Artless Fabrications

I’ve just come in from hanging a new quilt top on the clothesline and, if not for the wind, it’s actually quite mild outside. I had to wear my rubber boots as otherwise I’d be sinking ankle deep in the muck, but that’s also a good sign of spring.

Last week, during my marathon sewing sessions, I managed to get all of my Bull’s Eye blocks together. I debated back and forth about putting a border on as I really like it without one, although I did wish for a slightly larger finished product. This was such a wonderful scrap buster quilt, though, and I used so many very early fabrics that were aging far too long in the stash cupboard and scrap buckets that I’m quite certain I will make another more edited one down the road. I threw everything into the mix this time and was beginning to think it would look more like a dog’s breakfast, but it turned out not too badly. In the end I finally decided to add two borders to the top and I’m loving the final transformation! The next one will just have to be borderless, ha, ha.

I spent the morning putting together a backing and binding for a different quilt, in preparation for some quilting time in the longarm studio this week. It’s time to tackle that pile of tops…

until next time,

happy quilting, carol xox

As many of you know, I’ve been teaching quilt making to a small group of women since last June and we gather about twice a month in the Plenty church basement to discuss and make all things quilty. Some of the members are long standing and were quilting with me way back when I first starting teaching in my studio/gallery space around 2010, and some of the students have only been with me since last summer. The one thing we all seem to agree on is how much fun, creativity, and satisfaction quilting adds to our lives.

Each time we gather together I’ve been presenting a new block to the group, which teaches a different skill or technique to add to their personal repertoires. I started out with some very simple offerings such as strip piecing and half square triangles, and as the months went by the techniques became more advanced to include partial seams, curved piecing, and applique, just to name a few.

Now that all of our blocks are complete, this weekend we’ll be focusing on sashings and borders, with each student designing a setting unique to them, with some help from me, of course. Our main goal at the moment is to have the quilt tops sewn together in time for our third annual Plenty Piecemakers Quilt Show scheduled for Saturday, May 4th, 2019.

This week has been a busy one for me, with lots of class samples and preparations to do and tonnes of sewing getting done. As you can see, I’m still doing most of my piecing in the home studio where the design wall is practically non-existant, but it hasn’t slowed me down much and I’ve managed to get my teaching blocks all sewn together as a top. I know that I’ve already set aside a large piece of yardage for the back of this quilt but, since I’ve set the blocks on point it’s turned out a bit bigger than my original plan, so I’m hoping I have enough. There is still binding to consider for this one and I haven’t wrapped my head around that yet. It will be easier to decide when I get a good look at what’s in the stash, and I’ll definitely be heading to the studio this weekend as the weather report looks very promising. We’ve recently had some days just slightly above zero and next week’s predictions are looking even better. Soon I’ll have no excuse at all for not getting in front of the longarm and it’s a good thing as that pile of quilt tops is beginning to topple over 😮

Quilty forecast –  sunny days ahead, perfect for quilts on the clothesline!

Until next time,

as always, carol xox

After returning from Mexico City I had quite a bit of correspondence to catch up on, including some comments in queue awaiting approval. I was pleasantly surprised to receive comments from my son Nate, the genius who gifted me my website/blog as a birthday present ten years ago. One of the comments he left stated that he’d love to see the sketchbooks that I had been working on while in Mexico…

The first sketchbook I’m sharing is one that I  made by hand using Japanese handmade paper to cover the book and then I filled it with watercolour paper. This book was designated for my trip to the pyramids and for studies of pre-columbian artifacts.

One of the unusual features of this sketchbook is the concertina effect I used on the pages. Although I wanted a fairly compact and portable book, I also wanted the opportunity to draw larger or wider sketches, and by folding the pages in this manner I had the best of both worlds. Another unique quality of this book is the staining treatment of the pages, which was done by creating mud using the earth at the base of the Temple of the Sun and rubbing it into the watercolour paper.

The second sketchbook I made was specifically for my trip to Casa Azul, Frida Kahlo’s house in Coyoacan. The book was made entirely with handmade paper that has a soft fabric-like quality, allowing me the possibility of stitching into it as well as drawing. I also included a variety of weights of paper to experiment on and the cover was made with a special piece of hand dyed paper, to which I attached some bright yellow rick-rack trim.

This sketchbook is by far the more personal and emotional one, containing oil pastel rubbings from the blue wall surrounding her house, blossoms that had fallen from the trees in the inner courtyard, my entrance ticket to the museum, and sketches of her personal jewellry and one of her paint-stained hospital smocks. Somewhere on my camera is a photo of me sketching in this book while sitting in the courtyard gardens of Casa Azul – one of my lifetime dreams come true!

The third and final sketchbook that I worked in for this project was not handmade like the others, but I did decorate the cover of a purchased mixed media sketchbook to personalize it a bit. This was the book that I began as a warm-up exercise before leaving for Mexico, and also carried it around with me through airports and on bus tours.

So there you are, Nate, a post just for you all about my recent sketchbooks. I just hope the rest of my readers aren’t too put off with this little peek into the inner workings of my crazy mind.

Until next time,

always carol xox

My last post was all about the house (or adjoining houses) that Diego Rivera had custom built in San Angel, for use as a home and studio for himself and Frida Kahlo. The architect/designer of the building was a friend and contemporary, Juan O’Gorman, who was also an artist in his own right. In my research on the Rivera house, I discovered other buildings designed by O’Gorman, one of which I knew I just had to see in person before leaving Mexico.



The building I’m showing you is located on the campus of the prestigious National Autonomous University of Mexico, better known as UNAM, and is the UNAM Central Library built in 1956. The amazing exterior is totally encrusted on all four sides with naturally coloured stones set like a mosaic, depicting the history of Mexico from its beginning in Mesa-America to the present, including the construction of the library itself. Local stones were gathered from every region of Mexico to attain the variety of colours required for the beautiful artwork and each stone has maintained its incredibly vibrant colour over the years, without fading.
There is a lovely side story to this little adventure on my final day in Mexico City that I’d like to share with you.
The previous day, Friday, I was booked to go touring to Puebla and had scheduled my Uber to pick me up on the street in front of my hotel at 8:00 am. When my ride arrived it turned out to be the most delightful young woman named Aurea, and she spoke fluent English, which was not my usual experience with taxis or Uber. We engaged in a wonderful conversation and I found out that she was a chemical engineer and drove Uber for extra income, with multiple jobs a very common occurrence in Mexico. In return, I related some of my adventures to her, including my visit to Frida’s house and she insisted that if I had time I should go to see Diego’ house too. I explained that, as I was running out of days, that I had bumped the Diego Rivera house down the list and was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to schedule rides back and forth to San Angel. That’s when she offered to pick me up the following morning, take me to San Angel, and wait to bring me back to Coyoacán when I was finished touring the Diego house. She even suggested a stop at the Saturday marketplace before heading back, which was most generous.
On Saturday morning, promptly at 9:30 Aurea arrived and we drove to San Angel, where she left me to tour the museum while she ran personal errands around town. She then picked me up with the intention of stopping at the market, but after seeing how crowded it was, I declined and made a request to see the UNAM Library instead. I explained to her that in my excitement I had done some research and found that Juan O’Gorman had also designed the famous library, and wondered how far it was from Coyoacán. I was very pleased to find out that the university was located halfway between San Angel and Coyoacán, and Aurea was thrilled to tell me that UNAM was her university! She hadn’t been back since graduating ten years ago and was very excited to show me around the campus. We had a lovely time, strolling casually among the students, chatting about her uni days, and of course, taking photos of this iconic landmark. It was great to create these memories with my lovely new friend.
As we were driving back to Coyoacán Aurea asked me how I was going to spend the remainder of my final day and I told her I still had some packing to do, but if time allowed I was going to try to find a churro stand as I’d never had one before. Well that turned out to be our last stop before parting ways, and as we ‘cheered’ with our sugar cinnamon churros I thanked her for her charming company and kindness which has left a lasting impression on my heart.
The perfect way to spend my final day in Mexico City!
Love always, carol xox

I was teaching at the church last Sunday afternoon and that being our first gathering since my return from Mexico City, the conversation focused on some of the highlights of my trip. I’ve received lovely feedback on the blog posts and photos that I shared while I was away and had some requests for a bit more… be careful what you ask for as I have approximately 5000 photos on file, so we could be here a while ☺️

As many of you know, I was on a pilgrimage exploring the life and art of one of my favourite artists, Frida Kahlo. I was lucky enough to stay in what was once the town she grew up in, Coyoacan, but it has now become a suburb district absorbed by Mexico City. I visited Casa Azul, the house she was born in and died in, and visited many of the parks and landmarks that were important to her. One of the most remarkable places I visited was in San Angel, the Diego Rivera Studio Museum, which was designed by Juan O’Gorman for Diego as a home for himself and his wife, Frida, as well as a working studio. This place gave great insight into their relationship and the importance of work in Diego’s life.


Diego insisted that two individual houses be built, a larger pink house for himself and a smaller blue house for Frida, with a rooftop bridge connecting the houses to each other. Each house included an art studio but Diego’s was far grander in scale than Frida’s, with floor to ceiling windows, and built in shelves and cases to display his enormous collection of Pre-Colombian artifacts and other inspiring art objects.


One of the fascinating things about this museum was how well curated and presented the collection was, right down to the mundane items of Diego’s wardrobe, which were displayed on life size mannequins to demonstrate what an extraordinarily large man he was. I also found it interesting to compare the size of his studio to the actual living quarters, which were quite tiny and very basic in comparison to the elaborate workspace.

I also was very surprised at how diminutive Frida’s house was in comparison and I felt that it wasn’t as well designed as Diego’s side, with small rooms, scarce natural light, and narrow staircase. I wondered how she managed to get around, especially up and down the stairs, with her poor crippled and painful body. It’s no wonder to me that she ended up back at her childhood home, Casa Azul, in Coyoacán, where so much was suited to her personality and her style of working.

One of the outstanding features of the Diego Rivera Studio Museum is the cactus fence that he had planted around the property, which survives to this day. This museum was one of the highlights of my trip and is listed right up there with Frida’s house, but for very different reasons entirely. I’m so glad that I reconsidered visiting this museum on my very last day in Mexico City, as it wasn’t a top priority, but it truly rounded out my vision of Frida’s life and also led to a second stop that same day… but I’ll save that for another time.
As always, love, carol xox

The last few days are just a blur and I haven’t even begun settling into a normal routine yet. The other morning I didn’t know where I was when I awoke, but slowly I feel my feet returning back down to the earth (or should I say snow as I am back in Canada after all). I should have hit the ground running, with all that’s on my plate at the moment, but I think that as soon as my energy kicks back in, I’ll move forward on the momentum. I’m teaching this weekend and have another full day workshop in Saskatoon scheduled in just four weeks, two major commissions that require attention, and a huge proposal to prepare for with a submission deadline at the end of April. Just prior to leaving for Mexico I received an incredible invitation to submit another body of work for the possible opportunity to tour the province for three years, beginning in 2020. I definitely have my work cut out for me and will have to set some other projects to the side in order to make all this happen.
As for my Hope’s Journey project, it took me a while to figure out where I had left off, especially since I had jumped around a bit before leaving on my trip. *note to self – leave better notes to self!


It seems as though I jumped ahead to chapter 8 and sewed up one Sawtooth Star block and then drifted backwards to chapter 3 and started making the sweet little quilt called “Chick, Chick, Chick, Hen” on page 27. I know I’ve only been away two weeks, but I’m not sure what the heck I was doing! I’m hoping it will all come back to me in time, or perhaps in a dream.

I thought I would continue with second half of my excursion from yesterday and share with you some beautiful scenes of Puebla. The architecture was quite different from other town, as Puebla was constructed after the Spanish invasion, therefore referred to as a colonial town.

After our tour guide had escorted us to lunch we were ‘set free’ to explore the city on our own, with a scheduled meeting time and place. Most tourist head off to markets for shopping but I was interested in finding something more. On my own I discovered a fabulous gallery with a permanent exhibition of 17th century religious paintings and a brand new exhibit of a contemporary feminist artist working in ceramics. Puebla is renowned for its ceramics (and brick making) but this was innovative work in the traditional medium. Further along, while heading towards the designated meeting place, I also stumbled upon an interesting tree covered street with what appeared at first to be tiny houses. Upon closer inspection, the row of spaces where artist’s studios and it was here that I had some interesting conversations with artists at work in their personal workspaces! Both of these experiences were very fulfilling and added a unique quality to my trip.


I hope you’ve enjoyed my lovely trip to Puebla yesterday and I thank you for joining me on this amazing journey. I did manage to sneak in a few extra special moments this morning but this afternoon has been spent preparing for my return to reality.
My flight leaves after midnight tonight and I will be travelling for the next 17 hours, to make my way home, so please don’t be surprised if you don’t hear from me for the next few days. I’m arriving just in time to celebrate our 40th anniversary, so between celebrating and sleeping there will be little time for blogging I’m afraid.
Until next time, love, carol xox