International Night at Eastern Edge Quilt Guild

India

Last evening was International Night at the Eastern Edge Quilt Guild. Members were asked to bring along quilt related items from different countries. The items were amazing. Here are some photos I took of the things on display.

You can see all of the photos on my flickr page.

Enjoy!

Peru

Laos

Just Plain Fun!!

I just came across this Dutch department store product page while looking for something else! It's worth a look - enjoy!

HEMA is a Dutch department store. The first store opened on
November 4, 1926, in Amsterdam. Now there are 150 stores
all over the Netherlands. HEMA also has stores in Belgium,
Luxemburg, and Germany . In June of this year, HEMA was sold to

British investment company Lion Capital.

Take a look at HEMA's product page <http://producten.hema.nl/>. You
can't order anything and it's in Dutch but just wait a couple of

seconds and watch what happens.
 

Note Book Cover

Here is my latest note book cover. It's 4 1/2" x 6". A friend is having a birthday and she's into shoes big time!

The shoe is made from some left over 'fantastic' fabric that's bonded to the background and then satin stitched around.

Free patterns to make your own notebook cover:

Fabric Journal Cover Tutorial from Sewing Crafts
Making a quilted book or journal cover
Patchwork Notebook Cover Tutorial
Patchwork Notebooks from Sew, Mama, Sew!
Reverse Applique Journal Cover by Liz Kettle

Crafts and stuff

I just received the Eastern Edge Quilters (EEQ) February newsletter. One of the sites it recommends is Cut Out & Keep, which shares step-by-step craft tutorials. I clicked Sewing and found lots of stuff. Last month, one of our guild members used the Tsumami Kanzashi Flower in her project.

Now I need more time to check out the 'stuff' on this web site!

Here's some other craft sites to see:
All Crafts
Craft Site Directory
Art Craft Marketing
Free Craft Stuff
Free Pattern Site

 

Freebies on the Web!

As I was searching the web for 'stuff', I came across Patchwork Times by Judy Laquidara. I thought that her Design Wall Monday might be of interest. There are lots links there from quilters who signed up to show what was on their own design walls. Judy also has free quilt patterns.

Sew, Mama, Sew! has free patterns as well. The Blossom Bag shown on the home page is a down loadable PDF pattern. It's worth a look! Check out the blog too. 

Anja Rieger Design has interesting machine and hand embroidery designs.The project/gallery page is inspiring and may give you some ideas. Her blog is here.

Pins and Needles has some free stitching tutorials and patterns. This is well worth a look.

Have fun!

Sketchbook 01

I did sign up for the sketchbook challenge. I have to admit that drawing isn't my strong point, although when I take my time, I can copy fairly well. Here's the first thing I did in this year's sketchbook. Yes, I do keep journals, sketchbooks or notebooks of the work I do. However, they usually hold a lot more than just sketches such as samples of dyed fabric, stitching / experiments, lists, recipes for mixing paints, dyes, etc. A few years back I was glad I kept a journal as I had forgotten how I did something. I looked through my journals and found it. Since then, I usually do a write-up for anything new I do.

Highly Prized is the January Theme for the sketchbook challenge. My page above lists many of the things in my studio which I highly prize!
Check out the group page on Flickr.

Kameleon - Norwegian Web Site

I just came across a Norwegian web site called Kameleon. Eldrid Røyset Førde, the owner, is 'a quilter, teacher, and pattern designer who lives on a small island called Bremanger, on the west coast of Norway.' 
She makes wonderful kameleon quilts which have three-dimensional parts that can be flipped one way or the other thus changing the look of the quilt. Her photography is fantastic! She prints some of her photos on fabric to use in her quilted art.
This technique of transferring photos to fabric, is one that I have been using for quite awhile in my framed landscape pieces (go to gallery). 


You can view her web site here. It is worth a visit - very inspiring! Check out the links page too.

Birds

This post is dedicated to our feathered friends. Here's a red bird I did a few years ago for a show. It's done in silk.
Hummingbird Quilt Pattern  - paper piecing
Bird House Patterns
Blue Jay
Rooster
Darting Birds Quilt Pattern
Birds of a Feather Quilt Pattern
Free Bird Quilt Patterns
Bird Feather Quilting Motif 
Novelty Quilt Patterns with birds

Eye Candy

It's time to have a look at some art quilts for inspiration. I've listed a few quilt artists who do interesting work. Enjoy!

Denise Tallon Havlan
Susan Webb Lee
Rose Rushbrooke
Darcy Falk
Frieda Anderson
Jeannette DeNicolis Meyer
Judith Fredmund McIrvin
Marcia Stein
Michele Hardy

Snow

Yesterday, the grass across the road was green! Yes, green for January 12 - a first. Today St. John's got the tail end of the snow storm that came up the eastern seaboard. Here's the large tree on the front lawn. The next two photos of my back yard were taken just after dark. The globe lights shine through the snow. It's interesting to see the difference with and without the flash.

You will find lots of free snowmen quilt patterns here and here.
Build a snowman, make a Quilt! from Husqvarna
Snowman quilt and more.
Snuggle Snowmen Quilt Tutorial
Snowman Quilt pattern

Textile Tutorials

I've made a list of textile related tutorials for you to check out.

1. Texture Magic Videos from Superior Threads
2. Making Paper Cloth
3. How to make a Fabric Leaf
4. Making Fabric Wings
5. Transferring Patterns to Fusible Fabric
6. Fabric Flower Embellishment
7. Tyvek Beads
8. Thread Painting
9. Fat Quarters - Brand new to Quilting Series (for beginners)
10. Hollow Cube Quilt Block 

Please note: I haven't watched all these tutorials yet.

Totally Baby!

This post is totally dedicated to babies! It's so easy to just go buy things for the little ones but if you want to personalize a gift, you have to make it! Some new moms also want to use hand crafted items. I have found some interesting things for you to make. Check these out! Most of them are freebies.

Baby On The Go Diaper Bag  and Baby Burp Cloths & Bib Set from Moda Bakeshop
Burp Cloths from Homemade Mamas
Patterns for Bibs! Lots more here at Sewing Support
A variety of baby crafts
Vanilla Joy has a Tablecloth Bib Tutorial
Baby Bibs from Martha Stewart
Knitted baby sweater
Bitty Booties to sew
Miniature Applique Quilt 
Vintage Toy Baby Elephant from Baby Bloggie
Kimono Baby Bootie Shoes
How to Sew a Bandana Bib

Sketchbook Challenge

I did sign up to participate in the Sketchbook Challenge.
A while ago (year or two - not sure) I did an on-line course with Sharon B. from Pin Tangle called Studio Journal: A Designers Workhorse. It was the first on-line course I've done. It was quite a good one and I would recommend it if anyone was interested in that sort of course.
I have been looking through my journal as I had forgotten about some of the things covered in the six week course. Some of the pages from my journal are here on flickr.
January's theme is Highly Prized.

New Year's Eve

2010 has gone by rather quickly!
I am looking forward to spending time experimenting with new ideas in my studio. Have you set any goals for yourself yet? To try something different?

I did find a few sewing projects that you might like to try.
Thread Banger has some simple ones such as a scrap fabric pot holder or a bicycle lunch bag.
Hand made cloth dolls from The Purl Bee
Soft toys from Softie Making
10 Simple-to-Sew Totes, Purses, and Bags from Better Homes and Gardens
I Love To Craft has Mobile Phone Covers
Chickpea Sewing Studio has lots of free patterns
Sewing Projects at Free Sewing Patterns
Embroidery and Sewing Patterns at Pimp Stitch
Softie Christmas from Squawk Fox
Crafty Pants: Translated Japanese Patterns
Leaf shape wool felt pot holders from Design Sponge 

Happy Sewing!

Things Organized Neatly!

Getting organized! I have learned not to change the location of 'stuff' that I use a lot. Whenever I've done that, I kept looking in the original place, forgetting its new location. Check out a previous post for organizing your sewing room.

However, this post isn't about you organizing anything. I discovered this neat site called Things Organized Neatly. Some of the things that have been organized are actually works of art. To see each month of posts, click on Archive. Also do a Google search of 'things organized', and click on the images. Lots of stuff to see.

Sometimes you need to go outside the box and look at different things. This often helps to get the creative juices flowing again.

Check out these:
Pika Land - about art and illustration
Walking Paper
Trendland
Automatism Blog
Design Inspiration
Swiss Miss

Have fun!

My Christmas Tree and Other Stuff

I was trying to figure out what was wrong with my Christmas tree until I checked out last year's tree photo. It had coloured lights in addition to the pre-lit clear ones as I had put on extra lights. Next year it will definitely have the coloured bulbs as those are my favorite.

Today has been a quiet one. A time for reading, jigsaw puzzles, car racing video game, Banana Grams and food. You would think food would be last on the list after Christmas day but. . . Talking about food - my Christmas Pudding was delicious after it's dicey beginnings. My mother's comment: 'I think it's better than mine' - even if I did forget to put in the rum!

Here's some quilts and stuff  with a food theme to use for inspiration:

Canned goods 
Apple Falls Quilt Art 
Apple (scroll down)
Pear 
Celtic Pear 
Pomegranate Art Quilts
Pears Mola Quilt 
Banana for Anna  
Dancing Pineapples  

Enjoy!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I hope everyone is enjoying the day! Newfoundland is having a very green, relatively warm Christmas. We will probably pay up for this in January.

Santa paid a visit to my house but the best part is having family around. A very special Merry Christmas to my daughter and family in Chicago.

I did receive some nice surface embellishment/quilting CD's. More inspiration for future work. I will comment on those in a future post.

Fun Food!

It looks like we are going to have a green Christmas this year unless it turns cold suddenly. This week the temperatures have been well above normal. Today we are having strong winds and lots of rain. The kind of day you want to stay inside and do something creative! At the moment, my 'creativity' revolves around baking cookies and cakes for Christmas. Part of my parent's gift is edible stuff.

I found some interesting 'Fun Food' to knit, sew & crochet. Enjoy!

Felt Cookies
Pineapple Art Quilt - idea, not free
Fabric Eggs
Chocolates Quilt Pattern - applique
Chocolate Cake Tea Cosy - knitting
Knitted Ice Cream Cone Patterns
Cherries knitted pattern
Pizza Party!
Knitting, Crochet & Sewing Patterns - lots of food patterns
Canned Crochet 
Honey Pot - Crochet
Felt Food - Eggs & Orange Slices
More Felt Food  - scroll down the page
Play Food 
Ice Cream Cone 

Steamed Christmas Pudding

This year I made a steamed Christmas Pudding for the first time! It turned out to be a good one!

However, this is the Christmas Pudding Decoration I made yesterday for a friend. I can't take credit for the pattern. The original pattern is from The Contented Quilter and is a pincushion.

Check out the following patterns:

Here is another pudding ornament
Christmas Pud Pincushion
A cute crocheted pudding - scroll down
Knitted Christmas Pudding  
Knitted Christmas Tea Cosy -  suppose to resemble a pudding but there is no photo. Thought I'd include it anyway.
Christmas Pudding Tree Ornament
Line drawing of a pudding - template

Have Fun! Merry Christmas

Sunflowers

I know this is the wrong time of year to be talking about sunflowers but it does go along with my previous post! The sunflower is an annual herb and not just a large yellow flower. It has been used as a folk remedy for many ailments but today is mainly used in food preparation. Sunflower oil is used for cooking, margarine, salad dressing and soaps. For more information, check here.

While visiting the National Gallery, London, I had the pleasure of seeing Vincent van Gogh's Sunflower painting. The one pictured on the site is the one I saw which is one among a series that he painted. I did purchase a small matted print of the sunflower. It's amazing how many things have the sunflower motif. There is even a National Sunflower Association.

So, to help get you through the winter months, why not make something bright and colourful! I've found a few things with a sunflower theme. Most of the patterns are freebies - not all are quilt related!

Twirling Sunflower Quilt Pattern
Sunflower Serenade
Wendy's Sunflower Quilt - check this one for the machine quilting
Rise and Shine
Textured Sunflowers
Provencial Sunflower - for inspiration
Sunflower colouring page - pattern for a quilt?
Sunflower machine embroidery design
Cross Stitch Pattern - scroll down
Sunflower Cake - baking idea
Sunflower Pillow 
Cat and Sunflower

Ai Weiwei: 100 Million Sunflower Seeds

The Tate Modern was one of the places I visited while in London. The Ai Weiwei exhibition of 100 Million Sunflower Seeds was of particular interest and is on exhibit until May 2, 2011. At the time it was possible to walk on the surface of the work, which I did. However, a couple of days after my visit, that part of the exhibit was stopped. Apparently the dust from the porcelain was proving to be a health hazard. Now visitors can look upon the sunflower seeds from the Turbine Hall bridge or viewed up close from the edge of the exhibit. These photos were taken by my friend. In the last photo, I am holding some of the 'seeds' in my hand. The whole room in the second photo is covered with the porcelain seeds.

To learn about this extraordinary work, go here.

The French Shore Tapestry

The French Shore Tapestry tells the story of northern Newfoundland's French Shore, from the pre-historic animals that roamed the forests and shoreline to the moment in 2006 when a few talented women in the tiny outport of Conche began their embroidery odyssey. This piece measures 66 meters long (216 feet) and is created from linen and wool. The Bayeux Tapestry, created in the 11th century, was the inspiration for making this piece. Images of the Bayeux Tapestry can be found here.

I had the honor of helping (October) to lace this piece to a wooden frame so that it could be put on display at the Geo Centre, St. John's, NL. You can see and read about the tapestry here.

Photo by Judy Cooper

If you are in the St. John's area over the Christmas holidays, it is well worth a visit. It is a very impressive piece!

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.

Busy, Busy . . .

Catching up on projects in my studio has been taking up some of my time lately. December came and I suddenly realized I had nothing done! I did complete several scissors holders and credit card holders for Devon House Craft Shop over the weekend.

I also made more Christmas Tree Art Cards. You can see a sample of these here as well as how they were made.

 

 

Realistic Tapestries by Jill Draper

I just came across some fantastic realistic stitched tapestries by Jill Draper from the UK. These photos from the Telegraph say it all! Jill "renders pictures of rural life and shimmering seascapes in her embroidered tapestries recreating scenes with astonishing accuracy from photographs. Each picture measuring around 15 x 30 inches takes up to 120 hours and contains hundreds of thousands of stitches done by hand and machine." Read entire article here.

Casserole Totes

The festive season is almost here. It is the time of year for parties and visiting with family and friends. Sometimes we bring goodies and casseroles with us. What better way to transport a hot pot than in your own casserole carrier. I found a few free patterns. Check them out! 
Casserole Tote from Craft Town
Embroidery Library has one
Dixie Doodles 'Cozy Tote' Casserole Dish Carrier
Round Casserole Carrier
12 + Casserole Tote and Carrier Patterns from Tipnut
Fabric Dish or Dish Insulator 
Casserole Carrier
Insulated Carrier
Handy Tote for 9" x 13" casserole dish
Quilted Forest Pattern 
Kitchens Accents from Fiskars
Quilted Insulated Casserole Carrier  
Another one! or two
Tutorialfrom Cackleberry Cottage
Here's a great place to get recipes to use with your new casserole tote: Kraft Canada

The Embroidered Box

photo by Judy Cooper

I've been doing some 'spring' cleaning in my studio. Maybe I'm putting off getting some 'real' work done! I came across an article in an Embroidery Autumn 1987 magazine called The Embroidered Box by Margaret Swain (historian and author). To my surprise this box was the very one our tour group saw at the Embroidery Guild, Hampton Court Palace, UK in October.

According to Margaret Swain, 'it is a handsome addition to the Embroiderers' Guild collection, and is the gift of Miss Hester Clough, founder member of the Mid-Wessex Branch . . .' The box 'is the typical oblong shape with a flat top. The lid, edged with silver braid, is worked on white satin, using silk, coloured bullion, metal thread, seed pearls and mica for the windows. It displays a dazzling variety of stitches, some of which, leaves, flowers and the wings of insects, are stiffened with wire.'

Swain goes on to explain that this is raised work which we commonly refer to as stumpwork. The term stumpwork is relatively modern and only goes back to the turn of the century. I found her quote about stumpwork, from work by John Nevinson,(1938), interesting. '... that  the term stumpwork was not found in any contemporary 17th century document, and is meaningless, though perverted ingenuity has made the unlikely guess that the carved wooden heads for the miniature figures were called stumps'.

The fashion for raised work appears to have died away at the beginning of the 18th century as did the fashion for these ornate boxes.

Since I had actually seen this box up close, I found the historical reference interesting. 

Keep It Hot! - Tea Cosy

This weekend was finally devoted to working in my studio. I usually submit something new to the Craft Council of Newfoundland & Labrador Christmas exhibit - Comfort and Joy. The deadline was Friday but I was given a bit of extra time to get my piece in. I decided to make a tea cosy using my fantasy fabric.

This first photo show one side of the tea cosy before it was stitched. As you can see, I used lots of colour, decorative yarns and wool roving on a cotton base. This was topped with navy tulle and then stitched over with different shades of rayon threads. The threads matched the yarns. Once that was done, using Sulky Sliver Opalescence thread, I stitched over or outlined certain parts.

The second photo is a close-up of the other side of the tea cosy before it was stitched.

Here is the completed piece. Each side is quite different. One thing I've noticed: the Sulky Sliver threads don't glitter in the photo. When the light hits the threads, the piece really sparkles!!

#4 Textile Art From England

I was asked by the Newfoundland and Labrador Craft Council to do a photo essay for their newsletter of the textiles I saw while on the England tour. This is part of the essay showing photos from the embroidery guild tour.

Hampton Court Palace, built during the reign of Henry VIII, is the home of the Embroiderers’ Guild of the UK and the Royal School of Needlework. We were very fortunate to have behind the scenes tours of both organizations. 

The president of the Embroidery Guild of the UK gave us an entertaining lecture and display of work. I have many more photos but these were a sample from this part of the tour that I selected for the newsletter. 

Or Nué on Book Cover

Embroidery by Constance Howard

The Or Nué (Gold Work) is on the cover of a book. I could not get the photo to turn the right way even though it is rotated correctly in my files. Go figure! I tried everything but this is it. The piece beside the book cover was done by Constance Howard, a well known British embroiderer. She wrote The Constance Howard Book of Stitches, first published in 1979. I have this book and it is an excellent one for hand embroidery.

The box cover below is another stunning addition to the guild. It was a gift of Miss Hester Clough, founding member of the Mid-Wessex Branch of the Embroidery Guild. More information about this box is in another post.

Stump Work on Box Cover

The Quilt Show

I have added a link to The Quilt Show on the side of my blog. Last July they had a special rate for a six month trial membership so I joined. I did enjoy viewing the shows since I don't see them here on TV. So a couple of days ago I renewed my membership. For special occasions, they do host a free weekend where you can view any show on the site. They also have a teaser by letting you see a free show. Check out the projects and the daily blog. Have fun!

Cluster Map - Visitor Locations

When I put the cluster map on the side bar of this blog, I figured it did a continual visual count of all my visitors and where they were from. Not so! I had an email a couple of days ago telling me that one year of counting was at an end and that a new map would appear. Here's the old map. Now the visitor count starts again for another year. However, the counter showing the total number of visitors continues as usual. I did save a copy of the map with all the dots but forgot to copy the 85 different countries that were listed.
Thanks to all my many visitors since August 2009.
I'm having fun with this blog. For one thing, it keeps a record of blogs and web sites that interest me and they are easier to find.

Art Knowledge News

Art Knowledge News is an on-line art news magazine which is updated daily. I signed up for this about a week ago. Since getting back from my England trip where I visited lots of museums and art galleries, I can continue to peek into galleries around the world to view some more spectacular works of art. Of course, I could do that at any time, but with this site coming to me daily, I'm seeing things I probably wouldn't have thought about. Also they have a list of links that is easy to follow. I'm also following them on Twitter.

The photo was taken at the Tate Modern Museum, London. I did not record the artist's name. If anyone knows it, I would appreciate you letting me know and I will update this page.

46 Days Until Christmas!

Wow! 46 days left - Christmas will be here before you know it. I hadn't given it much thought until I started to pay attention to the Christmas projects in the various craft and quilting magazines on the news stands. I started looking and found a few simple free projects to get you started on your Christmas list.
Christmas Pudding Pin Cushion
BOM quilts has lots of free patterns for Christmas
Christmas Basket Applique
Figgy Pudding and Holiday Magic Place mats, Napkins & Napkin Rings from Red Rooster Quilts
Simply Santa from CompuQuilt - paper piecing
Christmas Ornaments from Better Homes & Gardens
Christmas Tree Quilt Pattern - applique

Also check out my previous posts:

Freebies for Crafters
Pincushions
Freebies From Freda's Hive

#3 Textile Art from Knitting & Stitch Show, London

Here's some more art work from the Knitting & Stitch Show, London. These photos were all taken with my Canon S90 camera.
The first piece of textile art was made with layers of sheer fabrics that were dyed/painted and stitched. I just love the vibrant colours.

The second piece was felted.
Various techniques were used in the other pieces.

Stone Henge

photos by Judy Cooper

My friend and I took a day tour while visiting England. We went to Stone Henge, Salisbury (to see the cathedral) and Bath. It was a very memorable trip. Our guild, Michael, was priceless!

During the summer months, it's possible to get private tours of Stone Henge where you get to see the stones up close. These tours occur at sunrise and sunset. In any case, you get an audio tour which works very well. It was an interesting morning and I'm glad I experienced it.

Forte Framing and Gallery

Forte Framing and Gallery now has a new web site. The original one has been totally redone! For those of you new to my blog, this framing shop in Chicago belongs to my daughter and husband. For those of you living in the Chicago area, please stop by and see the place. Some of my textile art is on display as well as some of my shimmers.

They also rent out their shop space for art shows and parties - the shop is very spacious and a fantastic place for a party!

Jill is working on some original art pieces just in time for Christmas. You can see her at work if you drop by.