Trip to Avonport and Beyond . . .

My sister, Joan, has been here from Tennessee, since last Thursday night. We have been visiting lots of places and checking out quilting and yarn shops. Tuesday, we went to Avonport Discount Fabrics (Facebook link) which is an hour and eighteen minutes from Pine Grove. The day was lovely and warm.

Of course we spent quite awhile in the store looking at all the lovely fabrics. We both made several purchases. I picked up a few pieces of Batiks to use for clapboard in my 5" x 5" framed pieces. You can never have too many colours: neutral shades this time.

Joan was looking for Canadian quilt fabrics. She noticed some Cantik Batik 10" squares called Gemcubes. Each set of 40 pieces, 2 of each colour, 10" squares, represented the various regions of Canada. She chose the Newfoundland / Atlantic Coast collection. It's too bad that you can't see what each square looks like as you don't really know what you are getting. Joan's collection, however, is beautiful and she's glad she purchased it. What do you think?

I will have to wait and see what these will become.

I opened the package so you can see more of the fabrics.

Our road trip also included visiting Wolfville and Kentville.

Artist in Residence - Pamela Allen

Canadian textile artist, Pamela Allen was Artist- in-Residence at Kent Cottage at Landfall, Briggs, Newfoundland, in June.  She gave a workshop on June 27 called, My Quilt My Rules. Since Kent Cottage has no electricity, it was a hands on workshop. The focus was to have fun making a picture out of fabric. There were no rules, just "drawing with scissors" to make an image. A fabric collage was created by freehand scissor cutting, layering of different fabrics, mixing unlikely combinations of fabrics and adding any other techniques to make an interesting piece of work.

Unfortunately, I was unable to attend this workshop but a couple of my friends did and reported that it was a very interesting day. Please check out Pamela's work

Here's a sample of her art:

Halley's Comet

WIP Wednesday

Brrrrrrr! It's cold outdoors. If you are staying inside today, drop by The Needle and Thread Network and check out some great Canadian quilt blogs. I've linked up with them. 

You can also access this network easily by clicking on the link to the right and a bit below this post on my blog page.

Enjoy and stay warm!

Needle & Thread Network

I signed on again this week to The Needle & Thread Network. This is a place for Canadian bloggers to link up to show and share their wonderful creations. It's amazing the wealth of information one can gain from checking out these blogs. Have fun!

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!

Last Few Minutes . . .

A few minutes before the Atlantic Canada Trade Show closed, I remembered to get a photo of myself taken in front of my booth. It was a great show. I met lots of vendors but that's for another day! Thanks for visiting, for leaving comments, and thanks to those who chose to join my list of followers.

 

I just linked this post up with WIP Wednesday, on the Needle and Thread Network. This is a Canadian site which hosts Canadian Blogs! Join the blog hop as you will not be disappointed. You can check out WIP Wednesday by clicking on the link to the right, on my blog (scroll down)

Enjoy!

Space Oddity

Ever since I was a child, I have been fascinated with outer space. I started a scrapbook with newspaper clippings of those first flights and continued collecting material up to and including the landing on the moon. Even though the scrapbook was put aside, my interest continued. However, it wasn't until Commander Chris Hadfield landed on the space station, that my interest was once again awakened. I have been following his daily postings since they began. Did I mention, he is Canadian and has family living here in Newfoundland?

His posts on face book have captured the interest of the whole world. I thought I would share a video from Digg.Com of Commander Chris Hadfield. The song is an adaption of David Bowie's 'Space Oddity'

Commander Hadfield returns to earth tonight.
Safe trip home.

Happy Canada Day

From me to you - have a great Canada Day - wherever you are!!

This little wall hanging is from the Spring / Summer 2011 edition of Fons & Porter's Quilting Celebrations. It is a gift for my year old American born Granddaughter who just got her Canadian citizenship papers.

Quilt Show

I was looking at the sites listed on WIP Wednesday - a site for Canadian bloggers and came across True Blue Canadian. Dolores was kind enough to post lots of photos of the Quesnel Quilt Show held in British Columbia. I think you will enjoy the show. Go HERE, HERE and HERE. Thanks for sharing, Dolores.

Canadian Artists - textile & fibre

Today I'm highlighting some Canadian Artists. Please drop by their sites. You won't be disappointed.
Enjoy!

Quilted Textiles of Andree Fredette
Andrea Graham, Feltmaker - Fibre Artist   Blog
Fibre Artworks of Deborah Milton
Patti Morris Fabric Art Designs
Karen Neary, Nova Scotian Quilter
Lesley Turner, Stitch Artist
Nancy Yule, Fibre Artist
Lesley-Anne Green, Fibre Artist
Quilt Matters, Ottawa, Canada
Pippa Moore, quilter, teacher, designer and writer from Vancouver Island

Grab a cup of something while you look around!

Last Minute Gift? . . .

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 topper/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.

Canadian Talent # 4

To continue with Canadian Textile Artists check out below:

• Gunnel Hag
• Hilary Rice
• Joyce O'Connell
• Kathy K. Wylie
• Lily Lam
• Sandra Meech
• Susan Purney Mark
• Canadian Quilters Web Ring

Enjoy!

Canadian Talent # 3

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

• Elaine Quehl
• Heather Lair
• Ana Buzzalino
• Anna Hergert
• Anne Morrell Robinson
• Barb Robson
• Coreen Zerr
• Dianne Stevenson

Well, this is it for today.
Enjoy!

Canadian Talent # 2

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!

Canadian Talent # 1

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!

Textile Artists

I decided to do a short post tonight. I've been looking at a few web sites and decided to share some with you. The art of the following textile artists are meant to be inspirational. These were chosen at random. Enjoy!

Barbara Weeks, textile artist & tutor
Heather Lair Designs, Canadian artist
Carol Sloan's blog
Sue Dennis, textile artist & tutor
Regina Benson, artist, lecturer, curator
Jenny Bowker
Lorraine Carthew, tutor, textile artist & author
Brenda Gael Smith, contemporary quilts
Leni Wiener, photo inspired art quilts & thread painting
Arlee Barr, Canadian artist

Garden by Judy Cooper