome! :)