WIP Wednesday - May 29

Today was rainy and wet! And we still haven't dried out from the rain we had last week! Oh, well, that means my sewing machine will get used and my garden will have to wait! I planted some of my seeds yesterday morning - before the afternoon showers started. I had some help from my grandsons - the 3 year old was very good at placing the pea seeds into the row and keeping some space between them. The 2 year old was quite funny - he would grab some seeds and then throw them into the garden, not caring where they went! I'm sure there will be pea plants everywhere!!

But back in the sewing room today, I had my friends here for our weekly sewing day. And I had a little show 'n' tell as I received a quilt in the mail from a swap on Flickr. The theme for this mini-quilt swap was flowers or birds and the quilt I received had such a lush bouquet of blooms! I loved every bit of this quilt and will be finding a place for it where I can look at it every day!

And I'm not very good with deadlines, as my quilt for this swap should have been in the mail days ago! I'm still stitching!!! But I can't show you the whole thing yet as it needs to be a surprise for my partner. So, you're going to get this little sneak peek! Don't you just love the colours?

As you can see, I'm doing a little hand-applique! At one time, everything I made was hand-quilted and I loved the relaxing rhythm of the stitching. But now, everything I make is machine quilted, either by myself or by my long-arm quilting friend, and I find I miss the hand-work.

--Ann

Linking up with
Quiltsy WIP and Whatnots
Needle and Thread Network WIP Wednesday #92
Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesday

More Quilt BC 2013 photos

"In the Presence of the Elders" by Pippa Moore

I took a Quilt Journaling class from Pippa Moore at Quilt Canada in Calgary in 2010. We had about 10 exercises to go through - just sampling techniques on a small scale - and we completed 6 in class and the other 4 were homework. I still haven't finished those 4! I'm going to add them to my UFO (Un-Finished Objects) list and see if I can't get myself motivated to compete them! Here's the piece she had in the show last week in Penticton.

Artist statement for "In the Presence of the Elders"

This next quilt was amazing! At first, I went right past it without paying much attention to the details. The second time, I looked a little closer. The thread work on this was stunning. From free form machine thread play to hand-stitched running stitches, this quilt had so much going on, but you had to look close, just like you have to look close to see the beauty of a snowflake.

"Canadian Conversation Starter" by Darlene Chapman

Machine and hand thread work together (and beading too!)

Hand stitching with different thicknesses of thread

 And this irregular shaped quilt drew me closer by it's depth and detail. Tyvek is a material used to wrap the outside of a house before putting on the finishing material, but quilters are using it to produce texture and depths in their quilts. Beads and french knots cozy up together to resemble lichens on the rocks - a close up view shows the detail!

"Lichens on Rocks" by Helen McPherson

Details of "Lichens on Rocks"

Artist Statement for "Lichen on Rocks"

Hope you are enjoying this little peek into the quilts that caught my eye last week! Thanks for visiting!

--Ann

More from Quilt BC 2013

The National Juried show at Quilt BC 2013 was absolutely inspiring! Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photos in the show, so I can't show you any of those quilts! But the Invitational show was also breathtaking and pictures were allowed there! (I apologize for the quality of the photos, these were taken with my phone!)

From their website, "the Fibre Art Network (FAN) is a co-operative of self-defined artists based in Western Canada. The co-operative was first conceived in the spring of 1998 by British Columbians Pat Crucil and Gail Hunt and then organized later that year by Gail. The group is committed to promoting fibre as an art form and each other as artists." This group of creative quilt artists had some great quilts on display.

Beach Scavengers by Judy Leslie

Artist statement for Beach Scavengers

Look at the rocks and shells!

Artist Statement for Pitt River Marsh

Pitt River Marsh by Judy Leslie

Quilt shows are a feast for the senses and this show did not disappoint! Quilters are pushing the boundaries of what most people think of when they hear the word "quilt" and many of the quilts on display were beautiful pieces of art!

--Ann

PS - there's more to come. . .

Quilts made from Metal?

Is it really a quilt if it doesn't have fabric? You be the judge! Quilt Artist Karen Jurek from Cochrane, Alberta had this metal "quilt" displayed at Quilt BC last week. She created this metal art piece and it really has 3 layers, it's tied in places with metal wire and quilted in others with metallic thread. Take a close look and see the common household items Karen has used to make this unique art piece!

 Not sure if I'm going to run out and raid my husband's shop of spare parts quite yet, but I enjoyed this metal quilt!

--Ann

Etsy Quilts Team members Meet at Quilt BC in Penticton!

I belong to a few online quilting groups and one of my daily check-ins is with the Quiltsy team over on Etsy where I sell my quilts. Etsy is a unique selling venue in that there are teams that are created to provide support and community for sellers. I belong to a few different teams, one that is made up of Canadian sellers, one for Alberta sellers and one for Quilters - Quiltsy!

Terry, Kathy, Lynn, me (Ann) and Maxine

It turns out that a few quilters from the Quiltsy team were also going to attend Quilt BC 2013 in Penticton, British Columbia. Meeting people in person that I've only ever met online was amazing! Here's a little post on the Quiltsy team blog that describes our lunch last Friday!
http://teamquiltsy.blogspot.ca/2013/05/meet-up-at-quilt-canada-may-2013.html


--Ann

WIP Wednesday - May 22

What have I been up to the last few weeks? My sewing machine was in for a clean and a service while I was away to Beautiful British Columbia to have a little holiday and spend some time at Quilt Canada BC in Penticton.

Fruit trees were blooming in Cranbrook!

Roses were blooming in Penticton!

The scenery was awesome! It was great to see the green leaves and the fruit blossoms! In Calgary, the leaves were not quite out yet when we left. The wines we tasted along the way were delicious! And the quilts were inspiring! I'll be sharing some of those over the next week or so.

I signed up for a class at Quilt BC with Elizabeth Spannring called  "Focus on Feathers". This little quilt on the left is the project we worked on. Before starting on marking our quilt with the feather design, we had a little bit of a trunk show by Elizabeth. Her whole-cloth quilts are amazing. Check her quilts out at http://www.elizabethspannring.com/



We used stencils to mark our patterns onto our fabrics. I brought a dark red tone on tone and the blue marker didn't show, so I ended up using a piece of pale yellow fabric for my top.

Tracing the quilting design

Then it was time for the trapunto layer. We could use a poly batt and stitch around the outline of the design elements with water soluable thread, cut away the excess, quilt and then dissolve the thread to get that classic puffy look you see in Elizabeth's quilt. OR we could use a layer of wool batt directly under the quilt top (along with a thin cotton batting under that), quilt the design and the wool would flatten in the heavily quilted areas and puff in the feathered area. I chose to use the wool batting.

Following the lines!

 After some practice on a sample piece, I went to work on the real project piece! Following the lines was a bit tricky at first, but was easier as I kept at it!

So far, so good!

 I was happy to have completed most of my quilt top during class. Just a little stippling to do in the between spaces and I'll be done!

A little water takes away the blue marker!

 And the feathers look pretty decent once the blue marker was erased with a little water.

Look for a few feathers and other designs on upcoming quilts - it takes a bit longer than the free-hand meandering patterns I do right now, but I think it will add a whole new dimension to my quilts!

--Ann

PS. Linking up with:
Quiltsy WIP and Whatnots
The Needle and Thread Network WIP Wednesday #91

On the Design Wall This Week

Something a little more modern - just a few more rows to sew on & then find a fabric for backing.

Chevrons

A couple table runners from a charm pack of "Little Black Dress" by Moda - stunning fabrics, I wish I had some yardage of these!

Table runners

A iPad mini case for my landscaper son. I don't like the placement of the magnetic snap and the case is a little tight for use with the cover that comes with the iPad mini, but it should loosen up with use. I will try again as these little covers aren't that difficult to make!

iPad mini case

Sewing is probably going to take a bit of a backseat over the next couple weeks as we clean up from the winter and get the yard ready for spring and summer!

--Ann

Dresden Star Sunflower finished!

I finished my sunflower! And I didn't go to the fabric store, but used the piece of brown I had in my fabric stash!

Dresden Star Sunflower - FOR SALE

I quilted the brown centre with a pebble pattern in brown thread to resemble the seeds in the sunflower head. Then I changed to a yellow variegated thread and quilted the yellow petals, leaving the orange pieces to pop up off the quilted surface.

Swirling leaves in green thread finish the piece off and I quilted it more densely than I usually quilt, just to keep the amount of quilting fairly uniform throughout!

This was a fun little project to make - I will likely make it in a few more colorways in the future! What colors do you think I should try?

--Ann

Linking up here:
Quiltsy WIP and Whatnots
Needle and Thread Network WIP Wednesday #88