Judy Cooper Textile Images

2012-01-26T14:07:00.000-03:30

The last day or so I have been selecting batik fabric and getting it ready to make more 3-D fish. All the ones at Devon House Craft Shop and Gallery sold out for Christmas. That's a good thing! I use all batiks for the fish as I like the tight weave of the cotton as well as the deep, vibrant colours. In preparation for making the fish, I back the fabric with Totally Stable stabilizer. It irons on just like freezer paper (but is not as stiff) and works well for free motion stitching. The next step is to stitch all over the fabric to give it a bit of texture before cutting out the fish shape. The fins will be in a contrasting fabric. To see some finished 3-D fish go here.

Here are links in my blog to other fish I've done:
The Deep
Applique Patterns
Journal Covers
Tea Cosy

Your Sewing Space

2012-01-24T20:35:00.001-03:30

Guest speaker, at the January meeting of the Cabot Quilt Guild, used the book, Creating Your Perfect Quilting Space by Lois L. Hallock, as the basis for her talk. As an Occupational Therapist, she was quite willing to give us some valuable pointers on making our sewing rooms work for us. Through interaction with the audience she found out the type of activities quilters perform and the type of pains and injuries that occur. Sitting, standing, sewing, cutting, and ironing were some of the activities mentioned. Many members confessed to suffering from back, neck, shoulder, wrist, hand and finger pain. Proper lighting was also an important consideration.

Here are some common sense points she made:

Have a good chair that fits you - she gave some pointers for sitting / working properly
Get up and stretch at least every 20 minutes
Your arms should be at elbow height when in use
Have your work area set up to avoid a lot of reaching and stretching
Cutting tables and ironing boards need to be at the right height - blocks can be purchased to raise tables.

I realize that you are going to say that all this is common sense - it is! BUT how many of you may need to rethink at least one thing in your work space? When I got home that evening, I had a look around my room. I was satisfied with the room except that it isn't near big enough. However, the brain must have been working overtime while I slept that night. The next day I moved one of my machines further to the left of the table to give me more space to the right as I am right handed. Again, why didn't I think of that before now! I also purchased a steno chair with variable height. The one I have doesn't go low enough to use comfortably with one of my machines. It's great for working at the work table.

Check these out:
Sewing Room Organization, more here
Organization and Tools for a sewing room
Organizing Tips for a small sewing room - check out the related articles and videos

Stitching Stuff

2012-01-23T14:48:00.000-03:30

Here lately I have been looking at a lot of stitching sites. My search is for free-style embroidery that can be both functional and decorative, and can be stitched on just about any surface. I've been using the Pintangle site (I'm a member) as a jumping off place to find 'stuff'. Since TAST has started up for another year, most members signed in giving their blog or web site address. Find them HERE (scroll down). In case a blog is not written in English, use Google Translate to help you out. Just follow the directions - it's easy to use. These sites also have favorite places to visit that may be different from anything you have seen so far.

Here's some places to visit:
Antique Pattern Library
Freebies from Kissy Cross (mostly cross stitch)
Free charts at Tantes Zolder
The Work Basket
Gazette 94 - more freebies
Tom Pudding Designs
Britain's # 1 Cross Stitcher
One Day a Grid Cross Stitch
Pattern Maker Charts
Albums D'Anyan
Craft Ideas
Tams Creations (Black work & cross stitch)
Elsa Mora (two free embroideries)

This applique is an original design based on an Elizabethan Embroidery that I had previously designed. It was done a few years ago as part of an embroidery course. My intention was to make it into a cushion but so far it just sits in my cupboard.

More Show & Tell : Cabot Quilt Guild

2012-01-22T12:03:00.000-03:30

More Show & Tell from the Cabot Quilt Guild.

The turquoise quilt shows the front and back. I finally finished my Sashiko Table Topper.

For some reason, Firefox is not showing all the photos posted in Internet Explorer.

Show & Tell at Cabot Quilt Guild

2012-01-18T19:45:00.000-03:30

Here are a few pieces from Show and Tell at the Cabot Quilt Guild last evening. More photos to follow.
Enjoy!

Quilting Blogs

2012-01-17T10:47:00.000-03:30

Since I changed the look of this blog, I have had to learn where all the editing/writing tools are. They aren't in the same easy to see places as before. Anyway, enough of that!
I found this site, Quilt Qua, and thought I'd pass it along for you to check out. There's lots of information for quilters as well as 23 pages of quilting blogs and Show & Tell. Lots of things to see and sites to visit on a cold, wintery day! Now, I just wish I had the time to do that. . .
Enjoy!

Book Review # 4

2012-01-16T08:26:00.000-03:30

I just received Drawn Thread Embroidery by Moyra McNeill. This is from the Batsford Classic Embroidery collection. The following description was taken from the back cover of the book:

Drawn thread is a form of decorative embroidery that has been practised for many centuries. Traditionally worked on fine linen, it achieves its effects through the contrast of open and closed areas created by removing threads from the fabric. The traditional aspects of the craft are considered here in detail, but exciting and experimental innovations are given equal importance in this comprehensive guide.

An introductory section explains how to withdraw stitches and secure ends. Different stitch types and various borders are then examined and clearly illustrated with line drawings and photographs. As well as basic techniques such as ladder and zigzag hems, more experimental styles, including working with colour and weaving with fabric strips, provide plenty of design ideas.

Chapters on the many drawn thread techniques - needleweaving, reticella, Russian drawn ground, Hedebo and Hardanger - continue the exploration of both new and old approaches. A final section on experimental machine work provides many ideas for modern embroidery.

I'm looking forward to using this book in future work.

New Look!

2012-01-15T09:59:00.002-03:30

I decided to change the look of my blog. It was time! The soft green was getting a bit dated and blogger was sugesting a new look from time to time. I do like the blue. Here's a colourful photo of row houses, downtown St. John's, to show off the new look. It was taken on a much warmer day back in September, 2011.

Photo by Judy Cooper

Book Review # 3

2012-01-14T16:57:00.000-03:30

Vivacious Curvy Quilts by Dianne S. Hire is another book I've added to my collection. I'm not a quilter of quilts but I do like this book for its nontraditional, unlikely quilt shapes. Dianne demonstrates template-free ways to cut, sew and combine curvy pieced blocks into spectacular quilted pieces. There are lots of coloured photos and illustrations to accompany the easy to follow text. For some reason, I have always been drawn to quilts with curves and have several other books on the subject.

Book Review # 2

2012-01-13T19:14:00.000-03:30

Another book that was added to my collection this Christmas was Mickey Lawler's Skyquilts. I already own her previous book, Skydyes. In fact, I reference it whenever I paint or dye a batch of fabric to use as sky in my textile art. Skyquilts still touches on skies but not to the extent as in Skydyes. In this newest book, Mickey Lawler introduces 12 painting techniques for painting water, sand, dry land and green fields. She provides lots of beautiful coloured photos of the painting process as well as finished pieces. To read a couple of on-line reviews of this book go here. Take a peek inside this book on Amazon.

This book is a keeper!

Harry Potter

2012-01-09T23:28:00.000-03:30

I received the Harry Potter DVD's for Christmas and just finished watching #4. It's interesting to see the characters as they get older. Using the theme of magic and Harry Potter, I googled and found a few things of interest. Not that I'm about to do any of the projects, but I thought someone might find it useful especially if you have a H P fan at home.

Here's what I found:
H P Paper Piecing Project of Doom - quilting for Harry Potter fans
Sew Hooked
Janice Ferguson Sews - interesting embroidery (scroll down)
The Leaky Lounge - embroidery
The Crafty Cauldron - Cloth Dolls

TAST

2012-01-05T22:28:00.000-03:30

TAST - Take a Stitch Tuesday, from Pintangle started on Tuesday. I had forgotten all about it. Now I have to scramble to do up some fabric to use for a stitch sampler. For a list of participants in the 2012 TAST with links to their blogs, go here. There's lots to see. Also, check out TAST on Facebook.
The first stitch for 2012 is the fly stitch. Go here for Sharon B's dictionary of stitches. The Art of Threads has a video of making this stitch (scroll down).

Fly Stitch from Stitch Magazine

If you are interested in doing some embroidery, Needlecrafter has a lot of free designs as well as a stitch dictionary, to get you started.
Enjoy!

Blog List

2012-01-04T20:23:00.000-03:30

If you are interested in patchwork and quilting, please visit Red Pepper Quilts. There are 833 blogs listed. Mine is # 442. I scrolled down several times before finally seeing it as I was looking for an entirely different photo than the tea cosy shown. You can also access this blog by clicking the shortcut icon on the left side of my blog.

It is also interesting to check out the blogs and websites other quilters, stitchers and fibre artists select. You never know what you will find!

Well, I was going to publish this post but decided to have a look at a few blogs and came across a Patchwork Tree on # 8.

Book Review

2012-01-02T13:59:00.001-03:30

Photo by Judy Cooper

I received several books for Christmas. A Fiber Artist's Guide to Color & Design by Heather Thomas was one of them. This book, with its 160 pages, has a hard cover with a spiral spine inside, so it is easy to lie flat. It is loaded with hundreds of photos, examples and illustrations. Besides providing color and design theory, Heather includes 12 Workshop Lessons with project goals and guidlines. Read here for more information from other reviews on this delightful book. You can also take a peek inside!
Heather's blog

I think I have a bit of reading to do!
Enjoy. . .

Happy Stitching

2012-01-01T19:27:00.001-03:30

This afternoon was for relaxing! I spent some time catching up with blogs I read. My focus was on hand stitching - something I hope to do more of in 2012. Several years ago I took part in a three year, 5 level hand embroidery course. I was not a lover of crewel work and stitching with wool. However, I came across some Jacobean leaves by Kelly Fletcher, on the Feeling Stitchy blog. I just may do some of these this year! Feeling Stitchy has some wonderful stuff.

Also check out the following:
Mary Corbet's Needle 'n Thread
Stitchin Fingers
Hand Embroidery Network (HEN)
Curiosities 808 (from Hawaii) - not just crochet
Racaire's Embroidery & Needlework (Ausrtia)
DMC Threads with Emma Broidery
Polka & Bloom
French-Knots: all things stitchy
Hand Embroidery from Sadalas
Pin Tangle

Hand & Machine Embroidery by Judy Cooper

Happy New Year

2011-12-31T23:24:00.000-03:30

2011 was a very eventful year full of wonderful things - the best of which was the birth of my granddaughter in March. I even managed to get some quilting and other art work completed. My goal for the new year is to experiment with new techniques and apply them to my textile work. I received a few new books for Christmas which I will report on in the new year.

Post Espresso

2011-12-28T20:23:00.004-03:30

Post Espresso has opened up in downtown St. John's. As part of my nephew's christmas present I made a small quilted rug mug with the logo of his new business on it. I've also included a couple of photos of the inside. If you ever get a chance to vist our colourful city, please drop by 168 Water Street, (YouTube) St. John's, NL.

In fact, to learn more about this new establishment and see more photos, please read Darcy Fitzpatrick's review in Signal, the St. John's blog. Also check it out on Mark Bennett's blog.

Merry Christmas - one day late!

2011-12-26T13:24:00.000-03:30

Merry Christmas to everyone. I am one day late in doing this but family comes first. I do have to tell you that the commissioned piece, Gower Street, St. John's, was a hit with the new owner. I received a very nice call yesterday about it and a message today.

I hope Boxing Day sales are a hit wherever you are. Newfoundland stores aren't opened on Boxing Day - we have to wait until tomorrow.
Enjoy your shopping!

Gingerbread Houses from Rock Recipes

2011-12-24T17:33:00.000-03:30

The gingerbread houses (scroll down) shown on the Rock Recipes web site aren't the typical ones you associate with gingerbread house construction. These houses are similiar to the ones found in the St. John's area. Barry Parsons has provided a gingerbread recipe and instructions on making one of the houses. It is rather late to be posting this but I just found this quite by accident. Anyway, better late than never. Now you can file it away for next year.

Also check out the following:
Tipnut has a collection of gingerbread house designs (free patterns & ideas)
Gingerbread House Ornament
Gingerbread Man sewing project

Enjoy!

Quilts from Houston

2011-12-22T23:47:00.000-03:30

Please have a look at the beautiful quilts from Houston that are shown on Joen Wolfrom's blog. Also click on quilt show at the side of the blog for more quilts. They are well worth a look.
Enjoy!

Last Minute Gift? . . .

2011-12-21T08:37:00.000-03:30

I just have to share this one with you. Do you need a last minute gift - one that is quick to make? Well check out this table topp er/runner using two fabrics from Sugar Town Quilt Co. The tutorial shows how to make this with beautiful mitered corners. And - this is a Canadian company from Alberta, Canada.

This table topper is also featured on Sew We Quilt. This link has lots of things to make for the holidays.

Christmas 2011

2011-12-20T23:47:00.000-03:30

I can't believe that Christmas is just days away! I have been busy making 'stuff' for gifts as well as for my home. The tree has been up for awhile. Here are a couple of my favorite ornaments. The peacock was a gift from my daughter when she lived in Toronto. It is always the first one on the tree. The fairy was one I bought for myself in California many years ago.

Here are a few links on making some of your own ornaments:
Felt Christmas Ornament from Fanastic Toys
Plush Christmas Ornament and Tutorial from Mariska's Blog
Around the World from Creative Breathing
Quick Embroidered Ornament from Scissor Quirk
Matryoshka Doll Ornament from My Sparkle
Stuffed Star Ornaments from Wee Folk Art

Most of the ornaments can be made quickly.
Enjoy!

Work in Progress - It's finished!

2011-12-16T15:39:00.002-03:30

The commissioned piece, Gower Street, St. John's, is finally framed and ready to go. I am very pleased with the results. The trees worked out very well and I will making more to use in future work. A friend told me that these houses are Heritage Homes. The pink one was owned by a Captain Moss. It burnt down and he rebuilt it in its original design.
Check out my previous piece, View from The Rooms as well as In All Its Glory.

Show and Tell at Eastern Edge Quilt Guild

2011-12-08T21:08:00.000-03:30

Tuesday evening was the last meeting of the Eastern Edge Quilt Guild for this year. There were a number of lovely pieces shown. Unfortunately, I didn't get photos of all of them.

Christmas Quilt Show

2011-12-03T22:38:00.000-03:30

After a morning of shopping downtown and an afternoon of working on my commissioned piece (all the greenery is in place - I just have to stitch them down), I found some down time to check out a few web sites. I came across Insights From Sew Cal Gal. Check out the Christmas Quilt Show entries. The two categories are Christmas and Winter. It will take a bit of time to see them all!
Enjoy!

Work in Progress # 4

2011-11-30T23:07:00.000-03:30

I have most of the building construction completed except for some surface additions. Most of my time today was spent stitching trees. The first photo was an experiment. In the second photo, the same tree skeleton was used with various bits of organza foliage put in place. It worked out well and I may use it. However, I like the tree still in the hoop. I added some foliage before cutting it out. Extra bits of foliage will be added to the back and front to give dimension.

You can see more trees in the last photo. They are not in a permanent placement yet and extra foliage will be added when stitched to the background.

Embroidery

2011-11-29T19:20:00.005-03:30

For those of you interested in embroidery, check out the various sites on the Hand Embroidery Blog. I guarantee you hours of fun! Too bad they aren't in alphabetic order.

Here's a few more to add to the list:
Feeling Stitchy
Curiosities 808 from Hawaii
Hand Embroidery from Sadalas
Teach Me Tuesday
Mary Corbet's Needle 'N Thread

This is one of my hand embroideries done with single strands of silk embroidery floss.

Enjoy!

Mini Art Pieces

2011-11-28T14:19:00.000-03:30

I've been doing a series of framed 5" x 5" textile art, called 'Back Yard' since the fall of 2009. Check my previous post here for information about them. The photo below shows two of the pieces that are currently in the Craft Council Shop, Devon House.

The Craft Council just opened an on-line shop to make it easier for people to buy unique one-of-a-kind ars and crafts. One of my Piscius Fantasticus is one of the items listed.

Work in Progress # 3

2011-11-24T08:19:00.000-03:30

Update photos:
Check out here for more details on making the foliage. I spent a lot of time making the green stuff but it works great to give a realistic look to the work.

Making greenery for the art piece.

Waterfront - St. John's

2011-11-23T18:53:00.002-03:30

I was downtown St. John's this morning and I just had to stop and take a couple of photos. It was such a beautiful, cool day! In the first photo, you can see Cabot Tower and Signal Hill in the distance. The second photo shows part of the Battery, a small, unique neighbourhood within St. John's. The last photo shows some of the older structures on the waterfront. The gray stone building in the background is the courthouse.

TAST - Take A Stitch Tuesday Challenge

2011-11-21T09:40:00.000-03:30

Sharon B of Pintangle is offering her Take a Stitch Tuesday challenge again in the new year. If you are interested in learning some new embroidery stitches or brushing up on some old ones, this is a great opportunity to do so. The best thing - it's free! Read more about it here. I just signed up. Not that I need another project, but you never know what new ideas might come from it. Not only that, but it will give me something to focus on in our Thursday night stitching group called FETE - friends every Thursday night.

Work in Progress # 2

2011-11-20T16:13:00.000-03:30

I have been working on the row house piece mentioned in the November 9 post. This photo (showing the autumn version) does not appear in Fire Fox but shows in Internet Explorer. I will be doing the summer version with lots of trees. The work is going slowly as I am painting in some of the finer building details. The following photos show bits and pieces of the overall composition. I am using Lite Steam-a-Seam 2 as well as Heat n Bond Lite stabilizers in the construction. I have lots of foilage to make as well as stitch the tree trunks and branches. This will be added as needed.

Houston Quilt Festival

2011-11-11T23:05:00.000-03:30

In 2001, I travelled to Houston with some quilting friends to attend the International Quilt Festival. It was one of the best quilt related experiences of my life. I can still picture the hugh conference center filled with quilts and everything related to quilting that a quilter / quilt artist could desire. Each year in November, I think about that trip. I hope to travel there again sometime in the future. Anyway, I always look for postings of the quilts and other art displayed there. It's not as good as been there but it is the next best thing. Check out the following sites:

Dyed and Gone to Heaven
Sue Dennis
Free Spirit Art Studio
International Quilt Association: A World of Beauty
Exhibit Highlights with Luana Rubin - part 1 & part 2
Walks in the Woods with Freda Anderson
Judy Coates Perez
About Quilts
Kathy York
Google Search - Images
Google Search - Videos

Enjoy!

11 Days of Pre-Holiday Tutorials

2011-11-10T08:04:00.000-03:30

You will just have to check out these tutorials. A new one every day for 11 days!

November 9 :Jane LeFazio
November 10 :Lyric Kinard
November 11 :Tracie Lyn Huskamp
November 12 :Melanie Testa
November 13 :Traci Bunkers
November 14 :Diana Trout
November 15 :Judy Coates Perez
November 16 :Kelli Nina Perkins
November 17 :Lisa Engelbrecht
November 18 :Jill Berry
November 19 :Gloria Hansen

Some of the above artists also have other tutorials on their blogs. Check them out!

Work in Progress # 1

2011-11-09T18:08:00.002-03:30

My trip to Chicago was a success. Now I'm back and already working on a commissioned piece. Here's a photo of the houses I'm doing. I'm using similar techniques used in 'View From The Rooms'. Actually, this photo is also taken from The Rooms. Photos of the actual piece will be posted soon. Check back!

Canadian Talent # 4

2011-10-29T11:31:00.000-02:30

To continue with Canadian Textile Artists check out below:

Enjoy!

Canadian Talent # 3

2011-10-28T15:54:00.000-02:30

As promised, here are a few more Canadian fibre artists and related stuff!

Well, this is it for today.
Enjoy!

Canadian Talent # 2

2011-10-23T12:05:00.001-02:30

As promised, here is another splendid list of Canadian fibre artists:

Linda Hubbard
Sew Karen-ly Created - Karen Neary's web site
Heather Stewart
Magpie Quilts
Cathy Tomm
Lonne McCauley
Jackie's Art Quilts
Kathy Tidswell

Enjoy!

ipad

2011-10-22T11:46:00.000-02:30

Last year, when I travelled to Endland on a textile tour, I purchased an ipad. I used it to check my hot mail account and to send email back home. It also became my photo storage device. Instead of taking multiple camera memory cards, I transferred my photos to the ipad. That worked amazingly well. It was great to check my blog and to keep up to date on other blogs (when there was time).

It doesn't work as well for me when composing blog posts. I am so used to using multiple screens when composing my posts that this little device doesn't measure up. I don't have a separate key pad and that has issues. With the touch pad on the screen, I still haven't discovered if I can copy and paste easily. I have managed to frustrate myself with it. As a result, the previous posts, since the 18th of October, were composed at home as I'm visiting Chicago at the moment. I think I have three more of those yet to post!

If time permits, and I still have internet access, I will write a few lines and post them.

Since I don't have any new links for you today, check out links on other blogs. You might be surprised to see the things that interest them. Sometimes it's related to their own work and sometimes not.

Enjoy!

Canadian Talent # 1

2011-10-21T11:02:00.000-02:30

I've decided to dedicate the next couple of posts to listing some of our Canadian textile/fibre/stitching artists. I think it would be well worth your while to check them out.

The Needle and Thread Network is hosted in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Karen Henry
Bethany Garner
Valerie Hearder
Laurie Swim
Lynne Heller
Andrea Graham - feltmaker
Maggie Vanderweit
Greta Kristiansen-Jacobs - quiltmaker
Linda Palaisy - embroidery

More to come.
Enjoy!

Skinny Taste Recipes

2011-10-19T11:13:00.000-02:30

I was catching up on Face Book and one of my friends recommended Skinny Taste Recipes. I had a quick look and it looks promising. I realize this site isn't about textile art related 'stuff', but we all have to eat and if it tastes good as well as been low fat - then it's ok! The photo shows a super moist low fat chocolate cupcake.

Check out one of my previous posts for cup cake related stitching.

Enjoy!

Paint Sticks

2011-10-18T14:36:00.000-02:30

Have you ever played with oil paint sticks? Check out Cedar Canyon Textiles for information about this product and where to get them. I have a few sets of the paint sticks as well as some of the rubbing plates. However, I haven't spent much time playing with them. They do have lots of potential for adding decoration to fabric. Cedar Canyon Textiles blog has a wealth of information about this product.

Here are some sites to check out:

Sue Dennis
Threads
You Tube Embellishing with Paint Sticks (there are lots of demos)
Quilting Arts
Melody Crust - Fiber Artist
Better Homes and Gardens: Color Your Own Fabric
Stitch with the Embroiders' Guild (a fantastic British magazine) - Make Your Mark
The Magic Bean - Shiva Paint Stick Tutorial

3 Creative Studios

2011-10-17T20:23:00.000-02:30

The side bar link on my blog to 3 Creative Studios is active again. By accident, I discovered that the old link wasn't working. This site is the virtual studio for Terri Stegmiller and Vicki Welsh. Each month they feature a guest artist. For October, artist Monika Kinner-Whalen introduces thread sketching.

Here are a few more links featuring Thread Sketching:
Quilting Arts
Nancy Prince
Kelli Nina Perkins
Elysian Studios
Kathleen Creates
Brown Paper Packages
Ingrid Whitcher
Judy Alexander
Daily Craft

Felting Web Sites

2011-10-16T19:20:00.000-02:30

To follow up on the previous blogs about felting, I have a few sites worth visiting. These were recommended by Caroline Lindsay (click on Gallery).

Enjoy!

3-D Felting

2011-10-15T12:58:00.000-02:30

A few posts ago, I wrote about felting with Caroline Lindsay from the UK. Well, I finally finished the two pieces I did. On the green vase, I put on decorative yarns and seed beads. The bowl has decorative yarns but instead of using beads, I created some French knots using metallic yarn. I am pleased with the results of these two pieces.

Photos

2011-10-14T20:35:00.001-02:30

I was on the fifth floor of the Parmount Building yesterday. Years ago, this building housed one of the old movie theatres in downtown St. John's. During a storm, its roof collapsed and was thus abandoned for a long time. Now it has a new lease on life and is turned into office space. The view from the top is spectacular! However, I had to be content to take my photos through the glass window. As you can see, there are some interesting houses in the downtown core.

Happy Thanksgiving Canada!

2011-10-10T19:51:00.000-02:30

Time flies these days! I'm a tad late wishing Happy Thanksgiving to all Canadians. Also a special thank you to all the followers of my site (those who have joined and those who have my blog book marked). You are much appreciated. To celebrate Autumn, here are some related quilting and stitching projects to keep you busy:

The Painted Quilt has quite a few free seasonal projects. They have a freebie each Friday. Check out their past ones.
Accuquilt has an Autumn Applique Wall Hanging. Just download 12 free quilt patterns here. Scroll down to find the wall hanging.
Quilt Inspiration has lots of stuff! I'm not into Halloween but for those of you who like to go spooky, check it out. Use Internet Explorer as Firefox doesn't show all the photos!
Quilted Autumn Decor can be found at Fabric Flair. Click the photos to get your downloadable patterns.
Harvest Traditions from McCall's Quilting is a lap quilt to try.
Combine stitching and quilting with this Autumn Welcome Banner from Free Patterns

Enjoy!

Felting with the Embroidery Gals

2011-10-02T19:10:00.000-02:30

Caroline Lindsay was teaching day two of the felting course to some of the St. John's Embroidery Guild members today. I dropped in at lunchtime to see what they were doing. Here are photos of the pieces. As you can see, different threads, ribbons, leaves and bits of fabric, were embedded into the felt. Several already had some hand stitching started.

Firefox

2011-10-02T18:55:00.000-02:30

If you are looking at the previous post in Firefox, several photos aren't showing up. Please use another browser to see them.

Vases and Bowls

2011-09-29T22:11:00.001-02:30

Needless to say, today's felt making with Caroline Lindsay, was fantastic! We made vases and bowls. I won't go into detail on the method for making them as it would take too long but check here (click on photos to the right) and here for some 'how to'. In making our bowls, we used balloons instead of balls to get the shape. We also used silk hankies to cover the outside of the bowls. I forgot to take photos when we were making the vases until the very end!

We also got a brief demo on making felt beads.

I have needle felted in some of my art work and I have played around with wet felting. However, working the felt roving to get a 3-D piece was very rewarding. I think there is more lurking in my future.

Felting Workshop

2011-09-27T09:17:00.000-02:30

The felting workshop with Caroline Lindsay was quite enjoyable and relaxing. Did I say relaxing? The wet felting method was quite the upper body workout. After laying out the wool roving and covering it with silk chiffon, we then rolled it up in bubble wrap. We had to constantly work the felt inside the bubble wrap with our hands. Of course, the felt had to be unrolled and rolled up over and over again. Check out this video clip from Google as it will show you basically what we did. That was the first day.

We took our felted pieces home that night to wash for 30 minutes in the washer and then dry it. I chose to air dry mine as I didn't want it to shrink further.

The second day we started to embellish our piece. Everyone got lots of individual attention and suggestions as to how to finish it. Needless to say, I have yet another workshop piece to finish. However, I will get it done as I quite like this piece.

Thursday, I'm going to make some bowls and vases with Caroline.

Notice how the yellow and hot pink coloured silk overlays changed the colour of the wool roving. The same coloured roving was used for both samples.

Cabot Quilt Guild - Show and Tell

2011-09-26T08:11:00.000-02:30

The Cabot Quilt Guild, St. John's, NL, meets the 3rd Tuesday of each month. Here are some of the quilts shown at our last Show and Tell:

Felting

2011-09-25T08:22:00.000-02:30

I spent yesterday at a felting workshop with teacher, Caroline Lindsay from the UK. We used a combination of wet felting and nuno techniques to create rich fabrics ideal for hand or machine embroidery. Today, we will be embellishing our pieces with stitching. Here's a sample of her work:

2011-09-19T21:06:00.000-02:30

In my previous post about Row Houses, the photo of the green house and the cruise ship in the harbour, is missing from Fire Fox. Please check it out using Internet Explorer.

Row Houses, St. John's

2011-09-19T21:02:00.000-02:30

It was a beautiful day here is St. John's so I spent the afternoon taking photos of downtown row houses. The Row House theme is frequently used in my textile art. These colourful wooden houses have their roots in the fishing industry. Whenever the ships returned from sea, each captain would search for his house all along the hills. So that they stood out from each other, every house was painted a different vibrant colour. Today, the tradition is still kept. As you go from street to street in the downtown area, you can see every colour imaginable. Even on a foggy, rainy day, the colours help to brighten things up.

Check my previous posts for references to row houses:
Experimental Piece
Work in Progress and More Buildings
View from the Rooms (photos used for textile piece)
View from the Rooms (textile piece)

Cruise ship in the harbour.
Taken from the backyard of above green house

Down Under Blogs

2011-09-14T17:40:00.000-02:30

One of the things I like to do when I visit another blog is check out the favorite sites listed there. You never know what you will come across. I've selected a few interesting blogs from the land down under for you to visit today. Enjoy!

Linda Stokes ... textile artist
The Quilters' Guild of NSW Inc. - check out the member's blogs
Serendipity and the Art of the Quilt
The Quilting Owl - traditional style quilting
Patchwork Fundamentals
Suzanne Gummow - a journey in Textiles
Crafty Quilting with Pamela
Fairholme Quilters

Design is Everywhere

2011-09-10T20:00:00.000-02:30

Design is everywhere around us. I sometimes find it in unexpected places.

For example, last weekend we were at Digby, Nova Scotia, where the annual Wharf Rat Rally was held. For those of you unfamiliar with this event, this is a rally for bikers. There were thousands of people with all kinds of motorcycles. The main street was shut down to all traffic except bikers and pedestrians. I'm not into motorcycles but I was impressed with the wide range of colours and designs of the various bikes. Big money is spent on customizing them. The imagery painted on some of the bikes was spectacular. I may not use any of the designs from the imagery I saw in my work, but who knows what tidbit from the whole experience might just influence something I do.

Remember, it's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.

Festival Of Quilts - UK

2011-08-15T21:38:00.002-02:30

I've been looking for photos from the Festival of Quilts 2011, Birmingham, UK. Some of the bloggers have been posting photos from the festival. Here are the ones I've been able to find so far:

Kay in Scotland took the photo of the over all winner, Octopussy, created by Janneke de Vries-Bodzinga of the Netherlands.
Drinking Fabric (unique name) showcases some quilts from the festival. She has two posts. Part two is here.
Some of the winners are also shown on A Quilters Journal. Have a look at the Wonky Houses. These are fantastic!
Here are recent quilts as well as quilts from past festivals. More here and here.
Dog Daisy Chains photos
More photos 2011 Festival of Quilts - these are stunning!

Enjoy!
If you come across any other photos, I'd appreciate hearing from you.

Saidye Bronfman Nominee

2011-08-13T23:44:00.002-02:30

Photo curtsy of Linda & David

Two craftspeople from Newfoundland and Labrador have been nominated for the Saidye Bronfman Award. This is Canada's foremost distinction for excellence in fine craft. Linda Yates and David Hayashida from King's Point Pottery, who specialize in salt / soda firing and high-fired functional stoneware, were nominated by the Craft Council of Newfoundland and Labrador. Check out the media release here.

Congratulations!

What's In a Name

2011-08-12T08:22:00.000-02:30

As the old saying goes: You can't tell a book by its cover. The same can be said for a lot of things. I came across some interesting names for quilting blogs. There are lots more but here are a few of them:

Molly Flanders
Blue Mountain Daisy
Pings and Needles
Saints and Pinners
The Stitching Room
Mama CJT
Little Miss Shabby
Pink Penguin
Quilts a Lot
Freda's Hive
Ivory Spring

Colour

2011-08-11T10:51:00.000-02:30

I've spent the last couple of months (between been a gopher) painting! Don't get excited, as the paint was put on walls in my parent's house and not on fabric. However, now that I'm finished with that project, there is a bit more time to think of other things. Since our summer and spring has been so dreary with all the rain, drizzle and fog, I feel it's time to think about colour.

First of all, check out some Color Theory from Wikipedia and Tiger Color.
Then stop at Color Matters for more technical stuff. Click on the drop down menu.
Some Color Theory Lessons from Art Factory.
To find more information about colour, do a search for Colour Theory.

Now, on to Quilting and Colour:
Joen Wolfrom's blog is all about color for quilters.
Leaves of Green from Blue Moon River
Patchwork Posse: Trunk Show Tuesday with the Color Wheel
Mingle Color Theory and Straight and Narrow from Craft Gossip
Color Beat Quilt from Robert Kaufman
Color your Way from Daily Craft
Circle Quilt Tutorial from Bijou Lovely

Enjoy!

Papillon

2011-08-10T20:20:00.001-02:30

I have a little four legged creature visiting me this month. Pongo, my sister's dog, is a Papillon. Papillon is the French word for butterfly. Need I say more! The following links will have something to do with butterflies so enjoy! At the moment, our weather has been too wet and cold for butterflies to be out and about. Maybe I need to create some for inside.

To get you started, I found some free butterfly colouring pages and drawings.
This one is for inspiration. The colours are stunning. More inspiration.
Mug Rug Butterfly
Free machine embroidery Butterfly (scroll down)
Applique Butterfly Garden
Applique Butterfly Wall Hanging (inspiration)
Free Butterfly Quilt Patterns
Have a look back at The Butterfly Project on my site. Check out the Holocast Museum Houston

Down Under Textiles

2011-08-07T08:47:00.000-02:30

I finally got a chance to check my blog list. I'm sure I've missed a lot this past month or two but things are starting to settle down. Life will get back to 'normal' soon (I hope)!

I came across Down Under Textiles, an Australian magazine, launched in 2009. In it are the latest techniques, tools and products; instructions for making projects; colour, design and composition theory as well as galleries of textile art work. Issue one is available online for FREE. I had a quick look through it and was impressed! It just might be my next magazine purchase. Have a look at it here.

Christmas in July 2011

2011-07-19T18:54:00.000-02:30

For awhile I figured it was getting close to Christmas! St. John's had and still is, having the most terrible weather. In June we had 27 days of rain, drizzle and fog. July isn't much better except that the days are a little warmer. On that note, it's time for Christmas in July.

Get inspired by visiting these sites:
Satin Moon's countdown calendar and other stuff
Sew Mama Sew also has an advent calendar, and stockings from a vintage quilt
Gail Pan has a free christmas stitch project to try
This pleated pouch from Skip to my Lou might be the perfect gift for any occasion
I love these Christmas Booties from Cute'n Crafty
BOM Quilts has lots to choose from
Christmas Quilt Round Up from A Sewing Journal, is worth a look
This snowflake pillow is cute. It's from Diary of a Quilter.
Another advent calendar from Moda Bake Shop

Last but not least, check out my last year post for Christmas in July.

Enjoy!

55 Top Blogs

2011-07-12T23:04:00.000-02:30

Quilter's Home has made a list of the 55 top quilty blogs for 2011. In their article, they explain how they came up with this list. I am familiar with some of the blogs they chose and I will have to fine time to check out the rest. To make it easy, I have made links for these blogs. However, I only found 54 links. I doubled checked but still could not find the missing one. If you do, please let me know. here's your 'quick find' list. They are in the same order as listed in the magazine article.

http://quiltville.blogspot.com/

http://myquiltskickass.blogspot.com/

http://alamodefabric.blogspot.com/

http://twinfibers.blogspot.com/

http://artfabrik.blogspot.com/

http://poppyprintcreates.blogspot.com/

http://www.textileevolution.com/

http://www.gingerhendrix.com/

http://www.ryanwalshquilts.com/

http://miss-print.blogspot.com/

http://www.psiquilt.com/

http://blog.lukehaynes.com/

http://moderndayquilts.tumblr.com/

http://pieceandpress.blogspot.com/

http://ayumills.blogspot.com/

http://duringquiettime.blogspot.com/

http://lavieenrosie.typepad.com/

http://tallgrassprairiestudio.blogspot.com/

http://www.filminthefridge.com/

http://stitchindye.blogspot.com/

http://vintagesheets.blogspot.com

http://angrychicken.typepad.com/

http://thehappyzombie.com/

http://tessellationnation.com/

http://cicadadaydream.blogspot.com/

http://www.virginiagreaves.com/blog/

http://barbarabrackman.blogspot.com/

http://www.trueup.net/

http://www.stitchedincolor.com/

http://quiltstory.blogspot.com/

http://syko.typepad.com/

http://westcoastcrafty.wordpress.com/

http://wendiaarons.com/

http://feeddog.blogspot.com/

http://www.thequiltengineer.com/

http://www.handmadebyalissa.com/

http://www.ohfransson.com/

http://quiltish.blogspot.com/

http://www.redpepperquilts.com/

http://stitchinpostinsisters.typepad.com/

http://ivoryspring.wordpress.com/

http://threadgatherer.blogspot.com/

http://stashmanicure.blogspot.com/

http://sammisofties.blogspot.com/

http://www.celebrate-creativity.com/

http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/

http://blog.craftzine.com/

http://craftfail.com/

http://erinrussek.typepad.com/

http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.com/

http://iheartlinen.typepad.com/

http://color-collective.blogspot.com/

http://exitthroughthethriftshop.com/

http://whileshenaps.typepad.com/

Happy July 4th

2011-07-04T08:08:00.000-02:30

Happy 4th of July to our neighbours to the south! In my case, to family living in the USA. The blog post from last year with patterns is here.

I did manage to find some other patterns for you to check out:
A Real Firecracker
Sunbonnet Sue changed to Sunburst Sue
Firecracker

Almost any quilt pattern can be changed into a celebration quilt for July 4th by using red, white and blue fabrics or designer fabrics with specific motifs for that special holiday. The same can be said for Canada with the red and white. Enjoy!

Canada Day 2011

2011-06-29T22:18:00.000-02:30

On July 1, 2011, Canada celebrates its 144th birthday! This year is a special one as Their Royal Highnesses, Prince William and Catherine, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, will be in Ottawa, Canada's capital city, as part of their Royal Tour of Canada. You can check their itinerary here. Last year, Ottawa was host to Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip on Canada Day. Will there be more Royals next year to make it three in a row?
As usual, I found some projects to go with the Canada Day Theme.
Check last year's freebies here. I also found a couple of other projects to add to the list:
12" Maple Leaf Block
Table Runner Idea
Canada Day Bib
T-Shirts
This next project is called Royalty Block - quite fitting for our Royal Visitors. However, instead of using the American theme fabrics, try colours from the new Prince William Flag which will be flying in Ottawa tomorrow to honor the prince. The flag sports his personal red, white, blue and gold banner featuring a wreath of maple leaves and a cursive W.

'Quilts from Pigeon Inlet' Quilt Show - Viewer's Choice

2011-06-28T19:53:00.000-02:30

Every Cloud has a Silver Lining won the Viewer's Choice Award at the Quilts from Pigeon Inlet Quilt Show last weekend. This piece was hand appliqued and hand quilted by Joanne O'Brien. It was a block of the month quilt (pattern by Aie Rossmann) which she started in 2004 or 2005. Joanne made about 12 blocks (three each month) and then proceeded very sporadically until spring 2009 when she spent two weeks in hospital because of a heart problem. During this time in hospital, she worked on the 'heart' blocks and completed most of them. When the guild decided to have the quilt show, she decided that this quilt would be ready.

Joanne said that 'working on the quilt helped me through the past two years - thus the title of the work Every Cloud has a Silver Lining.

More Quilts from Pigeon Inlet Quilt Show

2011-06-27T22:06:00.001-02:30

Here are a few more quilts from the Pigeon Inlet Quilt Show.

The first piece is called The Way We Were. It was made for the 45th Nursing Reunion from the St. John's General Hospital School of Nursing in memory of a class mate who had died. A few years ago, my husband and I did the photo reproduction and digital imaging for the quilter.

Quilts From Pigeon Inlet Quilt Guild

2011-06-26T20:51:00.000-02:30

Today I visited the Pigeon Inlet Quilt Show, Bay Robert's, NL.
There were over 200 exhibits, quilting demonstrations, vendors, and tea room. The quilters certainly had a great show of quilts, some garments and smaller quilted pieces.
I took a few photos and permission was given by the individual quilters to show some of them here. I will post more at a later time. Visit the Pigeon Inlet Quilters' Guild on Facebook here. Check out their photos!

Stitching in the Sun

2011-06-20T16:33:00.000-02:30

For all the embroiderers out there, here is a very interesting site called Stitching in the Sun. I wish I was stitching in the sun at the moment as it's pouring rain and cold outside. Tomorrow is suppose to be the first day of summer. Around here, it feels as if fall is creeping back instead. However, on that note, my garden is doing well.

To get back on topic, Daniela is working towards her Level 3 Certificate Embroidery with Sian Martin's Distant Stitch Course. I decided to go back and revisit her earlier posts. She certainly is doing a great deal of experimenting/work for this course. Very inspiring!

Enjoy

Summer is Around the Corner - I hope!

2011-06-17T22:23:00.000-02:30

This has to be a Spring for the record books! I can count on one hand the number of sunny days we've had here in St. John's. The rain, drizzle & fog is great for the plants but enough is enough. Sunshine is in demand. Summer will be officially here next week. With that thought, here are some things I found for those summer days:

Picnic Helpers Tutorial
Quilted Back Pack Pattern
Beach Bag Pattern
Pleated Tote/Beach Bag
Watermelon Table Runner
On-the-Go Project Pouch
Strawberry Bag Tutorial & Strawberry Pillows
Picnic Basket Liner
Insulated Soda Can Wrap

Enjoy!

Judy Cooper Textile Images

Your Sewing Space

Stitching Stuff

More Show & Tell : Cabot Quilt Guild

Show & Tell at Cabot Quilt Guild

Quilting Blogs

Book Review # 4

New Look!

Book Review # 3

Book Review # 2

Harry Potter

TAST

Blog List

Book Review

Happy Stitching

Happy New Year

Post Espresso

Merry Christmas - one day late!

Gingerbread Houses from Rock Recipes

Quilts from Houston

Last Minute Gift? . . .

Christmas 2011

Work in Progress - It's finished!

Show and Tell at Eastern Edge Quilt Guild

Christmas Quilt Show

Work in Progress # 4

Embroidery

Mini Art Pieces

Work in Progress # 3

Waterfront - St. John's

TAST - Take A Stitch Tuesday Challenge

Work in Progress # 2

Houston Quilt Festival

11 Days of Pre-Holiday Tutorials

Work in Progress # 1

Canadian Talent # 4

Canadian Talent # 3

Canadian Talent # 2

ipad

Canadian Talent # 1

Skinny Taste Recipes

Paint Sticks

3 Creative Studios

Felting Web Sites

3-D Felting

Photos

Happy Thanksgiving Canada!

Felting with the Embroidery Gals

Firefox

Vases and Bowls

Felting Workshop

Cabot Quilt Guild - Show and Tell

Felting

Previous Post

Row Houses, St. John's

Down Under Blogs

Design is Everywhere

Festival Of Quilts - UK

Saidye Bronfman Nominee

What's In a Name

Colour

Papillon

Down Under Textiles

Christmas in July 2011

55 Top Blogs

Happy July 4th

Canada Day 2011

'Quilts from Pigeon Inlet' Quilt Show - Viewer's Choice

More Quilts from Pigeon Inlet Quilt Show

Quilts From Pigeon Inlet Quilt Guild

Stitching in the Sun

Summer is Around the Corner - I hope!