TTC Finished!

Yay!  The Trend Tex Challenge quilt is all finished and on its way to Newfoundland.  I'm never quite sure if it is poor manners to show the piece before CQA does on their site, so I'll just post a couple now and add the rest later.  I had a piece of a yellow Benartex batik very similar to the one used on the front, so it was perfect for the back.

I showed the grapes in Sunday's post as I was stitching them, so surely it's ok to show them finished.   That doesn't give anything away.

I changed my needle THREE TIMES to quilt this little 17" x 21" hanging.  With batiks back and front, it took no time to hear that tell-tale thunk thunk of a dull needle.  Once you hear that, skipped stitches are not far behind.  Do you listen to your machine as you stitch?  You can learn all kinds of things listening to the subtle changes in the sounds it makes.

TT Challenge

While the design is less than inspired, I am enjoying every stitch in the Trend Tex Challenge.  It was fun to pull bright threads to add a little life and definition to these somewhat muddied batiks.

My dearly beloved Bernina sang along in harmony as we stitched.  I think it shows in the finished product when a piece has an easy birth;  the joy peeks through.

Kathy Tidswell Exhibit

If you are in the Fredericton, New Brunswick area don't miss this joint exhibit by Kathy Tidswell, Brian Dykeman and Roger Smith at the Charlotte Street Arts Centre.  Kathy is a regular instructor at our Nova Scotia Fibre Arts Festival and will be returning again this year to teach.  This is a great opportunity to see some of her gorgeous work in person.

“AVIAN MOMENTS” DRAWS A FLOCK TO THE CHARLOTTE GLENCROSS GALLERY

Fredericton, NB—The Charlotte Glencross Gallery will seem to come alive with the sounds of bird call next month when the group exhibition, Avian Moments, opens on Friday, March 8^th, 2013. This three-person show will feature two- and three-dimensional works, including thread paintings, woodcarvings and photographs all on the theme of our feathered friends, by New Brunswick artists Kathy Tidswell, Brian Dykeman and Roger Smith.

Kathy Tidswell is an artist, juried craftsperson and fibre arts teacher. Trained as a biologist, Tidswell changed careers after becoming a stay-at-home mother. Now an internationally recognized, award-winning quilter and artist, Tidswell says, “I strive to recreate nature’s beauty realistically in my work.” Her textile training has included courses from Canadian, American and British quilt artists, helping her to develop her own methods of painting on fabric and free motion machine embroidery.

Brian Dykeman grew up on a farm in rural New Brunswick, developing an early appreciation and love of the outdoors and wildlife. After completing a B.Sc., M.Sc. and PhD in agriculture and the plant sciences, he fulfilled a career in agricultural extension and research. Dykeman is now an award-winning wood sculptor with his works in collections worldwide, a juried member of the NB Craft Council and a founding member of the Fredericton Woodcarving Club.

Roger Smith obtained a B.Sc. in Biology and M.Sc. in Plant Pathology from UNB. While working on his M.Sc., he took photographs for the UNB Biology Dept, and realized that photography was a more interesting pursuit than his research on potato blight. Smith spent 35 years as the scientific photographer for the UNB Biology Department. Smith is a member of the SilverFish photo collective, Photo Fredericton camera club, and a juried member of the NB Crafts Council.

Avian Moments runs from March 8 – April 15, 2013. All are welcome to attend the opening reception, March 8 from 5:30-7pm.

The Charlotte Street Arts Centre is located in the heart of Fredericton, at 732 Charlotte Street.

Changing Spoons

The other day, Lynn asked me what I was working on.  My reply was, "finishing a Maritime Beauty, hand stitching silver coins onto the Black Friday piece (30 of them, of course...), figuring out a design for Mirror Ball Dot (more on this shortly!), preparing material and stitching samples for upcoming workshops and...oh yeah, I almost forgot...the Trend Tex Challenge."  Oh dear.  That Challenge gets me every year.  It's a fund-raiser for CQA and I've participated every year since I've been a member.  I find it exceedingly difficult  - not because of the fabrics or themes, but because we are given Fat Quarters with which to work.  As primarily a patch-worker, Fat Quarters are a problem.  I never have enough.
This year's fabrics are batiks, and the theme is "Sunshine and Vines."

The yellow is a bit muddied for pure sunshine (maybe it's overcast?), but the other colours are great.  The green I particularly like.  I will put the Maritime Beauty on hold and get started on this.  It needs to arrive in Nfld. by the 22nd of this month to qualify.
And for the record...my blue "Fat Quarter" is a bit anorexic;  it measures only 17" x 20"!

All Done!

Will take some photos outside when the sun comes up.  In the meantime, here's the back:

Quilting Hijinks

Progress on Maritime Beauty was slower than hoped for yesterday.

I had the top all basted before I left for an afternoon appointment. When I returned, vandals had somehow gotten to the quilting and made a rumpled mess of everything.  I had to un-baste and start over.  Sigh... Regardless, by day's end the seams were all ditch-stitched using a neutral shade of Invisifil.  Early this morning I added a feathered wreath in gold thread.   Metallic thread is sometimes tricky to stitch;  it requires a sharp-pointed, large-eyed needle (like a metallic, top-stitch or Cordonnet) and a good reduction on the top tension to reduce drag on the thread.  My top tension was dialed right down to zero for the free motion and no issues with thread breaking.

It's hard to see in the picture, but from the back I've decided I like it and will proceed with more.

The vandals were duly located.  Isn't this one the epitome of innocence?  I expect if Polly could whistle nonchalantly, she would be doing just that.

Partner-in-crime Maddie doesn't even try to make an effort!

Sincerest thanks for all the nice comments and lovely emails yesterday.  Some who are set to "no reply" I cannot respond to, but just know that I appreciate your support and good wishes.

The Mailman Came...

...and left this big envelope:

Could it be...?!?

It was like opening my acceptance letter from university a million years ago.  I held my breath, and then I saw that magic word:  CONTESTANT!!

 My Roundabout Again has been juried into the 2013 AQS Paducah Show in April!!!

Ecstatic is not a large enough word to describe how I am feeling. Apologies to those friends who got awakened with a giddy phone call (well, you should have been up any way by then!) or received one from my almost-dead-constantly-beeping cell phone...(and I can't imagine what my husband's secretary thought was happening!)

You can see pictures of the full quilt here.  The show runs April 24-27 in Paducah, Kentucky.  I am off to charge my phone, I think I've got a few more calls to make *-)
Edit:  You can see the entire list of semi-finalists here

Zipping Right Along

Piecing goes amazingly fast when you actually have a pattern to follow!  Usually I am making it up as I go...

Today I will be joining the blocks and basting the top.  Can't wait to get quilting!

Maritime Beauty Revisited

This spring I will be offering a couple of workshops on my Maritime Beauty.  I always like to sew the pattern again before a class to have it fresh in my mind.  Those gorgeous Robert Kaufman fabrics that followed me home last week are perfect for use in a New York Beauty.  So elegant!

It takes about 20 minutes to sew each block, so (barring interruption!) this will be pieced in no time.

Smoke & Mirrors (without the smoke!)

Skip on over to Ruth's blog to see some Oriental Beauty quilts in progress, and the clever use of mirrors!
The pattern for Oriental Beauty is here.

Life Is But A Stream...

One of my blog buddies - Jennifer -whom I've gotten to "know" over the past few years lives 'down under.'  When Jennifer announced that she was going to host her own radio show, it made me wish I was within hearing distance.  Of course I am - we all are! - as the station streams live over the Internet.  Jennifer's show is Sunday 7 pm to 9 pm Sydney, Australia time which translates to 4 am to 6 am Sydney, Nova Scotia time!  I set my alarm last Sunday morning for 4 and took my laptop to bed.  It was exciting to log in, which you can do here: http://www.2youfm.com.au/index.html 

Her voice is so soothing that with Maddie draped across the keyboard, Polly snuggled in by my knees (and hubby blissfully oblivious), we all drifted back to sleep shortly after 5:30.  Naturally, this was right about the time Jennifer sent a "cheerio" my way, as well as a weather report for Amherst.  Sorry I missed it Jennifer, I am keen to try again tomorrow.  Definitely worth getting up for!

Fabricolics Unite!

It's been a fabric-y week.  First, there was the acquisition of more silks to add to the stash:

The green and white dupionis will be the background for the FINAL two antependiums.  The white is for a communion banner and the green for Father's Day. These can perk away in my head for a couple of months until they are due in June.  Even having the fabric on hand this early, I know they will still end up getting sewn at the last minute.  Funny how that happens, huh?  And speaking of funny things...

I expect the locals have been wondering about all the activity at the old clock tower building in Amherst lately.  There have been delivery trucks with boxes, and folks coming in and out carrying what appear to be bolts of fabric.  Could it be...?!?!

Yup - Mrs. Pugsley's Emporium will now be a quilt shop!!!!!!!!!!!!!  The doors are not open as yet as owner Beth is still getting things set up.  She has ever-so-kindly invited me over a couple of times to drool over fondle and admire the gorgeous fabrics:  Hoffman, Moda, Robert Kaufman, Stof, to name a few.  She even allowed some of it to follow me home :)  

This picture does not capture the sheen and lustre of these luscious prints by Robert Kaufman, but for the Magpie-eyed among us, it's enough to make us break the 10th commandment. (It's the one about coveting)

Each year during the Nova Scotia Fibre Arts Festival, the old clock tower has served as headquarters for the event.  Now it assumes a role even more involved in the fibre arts.  This is such exciting news for not only downtown Amherst but elsewhere, as the shop will have a strong web presence with online ordering.
Woo hoo! I am off to sew!

Red Cross Quilts

My grandparents, with Gram's fan quilt.  Photo courtesy of Canadian Heritage Quilting

When I watched this clip, I couldn't help but think that my grandmother, Myrtle Patterson Davis of Five Islands would have stitched on some of these quilts.  My Gram was both an expert needlewoman and a member of the Canadian Red Cross and I know she helped make quilts for soldiers. http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/story/2013-02-21/canadian-quilts-for-blitz-families/
Over 24,000 quilts from little Nova Scotia - wow.

A Winter Visit To The Bees

It's been some time since we checked on the bees and with all the wild windy weather we've been having lately, a trip to the bee yard was long overdue.  Since yesterday was beautifully sunny and not too cold, hubby Jamie and I decided it was a good time to go.  We showed up in almost matching mitts;  his are from the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver and mine are last year's version.

Because of all the snow in the field, we needed to snowshoe in to reach the hives.  If you are a longtime reader of this blog, you will recall that my ever-resourceful and inventive husband fashioned snowshoes for us last winter from a piece of plywood.  He splurged and bought actual snowshoe bindings for mine;  his are fashioned from baler twine and shoelaces.  (If you knew him, you'd understand... *-)

They worked great, despite having to navigate a couple of obstacles.   The first was a frozen electric fence which we couldn't disconnect so had to delicately step over. I assure you that me in snowshoes is anything but delicate!  The worst part of the trek was several patches of ice on top of the snow which  effectively turned the snowshoes into snowboards.  It was a wild ride at times...Jamie thought I was headed to the far end of the field at one point!  I think next time I will take along ski poles to help me steer...

Along the way we spotted a few bees out flying around, and some in the snow:  good signs that there was life ahead.

It was great to see the bees flying in and out of their small winter entrances.

Jamie opened the top of each hive and was happy to see bees in healthy numbers in all the colonies.  There were lots of ladybugs there as well, making good use of the shelter.

The trek back was much easier as the track was made through all the crusty parts.

It was a fun afternoon, and I can't wait to go again.  

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!).

Greenland, Hello!

Although you may not have noticed it, tucked neatly at the bottom on the left side of this blog is a "Feedjit" gadget which shows the countries of visiting readers. No need to be concerned about being tracked:  neither your IP address nor your identity is disclosed in any way. (My own shows up as originating in Cape Breton, the other end of the province from where I live!)  It's fun to realize that this is being viewed from around the world.Today there was a visitor whose flag I didn't immediately recognize;  turns out "Vestgronland" is known to us as Greenland!  Love the flag - it would look great quilted! :)  Please leave a comment below to let us know where you are visiting from.
    Sisimiut, Vestgronland arrived on "Sew Karen-ly Created...: 

Trunk Show

Last evening I had the pleasure of doing a trunk show for the Sackville, New Brunswick Quilt Guild.  I fussed for a couple of days over what to take - how many, how few, which ones?  After 26 years in the biz, there are a few (!) quilts in my closet(s). I always figure it's better to take too many than not enough but the weight of these monsters adds up quickly.  In the end I went with 8 bags full.

It's always a treat for me to go to Sackville, as I have such fond memories of the town from my days there as a student.  It was an extra special treat to meet this genuine, generous, enthusiastic group of quilters and get to spend an evening immersed in all things quilting.  For sure, I was given a warm, royal welcome - picked up at my door and delivered back, bags carried, tea made...plus they gifted me with fabric!

I've been invited back to present a workshop in the spring, and I can't wait to go.  I know it will be a fabulous day spent in their company.  Sincere thanks to all for the reception you gave me last evening - gosh, a girl could get a swelled head pretty quick! - especially to Darlene, Greta and Gail.  See you in May!

Lenten Antependium

Yesterday was the first Sunday in Lent, and the new antependium for the occasion was dedicated in church.  Unfortunately I was not able to attend as we were delivering youngest back to university; classes resume there today after a 3 week strike by the professors...Thank heavens the nasty weather waited until we were safely home before it began;  it's a real mess outside today and all schools and businesses are closed. (I am hoping classes are on at X though! :) )
Normally I take photographs when I deliver the pieces to the church, however Friday the sanctuary was busy with wedding preparations so I was unable to take pictures.  I will share this quick shot from an early fitting.

The colour for Lent is purple, and this parament is comprised of four traditional Crown And Thorn blocks with a cross emerging from the plain squares.  It is pieced from cotton and silk.

It has a thin layer of wool batting;  concentric circles are free motion quilted around the cross with swirls in each block.

Always Time For Love

Despite my best intentions to have a quick Valentine's project for you on the blog, it just hasn't happened.  Instead I will leave you with this charming shot of hubby and I (!) and a link to a past tutorial for a very quick heart project.  If you've left it to the last minute like me, don't despair - these little four-patch heart baskets work up in no time. http://sewkaren-lycreated.blogspot.ca/2010/02/valentine-four-patch-hearts_01.html 
Happy Valentine's Day.

A Wonderfil Sight

Although the snow makes it tricky to plan too many teaching days over the winter, it's a great time to get organized for the busy season ahead.  This year I hope to offer more local classes and am scouting out a fabulous space to host quilting workshops;  stay tuned for details :).  To this end, I am working on new designs, finishing up the antependiums, and preparing for previously scheduled workshops and trunk shows.  I always like to have lots of my favourite threads available during class.  The delivery man from Canada Post arrived a little after 6 one morning with this box.  If you look anything like I do at that hour, you'll understand the debate going on in my head ("do I open the door looking like this?!?") In the end, I always figure no one cares about bedhead and fuzzy slippers.

Once that box is opened, you forget those things anyhow!  This order is Konfetti 50 wt. cotton and Invisifil 100 wt cottonized polyester in a basic range of colours. 

It makes me want to sit at the machine and sew these all up!