Interesting Things!

February is finally over (at least it will be at midnight). This is a short month and this is a very short post for me. However, having said that, it took me a long time to look at all the interesting photos at Interesting Things. They may not be textile based but I thought I'd share them with you anyway. Sometimes it good to get entirely away from the familiar.


Enjoy!

Busy Day

We had more snow today. As a result, I got lots of work done in my studio. Both embroidery machines were working from dawn to dusk - literally! Lots of shimmers are stitched out. Now on to the next step of finishing them.
I recycle plastic containers. This large one holds left over bits of bonded Angelina Fibers which will  be reused in the making of more sheets of Angelina.


Angelina film & cut up bits of netting - used in the bonded sheets

 





Shimmers waiting to be packaged

Sew Cute!

This is sew cute, that I had to share it. Baa Baa Black Sheep (or white) is the creation of Abby Glassenberg. You can find this tutorial at Sew Mama Sew. I figure we need something to help remind us that SPRING (hopefully) is just around the corner. However, the view from my window sure doesn't hint of anything close to spring. We are still into a deep freeze! Brrrrr!! The only consolation - the sun is shining.

So please hop (that's bunny talk) on over to see this nifty creation. You might just be inspired to make one for that little someone in your life.

Enjoy!

Wearable Art Pins

I make one-of-a-kind wearable art pins from textiles and fiber. There is a story about how they started. Several years ago I was wondering what to get my mother for Mother's Day. She kept telling me that at her age (she is now 92), she didn't want anything unless she could eat it or wear it. Well, I pondered over that for a few days. She has collected brooches / pins for years and liked wearing them. At the time, I was making fantasy fish for some small framed art pieces. I looked at the ones I had made and decided that one of them could be a pin. Voila! I used recycled leather for the back. She loved the one I made and since then, many different kinds have been designed and created for the retail market. Here's a sample of my pins:



I also came across a wonderful collection of art pins from the Contemporary Art Society of Victoria 2013 Brooch Show.  These are well worth a look.

Enjoy!

Congratulations!

Congratulations Canada! Over the last two weeks, Canadian athletes had a great showing at the 2014 Olympics at Sochi, Russia. This morning I watched the hockey game where Canada won Gold!

The 2014 coveted medallions have a quilt theme. If you look closely, you will see the quilt patterns etched into the central part behind the gold, silver and bronze.





Here's a couple of links with sports theme quilts:

• Center Ice Quilt
• Sports Quilts

Needle Felting

Today was rather a snowy one so I stayed inside and completed some needle felting to be used in future work. The photos show my progress for one of the sheets I did. Sulky Sliver Thread was used for the stitching.

Sheet of navy felt : my canvas

Surface covered with roving

To add dimension, I rolled roving between my fingers and needled them on 

Before stitching



Stitching added but I'm still not satisfied with this

Finished - for now!

Freebie Friday!

Freebie Friday - sounds good!
Here's a list of textile / fiber related sites that have free stuff on Fridays! There are lots more free stuff out there but this is it for today. Enjoy!!

• That's So Amy
• Sew Well Maide  (lots of free patterns & tutorials)
• Sew Daily
• Sew Desu Ne?
• Sew News
• Sweet P
• Knitty Gritty Thoughts
• Hooked on Quilting
• Craftsy
• Pixy Stitches
• The Knot House
• Juniper Moon Farm
• Knitting Board Chat
• Beloved Knits
• Katie's Quilting Corner
• Pin Tangle (blackwork patterns)

Beads

Here are some new glass beads I purchased today. My small metal cases with glass tops from Lee Valley Tools are the perfect containers for them. The cases are actually Watchmaker's Cases and fairly inexpensive. Certain sizes come in their own aluminum case as you can see from the second photo.
I will be using these beads in some of my wearable art pieces. They will compliment some of the needle felting backgrounds.

The photo doesn't do justice to these beads as they really sparkle!

Flying Geese

A few days ago, my sister sent me a link to view Ricky Tim's dimensional one-seam flying geese quilt block. I'm not into traditional piecing as most of you know, but I thought that this method of piecing the flying geese, was interesting. If you are a follower of The Quilt Show, then you have already seen this. I must confess that I have that site bookmarked but haven't been there for awhile. I believe I need to check out the latest posts.

Enjoy!

Fabric For Life Contest

One of the blogs I read is Jackie's Art Quilts. She just posted about the Fabric for Life Contest sponsored by Keepsake Quilting and Quilting Club of America. Looks like a nifty contest! Who wouldn't like to win 52 yards of fabric of your choice for 20 years! Go ahead and have a look! It almost looks too good to be true!



While you are there, have a look at their free videos.

I am not affiliated with these companies.
Enjoy!

Today's Sewing Tip

Years ago, my friend gave me a very useful gift to keep beside my sewing machine. It is for holding sewing machine needles. If you are doing a lot of different kinds of sewing and always changing needles, then you need a way to keep track of which one is in the machine. This little case is quite helpful for doing that. The hair clip (Dollar Shop find), placed in the small pocket, indicates which needle is currently in the machine. You can choose to place the slightly used needle back in the case or, as I did, stick it beside it. The dimensions are approximately 6" x 11". Clear plastic pockets hold the plastic cases.

 

Another method that I use, is to stick the plastic case of needles currently in use, on the side of my machine, with sticky tack (blue stuff that is used to stick posters and other stuff on walls). I prefer this method over all the others. It is quick to do when time is a factor.

• I came across a needle sorting pin cushion at Gen X Quilters. This one would make a great gift for yourself or to give away to a friend.  
• Whimsey Box has a similar method for storing sewing machine needles in a pincushion as above.
• Two Kitties shares their idea for storing needles (similar to the first one I mentioned).

Enjoy!

Folded Machine Needle Keeper

Hanging beside my maachine

 

Make It Coats

If you sew, craft, quilt, crochet, bead, and knit (did I miss anything?), then you have come across Coats and Clark somewhere along the way. Click on the link to read about the history of this company. They are the world’s largest supplier of crafting products – from the innovative cotton sewing threads that made their name, to knitting, embroidery, crochet, fabrics and a whole range of accessories. I bet there isn't a fabric / craft shop that doesn't carry their line of threads and other product.

Make It Coats (Coats Crafts) is part of this worldwide Coats Group. This new on-line site is just full of information, articles, free patterns and designs. There's lots to see! Great how-to videos too.

To take full advantage of all they offer, it is necessary to register with them. I did.
I don't think you will be disappointed.

Please note!
I am in no way affiliated with this company. My reason to include it in my blog is to let you know it is out there and that it just might be of interest to you. If you are a frequent visitor to this site, then you know that I promote my own art work as well as the work of other artists / crafters and will often talk about interesting sites to visit. Make It Coats is one of those interesting sites.

Enjoy!

I won a prize . . . Thanks Bunches!!!

Last month, I visited lots of nifty blogs in the Grow Your Blog Hop (earlier post). I left comments too. Well, one of those comments proved lucky as my name was chosen via random generator on Dolores Quilts. See the prize package HERE.
Blog hops are great ways to see what other textile artists and related fiber / textile people are doing. It can be time consuming but that is by choice. You can decide to spend 20 minutes a day or more, to do this. You never know what exciting things you will find and who you will meet. I have met lots of interesting ladies via this blog hop.

From Dolores Quilts

Baby it's Cold Outside

Happy Valentine's Day!!
I hope you have a good one.

Here's a pattern that I found yesterday. The Winter Olympics are half over so I figured I should post this now to give you the chance to get your free pattern.

The Red Boot Quilt Company is holding a  2014 Winter Olympics Polar Bear Quilt-a-Long. Their pattern, Baby It's Cold Outside, will be free to download just during the Olympics, so get yours today. After February 24, you will have to pay for it. Check out the other patterns listed there too.

I saw this one on Facebook and thought some of you might like to get it.

Enjoy!

Colour Complements

I didn't participate in the Grow Your Blog hop last month but I did visit most the blogs listed there (what a pleasant job!!). I met a lot of bloggers (well, not met them in person) and quickly read a bit about them and what interests they have. I joined some of the blogs and had lots of people visit back. Some ladies even joined up to follow me.Thank you.

I came across a Canadian on-line shop called Colour Complements just outside Vancouver, BC. Lorraine Stobie is a mixed media artist who dyes her own threads. She specializes in beautiful, bold, vibrant, one-of-a-kind, over dyed threads in small quantities. It was her vibrant colour schemes that caught my eye. The threads are just gorgeous! You can visit her blog HERE. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.
Enjoy!

More Temari Balls

Here's a few photos of Temari Balls made by my friend. Her previous ones can be found HERE.
I must say, she is doing a fantastic job on making these mini pieces of stitched art!
Enjoy!

Pincushions

Don't you just love batik cottons! The colours are so rich and vibrant. I made myself several large starfish pincushions from my batik stash. I prefer larger pincushions because they are easier to find when working on a project. Here's the result! The orange one has free motion stitching all over it instead of the spiral. I have been collecting pincushion images on Pinterest. Maybe one day, I'll make a few more.

Fiber Lilly

Erin Kirby opened Fiber Lilly a couple of months before Christmas. This unique shop, located on 10 Highland Drive, St. John's, Newfoundland, carries a varied assortment of fabrics, including designer prints, stretch and organic fabrics. It also caters to the needs of knitters and fiber artists, supplying wool and knitting supplies, materials for dyeing and fiber art materials. Local art and pottery also graces the shelves.

Here's a few photos of the store but please check out the Fiber Lilly web site for more photos of the products carried in the shop.
Enjoy!

Local Products

The Wooly Whale Project

A few days ago, I was introduced to the Wooly Whale Project.  Alexe Hanlon, textile student, College of the North Atlantic, is knitting a life-sized Minke Whale. That's right, life-sized. She has started a blog to record her progress. It is well worth your while to have a look at what she is doing.

I also found a few sites showing whales in quilts. I hope you find them inspiring too:

• Humpback Whale Quilt Pattern
• The Whale and the Lighthouse
• Whales Mug Rug
• Whale Quilt

Needle Felted Pendants

I did some market testing on my needle felted pendants at Some Good Market today. They were quite well received and I could have sold the ones I had with me. One lady saw them and said, 'OMG, these are gorgeous!' Needless to say, I was quite pleased. However. before I put them on the market, I want to have suitable packaging and labeling ready. A couple of stores also expressed an interest in carrying them.

I wore the one below on a long silver chain over a black top. It did look lovely and I received compliments for it! Finding a suitable source for necklaces is my next job.

Some Good Market

February 8 is the first Some Good Market in St. John's for 2014. The Telegram wrote a piece about the market back in 2012. This market has a large variety of vendors from high end arts and craft (for example: jewellery, silk scarves, knitted goods and yarn for knitting, wool roving, wall art, pet related items, quilting and sewing), to bakery items, home made jams and other food stuff. It's well worth a visit. Valentine's Day is less than a week away and you just might find a gift for that special someone!

I will be there tomorrow with a couple of new items :

• Cord Wraps
• Valentine Art Cards
• Felted & Stitched Pendants (I have 5)