100 Years of Quilting, Part 2

International Plowing Match
2013 Quilt Show

The International Plowing Match, held this year in Mitchell, Ontario, previews the competition quilts in the community centre in August before the actual plowing match held in September. See previous post, in which I wrote about the antique quilts brought out from the community. I also saw all the competition quilts, too, which were an amazing display of piecing and applique.

Winter In The Garden
by Dianne Carson.

One particularly fine example of this was a quilt made by Dianne Carson, called Winter In the Garden.  The design, piecing, applique and quilting were all excellent, and made for a beautiful quilt.  It definitely deserved its first place ribbon.

Sue's Stars
by Joan Robinson

Another quilt that caught my attention was a tiny one, called Sue's Stars, by Joan Robinson.  Those small HST's are 1", and the whole quilt measures about 30x30"! Holy cow.   There is amazing accuracy in this little quilt.  I am not sure I would ever attempt to make something like this, and am impressed whenever I see such great work.  This first place ribbon is also well deserved.

International Plowing Match
Youth Quilt Display

Several other things at this show are worth noting.  One was the display of youth-made quilts.  There is apparently a large 4-H club, with members both boys and girls, who are already making quilts.  What a wonderful start.  I remember making aprons and showing beef cattle when I was in 4-H!  I went on to bigger things, though, so there is no telling where these kids will go with their quilting.  These are mostly pieced and some appliques quilts, and what a great start it is.

Another thing of interest was a display of the cookbooks that have been made throughout the years. I, of course, bought this years' 100th anniversary version.  I was thinking of my sisters, who would have loved to peruse through the many older versions.  Some of them looked like they had been well used, and some were still in pristine condition.

And a final note.  Mitchell is not far from Millbank.  And in Millbank, you will find Annie Mae's restaurant.  In this restaurant, you will find the very best pies made in perhaps all the country.  They make a Lemon Meringue to die for.  Well, they were the supplier for the pies at this quilt show, so I just HAD to sit down and have a coffee and slice of pie.  They did not have Lemon Meringue, so I had to settle for cherry.  Oh, well.  It was delish.  Such a great afternoon.  A drive in the country, and I had a good dose of rural.

100 Years of Quilting, Part 1

Yesterday, I was at the 2013 Quilt Show, 100 Years of Quilting, for the International Plowing Match, in Mitchell, Ontario. This year is the 100th anniversary of the Plowing Match.  All of the competition quilts are previewed every August, before the actual Plowing Match in September. Yes, it is an actual plowing match, of the old sort with ancient plows pulled by teams of horses. It's held in farmers' fields and travels around southern Ontario every year. I have yet to attend, but have heard it is quite an event. The quilt show is only a small part of this much larger rural expo. See the link here, and the video, here.

There were so many wonderful quilts to see, I hardly know where to begin!  I am sure, dear readers, that you will be interested in much of what I saw.

There was a stunning display of quilts through each decade of the last 100 years, beginning with an exquisite Log Cabin (1/2" logs) made in 1916, by Shirley Russell of Mitchell, a beautiful Sawtooth Square made in the 1920's, with an unknown origin, and a scrappy Double Wedding Ring made in the 1930's by Linda Bartlett of Exeter.


Many of these old quilts had a photo of the original quiltmaker, along with a bit of their story. This crazy quilt was one of many crazy quilts on display, pieced by Fanny Townsend Johns in 1890, and finished by Gertie Johns.

And this English Paper Pieced (1" hexies)
quilt was hand pieced over the years by Muriel Scherbarth dated 1892, and has been handed down through the generations.  All of these quilts are in remarkably excellent condition, brought out of closets and cedar chests, and off of beds to show at this show, and rival any I have seen anywhere else, including museums.

These next two photos will give you an idea of the variety of the other fabulous old quilts from the community that were on display.

I was completely in awe, and had not expected to see such a show. I have heard many people around here speak of quilts in their families. Everyone has a quilt story to tell. Quilting is so prevalent in this area that everyone has a grandmother or mother or aunt or sister or neighbour or cousin that does some quilting!  It would not be an exaggeration to say that every house has a handmade quilt in it, but to see so many brought out to be seen at one time was truly amazing to me.  These are seemingly everyday quilts, made with love and used to keep the family warm, and are exceptional to be on display like this.

There was one other textile piece that really captured my attention. It was this Counter Pane, made by 18 year old Christena Hart Colquhoun from Mitchell in 1892, for her wedding trousseau.  It is a technique of pulling thread and then embroidering around the hole to form a pattern in the cloth.  It would have been a slow process, and carefully planned so the design was well placed.  Many hours by candlelight during the long winter nights would have been spent on this treasure.  Have you ever seen anything more exquisite?  And I have to wonder how much it has been actually used, since it is in such excellent condition.

It seems I cannot load any more photos on this post, so I will continue with another one!  The story of the International Plowing Match 2013 Quilt Show, 100 Years in the Making, is not yet finished.

Mississauga Quilters Guild

Mississauga Quilters Guild
2013 Quilt Show

This afternoon, I traveled into Mississauga to see the MQG quilt show, Off the Wall and Under the Covers, link here. What a fabulous quilt show. The guild worked hard to pull together over 250 quilts to display, large and small. I spoke to a number of people, and everyone was quite friendly. And as I listened to several different languages, I was reminded that I miss the multicultural element of the city. It was great all around to be at this show.

MQG small quilt draw

MQG has over 100 members, a very talented group of quilters indeed. I saw quite a variety of pieced and appliqued quilts:  everything from teddy bear quilts, Christmas quilts, Dr. Seuss quilts, miniature quilts, tie-dye quilts, theme challenge quilts, miniature quilts, and an impressive collection of antique sewing machines. The guild had quite a number of small quilts in a raffle draw, in which you buy 3 tickets, and put your name into the draw bag to go with that quilt. I would love to win one! I didn't come home empty-handed, though, since I managed to pick up a few things from the quilt vendors.

I will include a few detail photos of some of the quilts I really enjoyed. Perhaps you will be able to get to this show tomorrow and be dazzled yourself. And don't forget to check out my page on upcoming Ontario quilt shows, link here, and go see a quilt show near you. Threadworks begins tomorrow, and The Grand National begins Sunday. Go now! It really is a wonderous thing to see so many great quilts all at one time.

Chickadee, detail
by Helen Anne Lemke

Still Holding Hands
by Jane Burke

Heavenly Hankies, detail
by Jane Burke

Building Houses, detail
by JaniceTelfer

My Mother's Rose Garden, detail
by Elizabeth Kwadren

Bound to Be Beautiful, detail
by Jane Burke

A Fan-tas-tic Quilt Show!

There's nothing like a really great quilt show to get me out of a deep blue funk. A funeral, a sinus infecton, and a lot of rainy weather have combined recently to make me feel like not doing very much. But I managed to get out in the rain today over to Burlington so see a show called Fibre Content: 100% Fibre Art.  This was a truly beautiful show, in a wonderful venue.

The Burlington Performing Arts Centre has a huge atrium, with lots of natural light flooding the works of art. I saw 125 pieces, by 65 artists. Some of the artists were on hand to speak about their creations, and their stories are very interesting.

This show was a collaborative effort of five of Ontario's fibre arts groups, assembled specifically to showcase the artworks of Ontario fibre artists. The fibre arts groups are:

• Studio Art Quilts Associates (SAQA) Central Canada
• Connections Fibre Artists
• Grand Guild of Fibre Artists 
• Burlington Fibre Arts
• Group of Eight Fibre Artists

Quite often in my travels to these shows, I will see works of art that I have seen before, but in this case I was delighted to see all new works.  Many of the names of the artists were familiar, but their works on display were new to me. Some of these included Maggie Vanderweit, whom I wrote about here, Sandy Simmilink, whom I wrote about as well, here. Others I recognized were Elaine Quehl, Margaret Notar and Beverley White. 

I was intrigued by the details in many of the quilts, so I will show you a selection, including thread painting, fabric painting, beading, embroidery, applique, and other techniques.

Poppies (detail)
by Anne Sullivan
Studio Art Quilt Associates

Jay's Nest (detail)
by Judy Makinson
Burlington Fibre Arts Group

Cellular Aqueducts (detail)
by Mary Cope
Studio Art Quilt Associates

Spring's Golden Glory (detail)
by Ann Totten
Group of Eight Fibre Artists

There was not a single traditional pieced quilt in the show, which was fine with me! This show rivalled any I have seen, and may be compared with the Interational Quilt Festival in Houston. And the most amazing thing is that there are a lot of  very talented art quilters in this area, and it is a great honour to see so many of them in one exhibition. Well done, I say, to the organizers and the artists.

An excellent program booklet containing photos of all the quilts, and a well-rounded market completed the whole experience.

Goderich

Have you been to Goderich lately? It's a lovely town on Ontario's west coast, on the shore of Lake Huron. Easily one of Ontario's prettiest towns, it was devastated last August in a few minutes by a  tornado. Full of beautiful historic properties, some of Goderich's best buildings were heavily damaged, including the quilt store, Quilters by the Square. They had to move to another temporary location, and are now happily back in their original store. To drive around the town, you would never know there had been a tornado, so cleaned up is the area. I was impressed. The only remains now of the tornado  are the big stacks of firewood you see here and there!

The reason I travelled to Goderich was to see their guild's quilt show, It's The Berries, featuring strawberries, of course. Everyone attending the show received a stuffed strawberry for a keepsake, and yummy strawberry shortcake to take home in their tummy. Both excellent ideas.

The guild show was fabulous. You see a lot of really nice pieced quilts at these guild shows, and this one was no exception. There are many very talented quilters in Goderich.

Amongst the displays was the President's Challenge, shown at left. The theme, A River Runs Through It, was very cleverly ties together with water fabric. The previous challenge was also on display, along with many other small wonderful wall quilts and art quilts. A most excellent presentation from quilt appraiser Judy Lyons rounded out the whole experience for a most enjoyable day.

Seams Like Home, Quilt Canada 2012

Mini Quilt Demo, Quilt Canada 2012
with TrendTex Challenge in background

I think I am ready now to post some photos of the quilt events at the 2012 Quilt Canada show, Seams Like Home. Except for the Grand National Show, of course. Photographs are not allowed there, so you either have to go there to see the quilts yourself, or order the catalogue, to see the quilts. And really, you must see all of the quilts in one room, in person, to fully comprehend the beauty of it all.

Mariner's Quilt Guild show at Quilt Canada

Nova Scotia Miniature Quilt Challenge
at Howe Hall, Quilt Canada

I think  I can show you some of the other elements of the show that I enjoyed, though.

Mayflower Quilters Guild
at Quilt Canada 

Needlework Exhibition
Canadian Needlework Guilds

That Needlework exhibition, shown on the right, was really something. I have done only a very small amount of embroidery in my lifetime, and I have great respect for the work of these artists.Link to the Canadian Embroiderers' Association here.  I speak every year, at the St. Jacobs Quilt Festival, with the guild from Guelph, and love their work, too. To see work from all across Canada, on such a scale, and in such variety, was truly amazing.

I must say, I am looking forward to next year's Quilt Canada show, already making plans for it.

St. Jacobs Quilt Festival 2012 Part 6

This was my last day in St. Jacobs, for this year's Quilt & Fibre Art Festival. Good thing I'm not working at my actual job this week, or I wouldn't have had time for all this quilt stuff. And it seems my quilt quotient level is way up. I can hear a little voice in my head telling me to save some for next week in Halifax, but I'm going all out. I come home and work in my garden until it's dark, with a little sprinkling of sewing in my day, too. It all feels great, though.

Quilt by Ruth Kennedy

So today, I went specifically to see a trunk show with guest artist Ruth Kennedy from Fergus. She has been quilting since 2000, but had a lot of sewing exposure and experience since she was very young. Ruth loves sewing curves, and she showed us a beautiful quilt, shown at left. Her award-winning quilt, "You Still Give Me Butterflies" is featured on the International Plowing Match brochure. Check it out here.  Surrounded by some of her family, she showed us an incredible array of quilts she has made. She teaches quiltmaking as well, and it was fascinating and inspiring to hear her story. She wound up her speaking with a very moving tribute to her mother for encouraging her and giving her space and freedom to sew when she was young. Reminded me of my own mother.

 

Needle Sisters Quilt Guild display

Quilts for the World display

Also on the slate for today were the quilts at the St. Jacobs Mennonite Church. I enjoyed this show. As I've mentioned before, the local Mennonites are so much a part the area's quilting, and some of their quilts were on display at the church, some destined for the New Hamburg Mennonite Relief Sale this Saturday. Other local quilters also had quilts on display. Included in the show was Susanne Williams' very impressive collection of local antique red & white quilts, and a special display by the Needle Sisters Quilt Guild from Elmira.

St. Jacob's Quilt Festival 2012, Part 2: Henny's Mini's

The Quilt Place
Shakespeare, Ontario

Spectrum: Light Drizzle
  © 2012 Henny Bremer

I went on Friday to see another segment of the St. Jacob's Quilt & Fibre Art Festival. This was at The Quilt Place, a wonderful quilt shop in the small community of Shakespeare. Isn't it great that you go into a quilt store, and see a fabulous quilt display as well?

The Quilt Place featured Henny Bremer's Minis. Henny has made a name for herself in this area as a master at making tiny versions of many traditional and nontraditional blocks.

Stardust
© 2012 by Henny Bremer

About 30 of Henny's  minis were on display this year, and they are such a treat to see. Each quilt is about 12" x 16" or so, and has a lot of pieces machine stitched together. A lot. Log Key-Cabin, for example, from Judy  Martin's Log Cabin Book, has 1094 pieces. Amazing. The two quilts featured here are all recent works.

These mini's might seem like a crazy endeavor, but you know how quilters are! Henny just does what she does, and turns it into magical quilts. That's the wonder of each individual quilter, what fascinates me, what keeps me interested in seeing the work of so many other quilters.

Photos of Henny's work reproduced here with permission.

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.

Risking Life and Limb

I took my life in my hands this afternoon, deciding to drive to the city, to see the Etobicoke Quilters Guild show, link here. All under threat of a snowstorm, combined with the price of gas nearing $1.36 a litre, and the possibly of a nightmare drive home from the city in Friday afternoon rush hour. It all worked out wonderfully, though, and I had an enjoyable afternoon of quilts, and a pleasant drive, too.

The EQG has secured themselves an amazing venue, in the Nielson Park Creative Centre, and their quilts are shown to best advantage in the natural light, with a natural park setting just outside the windows. I had been to their show, maybe eight or ten years ago, and I must say that the quilts have evolved, much like the rest of the quilting world, towards more colourful and artistic representations of the quilting arts. There were many traditional quilts displayed, too, and the overall effect is one of great beauty and balance. Such a joy to see.

I must speak about the quilts that really caught my attention. Two were by Judith Veinot, very amazing techniques to show the natural world. This one, Through a Rose-Coloured Porthole, is not exactly nature-based, but really was spectacular, with beading and other embellishment. This link takes you directly to the other quilt she had on display, called Wilderness Splendour, which I just loved. Her work is quite wonderful, and moved me greatly.

The other photo here is a very cute quilt, called Razzle Dazzle, by Nancy King. Full of colour, energy, and life, it inspires me to do more of my own quilting. It's easy to think I could replicate her fabulous quilt, but that would miss the point. It is a great quilt because it represents her own creative slant. I could do something similar, but I am much better off, indeed more interested in, generating my own creative ideas. I have been sketching out a few things to use some of my scraps in a log cabin style, in a red/black/white theme.

I never tire of seeing the work of other quilters, of which there is an infinite variety. I greatly enjoy travelling to see quilts, and this show did not disappoint me. I like the way other people put together colours, patterns, stitches, and quilting lines to make a very unique and creative work of art, that becomes a true expression of who they are.

In other news, the forsythia has been in bloom for a week or so in this area, and I've been seeing it on nearly every street corner and back road for miles around. Its bright yellow seems quite a shocking contrast to all the grey in the landscape, before the leaves break free and green up the world. It is a very fleeting spring show, soon forgotten in the face of other spring flowers, and then reappears next spring, to surprise us all over again.

And in the sewing room, I've been working on a white/creamy coloured Winding Ways quilt. The blocks are all sewn together, which to me is a major milestone. The border needs to be cut and sewn, but once those blocks are made, the rest seems do-able. No photos yet, but progress will be reported at some unknown future dates!

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.