Quilt Canada 2016

As I write this, Quilt Canada is 7 days away! It is crazy how fast it has come up and how exciting it will be! The Canadian Quilters' Association (CQA/ACC) hosts an annual conference each year so that quilters across the country and beyond can come and learn, have fun and buy cool stuff=)

I will be attending and giving 10 tours over the course of 4 days through the National Juried Show. The tours have sold out and I would be lying if I didn't say I was a bit nervous. Here is last year's show.

Our national conference hosts lectures, workshops, evening entertainment, a huge merchant mall and the National Juried Show or NJS for short. The NJS is my passion. It is a juried show in which you send pics of your quilts and they are seen before a jury to determine if they are worthy to hang with the best in Canada, then prior to the conference they are judged. Oh ya, and we have a 5 year judge program and use judges from that program to judge our NJS, we really are just that good!

Since 2005 I have been entering the NJS, I have got my fair share of rejection letters but that didn't stop me, I would just keep entering.  I love it that much. In 2014 I became Vice President of the organization so part of my job was to sit in with the judging of the NJS, and I had to do it again as President.  Don't get me wrong I wouldn't have traded that experience for the world, but it meant I had to wait 2 years before I could enter again.

In 2016 I entered, and got 2 quilts accepted! I am over the moon excited to see them hanging there.  Everything about the NJS is amazing, the jurying by experts, then if you get in or not... man those acceptance emails are the best! Then the quilts are judged and there is so much anticipation as to who won Best of Show and all the other categories. And you don't get to see the quilts beforehand, it is all so secret and mysterious.  Finally, all is told at the Awards Ceremony for the NJS entrants and sponsors.

Don't even get me started about the sponsors... they are simply out of this world. Yep, they are brands well known in the quilting world, but it is so much more than that.  They sponsor the awards because they care about Canadian quilting and want to promote it, just like we do.  And they go out of their way to help CQA/ACC.  

So this year, not only do I get to have two quilts in the show, but I get to emcee the NJS awards nite and be right there when all the winners are named, well I get to name all the winners!  Oh the excitement and suspense will be thrilling!  And then over the course of the conference I get to take people through the NJS and tell them all about the quilts and quilters and share how awesome the NJS is.   It really doesn't get much better than that!

If you want to see the quilts and everything that is happening at Quilt Canada, you can download the app 'Quilt Canada 2016'.  Here there is an activity stream that everyone will be posting tons of pics of quilts and fun times!
As well follow us on our fb page.

See you on social media!

It's All About Me=)

I am joking with that title.. really.  
After my ten days of travel I am still trying to get my head out of the clouds and focus on a few tight deadlines.   In the meantime, I have some fun photos to show you.

Remember my Diva coat?   The other two Board members also made Diva coats and during the national conference, we proudly strutted our stuff.  I have never had so many people ask to take a picture of my behind.   I have to tell you this, one gentleman asked that question, and I smiled at him and said, 'Did you want me to lift the coat up or leave it down?'   His face turned so red, but it really was funny!

This is Laine and I.  She did hers all in thread outlines, it was very classy.  I took all the class right out of mine.  Much like the maker=)

Here is me, Laine and Judy...  without knowing both Judy and I did a polka dot binding.   

Laine and I got into the National Juried Show after the awards ceremony, (no, I didn't win one, as per usual=).  Here is me with my 2, I repeat 2 quilts that were juried in.

You can see the amazing winners here.

And here is some super duper exciting news.   My picture is on eQuilter... Luana Rubin's blog!   You only have to read the first paragraph. Please you must go and check it out.  Go right now=)

And lastly, at the end of the conference they have a banquet, and at the banquet they had a young Elvis impersonator.   Yes, that is me having him wrap a red scarf around my neck and giving me a kiss on my cheek.   I don't know which was redder, my face or the scarf!

Since I started my blog, I have lamented frequently about two things on my bucket list.   I stroked one off today.   I will post about it shortly, but here is a hint....  it is in the right side bar. If you didn't figure it out, then either check back in a day or two, or open your windows because I am shouting it out from the rooftops!

Another Happy Dance!

That doesn't even seem possible, that I am doing two crazy happy dances over the course of two days!   Yet, that is the reality.  

I opened up my email to find this lovely paragraph addressed to me:

I am pleased to inform you of the acceptance of your entries A Walk Through Time and My First Modern Quilt for exhibition in the 2013 National Juried Show (NJS) to be displayed at the Penticton Trade and Convention Centre  from May 16– May 18, 2013.

Both my quilts got accepted into Canada's juried show!  I was so flippin' excited.  Especially because I had just hosted a full turkey dinner for ten people and was a little tuckered out to say the least.
Then after finishing cleaning to pop open my email and find that lovely letter, gave me my pep right back!

I have another art quilt on the design wall right now and am trying to figure out if I want to use the 3D flowers you see pinned on it.

I do love them on it!

I have also been playing with some fun little gems trying to figure out how to turn them into an embellishment... any ideas?

I Got In to the National Juried Show....twice

All week I have been faithfully going to the mailbox to see if my letter came in from the Canadian Quilters' Association telling me if my quilts got into the NJS  (National Juried Show).  The deadline to find out was this Friday.   I went today and nothing.   I didn't know how I was going to wait two more days, but when I opened my email up this afternoon, I found this:

On behalf of the CQA/ACC Board of Directors, I am pleased to inform you of the acceptance of your entry “Rhythm 'n' Blues” for exhibition in the 2012 National Juried Show (NJS) to be displayed at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

and another email that said this:

On behalf of the CQA/ACC Board of Directors, I am pleased to inform you of the acceptance of your entry “A Ripple in Time” for exhibition in the 2012 National Juried Show (NJS) to be displayed at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

So, do you know how hard it is to type this post while jumping up and down?   Very very hard!   And I went to our guild meeting tonight and didn't tell anyone, cause you know when you do it in person that seems like bragging.   But this is telling my favourite peeps and that just seems good, ya know?

Here are my two darlings that are going to Halifax, Nova Scotia:

Now to figure out how to go to sleep=))

Lots of News

 I have so much to share with you!  First I received this lovely email:

I just wanted you to know that the fabric I won from your giveaway was used to make a beautiful quilt that will be donated to a lady who has MS and is in a nursing facility.  She wanted a quilt with birds and crosses, so several ladies from our group stitched the squares and our quilter finished it into a beautiful quilt.

Here is a picture of the quilt they made:

They are a fantastic generous group of ladies, please go and check out their blog World of Charity Stitching.  It is so great to see where my fabric ends up, and I couldn't be happier.   Thanks Peggy!

I am almost finished a really big project for Pellon.   Here is a sneak peek:

Trust me when I tell you not to even try and guess.   I will tell you by the end of February though.   

Lastly, here is my completely finished Rhythm and Blues

It is all my own hand dyed fabric except for the flowers.   I stamped the background as well.   The little circles on the right hand side are fabric covered buttons using the same fabric in the quilt.   The flowers are of course 3D.  Here is a side shot, so you can see how much they protrude from the quilt.

I have some more super fab news, but will share in my next post=)

Thanks for stopping by, I do appreciate all of you that take the time to read it!

Introducing.... Seams Time for Patience

This is my new wearable quilt art.   The pattern is  Koos Van Den Akker, Vogue 1277.


The title is so fitting.   For the first time I used silk dupioni and thai silk.   I discovered they have their own personality, and it doesn't always get along with mine.  I used that red lace looking ribbon as well.   That resulted in four hours spent hanging out with my seam ripper.   


When it came time to name my piece, all I could think about was ripping that ribbon out and resewing pieces back together.   I seriously contemplated cutting my losses and rolling it up and throwing it in the back closet of my studio three times.   Upon reflection, I realized that I used utmost patience for me, as I don't have alot when it comes to sewing mistakes.   Hence the title incorporated my time with the seam ripper and how to be patient.  

The button in the centre is made with the lace wrapped around and glued together.  In the big green button is a piece of thai silk made into a fabric button nestled in the green one.

A Ripple in Time

I have been busy, but some of the stuff is tutorials for Riley Blake and Pellon, so I can't show them to you yet.   But at the end of February I can=)

Ripple in Time is the name of my latest art quilt.   It describes the past summer where I would work away on my quilt wherever the kids were playing.   I would haul it outside on the deck as they played in the dirt, in the car on road trips, and up to camp on those rainy days.   I always find summers just seem to disappear in the blink of an eye.   The time just vanishes, hence the name, 'A Ripple in Time'.

This is the centre of my quilt.

Do you like the name?   

Wearable Art Quilt

Introducing.....  ok, I don't have a name yet... but technically I am not done as I don't have the pin on the jacket.   I always name my quilts before they are finished.   The last two were right at the end.  
Here is the back of my jacket.

These shots are not great.  I plan on taking good photos of my quilts this weekend to enter into the juried show coming up.  Then I will show them all to you.  I do realize that I haven't shown you full shots of the two art quilts I completed.  

Back to my jacket, I chose to have a pin as a closure, as this jacket just had a button in the pattern.  I felt it needed something a bit bigger, so I made a nice brooch.   I wrapped the lace into a flower shape and nestled a large green flower button into it. Then I took my handy button maker and used a piece of the silk with the circles in it and made another smaller button for the centre of my brooch.   

The brooch is very heavy, so I need a strong and large pin to put on the back of it.   It is not attached here, just laying on top of the jacket.  Now to find a good pin and name!

Oh How I Detest My Seam Ripper!

That little gadget and I spent over 4 hours together yesterday.   Why, you ask?   Well, my wearable quilt art and I were having an argument over the red ribbon and I was losing.   I had to remove yards and yards of it, straighten out some major puckers, and cut and cut and cut the ribbon to bend the way I wanted it to.

We seem to be having a better time together today.

My Koos jacket is coming along now.  I have the jacket all together, the lining sewn and now have to attach the two to make them one.   This will definitely take a bit of time to do.

Last year when I made a wearable jacket, I made it all out of cotton.  I had a judge tell me that perhaps I should use other fabric.  This is  Serenity:

For my Koos jacket, (which has no name yet) I used silk dupioni, thai silk and a braided ribbon.  

Hope to finish in the next two days, wish me luck!

Bring on 2012!

Let's get 2012 started!   What a year this is going to be.   I have set my goals in the side bar and am ready to dive into a fresh new year.  

January is jam packed with crazy quilting.  I have two entries I want to get ready for the Canadian Juried show and one entry still has the fabric neatly folded in a bag with the design on top.   Yikes, magic better happen soon!  

I finished two tutorials this week.  They will be up tomorrow and next week.   I might add they are both on embellishing.  How fun is that?  Riley Blake loves embellishments so much that I am posting once a month on  how you can use them in quilts, sewing projects and crafts!  

More tomorrow on that delicious bit of news.

I am getting close to the quilting stage of my art quilt currently in the studio.  I always jot down steps when I am unsure how to proceed to ensure that things go smoothly.  They never do.   I had a heck of a time getting this giant piece appliqued onto the background.  I finally had to baste a large section of it.  Don't think I didn't consider fusing the whole thing down!  

Trust me when I say, it is big.   I have cut away all the white pieces and have attached it to a black piece of fabric.   I had gotten away from using black as a background.   I tried a mottled grey, but nothing seemed to work except the black.  

Now I have to figure out how to quilt this one without detracting from all the colours.   There have been a few quilts that by the time I got finished quilting them, I thought they looked better unquilted.   I really don't want to say that about this one.   Way too much time sunk into it already.   And I have a deadline!

Giveaway Winner and My New Art Quilt

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Posts are going to be a little short till school starts next week.  Hard to concentrate=)

I have a winner of my FQ bundle:

 Deb said...

Follower! Lovely postcards!

As far as other projects go, I finished my Rhythm and Blues quilt.   I am tackling another art quilt that I started way back in the summer.   I have never done coloring on a quilt before.  It was a great project to take with me when I went outside with the kids or travelling.   I finally finished all the coloring last night.   Now I have to figure out a background and how to quilt it.  I am only showing you a quarter of it as I don't have it all laid out yet.

When I do, I will take more pics.  

I am also contemplating doing this pattern as wearable art.  It is by Koos van den Akker.


All this has to be done by the end of January to enter into the Canadian Juried show.   This may not happen, but I am going to give it a try!

A Win

I was asked to have two of my art quilts hang in a museum in a neighbouring town.   I have never been asked to have my work hung anywhere nearby.   Naturally I was thrilled and accepted.   It wasn't too difficult to choose as I had 3 new pieces, but two of them were heading out to Des Moines Iowa to be in the AQS juried show, so I brought in a new one and a slightly older one.

Last Thursday night, I attended the awards ceremony and imagine my delight when 'Let The Vines Shine Thru' won Best of Textiles.   This one was also juried into the Canadian Quilt Show in May.

 This quilt is called 'The First Flower'.  It was juried in 2009 to the Canadian Quilt Show.   It will always have a special place in my heart because it was this quilt that I accidentally stumbled and then developed my unique 3D method for flowers.

I am currently working on two projects both with deadlines this week.   Both not near done... please don't tell!

National Juried Show in Canada

Imagine my excitement that after 6 years of waiting,  I was finally able to attend my very first National Juried Show.   And to top it off I got to see four of my quilts in the show.

Even better, I was able to meet up with internet friends, old friends and new friends.  Needless to say, I had a total blast.   The competition was incredible.  There are some wonderfully talented quilters here in Canada.
The show was held at my alma mater, the University of Western Ontario.

And here is the sign I have been waiting to see for a very long, long time:

I was able to attend the awards ceremony with my dear friend Elaine Quehl.  Elaine had a gorgeous quilt in the Juried Show and another one in the Invitational Show.  She was also teaching a workshop there as well.   She is a super talented quilter from Ottawa.

CQA was celebrating it's 30th anniversary, so there was a huge cake there.

In a juried show, pictures are not allowed to be taken of the quilts.  But the exhibitors were granted a 30 minute time to enter with their photographer before the show opened.   I took advantage of this, and chose to stand beside 'Bye Gram, I Love You' for my picture.

I went through the vendors market and was in love with all the fabric and thread.   I met so many fantastic people.  It was just great being with quilters who share the same passion I do and can relate to all the things we deal with in quilt competitions.  I met the judges, and soon will get my critiques in the mail.   I learned a ton just seeing the other quilts close up and meeting the other quilters in the show.  

It was a weekend I will never forget.

Fabulous News

Life took a really really exciting turn today.   You will notice in my sidebar that one of my goals was to get into the National Juried Show here in Canada.  

I entered, and got the letter today.   What I told no one was that I put in more than one entry.  In fact I put in four.   I have never done that before.  But I had four quilts that I loved  and I couldn't decide what to put in.  So far in Canada there is no limit, so I bit the bullet and entered all four.  

You can imagine my nerves as I opened the envelope, praying that just one would get accepted.   You see, this is the first time I am able to attend the show.   It travels across Canada and for the second time it is in Ontario since I have been entering.   My kids were always too young for me to make the trip, but now that they are a bit older and it is back in my province, I had decided to go.   And I really wanted to see one of my quilts hanging there.

Okay, so back to my entries... the letter stated this, 'Please be advised that 'Whimsical Wonder', 'Let The Vines Shine Through', 'Serenity', and 'Bye Gram, I Love You' were accepted into the National Juried Show.  
Here is where you can insert me reading the letter 6 times over, and finally crying and laughing all at the same time.   Yes, all 4 quilts were accepted.   I still can hardly believe it.  

Three of them are art quilts, and one is a wearable art.  

I now present my four quilts that were accepted into the National Juried Show in Canada.

This is Serenity.   It is all curved pieced and sewn together, then free motioned quilted.   At that point I cut out the pattern pieces and sewed the jacket together.  It is  fully lined and then buttons are made of polymer clay by me.

Let The Vines Shine Through is my second quilt.   I created this quilt because I love the border fabric.  It is a vintage polyester!   The flowers are 3D of course and the  quilt uses hand dyed fabric, stamping, stencilling and is free motion quilted with no stippling.

Whimsical Wonder hangs in my bedroom.  I adore this quilt so much.  Unless you see it, the colours can't be duplicated with the camera.  It is 3D and jumps out at you. 

Bye Gram, I Love You is the title of the quilt I hold dearest to my heart.   Here is the story that goes with this quilt.

It was made in memory of my grandmother who died in May 2009.

Every week for 10 years I would go over to their farm and see them, to do some housework, or just to visit. I did this by myself, and then as I had my two sons, they would come with me. And every single time, just as I was leaving, I would kiss her cheek and say, 'Bye Gram, I love you'.

She was the most remarkable woman I have ever known. A farmer's wife to my grandfather, a fabulous cook, a loving grandmother, and of course a quilter. Her grandchildren and then great grandchildren were her greatest joy. She was always so excited to see us. Everything about her was fun, whether you were in her kitchen doing dishes or peeling apples, or playing euchre, you were smiling.

This quilt was made from her blouse and a sleeper that both boys wore when she held them. The clothing is stuffed to give it more of a 3D appearance. The yarns couched into the background were from a sweater that she was unravelling near the end of her life. She was so thrifty and environmentally friendly. Decades beyond her time.

And the buttons.... there is a story. The yellow buttons, quite a few of them, represent how sunny and happy life was when she was alive. The orange ones, not so many, show the time of her dying and how painful that was for us all. And the red, all the red buttons, that is to represent all the love she left behind for us.

She witnessed my birth, watched me grow up, celebrated my marriage, cherished my children, and I held her hand when she died.

These are the four quilts that will be travelling to the National Juried Show.  
Tomorrow I will post a super giveaway to celebrate my success.  For now, I just have to walk around smiling the biggest smile ever!

Detailed Shots

Okay, so I am a little superstitious and have decided to make you wait one month before showing my full jacket.   By then I will have heard if it got into the Juried Show.  

So to keep you interested, I am showing you some detailed photos of quilts I took today. 

 I just love this quilt.   It is the first quilt I have done with no stippling on it.   The title is 'Let The Vines Shine Through'.   I received this vintage polyester fabric that was absolutely delicious and I just had to make  a quilt from it.  You can see it as the outer border below.

 I used my own hand dyed fabric, stamping, shiva paintstiks and my original 3D method as techniques for producing this art quilt.

This shot is of the jacket.   Each strip has a different free motion pattern to it, as well I alternated the thread colour on each strip.   It is entirely quilted with Wonderfil thread.

And of course, my dear Whimsical Wonder.  It resides in my bedroom and I just adore this quilt. 

Not a Picture in Sight

Not even a tiny flick of one on this post.   Just dropping in to say this is the weekend that I have to photograph my art quilts and get them onto CD's to send in to try and qualify into the National Juried Show here in London Ontario, Canada. 

I have borrowed a friend's fancy shmancy camera and will be busy dealing with lighting, shadows, details and proofing for the whole weekend.  

This is the part of the juried process I like the least.... ok, the rejection letter part isn't too fun either!   But I am an old pro at that now. 

I will post pics of my jacket after this weekend. 

Purses, Bags and Totes

I have my grandad's neckties, well 2 of them and I want to make them into a purse so have been searching the web for a nice picture. If I find one, I can make a pattern, this is the best I have come across so far.
I got my quilt back from the National show yesterday and the comments were good, the last line was this, " your 3D technique is both a risk and an asset." What does that mean? Wait till they see the next one!

Off to buy fabric today......