Inspired by Quilt Canada

Last Friday I volunteered at Quilt Canada which is a national quilt show. It was held at the International Centre. I was the "Ask Me" person for 4 hours on Friday afternoon. Anyone who knows me, knows that that is a stretch for me. I am a quiet person who has a hard time talking to people I've never met before.

I carried this sign around and did pretty good, I think. I was able to answer most questions. I even met one of the ladies from our quilt retreat in April.

While I carried my sign, I was also able to view the National Juried Show and a few other quilt exhibitions. There were so many beautiful quilts and loads of talent.

What inspired me about this quilt was that the flower was three dimensional. The petals came out from the quilt top. It was very nicely done.

 I took this photo to show the quilting. It was so detailed. I took these photos with my IPhone so the quality is not as good as with my camera.

I loved the subject of this one and really like the reflections. I believe the reflections were done with thread painting.

This one was also three dimensional. The trunks of the 2 foreground trees were done separately and then rounded and sewn onto the quilt top. It is hard to see from these photos.

The colours and shapes in this one captured my attention right away. It reminds me of Picasso.

This one is a bit blurry but the detail in the owl was fantastic.

Another example of the quilting that is done on these pieces. It just brings the quilt to life!

I also loved this purple elephant. So playful!

This is called white on white. Different variations of white fabric and once again the quilting is what makes it.

There was also a challenge for Quilts of Valour. These are quilts that are made and given to Veterans.

At this show they also had a Big Quilting Bee. For Canada's 150th Celebration the Canadian Quilter's Association wanted to produce 1000 quilts from all over Canada to give to Ronald MacDonald Houses. People could make full quilts, quilt tops or blocks. At the Bee volunteers put together the quilts that were unfinished. They ended up with 2614 quilts!

It was a great experience for me but my feet were killing me by the end of my shift!

Inspiring My Grandchildren

While I was raising my own children, I didn't have the luxury of a studio or the extra time to do a lot of artwork. Yes, I did sketch a little and paint the odd thing but I didn't produce much in the way of finished pieces. I felt I was still learning and so I did take some courses during that time. I do think my kids are very creative and so I thought when I have grandchildren, I'm going to encourage them to do art.

My grandchildren love to be in my studio and I love that they want to be there. But I don't want them to think that the only time they can do art is when they are with me. So when the oldest ones were 3, I gave the 3 oldest some small sketch books. I told them they could do anything they wanted in them. I looked through one of them and can really see progress in their art ability.

The first thing they had to do was print their names in their books.

Then I have them pictures and fabric they could cut up and glue into their books.

Starting with paint.

 Pressed flowers from the garden.

Using multiple colours, line, shape and a page spread.

More colour.

Now people are starting to appear.

And now that they are in school, they're using letters.

I was also pretty impressed with these tree drawings.

Here is a landscape in colour.

I love to see them growing in their creativity and hope as they grow older they never lose that love for paint, pencils, scissors, glue, sparkles, stickers, beads, yarn .........

Ailsa Craig Quilt Festival - Canada 150

This post is a day early but I wanted to get this news out so you have a chance to visit if you are so inclined.

The town of Ailsa Craig is having their Quilt Festival this weekend which starts tomorrow and goes until Sunday. They are celebrating Canada's 150th Anniversary by showing "My Corner of the World" in which my Art Quilt "Reflections of the North" is being exhibited.

Date: Thursday, June 8 - Sunday, June 11, 2017
Time: 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. daily
Ailsa Craig Recreation Centre,
Ye Olde Towne Hall, Ailsa Craig,
and Parkhill Carnegie Library
Cost: $10/person at the door

Please have a great visit with the MCOTW - Canada Quilts and be sure to share the information with your quilt friends and family.

More information at the Quilt Festival website:
https://www.ailsacraigquiltfestival.ca/