Summer Tutorials and Projects

Last day of May! It's still a bit overcast but warmer than its been all week. In any event, summer is just around the corner so here's a few projects you might like to try or save to your "To Do" or "Maybe" List:

• 101 Tutorials for Summer
• Sewing Tutorials
• Tutorials 
• Projects and Tutorials
• Travel Organizer
• Picnic Blanket

Enjoy!

I'm off to the Knit Fast Dye Yarn Textiles Craft and Apparel Design graduating exhibition at the Anna Templeton Centre this afternoon. Hopefully I'll be able to take a few photos to share.

Quidi Vidi Pewter

Today, I'd like to introduce you to another Newfoundland artist, Ray Cox of Quidi Vidi Pewter. Actually, Ray is a pewter-smith from Connecticut who came to Newfoundland in 1972 and stayed so he is now officially from here!!

Ray creates hand wrought pewter in original, one-of-a-kind designs. His "Natural Colour" motifs include whales and whale tails, trees and the mummer series. By playing with the iridescent colours that appear in the metal, Ray creates his own very unique designs. Three dimensional art pieces include "Air Cast" pewter bowls.

In fact, one of his cast pewter bowls was given to Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles as a wedding present by then Governor General, Adrienne Clarkson.

Ray has his own studio here in St. John's and welcomes visitors. You can usually find him at
111 Quidi Vidi Road, St. John's, NL A1A 1C3
Studio Hours: By chance or appointment
Check out the links above for more information.

Hexagon Stuff!

I found a number of projects in my One Note files about hexagons! Have fun checking these out.

• Hexagon - Block Table Topper
• Hex Pincushions
• Folded Hexagon Yo-Yo
• Hexagon Graft Paper Generator PDF
• Hexagon Japanese Lanterns
• Hexie Coasters
• Hand Sewn Hexagon Tutorial
• Hexagon Basket
• Nesting Hexagons PDF
• Hexagon Holder Pouch
• The Hexie Blog

Previous post about Hexagons.

Stuff!!

I've been collecting links to lots of tutorials and free patterns (sewing and quilt related). So far, that's all I've done! I do wish I had the time to make some of the 'stuff '. In any case, I'm going to share a few of the links with you. I hope you have more luck than I've had.

• Divided Organizer Basket
• Thread Catcher
• Quilted Fabric Basket
• Totally Tutorials
• Travel Kit
• Clear Bag Tutorial
• Child's Apron
• Magic Squares Tutorial
• Flower Petal Table Topper (crazy music playing but tutorial is interesting)
• Hexagon Needle Book

Enjoy!

New Books

I ordered two new books from Amazon yesterday, Hot Textiles: Inspiration and Techniques with Heat Tools by Kim Thittichai and Stitch, Fibre, Metal and Mixed Media by Alsyn Midgelow-Marsden. Her blog is called Burnt Offerings.
I am familiar with the first book, Hot Textiles but not the other one. I did have a look on the inside of the Stitch, Fibre, Metal and Mixed Media and decided I'd like to add it to my library.

Still Time to Vote . . .

You still have time to vote for your favorite quilted piece in the Bloggers Quilt Festival. For quick access to the categories, check my previous post. Have fun!


I don't have any quilted pieces entered in this festival.

Enjoy!

Quilt Market

The spring Quilt Market is one of the current topics of discussion lately in some of the blogs I frequent.

Well, what is Quilt Market?

It is the Wholesale trade show for the Quilt Industry (not open to the general public).

Jaybird Quilts has a very good write-up about Quilt Market. This post is several years old but does answer relevant questions about quilt market in general. However, for the current post from Jaybirds, check in HERE. To the side bar, there is a label for quilt market with 45 references. Usually this is a good place to look for related topics in any blog post (research tool). Jaybirds Quilts also has some interesting tutorials so spend a bit of time looking around.

Here's a link to lots of 2014 photos of Quilt Market. By clicking on the various photos, you can visit  different blogs and web sites with photos from this event. Prepare to feast your eyes on lots of new stuff that will soon be out in the market place.

Lots of inspiration!
Lots of colour!
Food for thought!
What are the currents trends in the market?
What new projects do you want to start in the next 12 months?

These are some of the thoughts going through my head as I quickly clicked on some of the photos.

Enjoy!

Sunburst, artist unknown, c. 1875. From the Quilts, Inc., Corporate Collection.

More photos!

I took a trip out to Petty Harbour yesterday to make a delivery to Herbie's Olde Shoppe. They have been featuring some of my work in their shop. It was a beautiful day. On the way, I stopped and took a few more photos of the downtown area. This time, I was at the top of the hill on the road leading out to Cape Spear. In the first photo, overlooking the city, you can see The Rooms and the Basilica Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. They are very prominent landmarks.

The Needle & Thread Network

I've linked up with the Needle & Thread Network again this week. Please check out all the fabulous links!

The Collection

The NYC's Metropolitan Museum of Art has made 400,00 high-resolution digital images of its collection available for free download. Digital technology has opened the doors to numerous images for everyone's use. Just think of the implications to artists, school children, university scholars . . . 

As an art resource, it is priceless! I've only touched the surface of The Collection and I will be going back frequently. I even made a short cut on my computer screen for quick access.
Grab a cup of something and enjoy exploring this fabulous collection!



Aztec



John La Farge



Assyrian



Blogger's Quilt Festival

The Blogger's Quilt Festival started yesterday. This festival is for all online quilters so any of you could enter. And there are prizes!! So think about doing something for next year. The categories are numerous:

• Mini Quilts
• Small Quilts
• Large Quilts
• Applique Quilts
• Art Quilts
• Hand Quilted
• Home Machine Quilted
• Modern Quilts
• Original Design Quilts
• ROYGBIV Quilts
• Scrappy Quilts

Visit the above links and see the quilts. Vote for your favorite.

Enjoy!

Down Town

Here are a few photos I took today of down town St. John's. I like taking photos of the older part of the city before the leaves grow back on the trees. During the summer, everything looks gorgeous with all the greenery but the lines of the buildings are hidden. When I am constructing buildings from fabric, I prefer to see the whole front and sides. That way, I can get the perspective correct.

Oceanex was leaving the harbour as I watched from
the 5th floor of an office building.

W.I.P. Wednesday

 

Don't forget to check out The Needle & Thread Network for this week.

 

More Temari Balls

Here are a few more Japanese Temari Balls that my stitch friend made. I've shown two views for a couple of them to let you see how different they can be from another angle. The peach and purple temari was complicated to do and very time consuming. It's easy to see why.

The last one, with the coloured pins, is still in progress. Aren't the colours just gorgeous! I can't wait to see it finished.

They are all beautiful!

Wooly Whale Project Update Update

In February, I reported on the Wooly Whale Project. Alexe Hanlon, a textile student at the Anna Templeton Center, had decided to knit a full size whale as part of her program. Well, the project is almost finished. I listened to an interesting interview with her today on CBC radio. Her whale should be on display during the month of June as part of the textile student's exhibit. Please have a look at her progress HERE.

Enjoy!

Little Houses

The Advent Calendar, that I started last year, is about half done. I have stitched beads around the roof edges to imitate Christmas lights. That was very time consuming! Now I have to do satin stitching around the windows and doors, add chimneys, and embroider the numbers from 1 to 24 on each building before stitching them to the background. I have mini buttons for door knobs and interesting Christmas buttons to decorate on and around my wonky houses. I wasn't concerned with straight edges. Here's a peek!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mom's Day!
What a lovely surprise I received! This beautiful Mother's Day floral bouquet is from my daughter and family in Chicago. I was told that my little granddaughter wanted orange flowers. As you can see, she got her wish! Thank you. It made my day.

Another finish!

This week, I've been working on a hodge podge of things in my studio. I'm very pleased with the latest reversible fibre lace scarve. It still needs to be trimmed and ironed but all the stitching is done. The photos don't do justice to the colours as it is quite vibrant and both sides (as you can see) are completely different in colour and design. You can see more of my scarves HERE.

Through Our Hands

This morning as I was glancing through my emails, I came across a new on-line magazine, Through Our Hands, from Design Matters. Figuring it was another promo where you could view the first one but then have to purchase the rest, I was mildly surprised to see that it is FREE!  As they write: You can view it online, you can save, share and even print a copy if you want to. There are articles from Through Our Hands artists, guest writers and all illustrated in lovely full colour throughout.

I have quickly glanced through the magazine but will be going back to have a more thorough look. I'm sure there is a little something for everyone! I want to go back to the Meet the Artist page and visit each one.
Enjoy!

Unusual Fabrics

So much for trying to do a post every day! Sometimes the topic comes in a flash but not the last couple of days. Yesterday was spend becoming more frustrated by the hour in my studio as nothing was working out.

Last evening was a reprieve from the studio as I attended the Eastern Edge Guild May meeting. We had a wonderful presentation by my friend M, about unusual fabrics. She showed several examples and finished projects from her experimenting with Tyvek, TAP - Transfer Artist Paper, and Lutradur.

The second half of the evening was comprised of  rotating among these three stations:

• Beading in quilted projects
• Shiva Paint Sticks
• Fantasy Fabrics (I did this one)

Everyone had a great evening.
I forgot to take photos.

Talking about photos - please have a look at the galleries from the Royal School of Needlework, UK. It's well worth a look!

On My Table

Here's what's on my table! I now have sterling silver pendant and earring bezels. These are much smaller than the previous ones and as a result, will be more of a design challenge. I am experimenting with beading, sparkly threads and thin braid.

Jacquie Gering, Modern Quilting

Last evening, the three guilds in our area, Eastern Edge, Cabot, and Ocean View, invited its members to a presentation of modern quilts by Jacquie Gering, a modern quilter. Over the last year or so, quilters expressed an interest in learning about modern quilting. One of the books on the subject, Quilting Modern, by Jacquie Gering and Katie Pedersen, was purchased by several quilters and was found to be a very good source. It was decided to invite Jacquie here to teach several of her workshops. If you are interested in the ones she teaches, they are listed on her blog.

Jacquie gave a very informative talk about her evolution into the quilt world and how she got into making modern quilts. Her blog, Tallgrass Prairie Studio, is just chock a block full of her amazing quilts. Most of the quilts we saw, are on her blog. Here's a few of them. Permission was given to photograph the quilts and post them here for your viewing pleasure.

Thanks, Jacquie for a wonderful evening!

Enjoy!