Wearable Art Pins

I make one-of-a-kind wearable art pins from textiles and fiber. There is a story about how they started. Several years ago I was wondering what to get my mother for Mother's Day. She kept telling me that at her age (she is now 92), she didn't want anything unless she could eat it or wear it. Well, I pondered over that for a few days. She has collected brooches / pins for years and liked wearing them. At the time, I was making fantasy fish for some small framed art pieces. I looked at the ones I had made and decided that one of them could be a pin. Voila! I used recycled leather for the back. She loved the one I made and since then, many different kinds have been designed and created for the retail market. Here's a sample of my pins:



I also came across a wonderful collection of art pins from the Contemporary Art Society of Victoria 2013 Brooch Show.  These are well worth a look.

Enjoy!

Congratulations!

Congratulations Canada! Over the last two weeks, Canadian athletes had a great showing at the 2014 Olympics at Sochi, Russia. This morning I watched the hockey game where Canada won Gold!

The 2014 coveted medallions have a quilt theme. If you look closely, you will see the quilt patterns etched into the central part behind the gold, silver and bronze.





Here's a couple of links with sports theme quilts:

• Center Ice Quilt
• Sports Quilts

Needle Felting

Today was rather a snowy one so I stayed inside and completed some needle felting to be used in future work. The photos show my progress for one of the sheets I did. Sulky Sliver Thread was used for the stitching.

Sheet of navy felt : my canvas

Surface covered with roving

To add dimension, I rolled roving between my fingers and needled them on 

Before stitching



Stitching added but I'm still not satisfied with this

Finished - for now!

Freebie Friday!

Freebie Friday - sounds good!
Here's a list of textile / fiber related sites that have free stuff on Fridays! There are lots more free stuff out there but this is it for today. Enjoy!!

• That's So Amy
• Sew Well Maide  (lots of free patterns & tutorials)
• Sew Daily
• Sew Desu Ne?
• Sew News
• Sweet P
• Knitty Gritty Thoughts
• Hooked on Quilting
• Craftsy
• Pixy Stitches
• The Knot House
• Juniper Moon Farm
• Knitting Board Chat
• Beloved Knits
• Katie's Quilting Corner
• Pin Tangle (blackwork patterns)

Beads

Here are some new glass beads I purchased today. My small metal cases with glass tops from Lee Valley Tools are the perfect containers for them. The cases are actually Watchmaker's Cases and fairly inexpensive. Certain sizes come in their own aluminum case as you can see from the second photo.
I will be using these beads in some of my wearable art pieces. They will compliment some of the needle felting backgrounds.

The photo doesn't do justice to these beads as they really sparkle!

Flying Geese

A few days ago, my sister sent me a link to view Ricky Tim's dimensional one-seam flying geese quilt block. I'm not into traditional piecing as most of you know, but I thought that this method of piecing the flying geese, was interesting. If you are a follower of The Quilt Show, then you have already seen this. I must confess that I have that site bookmarked but haven't been there for awhile. I believe I need to check out the latest posts.

Enjoy!

Fabric For Life Contest

One of the blogs I read is Jackie's Art Quilts. She just posted about the Fabric for Life Contest sponsored by Keepsake Quilting and Quilting Club of America. Looks like a nifty contest! Who wouldn't like to win 52 yards of fabric of your choice for 20 years! Go ahead and have a look! It almost looks too good to be true!



While you are there, have a look at their free videos.

I am not affiliated with these companies.
Enjoy!

Today's Sewing Tip

Years ago, my friend gave me a very useful gift to keep beside my sewing machine. It is for holding sewing machine needles. If you are doing a lot of different kinds of sewing and always changing needles, then you need a way to keep track of which one is in the machine. This little case is quite helpful for doing that. The hair clip (Dollar Shop find), placed in the small pocket, indicates which needle is currently in the machine. You can choose to place the slightly used needle back in the case or, as I did, stick it beside it. The dimensions are approximately 6" x 11". Clear plastic pockets hold the plastic cases.

 

Another method that I use, is to stick the plastic case of needles currently in use, on the side of my machine, with sticky tack (blue stuff that is used to stick posters and other stuff on walls). I prefer this method over all the others. It is quick to do when time is a factor.

• I came across a needle sorting pin cushion at Gen X Quilters. This one would make a great gift for yourself or to give away to a friend.  
• Whimsey Box has a similar method for storing sewing machine needles in a pincushion as above.
• Two Kitties shares their idea for storing needles (similar to the first one I mentioned).

Enjoy!

Folded Machine Needle Keeper

Hanging beside my maachine

 

Make It Coats

If you sew, craft, quilt, crochet, bead, and knit (did I miss anything?), then you have come across Coats and Clark somewhere along the way. Click on the link to read about the history of this company. They are the world’s largest supplier of crafting products – from the innovative cotton sewing threads that made their name, to knitting, embroidery, crochet, fabrics and a whole range of accessories. I bet there isn't a fabric / craft shop that doesn't carry their line of threads and other product.

Make It Coats (Coats Crafts) is part of this worldwide Coats Group. This new on-line site is just full of information, articles, free patterns and designs. There's lots to see! Great how-to videos too.

To take full advantage of all they offer, it is necessary to register with them. I did.
I don't think you will be disappointed.

Please note!
I am in no way affiliated with this company. My reason to include it in my blog is to let you know it is out there and that it just might be of interest to you. If you are a frequent visitor to this site, then you know that I promote my own art work as well as the work of other artists / crafters and will often talk about interesting sites to visit. Make It Coats is one of those interesting sites.

Enjoy!

I won a prize . . . Thanks Bunches!!!

Last month, I visited lots of nifty blogs in the Grow Your Blog Hop (earlier post). I left comments too. Well, one of those comments proved lucky as my name was chosen via random generator on Dolores Quilts. See the prize package HERE.
Blog hops are great ways to see what other textile artists and related fiber / textile people are doing. It can be time consuming but that is by choice. You can decide to spend 20 minutes a day or more, to do this. You never know what exciting things you will find and who you will meet. I have met lots of interesting ladies via this blog hop.

From Dolores Quilts

Baby it's Cold Outside

Happy Valentine's Day!!
I hope you have a good one.

Here's a pattern that I found yesterday. The Winter Olympics are half over so I figured I should post this now to give you the chance to get your free pattern.

The Red Boot Quilt Company is holding a  2014 Winter Olympics Polar Bear Quilt-a-Long. Their pattern, Baby It's Cold Outside, will be free to download just during the Olympics, so get yours today. After February 24, you will have to pay for it. Check out the other patterns listed there too.

I saw this one on Facebook and thought some of you might like to get it.

Enjoy!

Colour Complements

I didn't participate in the Grow Your Blog hop last month but I did visit most the blogs listed there (what a pleasant job!!). I met a lot of bloggers (well, not met them in person) and quickly read a bit about them and what interests they have. I joined some of the blogs and had lots of people visit back. Some ladies even joined up to follow me.Thank you.

I came across a Canadian on-line shop called Colour Complements just outside Vancouver, BC. Lorraine Stobie is a mixed media artist who dyes her own threads. She specializes in beautiful, bold, vibrant, one-of-a-kind, over dyed threads in small quantities. It was her vibrant colour schemes that caught my eye. The threads are just gorgeous! You can visit her blog HERE. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.
Enjoy!

More Temari Balls

Here's a few photos of Temari Balls made by my friend. Her previous ones can be found HERE.
I must say, she is doing a fantastic job on making these mini pieces of stitched art!
Enjoy!

Pincushions

Don't you just love batik cottons! The colours are so rich and vibrant. I made myself several large starfish pincushions from my batik stash. I prefer larger pincushions because they are easier to find when working on a project. Here's the result! The orange one has free motion stitching all over it instead of the spiral. I have been collecting pincushion images on Pinterest. Maybe one day, I'll make a few more.

Fiber Lilly

Erin Kirby opened Fiber Lilly a couple of months before Christmas. This unique shop, located on 10 Highland Drive, St. John's, Newfoundland, carries a varied assortment of fabrics, including designer prints, stretch and organic fabrics. It also caters to the needs of knitters and fiber artists, supplying wool and knitting supplies, materials for dyeing and fiber art materials. Local art and pottery also graces the shelves.

Here's a few photos of the store but please check out the Fiber Lilly web site for more photos of the products carried in the shop.
Enjoy!

Local Products

The Wooly Whale Project

A few days ago, I was introduced to the Wooly Whale Project.  Alexe Hanlon, textile student, College of the North Atlantic, is knitting a life-sized Minke Whale. That's right, life-sized. She has started a blog to record her progress. It is well worth your while to have a look at what she is doing.

I also found a few sites showing whales in quilts. I hope you find them inspiring too:

• Humpback Whale Quilt Pattern
• The Whale and the Lighthouse
• Whales Mug Rug
• Whale Quilt

Needle Felted Pendants

I did some market testing on my needle felted pendants at Some Good Market today. They were quite well received and I could have sold the ones I had with me. One lady saw them and said, 'OMG, these are gorgeous!' Needless to say, I was quite pleased. However. before I put them on the market, I want to have suitable packaging and labeling ready. A couple of stores also expressed an interest in carrying them.

I wore the one below on a long silver chain over a black top. It did look lovely and I received compliments for it! Finding a suitable source for necklaces is my next job.

Some Good Market

February 8 is the first Some Good Market in St. John's for 2014. The Telegram wrote a piece about the market back in 2012. This market has a large variety of vendors from high end arts and craft (for example: jewellery, silk scarves, knitted goods and yarn for knitting, wool roving, wall art, pet related items, quilting and sewing), to bakery items, home made jams and other food stuff. It's well worth a visit. Valentine's Day is less than a week away and you just might find a gift for that special someone!

I will be there tomorrow with a couple of new items :

• Cord Wraps
• Valentine Art Cards
• Felted & Stitched Pendants (I have 5)

 

So Logical - Why Didn't I Think of That ? !!!

I was just taking a break from sewing and decided to read some email. The latest from Pintangle caught my attention! For those of you who use transparent stencils, this post is for you. To keep these stencils from been invisible on the worktable, put stickers on them. How simple is that!

I guess it's another trip to the Dollar Shop unless I just use some coloured dots I already have on hand. For more stuff from the $ Shop, check out my December post on Dollar Shop Finds.

stickers

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!

ACTS is over for another year . . .

Well, the Atlantic Canada Trade Show is over for another year. It was my first time at this particular show and I found it to be a very interesting and informative one. I met a lot of people and saw lots of interesting arts and crafts. Some of the retailers had a very specific agenda and went only to the booths selling the things they were looking for. Others spent time in each booth talking to the vendors. One couple visited me this morning and said they wanted to make a purchase. It was their first time there for the weekend. They saw my shimmers and wearable art pins and had to have them for their shop. Needless to say, I was very pleased as most people look around several times before purchasing.

The ladies at the Newfoundland Labrador booth with me, were a wonderful, fun loving bunch. Everyone was so helpful. One booth holder from Nova Scotia, commented that it looked like we were all having a good time. That was so true!!

I purchased a couple of things and traded several items. I made some sales, passed out a lot of business cards and wholesale catalogues and attended a 2 hour lecture.

A few of us were even interviewed about our work!

All in all, it was a very successful experience. I'm even making plans to attend next year.

ACTS update

Yesterday was very busy at the Atlantic Canada Trade Show in downtown Halifax. I met lots of interesting people, did some business and attended the Awards Ceremony after the show closed for the day. My tablet and portable printer worked flawlessly.

There were four nominated awards, in which Newfoundland Labrador, won two of them.

• Excellence in Product Design was won by Northeastern Folk Art. Congratulations Erin and Mike!
• Industry Leader / Supporter was won by Textiles: Craft & Design Program, College of the North Atlantic. Congratulations

Today I am attending a lecture (with breakfast) at 8 am. Thank goodness I don't have to dress up and go outside since the hotel is connected via indoors to the convention center.

My Display at the Atlantic Canada Trade Show (ACTS), Halifax

Here are several views of my section of the Newfoundland Labrador booth at the Atlantic Trade Show. The company setting up the displays were very cooperative and prompt. My section didn't have a black panel, which had been requested. Within minutes that was corrected. My lighting was changed too.

To the left (on back wall) is a large poster displaying the wholesale items. Below that is a clear Plexiglas shelf holding Art Cards and Wearable Art Pins. Thanks goodness for the Dollar Shop! I purchased small art easels to hold samples of the cards. If you look closely, you will see them.

Everything hanging is attached with Velcro.

I have a sample binder with samples of all my wholesale products. My tablet has a spread sheet installed for doing orders and that is connected to a small portable printer. So, I'm all set up. It's going to be a very busy weekend.