Looking back from today

How to lose track of time.  I looked at the date on my last post and although I thought I had posted in December, it was November.  The sad saga of getting my data back continues.  It is not so dire now but I am still missing some important things and learning about using some programs that have been ? updated.  Not sure that is the correct term.  It will be finished soon but I would not repeat it for anything so I repeat backup, backup, backup ad nauseum.  I knew better which is the most galling thing of all.

Unfortunately, my quilting was overtaken by various events in December some of which were not overly pleasant but they are over thank goodness.  Now I have a picture to post and hopefully after this afternoon spent in my sewing room there will be another completed item. Another something new for me; a postcard and a new way of creating a picture.  Then I still have a small quilt for show to complete.  It is past the thought phase, into construction and moving into embellishment.  Just quilting and finishing to do.

I have blogged about taking a course with Katie Pasquini Masoput in May of 2016.  It was wonderful and I was so happy to see her honoured by the on line show, The Quilt Show.  She is a lovely person and probably the best teacher I have learned from; both quilting and life lessons.

Well, here is the finished product.  I call it Segmented Tulips.  It was from a watercolour painting I did in the class.  It has hung on my wall for months with tiny bits done here and there and now it is quilted and bound.  

 I have to admit my painting had a mid blue background but I had not brought that colour with me to class so I popped out to Suttles and Seawinds to get fabric while others got their lunch.  I ended up loving the batik which shows as brown and black but has a blue cast on some parts.  I never thought of brown as a warm colour but this one is.  I have learned a lot doing this and it gave a sense of freedom because I was not doing straight lines, following someone else's pattern nor was I constrained by anything other my imagination.

I know I will use this non constraining mode of construction again.  

Photo to Block to Quilt

For several years I have kept a picture of the back of a kimono.  I loved the lines of it and the possibilities of the luxurious fabrics and gorgeous colours at least in my mind.  I often looked at it to figure out how to piece it.

After having been away on a trip and a bit jet lagged, chores could wait as I found a picture that captured the flow I thought of and turned it into a drawing on EQ7.  Forgot to save it though.  Bad!!!!! Instead of turning it into a larger quilt right away I used the drawing on 8.5 x 11 paper to create a pattern.  I then turned to a technique I learned in a class with Katie Pasquini Masopust.  She is a wonderful teacher and inspires a 'can do' attitude.  The advantages of a very small quilt are speed to completion; use of small scraps.  Disadvantage is that with 23 pieces in the piece I was turning in seams on very small pieces.  But it worked.

I had a mess of scraps of bright coloured fabrics from the baby quilt I made before my holiday so it was a perfect combination.  One afternoon; one morning after and here is the finished product.  I quilted it on my Designer with gold embroidery thread; very simple stitching.    There are lots of stitches I have only looked at but not used so.............

It is scraps, some time spent piecing by using an iron on stabilizer which I had and of course creating the pattern pieces on construction paper.  The pieces were really tiny and because I had used a spray on adhesive on the construction paper, the bits cut off the pattern pieces got stuck on doggy feet and hair.  The floors and stairs had bits of orange to brighten them.  I did try to use my new Scan and Cut but the pieces were too small and my experience in using it smaller still.

I added two flanges to give it a more finished look and a dark border set off the bright fabrics.  It was fun and now the next step is to do the bigger product.  Oriental fabrics are so interesting  and somehow my stash seems to contain a fair amount (lots actually) of fat quarters.  Not sure how big the final product will be but there will be a final product.  

Years ago I embroidered by machine all down the back of a kimono I sewed for my self and now I will have a touchable quilt to put on the wall.  Embroidery may be part of the quilt. We shall see.

The class with Katie was a gift and gave me courage to try.  Best class ever with a world class teacher.

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.