Select Works at Cambridge Galleries

Recently, I went to see Select Works, an annual fibre arts show held nearby at Cambridge Galleries. They hold within their permanent collection an extensive selection of Canadian textile work. The collection pays homage to the region's rich textile history.

What really struck me about this collection is the diversity of the work presented by these very talented artists. I saw knotted leather, woven jute, painted canvas forms, woven tapestries, crewel embroidery, and many other techniques. I realized as I toured the pieces that I had gone there with the reference of art quilts on my mind.

I was pleasantly surprised to be jolted out of this comfort zone. No, this gallery sets out to collect fibre art pieces. We in the quilt world are accustomed to seeing fibre art pieces, yes, but they almost always have some quilting reference to them. So it was refreshing to see a something a little different.

As I usually do, here are a few detail photos of what impressed me most:

Linda Wallace
Without Issue: Margaret of Austria
detail

Heather Cameron
Arbor Vitae
detail









Karen Chapnik
Corrugated Blues
detail

Elyse de Lafontaine
I would Like to Tell . . .
detail





 

 





Isn't it amazing that these artists make beautiful works of art out of fibre, with the apparently similar intentions to quilt artists, without breaking out a single quilt stitch?!

Red Admiral Visitors

Red Admiral Butterfly

Earlier today, when I was outdoors doing my day job, I saw hundreds, maybe thousands of a very quick and pretty butterfly. I was intrigued, but went on about my day. I was wishing I could carry my good camera with me at work, but that would not be practical, or wise.

So this afternoon, as I was out working in my back yard, weeding and trimming and such, I saw more of these butterflies. Wow. I ran inside to get my camera, and managed to capture a few good shots.  They seemed to like the wooden retaining walls we have, probably resting in the sun before continuing on their crazy flight. Isn't it pretty?

A quick search on the www revealed that they are Red Admirals, latin name Vanessa Atalanta, common to much of North America.  It seems they overwinter in Texas, and migrate north in the spring. Here's how I see it. I think they are very early, maybe 3 or 4 weeks, largely because of the warm winter we've had. But I also think the huge stormy weather the US has had this weekend might have played a part. The butterflies may have been migrating faster towards better weather, because they would instinctively know that surviving a tornado wouldn't be possible. Do you think that's a reasonable assumption?

In any case, they were a real treat to see, and an even bigger treat to capture with my camera.  You may be wondering what all this has to do with quilting and quilt blogging. I'll explain that. I have a keen interest in nature and photography, and I'm usually snapping photos all over the place.  Also, it is my intention to use my nature photos as inspiration for my quilting. . . . someday.  Lately, my energy has been elsewhere. Re-negotiating my mortgage, a mean and nasty cold that won't let go, and a new more difficult job at work have all conspired to keep me from much quilting. But I can't go for very long and my quilt/blood levels get low, so I'll be back at it soon.

After a bit of a lull, there are three quilt shows in Southern Ontario this weekend coming up, with many more coming after that. So I'll be blogging about all that. And I have a trip to Halifax for Quilt Canada at the end of May coming up, too, so I'll have my fill of quilting.

Harbingers of Spring

We have begun to see signs of Spring all around, but one knows for sure spring is here when the crocuses have bloomed. When I was a wee lass growing up on the prairies, we would watch for the wild ones to know that spring had arrived. I remember them as such a pretty purple colour, a colour which I greatly love to this day. I have a number of the beautiful cultivated varieties in the yard, but none are as lovely as I remember the wild ones being. I'm willing to admit it could be a memory thing, but perhaps not. Plus, they remind me of my mom, who knew all the names of the wild flowers I brought home, and surely loved seeing the crocuses, and any other sign of spring, too.

Also in our yard, we have a willow tree, that grows an abundance

of catkins, or pussy willows. We had these on the farm, too, although we had to go hiking through the fields to find them around the big slough. Again, the wild willows were more delightful than the "tame" one we have now. Then, as now, they are a treat to cut and bring inside.

There are more signs of spring to come, but these bring hope and joy to the changing of the seasons.

My Latest Piece

I just finished a quilted piece, measuring 20 x 39". It is called Inner World. It is a representation of what my inner world looks like. I don't usually let this out, but here it is, vibrant and energetic.

I dug into my bits and pieces box, and just started cutting out shapes. These were glued onto the background, stitched around with invisible thread, and then quilted, using rayon and metallic threads. It is a radical departure for me from my piecing, and in actually finishing something!

I'm not sure I love it, but it is growing on me. And my plans are to do more in this technique.

Sigh

A trip to not one, but two separate Chapters stores yesterday, did not yield any newly released quilt magazines. I was looking for my favourite, Quilting Arts Magazine, and was not satisfied with that or any other. I checked out the photography books for a while, but left without any purchases. Can you believe it? The new quilt mags should be out soon, I can feel it.

A Little Outing

So we've had a warm winter and early spring here in Southern Ontario, and the swans (tundra, I think) have arrived early, too. They usually migrate early April, from Chesapeake Bay to the Arctic, but this year they overwintered on Lake Erie. They stop on

several local lakes, and we went to see them here near Cambridge. Very exciting. Many people just stopped on the road, but we hiked from the road to get a better look, and I got better photos from the other side of the lake. While we were standing in the forest, we also saw quite a few woodpeckers, and

I managed to capture this close-up. It was a very nice adventure. A little nature is just as inspirational for me as sewing and quilting is, really.

Quilt Guild Presentation - Ailsa Craig Quilt Festival

Wednesday night was my Waterloo County Quilter's Guild meeting, and there were two treats in store for us. Well, there are always many treats, like member show and tell, a well-stocked library, a featured quilt store, and a fabric bank. There is always an excellent presentation by a known quilter, but for this meeting there was an added bonus.

The first presentation we saw was by a volunteer group from Ailsa Craig, which is near London, Ontario. Jane Walker spoke about how the group came to fruition when they wanted to continue bringing in international quilters to the London area. This year, May 1st to 5th, 2012, they are presenting Quilts of Denmark, and had some examples to show. They have been travelling to many quilt guilds to drum up interest in their show. What a fabulous way to promote their show: the audience gets to see some of the quilts, hear from other quilters, (and their husbands!), all before the actual show itself. I greatly enjoyed this presentation, and now must see the entire show. There are workshops as well, and I'll have to see if I can schedule in at least one.

This photo is of Jane Walker, with four of the Quilts of Denmark. From left to right, we see Starry Starry Night by Maria Harrits, Out of the Box by Merethe Soeby, Travelling Scrap Quilt by Lena Cristensen, and Ladybirds in Shadow by Britta Stade.

Later that evening, the main presentation was by Cathy Miller, the singing quilter. She is somewhat world famous, having been singing about quilts for some years now, and in many locations around the world. She tours with her husband, and was in the Waterloo area this week for our guild meeting. What a wonderful show she does. If you've ever seen her quilts, or heard her sing, you'll know what I mean. She talks about her quilts, sings about her quilts, and weaves stories about her life into her songs and her quilts. What a beautiful example of an artist living her passion. I'm very inspired. Check her website here.

A Bit About Photoshop

Warning: This post is a bit more technical than my usual posts. Read only what you wish!

People have been asking me how I did my Christmas photo, shown at left. It was a bit of fun taking the photos, and a bit of a challenge to create the finished photo with Photoshop Elements, but I liked the end result. Apparently, so did everyone else. We like to do something different every year, and it gets more technical, and more fun, every year. I always wonder how I will top last year's piece, but it always takes on a life of its own, and works itself out.

First, I took a bunch of photos of our Christmas tree, all decorated with lights on. This part was easy. Then I chose the one I liked best for the background.

Then I had all of us sit for our portrait. I set up my camera, a Canon 60D, on a tripod, with my lens at its widest, at 28mm. I set the camera on automatic, with the flash disabled. I find the built-in flash to be too flashy, too bright, too much light in the wrong way, so I don't use it very often. Plus it slows down the camera, and I needed to be able to take fast photos for this. I held a remote in my hand to trigger the camera. I'm not one to set up a lot of extra gear like flash equipment, not usually even my tripod or remote. So I generally just use the camera as it is.

All of us sat on a bench. Our dog and white cat were all for it, all in the game. Our tabby, however, wasn't so cooperative. He was taking swipes at the dog, and trying to get away! We were both laughing, and looking at him, and this turned out to be the best shot. I uploaded these to have a look at them, and decided to set everyone up for a second sitting, but all the pets went crazy, so this shot was still the best one.

Then it was time for Photoshop Elements. I have version 6.0. There are more recent versions, but I'm sticking with this one. After a couple of years, I am only just getting to know its editing capabilities, and am not interested in the upgrades, yet.

So in Photoshop, I opened both photos in the editor, and then started to use the tools to combine them. In the portrait photo, I first used the clone-stamp tool to erase the dog tag, the remote, and that bit of red under the dog's nose. Then I used the quick selection tool to draw an outline around us, using a separation of 5 megapixels, to blend our edges with the background. Then I used the move tool to move this part of the photo over top the tree photo, choosing the best placement for it. I used an opacity of 100%, so the background photo wouldn't show through. Then I cropped the whole thing, so our side edges looked natural and not chopped up. Then it was an easy matter to print them on my photo printer, and include one inside each of our Christmas cards that we sent out.

Before I did this process, I did not know how to combine two photos in a single layer like this. I had seen it done in magazines, but had not done it myself. Before this, I was only doing basic editing like cropping and contrast correction. I did some reading, and internet searching, to figure it out as I went along. There weren't any clear instructions, so I did some trial and error to get what I wanted. This is how I learn, when I'm pressed into something that I want to work out in the moment.

I'm already thinking of next year's cards. I have a few ideas. I should start now, but probably won't start until December. All the Christmas stuff is put away, the season is over, and my inspiration is gone. I won't forget what I've learned and discovered, though, and will be ready to go when we get that first snow next winter, and start putting up our lights outside!

Magazine Junkie

Only a few of you may know me as a magazine-aholic, though I've made no effort to keep this secret. I try to limit myself to one or two favourites a month, but there are more and more good quilt magazines out there now. So now I try to limit myself to one or two quilt magazines, leaving my other favourites behind. My old favourites included Canadian Geographic, Moneysense, though I haven't given up Moneysense, and Harrowsmith Country Life, which has now ceased publication.

A recent road trip included deeking into Chapters to look for the latest offers, and I found three choice quilt magazines.

One of my regular favourites, that I hardly ever miss out on, is Quilting Arts Magazine. From this magazine, I draw inspiration and ideas. It is wonderful to see what others are doing in the Art Quilt world. There is always a feature artist, quilts from recent shows, art techniques, and reader challenge quilts. All good stuff for me. Keeps me dreaming of the day I have my own dedicated studio, and what I will do when I get there! If you click on the link, you'll also find a lot of other interesting stuff on the QAM website, blogs, e-zines, how-to's, quilt shows, and much more. Once in a while, I check this website out, too.

Another recent magazine I've just begun picking up, is Art Quilting Studio. This magazine, too, showcases art quilts. And what wonderful art these artists are doing. There is some instruction, as well, but mostly what I enjoy seeing is the depth and breadth of various artists' work. Simply amazing. This issue shows work in many different styles, including articles on an orderly approach to Grout Quilting by Robin Ferrier, and a freeform style on Designing With Intuition by Deborah Fell. Very inspiring, both of them. Check out both of their links to see more of their work.

And the third magazine I found is a new one for me, International Quilt Festival. Wow. This one had not crossed my radar screen before, but now that I've been to IQF in Houston, this magazine really grabbed my attention. This issue had a lot of photos of the quilts I saw in Houston, and it just took me right back there. Love it. I enjoyed Houston so much, and this magazine so much, I'm thinking of going there again this year. Maybe crazy, but that's how quilt people are. On a side note, I'm in the process of picking holidays at work for the upcoming year, and I find myself picking weeks that include quilt festivals.

I'll include one last word on magazines. Available in my local grocery store is an old standby, Quilters Newsletter Magazine, for all things newsy in the world of quilting. I've enjoyed this magazine for about 12 years now, buying it before I actually made any quilts. It was my first inspiration for making quilts, and continues to be a good source for me, though I admit to not faithfully picking up every issue, being interested more now specifically in art quilts than traditional quilts. This magazine always contains a nice mix of art quilts, pieced quilts, patterns, readers' quilts, upcoming show info, new gadgets, and general quilt world news. It will continue to be a favourite.

One of a Kind for Inspiration

Yesterday, I was in Toronto for a meeting with a group of women I know, and I stopped by the One of a Kind Christmas Craft Show and Sale. I went for a big hit of inspiration in general, and to see the fibre artists specifically. I came away with much more that I anticipated.

I had a nice little chat with Maggie Vanderweit, whose wonderful work you may see here. She works out of a studio in Fergus, and I saw her trunk show at our Guild meeting last March. Her journey and work are amazing. I've seen her and her work around the region, but usually in bits and pieces. Seeing a large number of her pieces yesterday in her booth really gave me a sense of what is possible for a fibre artist.

There were a few other fibre artists as well:

• Diane Stewart glues various bits of fabric onto a background into a landscape. Though she uses no sewing to accomplish her work, it is really something to see.
• Kalyna Pidwerbesky uses felting, beading, handstitching and wonderful colours to create pieces from her heart and soul. Her work is featured on her website here.
• Valerie Page actually had quilts for sale. What a treat. She uses vibrant colours to create warmth under her quilts. And she's designed a tea cozy to keep your pot of tea warm for three hours.
• Noelle Hamlyn does a variety of fibre art, which you may view on her website, along with her very cute pocketbook purses. Very clever.

Several other artists also caught my eye:

• Andrew Collett's landscape photography is very striking and beautiful. Photos of beautiful scenery from all over Canada. Makes me wonder how he gets those shots. His work is right up my alley.
• Stephen Yau paints nature in a slightly dreamy style that I really enjoyed looking at. I was looking closely at his technique to see how I might use it in my own work.
• And finally, Marie-Joel Turgeon, who makes ceramic quilts. See them here. Fantastic artistic interpretation of quilts in a ceramic version. I loved it.

Cold November Rain

Ok, so it's not that cold for November here, it's actually fairly mild (11C), but raining all day today. Yesterday was sunny and also warm, so we put up our Christmas lights out in front of the house. I am old school in using energy hogging incandescent lights, instead of the new led ones, because I like the way they look. I put a giant string on the boulevard tree which pretty much lights up the whole street! Being the eco nut that I am, we also put everything on a timer so they go on at 7:00pm when the hydro rates drop in half. We have one of those lit up deer that I especially like.

This rain today is perfect for sewing. I've been working on some Christmas stuff, that I can't disclose for a little while. But I can say that last year I made a bunch of table runners out of Christmas fabric. I was pulling out Christmas stuff from boxes, and there they were. In my usual fashion, I only ran a few straight lines in for the quilting stitches.

I must say that being in Houston with Cindy and Leanne open my eyes about those quilting stitches. Leanne has a long arm quilting machine, so I was able to see quilting through her eyes. We all saw so clearly, that it is the image or pattern or colour on a quilt top that draws us in, and then we would all see the quilting stitching when we looked closer. We all really enjoyed looking very closely at all the different types of stitches, and all resolved to get better at that part of our quilting.

So when I saw these table runners, they looked nearly naked! And I decided to lay down some free motion quilting stitching. It came pretty easily, actually. It was good practice. Mostly, I followed the lines in the print, and added some infill around the buildings and gingerbread people. This is just the first one, I may be doing the rest as well. Maybe not this year! There are a lot of things to do, all of a sudden.

Houston Project #2

This afternoon, I spent some time making a scarf out of the exquisite yarns I bought in Houston. I stretched them out between two sheets of water soluble plastic type material, then stitched across the yarns to stabilize them. Soaking in water dissolved the film, and now I have a brand new scarf. All the yarns are wool, or silk, or a blend. A couple of them are silk chenille. How yummy is that.

I wanted mostly dark blue, purple colours, with a bit of pink mixed in, and this is what I got. Surprise, surprise, though, I thought I had enough yarns for two or three scarves, and alas, this one used up all the yarn. Now I have some leftover water soluble film for another project.

In Houston. . .

So I spent the weekend at the Houston International Quilt Festival, with two of my friends from Alberta.  I've known them for a long time, from way back in my tailoring days, and we are all quilters now. Anyway, they are both a lot of fun, and all three of us had a blast in Houston.

We will never be the same again! Seeing so many amazing and beautiful quilts all in the same place is spectacular, and changes the way you see the world of quilts. It also changes the way you see your  own place in the quilt world, and the way you create your own work, so I'm very happy to have been there. We all feel now, that there is room to improve our own work. If nothing else, seeing all the fabulous quilts will make us better quilters.

Seeing the quilt displays was one thing.  The quilt market was quite another!  HUGE. Did I mention it was huge?!  There were so many vendors, it was hard to cover them all, but not impossible. And cover them we did. We all bought a lot of fabric, gadgets, patterns, and other cool stuff that we can't find in our corners of the world. At the end of each day, we would all lay out our purchases to show and tell. So much fun. Now we all have enough projects to keep us busy for a while. Can't wait to get at it.

Marmalade's First Snow
by David Taylor

I want to include a photo of a quilt that I particularly love. A cat of course, and there were a number of cat quilts, and being a cat person, I especially like this one. When I was looking at this quilt, I feel like I've known this cat for a long time.  Plus, I really like red tabbies, so that caught my eye, too. This quilt is by David Taylor, called Marmalade's First Snow. 

Kaffe Fassett as inspiration

Not long after I started quilting, Kaffe Fassett's work crossed my radar screen. Since then, he has inspired me, and influenced my large quilts. I was drawn in first by his use of colour, and soon after, his use of pattern. You may recognize my use of many, many fabrics in a quilt, along with my repeated patterns. This I learned from Kaffe, and have tried to use in my own way. I have several of his books, and have read a few more from the library. Ok, some I've read in Chapters! For my birthday recently, I received a copy of his latest book, Simple Shapes, Spectular Quilts. See here the front and back covers.

What I find so intriguing about this book is the way Kaffe talks about his own inspirations. In fact, he dedicates the book to all the quilters worldwide who ask where he gets his ideas. He sees ideas everywhere, in museum quilts, in sidewalk tiles, in ancient art, in industrial settings, in commercial products, in painted doors, in brick doors and windows. Anywhere there is unusual use of colour or pattern, he is there recording with his camera or his mind. And he explains clearly in this book how he converts these ideas into a quilt. Permission pending to use images.

I'm inspired now to look more for my own ideas, in nature and elsewhere, to develop my quilt ideas. Although I do admit, that it is much easier to be inspired by other quilters like Kaffe Fasset.

Stained Glass Inspiration

When I was driving through Parry Sound a few weeks ago, I learned about a public art collection at the West Parry Sound Health Centre. I went in to have a look. Many great paintings and a quilt were on display, which changes as the artworks are sold. What a great idea! To have such a public place as a venue that reveres local art, in such a beautiful setting to boot. Click here.

My favourite piece there was a stained glass Mandella by local artist Mary Jane Zissoff. I love the colours in it to begin with, which is what first attracted me. And for some years, I have had a keen interest in stained glass, and have been known to go out of my way to see it, in buildings both secular and non, public and private. It seems clear that she used the surrounding natural world as her inspriation, and I really like the way the window is stylized and repeated in a circular way, set slightly off vertical alignment to make it very interesting visually.

And here's another photo of the natural beauty that is plentiful in the area between Parry Sound and North Bay. A little camping there with my sister was a great way to reconnect with nature, amongst the windswept pines. We sat by this lake to watch the sun rise up and clear off the morning fog. A very magical moment.

It's Been a While

I've been doing some other things, and haven't been blogging, for a while now. I just got out of the habit, if you can believe it. I've promised myself I would get back to it. So here goes.

I did another postcard, this one of my yoga sister. I had printed this onto cotton fabric, then simply did some stitching and yarn for trim. I suppose I could do some sparkle and colouring in, but it may stay like this for all eternity.


I've also been slowly adding thread painting to another photo. This one is printed on silk, which I think gives better results than printing onto cotton. I took this photo in our garden last summer, and used mostly purple threads to "paint" in the flowers. You can see here how I have it in an embroidery hoop to keep it taut. It will still need some blocking to smooth it out. So far, I'm pleased with the results, and I'm thinking how I can finish it.




I've been doing a lot of camping and nature stuff this fall, too. Being out in nature is just as important as quilting. Yikes, did I say that out loud! Anyway, camping near Parry Sound, near North Bay, and near Peterborough. And hiking along the Bruce Trail near Orangeville. All good for the soul. Sitting by the fire at one point, I was inspired by these power animals to guide me, so I stitched them into a postcard quilt. They are cut out of Laurel Birch fabrics, and appliqued onto a background. Nothing complex, but I do like it.

Holy Molas!

Yesterday, I was in Toronto for an appointment, and had a few spare hours. So to fill the time, I went to the Textile Museum of Canada to see about 200 Kuna Yala molas from Central America. WOW. What spectacular needlework / applique work made by the women. I'll upload a couple of photos for you to check out.


Click on photo to enlarge it for a closer look. Check out the detail. Each mola is about 15x10", and they are made in pairs for the front and back of a blouse. The Kuna Yala women wear these all the time, as if to say that the modern world may influence them, but they won't give up their traditions. Yaaay for them. This one's my favourite.



They are not all complex like this, but I greatly admire these for intricate work. Inspiration comes from all around the women, from legends, stories, and ancient beliefs, along with modern images and ideas that come to them from visitors. Medicinal plants are most traditional, but images now include movie themes, helicoptors, and famous people!


These are made using scissors to draw the applique lines, and then reverse appliqued, which is how they get the narrow line effect. Sometimes, regular applique is applied, too. Makers unknown. These items are owned by the TMC, and their use is protected by copyright. Permission is granted to use them here.


Anyway, I'm hugely inspired. So I'll get back to my own applique project.

Road Trip

Two of my sisters were in the area for the weekend, one from Alberta, and one from Ottawa, along with a niece from Korea whose blogs here. So I went to visit with all of them, at the home of another niece in Toronto, along with her very adorable baby. It's great to spend some time with these women in the family.

What a perfect opportunity, I thought, to drive to a quilt store which also happens to be in Toronto. The Sew Sisters started selling fabric online out of their home, and have now moved into a nice retail spot. I've seen them selling their stuff at various quilt shows, and promised myself that I would get to their store when I had a chance. Surprisingly, there aren't a huge number of quilt stores in the big smoke. You're much more likely to run into a quilt store in any number of small towns in Southern Ontario, which is always also good for a road trip.

Of course, I bought some fat quarters, but didn't spend a huge amount of money. I've been collecting pale creamy colours for a project that is still in my imagination. I still need more, and in my typical fashion, I won't start cutting out the quilt until I have 30 or 40 different fabrics. Besides, I'm still in the starting stages of my other quilt, so the last thing I need right now is to start another quilt! When I'm ready, though, at least I'll have all the fabric I need.

And there is a delightful change from my usual raspberries. My friends have been scoping out blueberries for me. They were in the Muskoka area and picked up an 11 quart basket of yum. Not cheap for these wild ones, but they will survive in the freezer and taste delicious in the winter. I might still go picking, but it'll have to be the cultured ones.

A little every day

I have endeavoured to do something for quilting every day, for at least an hour. Most days, I do something for quilting, and occasionally skip a day. This might be cutting out fabric pieces, printing fabric, sorting my stash, sewing blocks, pattern work, reading quilt books or magazines, hemming pants, surfing the net to see what other quilters are up to. . . . Sometimes, if I don't feel like sewing, I'll go for a drive, and take my camera to see what's out in the world. Or go pick raspberries!

For example, today I was creating another vest pattern for myself. This is a plain vest, to be used for wearable art. It didn't take long, because it doesn't have a lot of details. I have a couple of heavy weight shirts hanging around that would be better suited if they were cut up into something else, so their destiny is about to change. Nothing is too sacred around here to avoid the scissors!

Can you tell, I'm good at coming up with ideas, and starting things. I have way more ideas than I can ever hope to get finished. I'm lucky if I can get everything written down in my sketch book, which I keep in case I ever run out of things to make. Ha, like that would ever happen.

Yvonne Porcella

I picked up this book last week, Art & Inspirations, by Yvonne Porcella, from C&T Publishing. I really enjoyed this book. I typically look for books that are more about art and an artist's journey, and not so much about instructional patterns. This book definitely fits the bill.

Yvonne chronicles her life of sewing, which included clothing, and weaving in the early years, and later quilts and wearable art. Her work has been colourful all along, and she does a great job describing her life, her process, her imagery, and her inspiration.