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Apparently I have never officially “claimed" my blog on Bloglovin so without further adieu, I am now!

Tonight I am apparently strapped for technical abilities, so hopefully I have meet the requirements and finally got this correct.

My apologies if I haven’t...

Sew Sister Blogathon Canada 2014 hits the Atlantic!

Welcome Blogathon readers!! This week Sew Sisters is celebrating Canadian quilters!

This week is the third Blogathon Canada sponsored by Sew Sisters, a brick and mortar quilt shop located in Toronto, Ontario. I have ordered fabric online from Sew Sisters and found them to be very prompt and efficient. I really enjoy how they wrap all fabric securely in plastic before they box it up to mail. It is great service because this is how Canada Post handles parcels being delivered to me: if it is raining or snowing, parcels are left it in the middle of my driveway and if the sun is shining, parcels are bent and folded and shoved into the mailbox..Fortunately fabric is forgiving!

There are two Maritime hosts today, and both happen to be Linda's! There is Nova Scotia's Linda at Scrapmaster and New Brunswick's Linda at Stitch Lines. Check both of Linda’s blogs out for lots more East Coast bloggers and be sure to comment on both their posts - Sew Sisters has generously provided some great prizes! Thanks Sew Sisters!!

I refer to myself as a "person of fibre"..I love it in its many forms and love working with it any way I can. I quilt, I paint fabric, I surface dye it, I have sewn lots and lots of clothing and household items over the years, I have built costumes for the stage, I can weave and felt, I knit, I can crochet. Breathing does become an issue around sheep (and horses, too, but that's irrelevant here) so I sold my spinning wheel early on in my weaving/spinning career.

As well, I am a sign painter. Hence the name of my blog, Sister of the brush. Sign painting tended to be a predominately male occupation for many years and when I studied at George Brown College (yes, there are legitimate sign writing courses...), we were told the secret to running a successful business was a supportive wife. A wife. No, they never said, supportive husband, spouse, partner, it was wife..Well, that left me and other females in our class high and dry, so it was there and then that we dubbed ourselves, Sisters of the Brush and swore to be our own support system!

I still love wielding a brush. And I incorporate paint and fabric all the time. Painting fabric is soooo much fun! I especially like low immersion dyeing, discharging, sun printing and soy batik and combinations of all techniques!

I am also a longarm quilter. I use pantographs to quilt edge to edge designs, but especially enjoy quilting my own designs.

Thanks for visiting and welcome as always to my regular audience! I appreciate you taking the time to see what I am up to, what I am currently ranting about or seeing what photos I am sharing. Please continue to comment and if you have any issues doing so, please email me. My address is available via my profile which can be found on my sidebar.

Beadwork Complete!

I finished beading the sheets I received from Laurie Swim and have mailed them back to her. It was a great thing to occupy my hands while watching a few movies.

Marie’s Beautiful Batik Quilt

Marie has a huge collection of batiks, many that I have never seen, and it was so much fun quilting this lovely top for her, all the while admiring the fabric designs!

I know that Marie likes stippling designs and pantographs, so for this quilt of hers, I decided to try a pantograph I had ordered and never used. Actually, I broke down and ordered 5 pantographs last winter and this is the first one to make it out of the wrapper. I decided it was time to give it a try!

A section of the back

The design is called Feather Breeze and is by Lisa Thiessen of Threadsongs. I chose to buy it because it is a lovely, flowing design and I chose it for Marie’s top because it would enhance the simple, striking pattern she had chosen to piece. I used a variegated thread on the top thread and a solid orange hue in the bobbin.

The quilt is for Marie’s sister and her sister chose the backing herself. I think Marie was a bit surprised by her choice of this bright, vibrant fabric, but we agreed it suits the quilt quite well!

I am inspired to start piecing some of the rather large stack of batiks I have on my shelves. The wonderful thing about a pattern such as this is the variety of prints you can use and still have lots left for other projects!

First Snow and My Frozen Tears

I don’t take well to having any kind of a schedule on Mondays. Even when I worked full time, I would prefer to work longer hours the other days of the week so that I would have Mondays for me.

This morning I had to attend a meeting at 10 am and as my husband got ready for work, I lay in bed, bemoaning the fact that I had to get up and that not only did I have to leave the house, but also that I couldn’t attend the meeting in my pyjamas..My whining started before I even had my glasses on and when I caught on that he was ignoring me and my rant, I asked him what kind of day it was out there. When he replied that it was a white world, I sat bolt upright in bed and if I recall correctly, I screamed, “WHAT!” With a flourish he whipped the curtain back so I could see for myself and I know tears pooled in my eyes..

I am not a huge fan of cold weather. Or snow. Or ice. I don’t like driving in it, I don’t like other people travelling in it. I don’t like being cold and I always am. Case in point, I am currently wearing a hoodie (with the hood up) and have a heated magic bag in my lap. My husband says it is obviously the season of gnomes because when I am home I tend to look like one as I transition from summer’s bare legs and feet, to multi layer coverage. He is used to me wearing a toque at mealtime, along with a selection of scarfs round my neck. He is also aware that I own three magic bags that sometimes can be seen peeking from inside one of my layers when I am really chilly. Meanwhile he is in short sleeves and bare feet.....

My mother told me that I wasn’t always cold. When I was 13 and a Girl Guide, I was part of a group of three Guides who chose to work on receiving Outdoor Winter Camping Badges, a spanking brand new badge offered. Well. The night we built our lean to (back in the days when you could actually cut tree branches and build outdoor fires), dug our outdoor latrine and cooked our supper in a snow bank just happened to be the coldest night recorded that winter. It was -54 degrees with the wind chill. I have a very vivid memory of lying in my sleeping bag with its frozen zipper on top of a layer of spruce boughs and an icy tarp and staring longingly through the trees to the brightly lit windows of the farmhouse where our leaders were nice and cosy.

But, we all hung in there, had lots of fun, made some crazy wild memories and were the first three Guides in Canada to receive our badges. I came home with my waist length hair full of huge hunks of ice that mom spent hours on melting and combing out. And I came home with a chill that I have never been able to shake. Well, except for when I was pregnant with my son. But, that is another story for another time..

Totally unrelated to my winding tale, but because every post deserves a photo, here are two baby quilts that I quilted for Florine. These sweet little quilts have found they way to brand new babies in Edmonton. Hopefully these new little folk will be kept nice and warm in these adorable and colorful quilts.