Two Wins in February!!

My husband keeps telling me to buy a lottery ticket!! Yep, I won twice in February. Both items came in the last two days.

The first win was two fat quarters, compliments of Northcott, from Brandy Maslowski, Quilter on Fire. The Mahone Bay Quilt guild sponsored a zoom workshop, Fibre Art Frenzy, with Brandy in February. It was an enjoyable workshop and everyone had a good time.

Thanks, Brandy

The second win was a hooked rug mounted on a wooden frame from Deanne Fitzpartick Studio, in Amherst, Nova Scotia. This is called Little Cove and is 6" x 6". Deanne sells the kit for this on her web site.

Thanks, Deanne.

Please check out the work of both these artists!

Enjoy and stay safe
 

Blogging - 1589 posts!

I was reading Margaret Blank's blog and she mentioned that she has been blogging for 15 years and posted over 1500 posts. That got me thinking, so I checked my blog profile and so far, my total is 1589 posts. I didn't think I had written that much in ten years (it will be ten next August). Some would say 'long winded'!

I've tried to keep my comments related to my art and the art of others. Most of the time, I've linked to lots of interesting sites where you will find things related to textile / fibre art such as free patterns, tutorials, YouTube videos, other blogs, teachers, classes, quilt shows . . .

Thanks for stopping by and for your comments.
Now it's time to view a few links:

• Magpie Mumblings has lots of interesting links. Her writing usually gives me a chuckle or two.
• Needle and Thread Network  
• Brown Paper Bag (from Magpie Mumblings) 
• Asian Sewing Patterns 
• Fabulous Fat Quarter Sewing Projects 
• Sashiko and Other Stitching (Susan Briscoe's photos from Tokyo 2018 Quilt Festival)
• Free Coaster Tutorials & Patterns for all Occasions   

 Enjoy!


  Here's yesterday's visitor:

It's Official!

I can finally tell you my bit of news as everything is now official! About a year and a half ago, I was contacted by the chairperson of the Espanola Fibre Arts Festival, Espanola, Ontario, and asked if I would be interested in teaching there next October.

This festival showcases fibre artists and their work.  The festival team selects unique and authentic instructors, artisans and suppliers from all across the country. From bobbin lace to wood working, they feature a variety of workshops, demonstrations & fibre arts related activities. 

My Fibre Art Pendants were of interest as needle felting had been requested by past attendees to the festival. So, I will be teaching a class on the techniques I use in making the pendants. These techniques can also be used as a jumping off spot to making other small projects, which I will also share.

Also check the festival out on Pinterest.

Eye Candy

Sometimes it nice to just look at other artists work, don't you think? I enjoy seeing what others are doing. You never know what might trigger an idea for a new project.

Not one to make excuses for what I do, I'm very proud to present my artist daughter, Jill Thirza Cooper. Have a look at her work and bio.

• Next are birds, beautiful embroidered / beaded birds made by Julia Gornia. Her work is exquisite.
• Embroidery by Kitaeva Irina. It's not in English but scroll through her posts. 
• Textile Art by Susan Teech 
• Embroidered Art by Rachel Wright
• Kate Barlow's Budgerigar - a gorgeous piece. 
• Adventures Textiles by Cecile Maraglia 
• Fiber Artist / Embroiderer, Eve Botelho 

 Enjoy!1
    

Stunned Moment

While having breakfast, I realized that I'd had a 'stunned' moment yesterday! For those of you who aren't familiar with some Newfoundland sayings, 'stunned', according to the Newfoundland Dictionary, means 'stupid, naïve, foolish' (click on the letter 'S' on top of page and scroll down to 'stun' - it won't let me zero in on the particular page).

Well, that's how I felt when I realized that I had forgotten to post the photos I took of the Molly Made booth at ACTS. When I was writing the post, something bothered me but I couldn't put my finger on it. Now I know!!!! Sorry, Molly. She had a lovely booth too. Here are the photos, a day late. But better late than never! And double the exposure.
Enjoy!!

Finished samples of larger kits.

Kits and samples

New product

Grow Your Blog & My First Giveaway!!

It's a good thing that Wendy, from The Crafter's Apprentice, reminded me of my participation in this hop! Thanks Wendy, for the reminder. Much appreciated.

This is the 3rd Grow Your Blog hop hosted by Vicki from Two Bags Full.



For those of you visiting for the first time, Welcome to my part of the world. My name is Judy Cooper. I am a retired primary school teacher who now creates one-of-a-kind textile / fibre art. My complete bio can be found HERE and my artist statement HERE.

I have received awards for my work and several pieces belong to the City of St. John's, NL and to the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. The Greeting Cards on my web site, show images of textile art that I have created. More images of my work can be found HERE.  My latest large piece is pictured below.

At the moment, I am creating fibre art pendants and some new Shimmer Ornaments (scroll to the previous post).

Besides having a place to show my art and some of the techniques I use, I often write about other artist's work and link to their web sites. One of the other things I like to do is find tutorials and patterns for all kinds of textile / fibre art (usually freebies). Since 2009, I have blogged about a lot of interesting 'stuff". Please come back, grab a cup of something and explore my blog. I guarantee, you won't be disappointed ( even if I do say so myself - GRIN )!!

I am also going to have my first Give Away and I will post anywhere in the world! You don't have to be a follower to participate (it would be nice if you did). Just leave a comment on this post. Make sure I can contact you if you win.

My gift to you will be two of my shimmer ornaments. Deadline to enter will be February 14th and the draw will be on the 15th. The winner will be posted on my blog. I will also contact the winner for mailing instructions.

Enjoy the blog hop!

A list of participants can be found HERE just scroll down the page.


Fishermen's Museum, English Harbour West.
Property of the City of St. John's, NL



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.

First Flowers

It was a beautiful sunny Sunday here in St. John's. Here are a few photos from my garden. I think the one with the stump has potential for a future thread painting. The tree at the bottom is hugh! When we moved in this house 20 years ago, it was about 4 feet tall. Now, it's way above the second story and much taller than the light pole beside it. I like the texture of its bark. Maybe it, too, will find its way into a piece of art.

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!

Book Review

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. . .

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!

Paint Sticks

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

Stitchin Fingers

After posting my sashiko piece on Thursday, I decided to also put its photo on the Stitchin Fingers blog. I didn't give it any more thought until I started getting comments from members about it. It's now # 2 for Top Content on the home page! Thanks to everyone for the comments.

If you are interested in textiles and fibre arts, this is the site to visit. You might be so inspired as to join too. They have almost 4000 members at the moment. There are lots of inspirational photos of work by members as well as groups to join. Visit and have a look around. I don't think you will be disappointed.
Enjoy!

Fiber Arts / Mixed Media

If you have lots of time and looking for inspiration in your art, check out the Fiber Arts / Mixed Media web site. There's lots to see especially the photos members send in of their various art pieces. Just click on the 'main' button and go to photos. Lots of eye candy! I hadn't been into this site in ages and forgotten about all the interesting 'stuff' there. Dale Potter from SW Saskatchewan, started the site.

Voyage of Discovery

One question that I am frequently asked is how I started doing fabric art. Well, here goes! Ever since I can remember I've always been interested in doing things with my hands. My maternal grandmother taught me to knit. I enjoyed playing with dolls and would stitch up wardrobes for them from scraps of fabric. As I got older, I made my own clothes. I have tried most fabric crafts and finally became interested in quilting, and hand embroidery.

In 1995, the school where I was teaching, St. George's Elementary School, Conception Bay South, was contacted by St. George's Church of England School in Bristol, England. They wanted to correspond with a school in Newfoundland with the same name. Since 1997 would be the 500th. anniversary of John Cabot's discovery of Newfoundland, they wanted to get a head start on the celebrations. As the library resource teacher, I decided to take on the task. For two years, we sent letters and pictures back and forth. The school was quite close to the shipyard where The Matthew, a replica of John Cabot's ship, was been built. We even received shavings from the ship as well as photos showing the various stages of its construction. In fact, CBC radio set it up so that we could speak to the students and teachers in Bristol, England.

Both schools decided to exchange gifts when the ship was to set sail. Since this was to be quite a momentous occasion, I decided that I wanted to do something special too, but what?

I finally decided to design and create a wall hanging to commemorate the sailing of The Matthew across the ocean. This was really my first attempt at design other than clothes making. Little did I know where this would eventually lead. I decided to make a 3-D sailing ship and trace its path from England to Newfoundland. The piece was a combination of hand and machine stitching, and computer technology. I called the piece 'Voyage of Discovery' and this label was printed on cotton from my computer. The ship was a challenge as most pictures I found didn't work. Frustration was starting to set in until I discovered the perfect picture on a case of Newfoundland made beer. It gave me just the right amount of detail for the quilted piece. The sails were made from white silk and slightly stuffed. The masts were toothpicks. At the time, I made two identical pieces, one to send and one to keep. I made a smaller version for my school as wall space was limited.

On the day The Matthew set sail, the wall hanging was presented to the school by friends who traveled to England for the celebrations. A colour photo of the children from the school holding the piece was on the front page of the newspaper in England! When the ship finally docked in St. John's harbour, a presentation of gifts from Bristol, was made by the captain to myself and several students who had participated in the twinning of the two schools.

I retired from teaching that same year, 1997 and the rest of what I do is history!

Stitchin Fingers

I just joined Stitchin Fingers which is for everyone interested in all areas of fibre and textiles. This seems to be a very active group. I am having a bit of difficulty adding my picture to my profile page - more experimenting to do! I did add a picture of pisci fantasticus to the photo page and already had a couple of comments from one of the members of the group.

This site is definitely worth a look or two. The photo section is fabulous - such beautiful work.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Living on the eastern coast of North America, Christmas Day arrives here first. In fact, we have out own time zone which is ahead of the rest of the country by 30 minutes. The tradition here at my house is to open one gift just after midnight. I was delighted to receive the book, Fibreart Montage, by Judith Baker Montana. You can read a bit about the book on her site. I have several of her books which tend to be good references for hand stitching. Crazy stitching/quilting is one of her specialities. Go here for some free crazy quilting patterns.

My quilting friend sent this to me however she did not know who wrote it. If someone out there knows the source, I'd appreciate an email so I can give credit to the author.

A Quilter's Dream come true!

'Twas the night before Christmas,

And the quilts were not made.

The threads were all tangled, the cookies delayed.

The stocking weren't hung, the pantry was bare.

The poor weary Quilter, was tearing her hair.

Stacks of fat quarters, tipped over in streams.

Visions of Log Cabins, had turned into dreams.

When what to her wondering eyes should appear,

But a bus full of quilters with all of their gear.

They went straight to work with just a few mutters,

Sorting and stitching and brandishing cutters.

The patterns emerged from all of the clutter,

Like magic the fabrics arranged in a flutter.

Log Cabins, Lone Stars, Flying Geese & Bear Tracks

Each quilt was a beauty-even the backs.

Her house how it twinkled, her quilts how they glowed.

The cookies were baking, the stockings were sewed.

Their work was all done, so they folded their frames,

And packed up their needles, without giving their names.

They boarded the bus, and checked the next address.

More quilts to be made, another quilter in distress.

She heard one voice echo, as they drove out of sight,

Happy quilting to all and to all a good night!