Out like a Lion!!!

The last day of March! It came in like a lion and is going out the same way. I don't remember a winter as harsh as this one has been. Happy Monday! Let's hope that April will be better. It doesn't look like it is going to come in like a lamb this year in St. John's.

Here's a few lion / lamb quilt related stuff:
Enjoy!

• The lion and lamb quilt by Twi-Quilters.  They combined two patterns to make the quilt.
• Art Quilt from The Art Quilt blog.
• Sheep Quilts on Pinterest
• Sheep of the Month
• One Sheep Two Sheep
• Sheep Quilt Block
• Feeling SHEEP-ish

Sheep at Stonehenge (below) is the quilt I made for my granddaughter three years ago.


Sheep at Stonehenge

Some Good Market

I will be participating in Some Good Market next Saturday, April 5th. at Canon Wood Hall at the corner of Military Road and Kingsbridge Road. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and everyone will be out and about and eager to get some early Easter gift buying done. This will probably be my last market until September / October.

My Fibre Art Pendants are ready to go! At the last market I attended, I did some field testing on the pendants and could have sold all I had with me. For those in St. John's and area, please drop by to have a look and support local artists and crafts people.

Displaying the Pendants

I'm in the process of packaging my new Fibre Art Pendants. Here's what they look like.

I will probably have to order more chains as I have only enough for half the pendant trays in stock. However, the pendants do look nice on the card without the chains. My focus is the fibre art. They also present nicely on a cord or ribbon. However, the orders I have all wanted chains.

Where's Spring?

Spring has finally arrived! In theory anyway - we had 20 cm of snow on Monday and another weather system is coming up the eastern sea board this evening. It's time to bring some light and airy colours into the house since there's none outside yet. As Easter is close, I thought that might be the place to start! I checked around and found some nifty patterns for you. Most of them are free.

• Quilt Inspiration has free Easter patterns
• Fave Quilts - 24 Sweet Spring Quilt Patterns and Easter Sewing Projects
• 18 Free Bunny Patterns to Sew from Patchwork Posse
• No Sew Quilted Easter Egg Pattern from The Ornament Girl
• Bunny Treat Bags from Sew She Can
• Free Easter Quilting Projects from the Quilting Gallery
• Easter Rabbit & Chick Bags from The Pattern Pile 

I can't wait to see these bloom under the globe cedar in the back garden. Hurry up Spring and get with it!!!

Periwinkle

Celtic, Viking & Anglo-Saxon Embroidery



Celtic, Viking & Anglo-Saxon Embroidery by Jan Messent also found its way into my library collection. This particular book combines embroidery, writing, artwork, history and books (altered books created by the author). Each altered book represents a chapter that follows on from the previous one and includes textiles, stitches, clothing and accessories. "Historical facts are ingeniously interwoven with contemporary renditions of ancient artworks, bringing to life the ancient skills of Celtic, Viking and Anglo-Saxon women, and celebrating the centuries-old tradition of embroidery in England that has served as a foundation for present-day excellence."

Other books by Jan Messent include:

• The Bayeux Tapestry Embroiderers' Story
• Embroidered Portraits: Ideas, Inspiration and Techniques
• Jan Messent's World of Embroidery
• Knitted Gardens: Imaginative Designs, practical and Decorative, All with a Garden Flavour
• The Embroiderer's Workbook (I have that one)
• Embroidery & Nature (I own this one too)

I could not find any web site or blog by Jan Messent. However, the Basingstoke Embroiderers' Guild has an article about her.

Stitch and Structure

I've just added a new book to my library: Stitch and Structure by Jean Draper. This book is for textile artists ' looking to expand their repertoire into two and three dimensional work '. Jean Draper takes the reader through the process from designing through construction to embellishment with mixed media. There are lots of diagrams, detailed drawings and stitch information to guide you through the various techniques suggested in the book. For more book description, go HERE. Also, check out the Textile Study Group. Jean Draper, among many others, is a member.

NL Wholesale Show

This has been a very busy weekend. Saturday was the set up for the show. I also attended a couple of seminars and had a meeting about exporting to the USA. That was interesting. Today the show was opened to shop buyers. My Fibre Art Pendants were very well received and I have orders for them already. I also had a great time talking to the various shop owners and vendors. The whole weekend was an excellent networking adventure. Here's a photo of my little corner of the show.

Silk Chiffon

Yesterday I purchased 2 metres of silk chiffon at Fiber Lilly. My plan (when I get time) is to dye the chiffon to use in surface embellishment. You can find out how to dye chiffon HERE.

I also found a couple of YouTube videos using chiffon.

• Crinkle Silk Chiffon (inspiration for surface embellishment)
• Painting Silk Chiffon

Other sites of interest:

• How to Make a Felted Chiffon Scarf
• How to Sew Chiffon Fabric
• Nuno Scarf Tutorial
• Painting and Felting

Enjoy!

Cast On! Cast Off!

Cast On! Cast Off! I just love the name - it's perfect for this cosy little yarn shop at the western end of Water Street, St. John's (across from Victoria Park). Walking in the door, you immediately feel welcome. Even on a dull, rainy day, the shop's large windows makes one feel at home. Katie Garibaldi is the owner. Please check out her web site to see which yarns and accessories she is carrying.
These photos were taken a couple days ago.
Enjoy!

Small Project Bag

The Needle and Thread Network

Each week, I usually share my link with The Needle and Thread Network. This is a great place to see what some other Canadian quilters and embroiderers / sewers are doing. You will see lots of wonderful 'stuff' !!! Please check them out!  You won't be disappointed.
Enjoy!

Downtown

Today I had to go downtown on business. Parking spaces are few and far between so I opted to try the parking garage. I ended up on level M. What a view of the waterfront! The large white structure in the first photo used to be The Battery Hotel. It's now closed. I think it's been turned into office space. The homes you see, are located in part of the city called The Battery. This is a very unique spot. Further along, you can see Cabot Tower on the top of Signal Hill. It will be very nice to see some green on the hills instead of white.

When I got back home, my new one inch pendant trays and chains were in my mailbox. Now to get some ready for this weekend.

ART Studio Tour

"Studio Tour is a half hour documentary series that airs on Bell Aliant's Community One channel. Each episode profiles artists, galleries and art centres from around Atlantic Canada. The show is written, produced, and directed by Matt Brown."

While I was in Halifax this past February, participating in the Atlantic Canada Trade Show (ACTS), Matt  interviewed several of us about our work.

• Bernard M. Burton
• Bronwyn Arundel
• Trudy Gallagher
• Gena Denning
• Jade Ansley
• Robert McMillan
• John Morris
• Judy Cooper
• Susan Cannon

You can view it here.

Finishes

Today I'm showing off some of my newest work - Fibre Art Pendants. They will showcase next weekend at the Provincial Wholesale Show here in St. John's. These pendants are needle felted and inserted into the metal pendant trays. These trays are nickel and lead free. Check out last Sunday's post. Now I'm waiting for the one inch pendant trays to arrive.

The Quilt Show

The Quilt Show with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims, is celebrating International Quilting Weekend by giving FREE access to 169 shows (Series 1 - 13). So if you want to be inspired this weekend, check them out HERE. I'm hoping to take in a few shows myself!
Enjoy!!

Simple Storage Solution

The plastic bags that sheets, duvets, and blankets are packaged in, make great containers for such things as yarns, tulle, or other soft stuff! Many of these plastic bags have zippers that allow them to be very accessible. I have several of these stuffed with yarn, another with my selection of tulle, and one for organza. Unlike a solid container, these can be stuffed into compact spaces!

Work Table

I have been working on my Fibre Art Pendants. My work table is filled with beads and other assorted tools. Selecting which beads to use and stitch on the little pieces of fibre art takes time. One of the most useful tools that I have for beading (in my opinion) is the bead tray that I purchased at the $ Shop a few years ago. I find that the $ Shops have lots of cheap, useful items for crafters.

Watch maker cases from Lee Valley Tools

Thinking Spring!

It's a beautiful, sunny day but still very cold. It snowed all day yesterday (light, fluffy stuff) so we still have lots of snow on the ground.

Spring! It seems as if we have been forgotten in this part of the world and there's not a thing we can do about it. However, there is something you can do to make it look like spring has arrived inside your own sewing space (and get organized at the same time). I've found a few nice projects to get you Thinking Spring at least. Using up some of those bright spring like fabrics is one way to go.

Have a look!

• Cube Pincushion and Pin Cushion Jar
• Cutting Mat Caddy
• Fabric Storage Bin, another one HERE
• Thread Catcher / Pin Cushion
• Sofa Organizer
• Scrap Basket
• Oval Bag Tutorial
• Tool Organizer

Fibre Arts Conference 2015

To help celebrate the Year of Craft 2015, the Craft Council of Newfoundland and Labrador is hosting the Fibre Arts Newfoundland & Labrador 2015 Conference. This conference will take place October 15 -5 18 in Gros Morn National Park. This four day conference will consist of workshops. lectures, exhibitions, seminars, panel discussions and tours. To find out more about this event, please visit the link above.

Pendants

Thursday I showed you some work in progress. Well, the needle felting has turned into pendants. I have also added some beading to further enhance the design. In a few (not shown) I have not added beads as I think the embellished felt looks great as is. These are metal (lead & nickel free) in 5 different colours: pewter, silver, black, copper, and antique gold. These pendants measure approximately 1" x 2". I am also ordering the 1" x 1" pendant sizes and 24"chains to match the 5 colours. The green in the first photo is darker than shown.

California Fibers

Today's post is short on content but when you click on the link, you will be just a few steps away from been totally immersed in eye candy from the California Fibers artist web pages. Take a break and feast your eyes on some incredible works of fiber art. Click on the artists link to visit their web pages.

Enjoy!

Work In Progress

This afternoon was devoted to needle felting. Here's a couple of sheets that are ready to be used in my latest endeavor (not art cards this time)! I'll post photos in a later post.

 



Iris Folding

Last evening at Eastern Edge Quilt Guild, the program was Iris Folding. This technique originated in Holland. It is called iris folding because the center of the design resembles the iris of a camera or eye. Traditionally, origami paper is used for the main design and holographic paper is used to fill in the center. Fabric was used in our project.

The quilter, who demonstrated this technique, was very well prepared and had all the fabric strips cut and folded for each person. Thanks Sheila! It was a great project.

• You Tube how to do Iris Folding
• Iris Folding on Pinterest
• Free Patterns
• Basic Instructions

There are lots of free patterns on the Iris Folding web site. I think I just might make a few more using some of my batik fabrics! Here are the apples completed at my table. Mine is the green one on top.

 

Art Cards for Summer

I jumped from winter into summer (wishful thinking). This has been another freezing but sunny day. My focus was to finish some art cards. The backgrounds had been painted ages ago and just needed free motion greenery and then flowers.

Pearl cotton was put in the bobbin of my machine and green bobbin thread on the top. The pieces were than stitched upside down. I added the flowers by hand. It's hard to tell from the photo but some  of the flowers were stitched on organza and others were hand done on dissolvable stabilizer. I laid one of  them on a card to show what they will be like. I will sign and number each one.