Sunday 19 June 2016

Quilt Canada and lots of friendly quilters

For the first time I attended Quilt Canada.  I went back to Toronto where I lived for many years; a mini vacation.  But a busy one.  I walked until I dropped.  Not 'shopped til I dropped' but did that too.  

There was so much to see from the friendly market vendors to the wonderful shows of quilts it was colourful, interesting, and just plain fun.  I met some lovely people from across Canada when I sat down to eat and got to put faces to names of vendors I use for on line purchasing.  

I live in a small town in Nova Scotia and sometimes I need things that I cannot get at local shops i.e. shops 1 to 1.5 hours driving.  This is in part because I love to experiment and so what I want is not a regularly stocked item.  So I came back with some items I have been looking for.  

Some of these things caused me to be singled out in the security line at Pearson when my carry on bag went through.  A bodkin, a box of gorgeous Aurifil threads from Bytowne Threads and a glue pen were my suspicious items.  I was cleared although I was a bit tense to see if any items would be taken away.  I have had this happen with a nail file in Vancouver.  I wonder what they thought the threads were?

The quilts on display at the show were superb and I took pleasure in the back stories of their creation.  What struck me in many instances was the fact that the quilt made a physical memory of a time in the life of the quilter when they were suffering through a life event of great meaning.  The quilt became a medication for the soul.  My first quilt was just that and although it is not as complex or intricate as some of my quilts are it is a reminder of a time when I could not process a change in my life but I did as I worked through the quilt.  I became a dedicated quilter after that and now find it is part of my soul, providing interest and challenges I would never thought I would attempt.  This includes doing long arm quilting for others.  When an owner picks up a quilt and smiles and says thank you is a huge bonus I never expected.

I do not have any pictures of the quilts on display as I concentrated on the themes and how those themes were replicated in fabric.  I know there are lovely pictures on the web site. National Juried Show 2016 
The winner was 'A Winner'.  

This post does not have a picture of current quilts on the go as they are intended for a show put on by the Mahone Bay Quilters Guild in September. Mahone Bay Quilters Guild But I am having fun with a traditional style quilt i.e. it is has blocks but not your ordinary blocks.  I ventured into doing my own block design on EQ7.  And the other two are art quilts.  I took a class with Katie Pasquini Masopust at Mahone Bay in the spring and it was an eye opener and was permission to go and keep on going beyond traditional boundaries.   

Using my computer and applications is another fun thing I have been doing.  Because my 'traditional' quilt will be straight line quilting to enhance the design I used Microsoft Paint to draw the quilting lines.  One should not ignore simple things like Paint although I do have more than one program for such designing.  But Paint was great for the straight lines which will outline a complex diamond and now I can put the quilt on the frame and have a master to follow.  Quilting is just plain fun: Learning, meeting, sharing.  Thanks to the executive and volunteers of CQA for a great mini vacation.







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