Artistic Alchemy

Christmas Projects all over the house

2011-12-05T21:30:00.001-05:00

It only took - what - 3 years? but the little Christmas throw I started at a retreat is complete and keeping me warm as I type. I love the fabrics; wintery but not Christmas-cute, which isn't me. I'm nothing if not NOT cute. I'd done another one of these throws in mustard and a muted red Jane Austen fabrics and have it ready to warm guests. I'll post a pic of it another time.

The pillows were also done a few years ago and I bring them out every Christmas. I just pop them over pillows already on the couches after a pressing. The Noel pillow pattern was taken from the pattern series called Christmas Memories, possibly by Blackbird Designs. I know there were 4 small booklets of 3-4 patterns each, and all together you would be able to make a lovely quilt pattern, but I think the store I bought them from only had 2 or 3 of the 4, but I had to have them. Such a shame I stumbled on them too late, but I love what I did with the patterns I had.

The Tree of Life mantle scarf is also an older project- you can probably tell by the fabric lines. Robyn Pandolph fabrics, I think. Such lovely fabrics. For someone who hates precision piecing (because I'm lousy at points), I have to say I'm pleased with the way this turned out. While I'm being pleased with myself, I attached all those slate tiles to the wall after "the crash". Seriously - there were ugly 1/4 inch bricks attached to the wall that ....just....fell off one day. So, rather than reglue the ugliness, I too the opportunity to modernize. The whole house can fall down now and I guarantee the only thing standing together will be these tiles - there's that much glue on them.

Last but not least, a cross stitch I did over a decade ago from a project taken from a cross stitch magazine. Shortly after completing this, I got the crazy idea that a Lavender and Lace Celtic Christmasr design would be a great idea. The beautiful lady in the red dress lies wound on her stretcher frame, possibly for all time, only barely started. I did do some of the little angel ornaments, so figured a big project would be possible. Clearly, I was fooling myself. Please don't tell my friend Ray, from work, about my abysmal photography skills. He'd cry. He's an incredibly talented photographer.

More projects moving along

2011-12-01T22:18:00.001-05:00

Citrus (the colours have dictated what I've been calling it) is now hanging up in my office at work. It's a nice, bright contrast to the dreary days to come and takes the place of a lovely watercolour of a stone farmhouse in winter. Just the sort of house I'd love to live in, but as I'll be seeing more than enough snow up close and personal, I could use some contrast.

It's quite different from other things I've made and I didn't even mind all the fussing with the binding.

I'd mentioned the Through the Trees quilt from Kate Conklin. Here are the blocks in the process of being all sewn up. They are in a pile now, all sewn, just waiting to become a quilt.

One new thing and one old thing. I'm going to try to complete one UFO for every new thing I take on. The little Christmas throw is keeping my feet warm while I bind it.

...and the latest new thing. Still just material, fresh out of the package from Flare Fabrics, but oh, so pretty and graphic and interesting. It came so quickly (free shipping in Canada!) and they responded to a couple of special requests I made, so I'm a very happy customer.

I know, I can't take a rotary cutter to them until a) Through the Trees is a quilt and b)I've finished ANOTHER UFO. And maybe um...put a label of some sort on Citrus. I should be writing this in a very small font as I know I'm going to hear about it when a certain someone reads this. And rightly so. I'm not great about labels.

The Abstract Expressionist quilt is done!

2011-11-28T21:14:00.001-05:00

I'm very happy to say I have completed this quilt, hanging sleeve and all! Feeback from my classmates felt really great, mostly because this was one talented group of women.
I'm not happy because it's done, as I enjoyed every bit of making it. I can highly recommend Dwayne Wanner's class as a wonderful source of inspiration. I met some wonderful people and kick started myself back into sewing. I'll get a better pic, but at least it shows it's done.

I thought I'd throw in a picture of the inspiration for my getting back on my quilting horse (how's that for mixed) after losing my quiting mojo...what?...3 or 3 1/2 years ago. Can you blame a girl? These pics of Dwayne's quilts were taken at the Halton Quilters' Guild show earlier this year.

Now that I'm back at it, I'm procrastinating as I type, on the quilting of a little Christmas throw I started....3+ years ago and over the weekend got all the blocks together for this lovely quilt, Through the Trees by the very talented Kate Conklin of Australia. Normally, I don't use the same fabrics, but I saw the fabrics at Greenwood Quiltery before I saw the pattern and loved the whole thing together. I'd post a pic of my blocks, but they're just...well, blocks, so far. I'll get them together after doing that throw. More machine quilting...Ugh! I'm pretty lousy at it.

More inspiration came my way, however, in the form of Maggie Vanderweit at the One of a Kind Show on the weekend. (What a GREAT show!) I remember my guild hosted Maggie a few years ago when I was on the Programme Committee, so I had the chance to meet her and admired her work. She was at the show, so we chatted for a bit and I remembered why I loved her work so much. It has so many elements I relate to...and her machine quilting's fantastic! I have her upcoming class schedule so I'll see if I can get up to her studio to take a class. We discussed how the only way to be an artist is to make art (I think I'm paraphrasing) but it's true, so....off I go upstairs to quilt now.

I'd love your feedback on my first effort in a few years! If it hadn't been for the great suggestions of classmates, it wouldn't have turned out nearly as nicely as it has. I love when people are generous with specific ideas. It can be a brave thing to give honest criticism.

Sentimental Reasons Quilt Show presented by the Oakville Quilters Guild

2011-11-19T17:00:00.001-05:00

At our guild meeting on Thursday, the co-chairs showed us the beautiful postcard created to promote the show. If you'd like to follow the show information on the Guild's Facebook page, please hit Like, and don't forget to put the dates on your calendar.

I pushed myself to get my Artistic Expressionist quilt (see below for a pic of the work in progress) finished and was putting the final stitches on the hanging sleeve before showing the guild members. I'll be entering it in the show. I'll be back up to Greenwood Quiltery on Thursday for the final class get together and critique session with Dwayne Wanner. I'm really looking forward to seeing what my incredibly talented classmates did. I'll see if any would object to my using the pics here on the blog.

Binding

2011-11-14T21:54:00.001-05:00

I'm pushing myself to have my Abstract Expressionist quilt bound for Show and Tell at the Oakville Quilters Guild meeting Thursday night. As it's uneven all the way round (new for me), I'm not at all sure I'm doing the binding as well as I might, but as long as it holds together I'll count it as a success. Above is a picture of it in progress during the second day of the workshop. You can see how there are bits and pieces sticking out here and there. I'm trying to maintain them.

Creating again

2011-11-09T21:32:00.001-05:00

After a far-too-long absence, I've eased back into playing with fibres again, and it feels wonderful! I started by knitting some socks and scarves and enrolled this fall in a fantastic Abstract Expressionist class at Greenwood Quiltery in Guelph with Dwayne Wanner. I'm feeling great about the quilt I'm working on (sneak peek here).

Even more inspiring was two classes I taught at Quilters Dream in Burlington. One was a Crazy Quilting class and the other was a fun Fabulous Fabric Christmas Cards workshop. I'm so incredibly impressed by the creativity of the participants of both classes. I gave the same instructions to everyone and yet, the results were so different, and all so lovely! I am so lucky to have the chance to meet these talented people and to help them get a little bit freer with their skills. I'll definitely be doing more teaching in the New Year - I have a call scheduled with Holly at Quilters Dream tomorrow to set up classes. I hope they want me to teach Crazy Quilting again because it's one I enjoy for the incredible works the participants create.

I'll be updating my list of blogs I love and today added Quilton's Doings. She's one of my favourite Oakville Quilters' Guild members. She also scares me a bit, so I'd better get that darned quilt done for the show in May!

It's nice to be back. Thank you so much for reading.

Painting Fusible Interfacing, then making Postcards

2008-10-26T09:52:00.000-05:00

Not my idea by any means, but lots of fun. I took a length of fusible, some Adirondak Inks, sprayed them on here and there, then added water and moved the ink around. I followed up with a bit of paint here and there, and of course, some gold.
I'd no idea what I'd be doing with it when I painted it, but the answer turned up at retreat.
Stitch practice again, creating some postcards with it. It's so easy, it should be illegal.

2008-09-06T15:28:00.001-05:00

I'd promised a finished pic of the collage I showed being made in stages in my January 3 post, Collage. It's about time I came through. I'm pleased with it.

Here are some details. I finally figured out how to take detail shots on our camera so I can get in nice and close and you can see the texture of the gel medium.

I got some great rusty texture, too, from some bits of copper I found on the garage floor.

...and just to show that I really did pay attention during Sharon Boggon's terrific Studio Journals class on Joggles.com, I've shown a bit of a journal I was playing with, along with a couple of canvases I painted. I actually used Setacolor fabric paint in Indigo, but I just love the transparent quality it worked. For what? I'll post when I figure that out, but I just know the colour worked.

A couple of inspiring blogs

2008-09-01T07:59:00.000-05:00

I've done it again - whiled away time jumping here and there on blogs. I have some time this morning, so after this will head upstairs to do something useful with the ideas floating around in my head. As always, Sharron Boggon's Inaminuteago blog has me fired up. I don't think I can link directly to her September 1 post, but go take a look - thanks to her I've signed up for ColourLovers. Colour combinations are something that have always intimidated me. I've never thought I really have "it". The only thing to do, then, is to keep at it to improve.
Color by COLOURlovers">This one's great. I love the collage it came from.

I also took a look at Digital Gran; lots of lovely pics and ideas. I've saved it and will visit again to see what she's up to.

Easing back into teaching

2008-08-31T18:44:00.000-05:00

I've done almost no teaching this year, as I'd thrown myself into classes to complete my professional designation. One way or another, it's all over October 4th when I write my first of two exams. I hadn't really gotten my head around teaching again, but when I stopped in at Quilter's Dream yesterday, Carol told me that a half dozen people had asked if they would run a Crazy Quilting class! I've given her a couple of days in October and November I'd be available to do it, so if you're interested, get in touch with them and let them know! I've suggested a two day workshop to really get people going on the wonderful embroidery stitches and embellishments you can do. Their #'s on the link, so I'd appreciate it if let them know if you're interested.

I get more out of ArtBizCoach.com every day as I spent the week catching up on Alyson's podcasts. A drive to visit friends in London was a big help, and I'm all caught up now. I ordered a copy of her book, "I'd Rather Be in the Studio" for a friend's daughter who just graduated with an art degree, and I'd encourage anyone looking to improve their art business to get Alyson's book.

I was at a beautiful wedding last weekend where I took lots of pictures of the bride (whom I've known since Kindergarten) and groom (who was in our grade 4 class!), but this is the one I'm posting - I thought this wall outside a great gallery called Artists Walk in Village Square in Burlington had great texture and I can see it incorporated into something arty in the future.

Too long away

2008-08-26T22:06:00.001-05:00

I put most artistic pursuits away for most of this year to concentrate on work. I don't blog about work, but it's been a tough and busy year. I'm pursuing a professional designation which has also taken alot of study time. One month to go before I write my exam and my thoughts are turning back to art (anything to avoid studying!).

I've gotten great ideas from ArtBizCoach.com, Alyson B. Stanfield's terrific site and I'm starting now to get back on track. It was fantastic to see my piece, "Eggplant #1" at the Greenwood Gallery earlier this year in the Fusion group show, and I like the feeling so much I'll try to see if I can't do it again.

Accepted!

2008-01-08T21:30:00.000-05:00

I'm very happy! The piece I submitted to the Greenwood Quiltery show (pic in my December 31st post) was accepted to the show. "Fusion", that starts March 4th! I'm really happy about it, as I've always loved the works that appear at the gallery.

I've also found a really cool website called Big Think, which is a website about ideas, dialogue and debate. Right now, there are 2,650 ideas on the site, according to the header. I think it's a site I could get lost in.

Alex got his braces off today, and his teeth look great! Almost $6,000 well spent. I have to tell myself that or I'll cry. I didn't realize he had the night off work, or I would have bought corn on the cob for him, because he loves it so much. I think I'll get some tomorrow as a treat (ha! corn as a treat!! I fugured by now an entire bar of McIntosh's Toffee would be gone, but I don't think he's had anything unusual to eat today).

Collage

2008-01-03T21:03:00.000-05:00

I took some pics of a collage I started a couple of days ago. I frequently make bases and then let them age for awhile as the plan for them grows. OK, usually there's no plan whatsoever, I admit it. How about: until the Muse strikes? She takes her time about it, and doesn't usually strike too hard. That must be the reason I'm generally unsatisfied with my results. Maybe I need to get a new Muse. Serendipity, for instance. She seemed fun. (If you didn't see Dogma, that just fell flat).
On to the Collage: I started with a 4 x 6 inch board I'd painted blue. I then decided I didn't like the blue just then, and wanted a greener colour. I didn't paint too heavily, so some of the blue would show through.

I then found out that crackle medium doesn't work too well on primed board and thin coats of paint.

After that, I gave it a spritz of Espresso Adirondak Ink to see what that would do.
I liked it, so I let it dry. Then, I applied Mod Podge very thickly. I've got to work on the order of things. If I'd applied it lightly, I would have smeared the Adirondak Ink. Maybe a spray medium in those cases first to hold the ink. Oh - important tip - don't knock over the Mod Podge container. That's where that thick coat came from. All over the darned thing!

I'd finally bought some Walnut Ink (why? because every time I read an article about ageing, it's there. Do I know how to deal with it yet? Heck, no! That can come later) so I used the dropper it came with to put dots of the ink onto the drying medium. I also found a bit of copper wire I pressed into a particularly thick glob of it, and did the same with some paper scraps sitting on the table.

My camera batteries are recharging, so you'll have to come back to see a picture of the dry collage base- shameless, I know.
Now, back to that CQ I was doing a couple of posts ago. I'm on to beads and buttons.

Happy 2008

2008-01-01T17:33:00.000-05:00

A great start to the New Year. The predicted snowstorm wasn't bad here and my studio is getting marginally tidier every day. I bought a shoe organizer on sale this weekend, and have attached shipping labels by clothespins to each pocket. I'm going to put rubber stamps in it, I think, and will stamp each shipping tag with the stamps in their pockets.
I organized my postcards into a sample album for the store I'll be teaching at,
and am working on the Crazy Quilt square for the CQ class. It's coming along well, and I found the silk fibres I got at Greenwood Quiltery during the retreat - the colours are perfect for it. I'm using lots of varietgated threads, and I've figured out how to take a decent closeup with the camera finally. My garden pictures should be better next summer because of it.
Speaking of Greenwood, I promised myself by the end of today the pictures of Eggplant #1 would be in the Greenwood emailbox. That's going to be the next thing I do after this post. In the next couple of days, I'll post pictures I've been taking as I've been working on a collage. Because of the matte medium incident, however, it'll be drying for quite awhile before I can continue with it.
I've added the Fiber Art Traders link to the blog, too. I highly recommend joining if you want to learn great techniques and stretch yourself. If you do, let me know!

Taking the Plunge

2007-12-31T16:34:00.000-05:00

I've been working on getting myself motivated to take decent pictures of my Eggplant #1
piece for about a month now. Taking the pictures means having taken a step toward commitment. I'm concerned I wont do it properly, or perfectly, but I need to just step up and do it. What's the big deal about taking some pictures? I'm planning on sending them to a gallery as an entry for a show in early 2008. This would be a first for me.
I've spent a good deal of today cleaning up - both physically and metaphorically. The clothes I've been carrying around in my car, along with some Alex had outgrown (had he even worn them?? They look new), are now in the Salvation Army depot by our house, the basement is vacuumed (now THAT's an achievement), the pictures are now taken, (55, edited down to 6) with thanks to Donna Funnell of my quilt guild for photography hints, and I've been finishing off some, but not all of the many things that need to get finished off.
Out to dinner tonight with a friend I've known since kindergarten and her significant other, who I've also known since public school.
Happy New Year to one and all!

Burning Troubles

2007-12-29T11:34:00.000-05:00

Sounds like a good book title - some sort of murder mystery. Unfortunately, it's an issue I'm having when burning organza. I'm getting a dark goo line where I burn. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can do?
You can see it around my tulip here. I'm using the Creative Textile tool, but had the same challenge with a regular soldering tool I'd picked up at Canadian Tire. It makes a kind of cool outline, but I don't always want that cool outline.

I'm excited that one of the ladies of the Fibre Art Traders group has taken me up on my Pay It Forward challenge (I'm thinking I've done it wrong, as I KNEW that I was the 8th, and not the 1st, 2nd or 3rd person to reply to the challenge, but I'm still happy to participate - I guess it's more about the giving, isn't it?).
I made progress last night on my soon-to-be-felted knit backpack while out having some wine at a friend's house. I think they thought I was a bit crazy when I told them I'd brought knitting. They're probably right.

Organizing and Playing

2007-12-28T17:40:00.000-05:00

IKEA the week after Christmas is a silly idea...but, I now have more nice white boxes and magazine holders, and a few ideas for other storage.
I've been playing with new postcards so I'll have lots of samples for the class at Quilter's Dream.
I like to start with a 12 x 16 inch piece of Fast2Fuse, then fuse down lots of fabric scraps.

Once I've got a good start, I cut the postcards out, then I can add more embellishments to each card so they look different.
I don't worry about bits of white showing through after stitching. Sometimes bits of fabric might not hold, and will flip as I free motion stitch, or there might be a bit of space between scraps. That's where one of my favourite tools comes in:
Anyone who knows me, knows I can't use enough glitz in my work.

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-24T09:06:00.000-05:00

Here's the tree that is WAY too filled with ornaments. They have no idea just how encrusted I'd like it to be...Alex forgets I'm an embellisher. The tree's just the start.
I added some vintage ornaments from the Christie Antique Market adventure I had with Christine in the fall. I didn't take a close look at them until I was replacing the wire hangers on them with gold ribbon this month, and found that most are Polish, one is from Czechoslovakia, and one East Germany. Even saying EAST Germany gives me the chills.
This is my big wrapping day, and I have to cook Christmas dinner tonight. I'm panicked about the number of stocking stuffers I have-or don't have, so I'm sure I'll end up going out, despite my better judgement, but when have I paid attention to THAT when it comes to buying gifts?
I've made some marginal attempts to do some straightening in the studio, and will likely make real progress this week, since I've taken the week off work. I've more pictures to take of postcards, as well, so I'll post them later.

Christmas Collage

2007-12-20T22:18:00.000-05:00

I did a project from start to finish tonight - it's a Christmas miracle!
I've got a dear friend at work who leaves for a great new job at the beginning of January, so I made a collage tonight in the hope that she'll remember our fun times together. I feel pretty brave making it, as she went to an art university and has a wonderful eye for art, but it's all part of me pushing myself.

I used a prestretched canvas, covered it in mod podge and pressed down a burgundy serviette onto it. I sprayed it with some butterscotch and espresso color washes, then tore some pictures of wine and grapes, along with some altered pages I'd already done, a stamp, part of a bill from a restaurant we used to go to and an Extra Dark Lindor wrapper (we work 6 minutes from a Lindt distribution centre with a store that has wicked discounts!)

To dull it, I mixed some butterscotch wash with some medium brown paint, diluted it with some cold tea in a cup I'd not finished and painted it on. A couple of stamps, another spritz of the espresso color wash, some paper beads I'd made and copper tape along the bottom (onto which I've dabbed the rest of the glass of wine I had while creating, to see if it has a similar effect to vinegar - I doubt it, but it might dull it a tad while it dries), a small tag thanking her for the memories, and it's done. Well, it's wetter than the ocean right now, but it should be nice and dry in the morning.
If I can remember where I put the camera, I'll post a picture of it.

Aloo Gobi & Paying it Forward

2007-12-16T12:33:00.000-05:00

I'm starting my day with some cooking - there's a snowstorm going on that's dotting our windows with snow and ice, so something warm is in order. Aloo Gobi sounds just right. It means potato cauliflower. Pretty simple sounding, incredibly simple to make, yet amazing taste! Many thanks to Nupur of One Hot Stove, whose recipe I'm using. The perfect dish, if you can believe it, for a Canadian snowstorm! Not heavy like a chili or stew, but wondeful, warm spices to combat the snow, and the colour! Beautiful in a bowl over basmati rice, which is steaming now.

Twice today I've read of a Pay it Forward blog challenge, and it sounds like such a lovely idea, I've decided to join in. The thing about my joining, is that it's highly unlikely that I'll have anyone to send to!

Linda Teddlie Minton's great blog, Fiber Reflections, had the following posted: To the first 3 people who leave a Comment of their intent to “pay it forward” in my Comment section and also a promise on their own blogs, I will send a handmade item of my choosing within the next 365 days.

Here are the rules lifted borrowed from Linda, who borrowed from Carla:

Pay it forward rules: I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a Comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange, and who make the same pledge on their own blogs . I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward.

5 Random things about me

2007-12-15T09:07:00.000-05:00

I got tagged...sort of. Lisa Call got tagged, and tagged everyone who read her "5 Random Things About Me" post, so here I go:
1. I've not been to Europe yet. One of my favourite movie lines comes from "The Impostors", after Stanley Tucci gives an impassioned description of Paris. Lili Taylor says, "You know Paris very well. Have you been there?" Tucci replies, "Not physically". I feel like that.
2. Speaking of movies, I like some pretty strange ones. (see #1) I now own a movie I remembered watching on Channel 7 out of Buffalo one Sunday afternoon when I was a kid, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way to the Forum".
3. I have a fondness for what I call my "Dead British People" shows and books. I love Agatha Christie mysteries, Brother Cadfael mysteries, Midsomer Murders, Rosemary and Thyme (of course! they're gardeners) and other, what I believe are referred to as "cozy" mysteries.
4. I don't think I'll ever have a "decorating style". My friends have definite, and excellent taste, and for all the magazines I have around this place, you'd think I'd have absorbed some sense of style, at least by osmosis, but, no. Do piles and piles of books everywhere count as a decorating style?
5. Few things make me happier than seeing students' confidence in their abilities grow during classes with me. I don't think I really "teach", so much as coach and mentor people through classes, and I find that incredibly rewarding. Watching the talented people I've taught develop their styles is one of the best things about teaching.

There, random, and wordy. Another random fact. If it can be said in 5 words, I'll manage 10. I'm going to do the same thing Lisa did - if you read this post, then please do the same - I'd love to see your post on your blog, or if you don't blog, put your random things either in the comments, or email them to me. If you're reading this, we likely have something in common already, and I'd love to hear from you.
There's to be a major storm this weekend, so I'll have to get things done today.

When it rains...

2007-12-09T16:25:00.000-05:00

I haven't headed back into my book. The challenge with posting is that I always start poking through other people's blogs (I have some stunningly creative artists listed on the left hand side - check them out!). It usually leads me into playing. I received the most wonderful gift to play with this week, from a friend who truly knows me! That she "gets me" makes the gift all the more special.
I knew something was coming, and this week, a big envelope appeared in my mailbox. Inside, a lovely card, and shimmery, shiny fabrics! Nothing better for me. It was so much fun looking not only at the fabrics, but their origins. This was no ordinary fabric - some pieces were sleeves, some vest fronts, others were harder to identify, but no less lovely.

I've been looking at them over and over, and I have a couple of ideas I think will do them justice. What a wonderful, Christmasy thing to do!

I'm Free!

2007-12-09T15:38:00.000-05:00

This is Noel; a cherished gift.
Both classes are done now, so yesterday I started a book purely for pleasure! "This is My Country, What's Yours?" by Noah Richler (yes, Mordechai's son). No textbooks for another month, and only one course at that. It's been a tough slog since my last post, but I'm ready to tackle the future.

I'll be teaching a couple of classes in the New Year at Quilter's Dream - I didn't take on much as I still have that one course to get through - and I've got lots of ideas, especially for the postcards class. I had so much fun making them on retreat that I can't wait to play with a classful of creative people!

The house is now festive; I've sprinkled Christmas all over the place. I know I've been successful, since Alex is complaining that, "you can't move anywhere in the house without getting Christmased." Ah, success! I remember when he used to love it all. I decorated our stairs the way our quilt guild president does - rather than putting garland and lights around the top (and therefore potentially killing people going down the stairs at night, I hear), I strung the garland, lights, and balls from the base of the posts. It looks lovely, I think.
I made some sourdough baguettes and lentil soup for lunch - perfect for such a miserable day. Back to my tea and my book.

Thanksgiving

2007-10-08T18:36:00.000-05:00

I've been knitting the soon-to-be-felted backpack all day (when not preparing a full turkey dinner). I looked online to see if I could find any tips on making a needlefelted pumpkin and came across a blog that had a great recipe for an apple crisp. Silly me, though; instead of apples, I used pears. Pears are much moister than apples. It ended like most of my adventures in baking.
It's not exactly a crisp, as much as a soft. My own fault though. I used to do the same thing that aniexma used to do - sprinkle the topping rather than pressing it, so the juices cook the topping. Her blog name is Madly Off in All Directions...I thought she must be a Canadian by the blog's name.
I still haven't found any tips on making a needlefelted pumpkin. I just don't know if you're supposed to work around a base or not. Back to searching....

I bought MORE books!

2007-10-07T07:14:00.000-05:00

You just wouldn't think it's possible for me to want to buy more books. My catalogue on Librarything right now stands at 318 books, and I'm nowhere near done cataloguing. So... what did I do yesterday? Found a $30 gift certificate from Chapters, and headed out to buy yet more books. To be fair, I spent most of it in the cheaper section, but I did get a cool book on felting called, not surprisingly, Felt It! by Maggie Pace of Pick Up Sticks. There's a cool little backpack I want to make, because sometimes I just don't want to carry around a purse. Plus - since I now have the embellishing machine, I want to use it on something I've made myself. I'm going to make an effort to talk more about new books/sites/blogs/techniques I come across, because there's a HUGE amount of great information on fibrearts out there!
I don't think I posted this picture of a coffee cozy I made for one of the co-op students at work. She's such a sweet girl, and is a Barrista at Starbuck's. She's shared with me some of the coffee she gets, and Starbuck's gets their money's worth from it - believe me!

Saturday at last

2007-10-06T11:38:00.000-05:00

I lost a very long post, and now am ticked.
Hitting save didn't seem to work, and the claims that Blogger save drafts automatically just doesn't seem to be entirely accurate...I waxed poetic about this morning's thunderstorm, which seems to be more or less over. It was rain that was sorely needed here.

I've updated my classes, as I've firmed up a lecture and class with the Niagara Heritage Quilters' Guild for March. I didn't propose any classes to shops this season, as I knew I'd be too busy with the 2 night classes I'm taking. I'm very glad I backed off teaching a bit, but I really do miss it. I just love the interaction with participants, and I especially love what I learn from them! Perhaps in the spring I can get back to it in earnest.

I've added slideshows from Karen Harrison's and Susan Kraftcheck's webshots albums of the Rankin Quilt Show, organized by Val Champ to raise funds for their community Centre. I had Pomegranates and Lemons, along with Jane Asea in the show. I get to see Val on Friday as she drives to Shipshewana for a retreat with other Janiacs next weekend. Since my office is a stone's throw from the 401, I've enticed her with a Starbuck's visit and she'll return my quilts then. I was sad I wasn't able to get up to the show, but see the paragraph above for the reason...

I ordered some lovely fabrics from Hancock's of Paducah, and they arrived yesterday! They included a catalogue, which is much harder to ignore than web pages. With the Canadian dollar even higher than the USD right now, it's definitely a good deal. I did check around the LQSs I love before ordering the fabric I was looking for. I support my LQSs like I do any good candy store, but I admit I am very pleased with the quality, speed and prices at Hancock's.

Off to Chapters now, to see if the latest Quilter's Home is in. It's a great READ, which is why I buy it. I love Mark, and his magazine is a reflection of his humour.

What's new

2007-09-30T07:20:00.000-05:00

I haven't written in a bit or uploaded any new pictures. I'm just not a superblogger with talent like Jayne Bingler. She writes See Jayne Blog and I was idly googling her last name when looking at old family photos, as her grandparents were great friends of my grandparents. I was looking for someone it turned out was her aunt's cousin, who I thought was in a photo with my mom as little girls. I found out the little girl in the picture was her aunt. If I have this right, her great aunt was my mom's godmother. When I first ran across her blog, she lived in Amsterdam, but is now back in Toronto. I'd also met neighbours of hers in the last year...strange coincidences.
So...what have I been up to? I couldn't resist the temptation to buy a needlefelting machine and I'm having a blast with it! I got a Huskystar ER10 and sat down right away and started playing.
I had a scrap of batting and material cut off from Retreat Leaves (see below) and since I'd also gone to the cool knitting store, Spun, next to Sewing Machines Etc., where I bought my needlefelter. I got some great rovings in there. I'm so envious of wonderful knitters. I can knit, but it's not an art form with me.

I've also been playing with postcards again for a swap. I've been using them as a way to practice my machine quilting, which has never made me happy. I practiced on some really old navy blue silk I'd made a lovely jacket from in high school, then layered it with some scraps, some gold organza, then took a heat gun to it. Some of the organza melted away. I got lots of good comments on it at guild last week.
For another, I simply practiced stitches. I'll be darned if I can get the gorgeous, tight circles other quilters seem to manage.
I used expandable paint to do the cross and what I think of as Baroque wallpaper image.

I'm looking forward to the retreat at the end of October, as I'll be able to do 4 straight days of fabric art. Of course, seeing as I have two midterm exams the week after, I'll also have to do some heavy duty studying as well. Taking two courses in one term is silly, but I'll get through them and have done with it.
I'm putting together another one of those wacky nine patches Heather Black showed me - pictures to follow if I get the borders on. I've ordered a whack of material from Hancock's of Paducah to make throws for friends' little girls. I wonder if their brothers will get ticked....

A few garden pics

2007-08-12T22:05:00.000-05:00

I've been taking pictures in the garden every month, so I know what to plant next year - and where not to plant things next year!
I'm pleased about how things are going in the garden.

I'm pleased with this basket, so will likely do something similar next year. The ones with the regular geraniums, ivy and lobelia just aren't anywhere nearly as nice as this ONE basket.
The watering system from Lee Valley Tools is great, and makes it so easy to take care of them. I gave them a shot of compost tea for the first time today, since I was emptying out the compost bin again today. I'll try to monitor them to see if it seems to make a difference.
I've been able to empty the compost bin 4-5 times already this summer - the rolling bin makes it quickly. I've been bringing home coffee grounds from work and adding them to my bin. I'm pretty sure they think I'm nuts at work, but I'm the one with free compost!

I got something done

2007-08-12T21:44:00.000-05:00

I finally finished Retreat Leaves, which I'd started a few years ago during an annual retreat just south of Guelph.

We found the leaves behind the Greenwood Quiltery and I started a quilt using Vals' terrific hand dyed fabrics. It took forever to get up the courage to machine quilt it since it's not a great skill of mine. I'm pleased enough with it, and am glad it's finally done.

I've continued adding in books to LibraryThing. What a great site!

My Inchies are in Quilting Arts Magazine

2007-08-08T19:58:00.000-05:00

I've been waiting for the August/September issue of Quilting Arts, and it's finally arrived. Normajean Brevik said she's seen some of my PSIs in the article she wrote on FAT Inchies. I'm pretty pleased. I used some of Val’s spectacular hand dyed fabric, did a resist technique, then put some hand stitching on them.

If you have the August/September issue, turn to pages 80-81 and you’ll see some wonderful mustard yellow fabric in 3 of them. One with seed beads is right at the bottom of page 80, one caught in the crease and another on 81 in the middle. The yellow I used is one of my favourite yellows of Val’s.

I've also been busy cataloguing my books on a cool site called LibraryThing. I've put a link to my library on here, too, so random books from my library appear. It's a great site, and I've had fun looking at others' libraries, too.

My Studio

2007-07-29T18:25:00.001-05:00

I've had a productive weekend for a change - I made the mistake of having coffee with a friend after work Friday night, which left me wide awake until about 1:30. I worked on some altered books, fibre postcards and made paper beads while watching an episode of Poirot on YouTube.

Mark Lipinksi inspired me to take pictures of my studio (sounds awfully fancy, doesn't it?). Until I saw it through a lens, I had no idea it was in such awful shape...ok, maybe I did. Since confession is good for the soul (though I'm an Anglican), here goes:

Wow, I really have alot of stuff!

You can see my Dear Jane quilt sitting out just waiting for more hand quilting to be added in. I've got to get cracking on that!
The one thing I need more of is light. A couple of good lights in the ceiling would be terrific.

I bought basic IKEA shelving (the kind for the garage) and painted each piece a different colour - blue, green, pink, yellow. I'd like to get even more of it and cover the wall with the armoire - which I got from a friend years ago. Also good storage, but the deeper shelves would make things look neater. Yup, that's why the room's a mess. Not enough IKEA shelving. That's it!

I love this storage closet.
I made a couple more coffee cozys recently - one for a wonderful co op student at work who is also a part time Barista at a Starbuck's. She kindly brought me in some coffee to try for the second time! A whole pound, I mean! That deserves a wardrobe of coffee cozys, I think.

I made some Inchies recently and had fun with the background. I used a bleach pen and a harlequin stamp to create the pattern on this already cool looking fabric. I did a bunch of stitching in swirls using variegated thread, then cut them apart and kept embellishing. Lots of fun. I should go assemble a CQ background, as there's a two hour Miss Marple coming on - great stitching opportunity.

Summer holidays for teens

2007-06-24T20:42:00.001-05:00

I've had a wonderful day puttering in the garden, some stitching, which I haven't done since I don't know when, and reading a couple of new books in the garden.
My weekend's over, though, and it's back to work tomorrow. On the other hand, Alex will likely be up until a stupid time tonight, as summer holidays have officially started. Ah, to be 15 with little to do but enjoy! He does have a meeting tomorrow at the library about some volunteer time, and I know he really would like one of the page jobs when they come up, but they'll likely not be available until the fall, and who knows if he'll be one of the lucky ones?
My biggest worry is keeping him off electronica and having him outside every once in awhile. At 15 I just hung around, though I did work on weekends for a catering company. I'm sure I was outside all the time.
It was so easy when he was little - he could have spent the entire day at the park on the swings. I wonder what other parents of teens do? Is mine the only basement dweller??

Linking to Webshots

2007-06-23T18:22:00.001-05:00

I found you can link your Webshots pictures to a blog...I've used the embed function to pop in a slideshow of some Crazy Quilting, and have added myalbums down the side. I haven't added any pictures for awhile, but have Dear Jane blocks and other quilts I've made (some are posted here). It was fun to play with. I've also added a pciture to my header, though I'm not too pleased with the manipulating I did in Corel to get it there. More play on Corel is needed!

Crazy Quilting

Reading

2007-05-30T21:18:00.000-05:00

No pics to post today - I've been reading like a fiend lately. I'm trying to get through my massive stacks of New Yorker magazines, mostly. I love the mag, but I need to get a job that requires me to take the GO Train if I want to get through them all. Not a terrific idea to read and drive on the 407 at the same time.
I've got Jennifer Chiaverini's latest book, but it can wait a bit since it's not from the library. I found a neat book on the Norman conquest and the making and meaning of the Bayeux Tapestry I'm going through now. It's called A Needle in the Right Hand of God. More as I get into it.
I also got out a Mitford Bedside Companion, which is exactly what I'm using it for. Nice stories before going to sleep, which I really should get to.
I'm trying desperately to interest Alex in French grammar so he can make it through final exams, but I'm not having much luck. Not surprising; I have a degree in the language and grammar wasn't exactly my passion, either. He's stuck with it if he wants to graduate high school with the French Immersion certificate, however, so I'll keep at him.

FAT Inchies

2007-05-27T12:35:00.000-05:00

I've made up some Inchies for a FibreArtTraders swap, but they're inchies with a difference - they're Plus Sized Inchies. 1 1/2 inches each, rather than an inch. There was such incredible interest in this swap, some people were signing up over and over to be in different groups. I just signed up once, showing great restraint. Mine are winging their way to the States right now, but not to my trading partners - yet. First, they're headed to Quilting Arts magazine, as they're looking at doing an article on this trade. What fun!

I used some of Val Champ's terrific hand dyed material, then played around with a bleach pen to get the background. I hand embellished them, then sent them on their way. It was lots of fun to do, so I've signed up for another trade, that'll incorporate words onto the Inchies.

May long weekend

2007-05-19T07:50:00.001-05:00

Wow, it's been awhile!

I didn't realize I hadn't posted in a bit, but it's been a busy month. I had a wonderful time talking to the Hamilton Quilters Guild about Dear Jane, though my laptop and projector gave me a bit of grief. The guild members were terrific, and are an incredibly talented group. If you want to see some of their work, check out the link where my classes are listed.

I'm working on a Plus Sized Inchies swap with FAT right now, and did a "New Stuff" and an April Fool's swap as well. My Foolish Lady card is pictured here. A very foolish hat!

None of my new stuff was fabric, however. I used some metal tape and new stamps, along with alcohol inks. I had fun making them up. Not the best picture, but any closer and the glare from the metal ruins the picture completely.

CQ postcards

2007-04-15T16:18:00.000-05:00

Here are the CQ postcards that took a little side trip after the cruise. They had a lovely time in Chicago, and are ready to go. I need to work on my satin stitch, but I'm pleased with the overall result. I hope that the recipients at the Canadian Crazyquilters list like them.

2007-04-15T07:37:00.000-05:00

How's this for funny? I found this link through Cheryl Prater's blog, and it just cracked me up. Being greedy, I've created two titles - I have one for moods on each end of the spectrum now.

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is:
Marchioness Veronica the Intransigent of Snotting on Wold
Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

2007-04-15T07:36:00.001-05:00

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is:
Grand Duchess Veronica the Amicable of Waldenshire under Throcket
Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

Cool index card

2007-04-14T21:42:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Sharon Boggon who has the fantastic inaminuteago site, who mentioned the site, I now have a way of making cool index cards. I've added the link to my cool sites - try it. I'm posting one I created tonight when I should have been studying, and I'll take pictures of the long lost-and now found CQ postcards before sending them. Doesn't this look great??

Back from the cruise

2007-04-08T13:13:00.000-05:00

We made it back late last Sunday from the Quilter's Dream Cruise, which was a blast. I had lots of great comments about the Crazy Quilt project I taught, and I just LOVE it when I see completely, utterly different works emerge from a class. The ladies have so much talent, but give themselves so very little credit for it all, it's a real pleasure when they're encouraged to just go for it and create.

Kari looks terrific with her new hairstyle...I'm sure her children will be surprised when she sees them!

I've warned them that pics would be posted to my blog! It was worth it to see Sylvia smiling in this picture. She'd never done any CQ before, but did some lovely stitching. Speaking of lovely stitching, Pat (beside Sylvia, who's smiling) does the most beautiful, delicate stitching I've seen. She's the Queen of the Bullion Knot, no question about it. Debbie and Marsha (beside Pat) also did lovely work, and each project looked different and individual.

How could I not include this picture of a sloth baby we met at a wonderful sloth sanctuary run by a marvelous couple in Costa Rica. The work they're doing is terrific. Here is their site, and a YouTube video of babies taken at their place. http://www.ogphoto.com/aviarios/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kTkOgHO4pA

My luggage finally arrived this week, along with all my CQ stuff - I would have NOT been happy had American managed to lose that stuff. As it was, I ended up with my luggage tags torn off my suitcase and thrown inside mine, along with 2 of our other bags', and the luggage tags of 2 other separate travellers whom I've never heard of. I hope that nothing interesting got added into their luggage. I had 3 different TSA pamphlets put in my case, too, so lots of people got to see the lovely Panamanian molas I purchased.

Autumn Leaves quilt

2007-03-19T21:03:00.000-05:00

Did I post a picture of this quilt already? I made this as a gift. The pattern was in Quilt Sampler a number of years ago, and I thought it was quite nice. I'm REALLY excited now to be leaving Saturday in the wee hours, but need to start packing tomorrow, which is much earlier than I would normally start. I pick things out, put them in the case and go. No pulling out and putting back, fussing over outfit sets or, for that matter, overpacking. Not a problem for me. I tend to bring a couple more things than I end up wearing, which sounds just right to me.

Pre-cruise activity

2007-03-18T21:37:00.000-05:00

I've finally got a few more things to post. I've been mired in accounting homework, as I'm taking a course toward my HR designation (how much sense does that make, hmmm?) and I needed to get a major assignment completed before Friday. It's done now, and I can play a bit until Friday. We leave for the Quilter's Dream Cruise III EARLY Saturday morning. I've got my class notes all done up, and just need to pack some goodies to play with. Carol's got the kits in hand.

Here is my first beeswax ATC, done using a picture of my mom (on the left) with her friend, Jennie Bingler, in the early 30s. She looks to be about 5, so that would be 1935. I remember the wonderful noodles I saw Jennie's mom make using a paring knife. They were the size of Lipton Chicken Noodle Soup noodles and she cut them up so incredibly quickly! It's really my only memory of Mrs. Bingler, though I'm sure we were at her house often, as she was such a close friend of my grandmother's.

I also worked on some CQ postcards to swap

(also by the end of the week!) for a group swap. I've got some befores (ok, so as of now they're still "befores", a during, and one solitary "after". Good thing it's a small swap!

The ATCs below are for an April Fool swap with the Fibre Art Traders group. This will be my first swap with them, and I'm not sure I've got it right. You can't really see the faces of the ladies I've stamped onto the cards, but they're elegant ladies wearing very foolish hats that I felted onto the cards, and added beads, to make them even more foolish. We'll see if they kick me out of the online group for bad cards!

New toys

2007-03-03T19:06:00.000-05:00

It's been a bit since I posted. I've been playing with new toys in the last couple of weeks.

Here is my "soldering suitcase", as suggested by Sally Jean Alexander. Not much of a suitcase, but it's a start! I took a teeny Altoids tin, covered it with copper adhesive backed tape, and gave it a shot. Not pretty by any means, but I know I can get solder onto a surface. I need to find something larger and smooth so I can get a smooth surface on the top of the tin.

I'm afraid that my photographic skills are as bad as my soldering skills. I tried to make the nice little dots that were shown in Pretty Little Things, but I have lots of opportunity for improvement.

I just finished making my first ATC with beeswax. I have no idea if I did it correctly or not - I printed out a scan of a picture of mom and a friend when they were little, used some Distress Ink in Antique Linen on it around the edges, and glued it down. I brushed beeswax on it. I think if I put the hairdryer on it, the brushmarks will disappear. I'll try and see if it works.

I thought I'd throw in this picture I took about 7:30 this morning. I haven't seen a cardinal all winter, and this guy was just wonderful looking!

More Pretty Little Things

2007-02-21T22:27:00.000-05:00

I've ordered copper tape from a supplier I found in Milton called Insurge- really nice guy on the phone, and he's cutting 3 widths for me - 1/4 inch, 1/2 inch and 1 inch. I have my soldering iron and have silver solder now, along with flux. The electronic techs at work think I'm a madwoman, but were very helpful sending me to suppliers. I found the tape on my own, though.

I've also joined my first ATC swap with the Fibre Art Traders group. It's an April Fool swap, so should be fun to do. It's a very talented group -Normajean Brevik, who leads the group, was featured in the last issue of Quilting Arts. Good company to keep - such terrific ideas every time I read the posts from the group. I'm learning lots and am so impressed by the creativity.

Above are a couple of fairly awful pictures of some ATCs I did. I had lots of fun with a soldering iron, dyes, and lots of glitzy materials at a retreat putting these together. The other quilters really wondered about me when I stepped away from my machine, grabbed an extension cord and took a soldering iron outside onto the concrete. All the ATCs on the left page and some on the right were from the one experiment, all cut up. I sent one a couple of weeks ago in a trade with a very nice lady from France. Her card has beautiful flowers on it and I'm thinking of spring now. Anyone interested in a trade, please let me know!

The Hamilton Quilters Guild rescheduled my Dear Jane talk for May (9th, I think), so there's little chance the meeting will be cancelled again on account of a snowstorm. I'm looking forward to it, because it's such a great group of quilters.

Quilter's Home

2007-02-10T09:43:00.000-05:00

I FINALLY found the latest edition of Mark Lipinski's Quilter's Home mag at Chapters yesterday, after checking and checking and checking.....I love it because it's more than just pics of quilts. Mark's a riot, and it feels like a forum of friends. I just wish they'd let me subscribe. I'd save a ton of money, though Chapters would lose big time (how do you walk out of a bookstore without a book or mag???)

Today, I'm taking an English Paper Piecing workshop through my guild - mostly because my friend (and sometime student) Melissa is teaching. I really don't need another project, but it's something to add to the list of techniques I know.

Tomorrow, I'll be manning the Oakville Quilters Guild table at the MASS (Music and Art Shared Space) Festival at Oakville Town Hall. http://www.musicartsharedspace.ca/

Maybe I'll get myself up to the studio and do some dabbling before the workshop. I made a few collage backgrounds last week. They're dry and flat now. Not really sure what I'll do with them, but I'm sure I'll be cutting them up somehow.

Pretty Little Things

2007-02-04T14:04:00.000-05:00

I got Sally Jean Alexander's book, Pretty Little Things, last week, and I've been playing with collages since. I've started a few, but have been practicing the Abracadabra Collage Technique. I've done one as an exercise that is very similar in colour and some techniques to her example in her book. I love the colourway, so decided to see what it looked like. It was lots of fun. I've GOT to order the silver glitter glass she uses. I haven't found any up here, so I'll just get it from the same supplier she lists at the back of her book. I have some clear, but the silver just looks so beautiful! I used a tiny artboard and over the week found some charcoal pencils, and got myself some kids' chalk and Crayola oil pastels. I haven't used the oil pastels yet, though. I plan to keep adding to it, and try out the beeswax I bought yesterday. I'll see if I can leave gold off this one. I don't think it works on this, though I love my Krylon gold pen.

Here are a couple of the ones I'd started previous to getting this book. I've added to each of them this week:

I used a transparency to stamp the image in the top left, and have some transfers from magazines onto packing tape. I think that's such a cool technique. I'd painted the background a couple of years ago. I've added some aged, torn, stamped paper and what looks like little envelope since. I think this one is a good candidate for coating in beeswax because of the colours. I love the pic of the lady. It was from the promotional material for an opera company; she looks so confident and somewhat unapproachable. More work to be done on this one.. I think I need to make it darker still. Maybe some sheet music....

I did this one for fun, and just in time for Valentine's Day.

I've got a huge pile of emails from the lists I'm on, and in doing some cleaning today came across one from a French CQ list, from a lady asking if anyone wanted to trade ATCs. I got one ready and into an envelope so fast my head spun. If I didn't do it RIGHT THEN, then it wouldn't happen at all.

I even save the darned baby wipes I'm using to clean up after myself. This looks like little butterflies or birds to me. No way am I throwing it out - I know I'll find a use for it:

Really, how cool is that?

Off to play some more. A friend and I saw the opera Lady Macbeth of Mstensk put on by the Canadian Opera Company last night, and I'm trying to duplicate the floor of the warehouse, if you can believe it. All dark browns, black and grey, with some lovely ochre. Great opera, by the way. You don't really come out of a Shostakovitch opera humming tunes, but we really did laugh far more than I would have expected to. P and I have a sardonic wit, so had lots of fun with it.

Quilting Arts magazine shop

2007-01-26T23:37:00.000-05:00

I had a bit of quiet time on my hands this evening and spent some quality time in the Quilting Arts LLC online shop. All sorts of goodies will be winging their way to me soon. I got ALOT of stuff, including a cool Creative Textile Tool, which is kind of a soldering gun on steriods. It looks like a blast, and maybe won't heat up as much as the gun I have. It kind of turns some fabrics I've used into goo. More play with the soldering gun is needed. I ordered the two in print issues of Quilting Arts that I don't have, so that leaves my quest for 2,3,4 and 5 still on.

Books

2007-01-25T22:32:00.000-05:00

Tilde Binger just gave me a great idea - I'm going to put a list of the books I've read on my blog. I'm really going to enjoy going back to see what I've read over the year, and finding out whether seeing a particular book's name sparks anything in other voracious readers. Let me know about great books!
No creativity this week, except I've started quilting my Dear Jane quilt. I've been helping Alex study for his first exams of high school, and getting my own reading done for the online accounting course I signed up for. I need it for my HR designation, which I really need to finish.

Crazy Quilting Workshop

2007-01-20T21:31:00.001-05:00

I had a great time today at the Hamilton Quilters Guild. I gave a Crazy Quilting workshop, and this is such a fun group of ladies, I knew I'd have a great time. I may have had more fun than them.
Linda had purchased two fantastic CQ blocks in Paducah and brought them along for everyone to see. I'm so glad she shared them - they're wonderful! I asked her if I could take pictures of them, and she kindly allowed me to.

Look at the satin stitch in the middle block! That was done by the quilter - it's not a pattern on the material. It's a shame that some of the silks are deteriorating, but these aren't young blocks. The card on one says 1875The class did terrific work, and everyone got their bases complete and started stitching. We didn't do many stitches - you really can't get that much done in one day - but I hope they use the tons of references out there to play with different stitch combinations. I brought some of Judith Baker Montano's books to show and recommend, along with Christine Doak's, and Carole Samples' exhaustive work on traditional stitches. All terrific works. I also suggested they check out www.inaminuteago.com if they're on the web. Sharon Boggon's site is absolutely one of the best! Her stitch dictionary is wonderful and an endless source of inspiration.

The class allowed me to take pictures of their work, if not of them!

I never cease to be amazed by how different the blocks turn out. Same instructions, same basic idea, but then the creativity of the artists takes over, and you get wonderfully different pieces. This is one talented group!

2007-01-01T19:25:00.000-05:00

I did these ATCs at a workshop I gave at the Ink Spot Shop in November. I'm really looking forward to the next one in January. I have lots of fun at them and I love seeing the creativity of the participants.

Another day of NOT doing anything creative. I did get some of the basement cleaned, though. It was definitely something I needed to do, and I'm pleased with the progress. I've started taking down the Christmas stuff, which I always hate doing. I like having the house crowded with beautiful, shiny things. I guess I need to start thinking about the shiny things I can put in the house for spring.

I'm looking for a cool mittens pattern - not the kind my mom used to knit with 3 inch cuffs. Maybe something to felt. I cut up 2 jackets and a skirt this week and felted them. They're just waiting for me to come up with a good idea for them. Maybe something crazy quilted and felted. Red coton perle stitches, then I can felt in some of the fibres I bought at Spun in Burlington this week. Not sure what I'll make, but I'm thinking of a journal cover, perhaps.

I found a felted mitten pattern on the spinderellas.com website. I'm off to find some needles and wool I can felt. I'm sure I have some upstairs.

Revisiting the Artist's Way

2006-12-30T21:38:00.000-05:00

More pictures I should have posted awhile ago.

Here are some of my favourite Quilted Diamonds, trimmed and untrimmed.

Below is a picture of ladies working during our Quilters Dream Cruise. I had the best time teaching Dear Jane to our cruising group, and it was wonderful to visit the beautiful islands of Bahamas, St. Thomas and St. Maartan. I can't wait to teach again on the cruise to Belize, Panama and Costa Rica this March. This time, it's Crazy Quilting. I've made a great little notions holder that participants will easily be able to complete during the cruise. Well, at least the crazy quilting ...

I don't want anyone missing beach time!

Here are the ladies working on their Dear Jane blocks during the cruise. The best part of hand piecing is you don't have to lug a big sewing machine on a cruise - you just bring your little sewing kit and fabric, and off you go!

So much for getting my studio in order. I've ploughed through lots of papers, magazines and books, and have thrown away quite a bit. Still lots to do, though.

I got a copy of the Vein of Gold at Chapters for a ridiculously low price, and am rereading it now for some inspiration. I'd worked through The Artist's Way three years ago; a particularly good time, it turned out, to have done it. Serendipity, or is there really serendipity?

The above two pics are from the "Are You a Glitz Goddess?" workshop I did last month. We had lots of fun with gold and silver pens, paints, and Angelina fibres, shown here. We used stamps with the fibres as well as embedding things within the fibres.

A week off to play

2006-12-28T10:04:00.000-05:00

I've taken this week off work between Christmas and New Year's Day to relax and, I hope, get my studio in order. I got a terrific 6 basket wicker storage chest for Christmas, so I have to decide what to put in it. FQs will fit perfectly in the small baskets, but do I organize them by theme/colour/another way?

I'm thinking of lining them with muslin because I moved some baskets to vacuum the carpet and found some pretty horrible marks underneath them. We'd gotten them at Canadian Tire and they're perfect for holding our huge DVD collection, but these marks are in the MIDDLE of the family room since the baskets are underneath the coffee table.

Below is a picture of my Dear Jane quilt, FINALLY together!

I also got my upcoming classes posted here on the blog, with links to the shops or guilds for whom I'm teaching. I'll keep it up to date as more classses come up. I'm doing paper as well as quilting classes, and am having a blast doing them.

Another picture upload attempt

2006-12-02T13:39:00.000-05:00

Back to attempt picture uploading. This time - success. I've vacuumed, puttered, had a massage, emptied garbage, had stilton, pears and crackers from Prince Charles' "Duchy Originals" (the oat with chives is terrific with stilton and pears), and I've played in the studio.

I do things a bit at a time, which explains why nothing is ever complete. I distressed some tiny manila tags I got at Staples by rubbing distress ink all over them with part of a cut up dollar store sponge. I can't see the point in buying ultra-expensive stuff like that at specialty stores (sorry, Cathy!). I also distressed an oval box that's been kicking around for years. I'm determined to do something with it and give it away at Christmas, ideally as a container for cookies. In the same wicker basket as some of my stamp pads was an old plaster of paris strawberry that used to hang in our kitchen. It's sure not lovely, but it's a memory of the kitchen on Wales Cres. and I like it. It's broke more than once, and I've just glued it together again. If it holds, I'll find a bit of wall in the studio for it. Mom made great cookies in the kitchen with that strawberry hanging nearby - I wonder if it'll improve my baking.

I applied some Krylon gold pen (one of my very favourite things) to a dollar store hardcover book I've covered in gesso and coloured with Adirondak inks. I then stamped it with a french letter stamp, applied gel medium and smoothed down one of the pictures I pulled from the LCBO book with packing tape. More gel medium over the packing tape, and I've stamped the top of the tape with the french letter. We'll see if it dries with the words showing. If I can ever upload, I'll post a pic. It's got graph paper inside, so might be a good present for Katie to plot out her garden. Not exactly garden related, but we took our French degrees together, and the picture and letter stamp are French.

More transparencies

2006-12-02T08:55:00.000-05:00

I raided the LCBO catalogue last night and put packing tape over pics of lovely bottles, labels and found great photos of grapes which I plan to distress. Still no luck uploading pictures this morning.

I wanted to upload the pics of the rotary cutter case I'll be teaching on the cruise in March. It's an easy project and the class days will be more than enough time to complete the sewing and embellishing. The boys can't wait - their own room and 24 hour food! If you want to come with us - go here and then contact Louise or Carol. We had so much fun last year! http://www.quiltersdream.ca/quilters_dream_cruise.htm
I'll try later to upload the pics.

Quilting Arts

2006-12-01T22:50:00.000-05:00

I love Quilting Arts magazine and Cloth, Paper, Scissors and now follow Patricia's blog. She issued a challenge a couple of months ago and I was one of the lucky few who got goodies from her to create with. I made a little memories box from the materials sent to me- I used a Blue Bird matches box, in part because the challenge was issued on the death of her father, and the matches reminded me of my late grandfather. He smoked a pipe and my sister and I would run to him to blow out his matches. There are lots of memories of my parents and grandparents I can keep in there; I miss them all.

What a great job Patricia Bolton has created for herself! Hard, hard work, I have no doubt - you never work harder and longer than when you work for yourself, but if you are doing what you love, then it's play. Her work is bringing us incredibly talented works of art and their creators. What fun!

There's a lovely fabric journal featured on her blog right now I'm thinking of making up for a friend. I haven't burned chiffon scarves, though, and hope they burn better than some of the materials I used for some ATCs. They're really cool, but not as clean looking as the pictures on Patricia's blog. I had a bit of blackish gunk, but that must have been the material I was using. My top layer was a polyester or something that I painted a dark blue. Perhaps the paint created the gunk.

I was going to post some pictures but it doesn't seem to be working right now. Perhaps tomorrow. (Note: it's tomorrow, and I've uploaded two pics of my challenge piece above) I want to go play with packing tape transparencies again. I'm putting packing tape all over my magazines now. It's just a terrific idea!

More updates

2006-11-27T22:32:00.000-05:00

I went to the One of a Kind Craft show in Toronto today with a friend and was very inspired. Beautiful work there - an incredible amount of talent in Canada! I wish I'd been buying for me - I could have gone mad. I went as far as a beeswax candle for me. Maybe at the spring show..

http://www.oneofakindshow.com/xmas06/

Here are some of the artists I loved there: Tracey Martin's Martin House Garden Art, www.martinhouseart.com, Cora Brittan's lovely gilded paintings (I'm a sucker for gilding), www.brittanart.com, Studio Surette, www.studiosurette.com (I have a great piece of theirs from the Burlington Art Gallery), Morin Choiniere (I have a lovely mirror of theirs I bought about 11 years ago at the show)..more to come, but now to bed for work in the morning.

I did the 2002 Told in a Garden Angel for our tree. I did another year's below, but I'm unsure of the year. They're lovely works. I've got a Celtic Christmas pattern on stretchers and barely started.

I think I did the nice gingerbread cookies 3 years ago at Christmas. It was quite an assembly line but I had fun with it. No sign of inspiration so far this year.

2006-11-26T10:36:00.000-05:00

I'll be catching up over the next while with pictures of older works.

I made this William Morris repro quilt during a workshop with Rosemary Makhan a couple of years ago, and sent it to my aunt in California for Christmas 2001. Sue Patten did a pantograph that echoed the acanthus leaves in the fabrics.

This Jacob's Ladder quilt, made in 1999 has since been anihilated by our cats. The pattern was from Fons and Porter's magazine, and was one of a number of patterns you could make from 2-1/2 inch and 4-1/2 inch strips. I made my sister a similar quilt in a colourway which she chose.

I made this Autumn Leaves quilt from a pattern in a Quilt Sampler magazine. I hand quilted it and gave it as a Christmas gift in 2000.

ATCs I made in a workshop I ran in October

2006-11-25T19:04:00.000-05:00

I had a great time doing a paper ATC workshop at the Ink Spot Shop in Oakville. These are the ones I played with and traded out at the end of the workshop. I did a second last night at the shop and we did a few Christmas themed cards. ATCs are such a fantastic little way to test a theory, play with stitches (I also teach fabric ATCs) and just let myself play. I can't wait for the next one. My next fabric ATC class is in April at Ginny's in Oakville, and I think we'll do another paper class in January. I love seeing the creativity that just flows out of class members when they realize how quick and harmless these little works of art are. You don' need perfection, just inspiration.

First post

2006-11-25T17:59:00.000-05:00

My first post. I've been inspired by other blogs, which appear far easier to do than webpages. So long as this doesn't become the sum total of my output going forward, I'll continue this. I hope it forces me to create things to post.