teaching

I'm teaching several classes over the next few months. I'm teaching at
Ultimate Sewing Centre in Oshawa. It is a great store super friendly & helpful staff, great prices & awesome selction of fabrics especially the greens.
Photos of the classes I'm teaching are listed here. scroll down to find Point Nine, Kabuki, quilting with Circles and the sewing bag.

ATC

I got mt ATC from Susan Lenz of CyberFyber in the mail recently. I love the textures & colours. reminds me of the quilt I just finished. Lenna has hers here. These are the ones I'm sending for the trade.

graphic quilt

I just finished this quilt. It started by doodling on graph paper. I love the high contrast with the black & white fabric. It would make a great quilt for a beginner to make as it is really just a fence rail pattern. I love the combination of black & brown. This is more a golden brown. The complex pattern in the border fabric adds another element of interest.
The binding (I think IMHO!)works as a final frame matching the inner thin border. simple but effective. Machine quilting is still a big challenge for me. I feel like I'm starting over every time I attempt it. practice. practice.

.....its painted

I didn't want to paint just for the sake of painting on a quilted surface. I wanted to use the same shape - mostly squares - that I had used in layering the sheers.
I used a stiff cardboard template, straight seta color fabric paints & a foam brush. I tried to just tickle the tops of the raised parts and was pleased with the results. A couple of the blocks are a little heavier on the paint than I would like.
I have no idea what to do now!! Is it finished? does it need something else?

hand stitching

ever notice how lovely hand stitched pieces are small. like this beautiful elephant on the cover of Stitch magazine. It is 21 x 17.5cm. I now know why. I belong to a very small but great group of fibre artists - at our first meeting before Christmas last year we decided to work on a project from Quilting Arts Magazine Gifts issue. a bag from Linda & Laura Kemshall.
layers of sheers under tulle then lots of hand stitching. I worked on it diligently watching all the Christmas specials. you know the ones - the ones you know word for word - Grinch, Rudolph, Charlie Brown. Yup classics.
True to my theory that everything is smaller in the UK - cars, roads, fridges. I thought go big or go home. I started out with a fat quarter. so my stiched piece is a huge 42 x 48 cm. that's about 17 x 19"!!
all stitched and more than a few pricked fingertips!!
I love the texture, the bumpy surface where the stitching gathers up the batting.
the big question - what's next!!
Laura & Linda are know for painting on their quilted surfaces.
Yikes. but as Myrna said- the earth won't fall of its axis or birds fall out of the sky so why not!!

Cyber Fyber

The internet has been a great resource in building communities that wouldn't exist any other way. Meeting people from around the world with common interests. Susan Lenz had a wonderful exhibit of small art in the form of ATC's and postcards called recently called Cyber Fyber. These AtC's & postcard started out similar to these -same velvet,plaid scarf,foil, sheers -different wool and sheer on top. The sheer is more reflective and called for a cheerier finish. I love the fuzzy multi-coloured yarn.

souvenirs from Prague

I'm not a big fan of buying souvenirs when we travel. We take lots of photos and try to keep notes on each days events. But hand painted silk in a gallery window will draw me in regardless of where I am.
I bought this beautiful one-of-a-kind hand painted silk designer skirt at a gallery in Prague
this photo shows the detail of the fabric & the back of the skirt. It is by a designer Ivana Follova.
This sweater is designed by Martina Nevarilova and looks great with the skirt. I am so excited to have a truly unique outfit to remind me of a great visit to Prague.