Quilting Along

Posted on November 21, 2018 by Carol

I know, I know, I said I was trying to catch up on all those oldies, but what’s a girl to do when there are all these wonderful quilt-alongs popping up in cyber space? Well, I just had to jump on board for the ‘Secret Santa Sew Along’ mystery quilt that was happening over on Temecula Quilt Co.’s blog and I’ve truly enjoyed the lovely distraction it has provided over the past few weeks.

Week one

Week two

Week three

Week four

At first I tried to resist, but after seeing how sweet the blocks looked I did a little shopping in my own reproduction fabric stash and came up with a nice selection of reds and greens. Week one had us making little puss in the corner blocks with the greens and neutrals. When week two’s instructions called for approximately a million little nine patches I started to have my doubts about continuing on with the project but I persevered right through to week three where things slowed down a bit. As the units were accumulating, I became even more intrigued by what the mystery was going to reveal and on week number five thing started to come together…

Beautiful blocks

Oh, joyful quilty bliss!!! I love these little blocks even though there are almost one hundred tiny pieces of fabric sewn together to make one block. It is soooo worth it and I’m sooo happy that I joined in. I’ve somewhat stayed with the extreme scrappy look but for the pieces required to fill in the blocks I’ve gotten a little more consistent/ ‘controlled scrappy’ within each block. The one unfinished block with the darker center just wasn’t doing it for me so I unpicked it and tried another lighter fabric in its place. I’m much happier with the lighter choice but I’m going to keep you in suspense until this little lovely is finally finished.

Four blocks out of twelve

As of this morning I have completed ten of the required twelve blocks and this Friday the quilt top finishing instructions will be revealed. I can’t wait! I still have quite a few red nine patches left over so I’m guessing that the quilt will go together in a traditional Burgoyne’s Surround setting. What a wonderful little quilt to display for Christmas. Thank you, Temecula Quilt Co.

Hugs, carol

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I’m Back…

Posted on November 7, 2018 by Carol

…but certainly not back to normal!

I’ve been putting off writing a new post just so I can catch up on old things sitting by the wayside, but it seems that I will never be caught up. And then I received a lovely email from Janet this morning and she has inspired me to just go for it, get on with it, and move forward. After all, I’ve already lost an entire month with no new postings, therefore I’m throwing caution to the wind and picking up where I left off.

What a month October was!!! with the build up and preparations prior to the Saskatoon Quilters Guild workshop and trunk show presentation, and then the flurry of correspondence once I arrived back home, I’m still riding high on the cloud nine excitement. In all my experiences teaching and lecturing, I don’t think that I’ve ever been treated so well as I was in Saskatoon! Although jokes were made about making strange requests and filling the demanding needs of a quilting ‘prima donna’, they truly treated me like a celebrity. I was wined and dined, chauffeured to my classes, presented with lovely personal gifts, and made to feel so welcome by all that I’ve had a difficult time getting back into the drudgery of normal life. A special thank you to everyone involved with the guild who contributed to making the 2018 Fall Workshop a roaring success, but especially to a few of you who touched my heart sweetly by going the extra mile – Gillian, Helen, Dorothy, Kerry, Linda, Suzanne, Leona, Janet, Dorothy, Dorrie, Eileen, Judith, and so many more wonderful students who quickly became friends.

Fearless Colour and Print Class

Wonderful student work

Fearless and Fabulous

Collage/Quilt/Collage workshop

From paper to fabric

Amazing student work

I’ve included some photos of students’ work just to give you a small taste of the wonderfully diverse talent that was present in the classroom. Each and every student accomplished some great work and I hope they found inspiration to carry on working in a new way, with the techniques and processes I presented.

Thank you again to the Saskatoon Quilters Guild for giving me the opportunity to share my art and practise with such a lovely group of women, who quickly won my heart and became dear friends.

Much love, carol

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Upcoming Event!

Posted on September 30, 2018 by Carol

Trunk show poster

Two day classes

One day class

Now that September has become a swift and sweet memory and October is presenting all its fall glory, I’m now counting down the days until the Saskatoon Quilters Guild Biennial Fall Workshop where I’ll be teaching three classes and presenting a trunk show lecture as the finale to the conference. The guild approached me over two years ago, requesting a proposal for their workshop, and it’s hard to believe that now we are only two weeks away from the big event. I’ve been in full production mode, preparing samples and demo step-outs, making endless lists and packing supplies in stow away totes. The registration process has begun and I’m hoping to see a few familiar faces, as well as make some wonderful new friends. Looking forward to the next few weeks.

Please contact the Saskatoon Quilters Guild to register for any of the classes or to purchase tickets to the trunk show finale, but keep in mind that spaces are limited and the event tends to sell out quickly. I hope to see you there!

As always, carol

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Truly, Deeply, Madly!

Posted on September 27, 2018 by Carol

I absolutely love being immersed in the depths of creativity!

This has been one of the most creatively productive periods I’ve had all year, as I gear up for the Saskatoon Quilters Guild Biennial Fall Workshop coming up next month. Although plenty of class samples were made well in advance, I’m currently creating a few more and becoming incredibly inspired by fresh design work. I just can’t seem to work fast enough to keep up with the ideas. Unfortunately it doesn’t always leave time for blogging on a regular basis.

Class sample

Class sample - stage two

Class sample - final result

The photo above demonstrates my process of how a project can sometimes get away from me and become larger than life. A quilt will often take on a life of its own and demand to be larger or more complex than your original intentions. I tend to follow my instincts when this occurs and I’m usually pleasantly surprised with the results.

Original class sample

The workshop samples you see above are for the class “Fearless Colour and Print” that will be presented on October 18-19th. I will be teaching students how to push the boundaries of colour theory and overcome the fear of using unusual or challenging prints in their quilt making. We will also work to develop unique settings for the resulting quilt blocks constructed during class.

I’ve recently taken this new quilt sample off the longarm and completed the binding, allowing me to move on to another new sample. I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

Hope to see you in Saskatoon!

as always, carol

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Squeezing In One More…

Posted on August 31, 2018 by Carol

…before the month ends.

Oh, my! What on earth happened to the month of August? The time has flown by and so much has happened that I truly don’t know where to begin.

Gerbera Daisies

The gardening continues but now I’m seeing things beginning to fade, and most of my time is devoted to the harvesting of produce. I’ve made so many batches of tomato sauce that I’ve lost count. This was definitely a good year for all things loving the heat.

Diamonds Quilt

One of my most recent finishes was this beauty that I refer to as ‘the quilt that broke my elbow’. All of those little half square triangles definitely came at a cost and delivered a full blown tennis elbow due to all the pressing of seams. This is one of those lifetime quilts that I’m loving to bits! I did some pretty swanky custom quilting on this one with changes in thread colour and patterning in each row.

Close up of quilting

Quilt backing

I found a super cute backing in my stash that worked well with the wild mixture of scraps on the front, and I even had the binding in my stash too. I’ve been working at using what I have and even though the choices are often limited, I love how it challenges my creativity.

Summer shirts quilt

Backing

Another finish is my first experimental quilt incorporating recycled shirts into the mix of quilting cottons. It’s completely quilted with an allover design and bound with a lovely stripe. The backing was another one from the stash pile and I think it worked perfectly with the variety of florals on the front.

Quilts on the clothesline

Here it is again, hanging on the clothesline with two other finishes from earlier this year (they are adding up quicker than I realized). As a recap, from left to right, you can see Summer Solstice 72″ x 72″, My Beloved Foothills 72″ x 72″, and My Sweet Prairies 76″ x 76″, all pieced, quilted, and bound this year.

Summer Beauty

I will leave you with another photo of one of the flower beds, blooming profusely with lovely lilies. The evenings are arriving sooner and are much cooler, reminding me that summer is slipping away. Seize the moment and enjoy the last of summer’s delights while we can!

Have a safe long weekend everyone! love from carol xox

 

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It’s Been a While!

Posted on August 17, 2018 by Carol

Why is that every July seems to get the better of me? And now we’re over halfway through August too! I’ve got a lot of catching up to do, as I certainly haven’t been idle…

Prairie Landscape

Colour Theory Samples

Watercolour Miniatures

I attended another watercolour painting class with the wonderful Joanne Thomson, a professional watercolour painter and instructor from Victoria, B.C. and for three days I painted my little heart out at the Courthouse Gallery in Kerrobert, where the workshop was held. I’ve recently purchased more supplies and I’m gearing up to do some more individual study as soon as the gardening slows down a bit. And speaking of which…

Although we’ve had extreme heat and had to spend extra time hauling water, the garden has been spectacular this year. I think I went a little overboard on the pots and planters but they too have put on an impressive display of blooms.

I’ve also been working like mad on various quilt projects and have spent a good deal of time in the coolness of the gallery/studio on the main floor, standing at the longarm frame, but more on that at a later date.

Value Diamonds quilt in progress

Still growing!

The quilt above was a wonderful way to use up all those little scraps that have accumulated over the past few months but there are sure a lot of seams to contend with. I spent about six or eight weeks from start to finish on this quilt and it’s definitely a keeper! It recently came off the quilting frame and already has its binding handsewn, too. The only thing left to do is make a label and get that sewn on the back, and post some photos of the finished product, of course.

Quilt Club B.O.M.

And this final photo is for my Bubby, who was wondering what kind of project I’ve been teaching this year for the Plenty Piecemakers Quilt Club. Each block is a lesson in tips and techniques to expand on basic quiltmaking skills and boost confidence in colour and design theory. The group hopes to have their quilt tops ready in time for our annual spring quilt show! I’ll keep you posted on our progress.

In the meantime, happy stitching!

as always, carol

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Solstice Garden Walk

Posted on June 27, 2018 by Carol

I’m almost a week past the solstice but I’m still playing catch-up on all the activities going on, especially with the big projects at this time of the year which usually involve lots of garden work.

Hosta and ferns

This has been an amazing year for the garden so far, and I’ve spent loads of time out there trying to keep up with the weeds. We still haven’t hit the peak months for flowering but I must say that it’s all looking very promising.

Hosta and Dwarf Arctic Iris

Even though I got a late start in planting the vegetable garden due to the frosty conditions this spring, everything is coming along nicely. We have had very little rain lately and therefore have been hauling our water from the local spring well, which definitely adds more time to the gardening process, but as you can see, the results a worth the effort.

Snow peas

Tomatoes

Cucumbers

Everything is thriving beautifully and there are lovely lime green, golf ball sized tomatoes on the vines already. We’ve been eating salads and herbs with every meal, and looking forward to the peppers in the greenhouse. John has a separate garden further away from the rest, where he grows the potatoes and corn, which take up way too much space to plant in the raised beds.

Climbing rose

New landscaping

More landscaping

I love old barrels!

We’ve expanded a few of the existing flowerbeds and landscaped some new areas of the yard that really needed some cleaning up. Over the past eleven years we’ve planted many new trees and shrubs, with this year adding around twenty more decorative and unusual smaller plantings to create fresh vignettes throughout the property. We’ve always been avid auction-goers and over the years have collected many antique farmyard tools and implements with the intention of incorporating them into our home or garden. We’re not afraid of them becoming damaged by the weather as they usually have some heavy wear and tear on them from age, and so we actually use them as planters and trellises around the garden or on the deck area. I love how much character these objects add to the garden and it’s fun to come up with new uses for old items.

Design wall quilt

Ending on a quilty note, to make up for all those gardening photos, I thought you may like to see the progress of my ‘recycled shirt’ project. I must admit that it has been sitting up there on the design wall for a while now but it’s finally ready to be put together as a quilt top. The layout of blocks around that center medallion is almost right and then they can be sewn together. I had to add that narrow coping strip as an in between border to make the different sized blocks fit together, but I truly think it adds to the design of the quilt, giving the eye a resting place, and since I have enough of it, I’ll probably repeat that fabric as the binding. So, the final design decisions have been made and now all I have to do is find the time to carry it out the plan.

Until next time, happy stitching,

carol xox

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Something Old and Something New

Posted on June 13, 2018 by Carol

June seems to be flying by even faster than May did, and I’m definitely having a difficult time keeping up with all that needs to be done at this time of year. Of course, getting sick doesn’t help with the energy levels, so I’m currently feeling extra drained. I’ve always told my family that they can tell if I’m truly sick when absolutely no stitching gets done and that’s the way it’s been around here the past little while.

I have spent some time in bed and that allowed me an indulgence in some new reading material from our local library. I had seen an online review of this older series of historical novels and asked the librarian if she would order them in for me. Well, what a treat this series has been so far – I guess there is a slight upside to being sick in bed.

First in the series

Second book in the series

Third in the series

I can’t recommend this series enough and suggest rushing out to your own local library to ask for them. The author, Nancy E. Turner, has done a wonderful job of depicting life in the late 1800’s especially through the eyes of her heroine, Sarah Prine, who I believe is based on her own grandmother’s life story. I strongly suggest beginning with the first novel,”These is My Words”, and work your way through in sequence as they do follow a timeline. I’ve finished reading the first book and I’m already halfway through the second, but I’ve got to admit that some of it is difficult reading due to the harshness of life back then. Not for the faint of heart!

In keeping with the turn of the century theme, I’m also showing you a recent project that I’ve just layered up to hand quilt. I had worked on some of these little pineapple blocks last fall and decided to make them into a table runner. Rather than leaving it as a rectangle, I got this hair-brained idea to taper the ends for a more interesting shape, but unfortunately I was then stalled as to how on earth I was going to tackle putting on a mitered border that would fit those weird angles. I was frustrated at just letting it sit there, intimidating me from afar, so I jumped in and just did it. I had a limited amount of the border fabric so that was an extra challenge but it’s on now, and I’m quite satisfied with the final look. I feel as though this is one of those projects that just deserves to be hand quilted, so this will be my summer travelling handwork project.

Pineapple Centerpiece

Until next time, happy stitching,

carol

 

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Something Special

Posted on June 4, 2018 by Carol

I had a very special day last week, when I was asked to present a mini artwalk to the kindergarden through grade four classes at our local school here in town. The Plenty school teaches all grades from K-12 and I have had some classes tour my gallery space over the years but this was a very special occasion. Having the opportunity to share with so many children in one afternoon was amazing!

Time is Non-Linear quilt

A variety of art quilts

It was difficult to choose which pieces to take for display that would have a wide appeal to all age groups, and while I was at liberty to use the entire library space, I needed to keep the groups gathered around me for my presentations. I decided on a variety of quilts and sculptural pieces, and also took along a selection of my sketchbooks in order to explain my creative process to the more advanced older kids. One young girl even asked me to read some of my poetry aloud to the group.

Self Portraits and Sketchbooks

Stitched Poetry and Soft Sculpture

I think the biggest hit, though, was the coral reef that I have been working on over the past six years. The bright colours and wonderful textures created with acrylic yarns were very appealing to the younger set but even the older children appreciated the unusual display.

Coral Reef

Fantasy Coral and Starfish

This exhibit gives me the opportunity to talk about nature and environmental issues, science and math, as well as art and craft. It was a popular display with the kindergarden children and they made me a lovely thank you card featuring some coral-like shapes made from painted cupcake papers.

A giant coral card!

The artwalk took lots of advanced planning, and hauling the display across town certainly made me more aware of my advancing years and lack of big muscles (ha, ha), but it was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon. I truly believe that the children were inspired.

until next time, carol

 

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A Fabulous Weekend!

Posted on May 27, 2018 by Carol

Now that May has warmed up, it has definitely been full steam ahead in the garden, with vegetable seeds planted in the raised beds, pots started in the greenhouse, new perennials popping out of the soil every day, and multiple visits to the garden centers for supplies and inspiration.

This was a perfect morning for putting some final touches on the large deck planters and I can happily declare that all my ceramic pots and hanging baskets are now complete. I’ve strayed a bit from my typical pink and blue colour scheme, with this year’s displays leaning more on the peachy/salmon and lime green combination. I’m loving it!!! and I can’t wait to see the full blooming results as things fill in and the season progresses.

This weekend was also spent in creative pursuits completely out of the ordinary, as Friday evening and Saturday morning found me in attendance at a wonderful workshop entitled “Towards a Looser Interpretation: Pushing the Boundaries” with Saskatoon artist, Anne McElroy. I had a most enjoyable experience and I’m sure the lessons I learned were far more valuable than just knowing how to put paint to paper. Anne’s kind manner and positive energy seemed to bring out the best in everyone, but I particularly enjoyed the quiet way she encouraged me to look inwards, to be more comfortable and confident in my unique creative nature.

Contour drawing

Blind contour drawing

Abstract Watercolour painting

The pace of the workshop exercises was perfect for me as I tend to enjoy doing multiple tasks quite quickly in order to avoid over-thinking the creative process. This allows me to be more spontaneous in the work and results in many samples I can use as reference material later in the studio.

Loose gestures - watercolour painting in black

Abstract watercolour painting

I thoroughly enjoyed stepping out of my comfort zone, as I do not consider myself a painter, but I feel that many of the exercises and the resulting artwork will inspire new work in textiles for me. I’m looking forward to developing these drawings and paintings further to see where they will lead me.

After our wonderful morning of playing with paints and creating art, we had a break for lunch before reconvening at the gallery to attend the public critique and adjudication of the featured art exhibition. Each artist was encouraged to speak about his/her creative process and inspiration behind the work before Anne McElroy gently critiqued the works and then opened the floor for questions from the other artists in attendance. The entire afternoon was one learning opportunity after another! I met some fascinating people and made some new friends – what more could one ask for?!

as always, carol

 

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The Busy Month of May…

Posted on May 8, 2018 by Carol

I know we are only a week into May but so far it’s been jam packed with quilty activity. The Spring Fling Quilt Show was rated a huge success, raising some substantial sums for the church and museum coffers, and bringing out some amazing quilts and family heirlooms to share with the community.

Quilts on every pew

The most wonderful thing about an event like this is the coming together of like-minded people to share in discussions about quilts and fabric and family! We had some fine examples of historical quilts, with most coming from the 1930’s, ’40’s, and ’70’s, but there were some lovely examples of earlier pieces too. We had summer quilts with no batting, tied quilts, reproduction quilts, hired man quilts made of wool salesman samples, quilts made entirely on the treadle sewing machine, and some beautiful family heirlooms completely sewn by hand.

A Family Heirloom

A Single Block

Every Quilt tells a Story

One of the oldest quilts on display was this beautiful appliqued family heirloom dating from the around the turn of the last century, 1890 – 1900. The entire piece was hand appliqued onto what seemed like plain flour sack cotton and entirely hand quilted in lines about 1/4 inch apart, but I imagine the piecing of the quilt top was done on an old treadle machine.

1930-1940 style quilts

Double Wedding Ring Quilt

Dresden Plates and Double Wedding Ring patterns were most popular during the 1930’s era but are both currently experiencing a wonderful modern revival. The ones brought into the exhibit were the real deal though, and it was fantastic to see the variety of authentic old feedsacks and housedress cottons from the era. There is something absolutely charming about those sweet old fabrics and it’s no wonder many of them are now being reprinted, as they still hold their own and sit well with many modern cotton prints sold today.

Baby Churn Dash quilt with a wool batting

Another Family Heirloom

One of the highlights of the display was the beautiful applique bed-sized quilt in the photo above, featuring the provincial flowers centered in medallions edged with soft blue piping. This quilt was obviously a treasured family heirloom as it was in pristine condition and treated with the utmost respect during it’s visit to the Plenty United Church. The hand applique workmanship was immaculate and embellished with touches of hand embroidery throughout, with the entire piece finished with hand quilted floral motifs.

On the homefront, I managed to finally get a photo of my Paducah Nine Patch quilt top, even though I still had to battle the winds.

Every Block is Different!

This quilt top, with its 120 different blocks, ended up 80″ x 96″ and after pegging it to the clothesline I wondered if I should make it even larger. I’m going to mull it over for a while and have plenty of other quilts in the line-up for the longarm, so there’s no rush to make a decision on this one. My initial intention was to bind it without any borders and it truly is quite generous in size already… hmmm… how large does a quilt need to be?

My Sweet Prairie Quilt

And last but not least, as reported last week, the quilting was complete on my second version of the University of Alberta quilt and as of today I finished the hand binding. I rushed outside to take an early evening photo on the clothesline but I’m afraid the lighting wasn’t the best, but it does show some lovely texture. I absolutely love the old-timey texture that the quilting gave this piece and all I did was a simple, but fairly dense, loopy-de-loop all over the quilt. I have to say that this is one of my most favourite quilts I’ve finished in a long time. A pure joy from start to finish!

until next time, love carol

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Hooray for May!

Posted on May 4, 2018 by Carol

a new stack of secondhand shirts

I’m starting off this post with my most boring photo of a new stack of ‘old’ shirts that I gathered in my recent travels to Alberta. I’ve been collecting old shirts for about two years now but this spring I managed to score some great shirts at terrific prices, and therefore I’ve truly enhanced the growing selection. I have two quilt designs in mind and I’ve also been adding in some shirt pieces to current projects, creating a lovely mix with classic quilting prints.

Shirtings and Florals

The photo above is the perfect example of mixing the shirts in with quilting cottons and as you can see, they sit quite nicely together. In an earlier post I shared some of these blocks in progress and stated that I had made nine of each. The larger nine ended up sewn together to create a medallion center with a narrow striped border sewn around the exterior. I’m in the process of sewing up more of the other blocks in order to have a total of twenty to create the next round, bringing the quilt top up to 72″ x 72″, at which point I think I’ll be done. This was a fun exercise in working the shirts in with some flamboyant florals for an unexpected combination.

My Sweet Prairie on the longarm

Another quilt that included some random shirtings was “My Sweet Prairie Quilt” and it has just come off the longarm frame as of last night (the photo is a wee bit dull due to the fading light in the studio just around dusk). Although the photo isn’t the best, I was still very excited to share this one with you, as it signifies that I’m definitely back working in the studio every day now that the weather is more cooperative :o) I stayed a little later just to put the binding on this one and I’m hoping that by the time this weekend is over I’ll have the entire binding handsewn down and some proper photos to share with you. I’m planning to take this quilt with me to demonstrate the binding process at the Spring Fling Quilt Show this Saturday, but more on that later.

Plenty Piecemakers Historical Reproduction Quilt

Another exciting finish this week was finally getting my Paducah Nine Patch all sewn together and finally down off the large design wall after sitting up there all winter. I tried taking some photos outside on the clothesline, as it eventually finished much too large to fit on the wall by the time all 120 blocks were sewn together, but unfortunately it was just crazy windy outside yesterday. I’ll try again this weekend and share that quilt top with you next week. Now that the wall is empty, I can get some other projects worked out, including the final design for my Plenty Piecemakers Historical Reproduction Quilt that has been sitting on the sidelines for so long.

At first I was just going call it done with a floating edge and bind the quilt with a reproduction navy stripe, but for some odd reason I kept thinking it required a border of some sort but couldn’t work out exactly what was needed. This was one of those quilts that needed to age or rest and I’m certainly glad that I didn’t rush into finishing it too quickly. I had finally decided last spring to use that wonderful border fabric and initially intended to miter the corners for a beautiful effect. Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough yardage to do that, as mitering requires so much more fabric on the corners, and so the quilt top had to rest again while I brainstormed new ideas. Well, this week the panic set in as Spring Fling is looming and we want to have a display of all the quilts we made during our year of historical quilt study, and how would it look if the instructor didn’t even have her quilt top finished?! Yikes!

As soon as I had the quilt top up on the design wall and did some quick measurements of the border fabric, I knew exactly what I had to do… and I am so pleased with how it all turned out. Obviously, I won’t have this one quilted in time for the show but a ‘flimsy’ is almost as good as a finished quilt. This one will be next in line for the longarm, but I’m so pleased to share it with you here.

If you’d like to see more amazing quilts, including reproductions, family heirlooms, and modern quilts, be sure to head down to the Plenty United Church on Main Street tomorrow, Saturday, May 5th, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for the Spring Fling Quilt Show and Sale. There will be some great home-based business’s featuring their wares and we will be serving a soup and sandwich lunch in the church basement as a fundraiser for the church and museum. Hope to see you there!

until next time, carol

 

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