SAQA 2104 Anniversary Trunk Show piece

Getting projects completed makes anybody feel good. I love seeing a project through to completion and when I get another one checked off my list, well, yahoo for me!

I am working very diligently at revamping my approach to shows and exhibitions. My new attitude is basically, why not? I have no burning desire to compete, but I am also feeling it is okay to be included. So, when the call came out for the SAQA 2104 Anniversary Trunk Show and our Regional Rep reminded us that we should all be involved, I made a concerted effort to get a piece done. Besides, the piece is only 7 x 10; I could fit that into an already overfull schedule. Why not?

So, I created my little art quilt using another little sketch I had waiting for the time I needed to get it onto fabric. It is painted, fused and beaded following the same procedure I outlined in my last post. A recent purchase of a WHOLE ROLL of Mistyfuse..be still my heart!...is going to make working on pieces such as this an absolute dream. New beading needles and thread are also going to help. 

I mailed my piece off and as I did, I got thinking about how maybe I did need a new word or phrase as guidance for my year. Maybe I do need a controlling factor to my days. So, I think I have found it...why not? Why not indeed!

I'll let you know how it goes..

My piece for the SAQA Atlantic Trunk Show

The SAQA Atlantic group has a travelling trunk show and each member is invited to include a piece representative of their work for inclusion. Completing a piece has been on my to do list for far too long and last week I set out to finally get mine done! I had a little sketch from way, way back in mind to use, and to be honest, it was an absolute pleasure to finally see my idea "materialize".

I like to use fabrics I create myself in my personal pieces. Using a combination of Seta opaque and transparent paints as well as Jacquard metallics, I happily painted white cotton yardage, creating a palette of fabrics to work with. Sparkle was added to the snow, water and sky pieces with some brush strokes of glitter fabric paint.

When I build a piece like this, I use a fusible webbing ironed to the back of the fabrics. Then I cut each piece, adhere them to a base and press them with a hot iron. Straight stitching further secures the layers together. Any time I can add embellishments is a plus in my books and this piece has some beads. The edges are left unfinished because it will be mounted between two layers of mat board and slipped into a clear plastic sleeve. Finished measurements are 8 x 8 inches.

The scene I have created is one my family and some close friends will recognize as Cook’s Cove, PEI. The land there is ever changing and I have taken some liberties in my interpretation, but to me it is a view forever on my mind..

Margaret’s Quilt Finished!

Another quilt completed! This one belongs to Margaret and she gave me free reign on whatever quilting design I wanted to stitch on her top. I felt her pattern warranted an overall design and since I really like stitching my cabbage roses, off I went! I used black thread on top and bottom and I think the design shows up equally well on both sides.

2013 and Cause for Celebration

I have a number of blogs I am faithful to. And sometimes I tend to wander across the internet, checking ones that are new to me. At this time of year, many bloggers are posting about their New Years resolutions, their “word" for 2014, a visual list of what they accomplished or created in 2013. Not me.

2013 was tough. It was all new territory for me because it was my first year without my beloved Mom. I have to honest, I couldn’t tell you what I did for the first six months. I don’t remember last Christmas, I have no idea when spring arrived. I do remember sewing a lot because I feel close to Mom when I sew; she taught me to sew, she bought me many of my tools and materials, and sewing and quilting were things we discussed all the time. I know I watched the Ellen Degeneres show some days and cried a lot when they gave away gifts and money to deserving folk. Tears are always near the surface.

I am intensely proud of my children. Family is the be all, end all to me and our “little” family as I refer to my husband, myself and our two children, is what I think of first each day and last each night. My children are young adults living and working away on their own and when we get to spend time together, I can’t get much happier. Having occasions to celebrate makes it even better.

2013 did have occasion for celebration. My daughter realized her goal of receiving her MA in Physiotherapy and in October my little family gathered in Halifax to celebrate her success at a dinner and dance awards evening and then  watched her cross the university stage the next day, as she transformed from student to professional. As she received her degree, she gave us all a huge double thumbs up and then literally danced for her professors who sat on the stage.

She told me afterwards that she knew she couldn’t have gotten away with these antics when she received her undergrad at McGill, but Dal was relaxed just enough for her to manage it. Well, I expect nothing less from my Drama daughter as she sealed this momentous time in her life with her own special something.

2014 is a big number. I have hopes for this year, for myself and for my family, little and extended. I should be considering recording my goals, but I am not. I have ideas of what I want to accomplish and places I want to visit, both in the  physical and cognitive sense, and for now that is enough. I did make some plans for myself for this year and soon I will begin to see these through. After that? Well, we will just see what develops, I think. For now, I am okay with that.

Baby, it’s cold outside.....

Winter has arrived and has come with more weather patterns than we have experienced for many years previous to this one. Along with the snow, rain, freezing rain, sleet and bitter temperatures, we sometimes get sunshine that warms the soul. So many of our trees are covered in ice and laden down with snow; we have lost several already and I am sure more with break under the weight as the days pass. This week we have intermittent sun with very cold temperatures leading into the weekend. Not a time to forget your hat and mitts.....

1 and 1/2 inch strips of goodness!

Any time I have to be creative these days seems to spent either in front of my longarm, or, with a pair of knitting needles in my hands. I am merely a competent knitter, leaving the really creative knitting to my sister, Joanne. I have a couple of standard sock and mitt patterns that I use repeatedly (my sock pattern is so worn, I have packing tape on one side to hold it all together and no, I can’t knit from memory..). 

I have completed quilting another quilt before my kids get home for a Christmas break. This top was made by another local quilting friend and she is actually the woman who gave me my first quilting classes. When we first moved to NB, I left behind a solid group of friends in our little community in Goose Bay, Labrador and I was anxious about keeping busy and making some new connections. My husband’s job took him away long hours (which was slightly ironic because we had moved here so we would have more time to spend together as a family..) and I was kind of house bound with two little ones only 17 months apart. So, I signed up for a quilting class through the local community college and a swimming class at the Y. The swimming was all I needed it to be, but the quilting class didn’t get enough participants for it to be a go. When I asked, the college wouldn’t give out the instructors contact info but they would have her call me (a strange privacy issue in a city of 130,000 where her name is synonymous with quilting).

Well, she did call me and for three glorious hours we chatted and made connections and I found a new friend. While we chatted, my two darling toddlers mopped the kitchen and hallway floors and helped themselves to a cheerio snack! Remember, twenty years ago phones were on cords and my range of motion was about 10 feet in any direction..I could see the chaos occurring but knew the mess would be worth the time it took to tidy up. As a result of that call, she decided to give a class at home and so began my foray into the world of quilting.

Her lovely top is the result of a challenge to use up an extensive collection of 1.5 inch strips given to her.

I used Lava, a variegated thread on the top, a navy thread on the back and stitched some evolving clamshells over the entire surface.

I really enjoy being on that side of my machine and watching the design as it grows.

I am not sure who will be receiving this lovely quilt, but I know they will enjoy the calm, yet scrappy feel this quilt has.

The Needle and Thread Network will be taking a short holiday break, so I am joining them today..

Ah, I just got word she loves it so much, she is keeping it!! Great news!

A Scrap Quilt for Christmas

This lovely scrap quilt is one I recently finished stitching for two of my quilting friends. The friends, sisters, recently moved their mom from her country home to a new-to-her apartment located nearer to them. After all the cleaning and purging of a lifetime spent raising a large family on the homestead, they realized their mom, also a quilter, hadn’t kept a quilt for her own bed! Some fast action ensued and they asked me to quilt this top in time for their Mom for Christmas.

They used a gentle tone on tone white for the backing, a soft cotton batting and I used an white Omni thread and some free wheeling stitching. I think it a fresh, feminine quilt that will certainly brighten up their Mom’s new digs.