OFF ON A ROAD TRIP

My husband has a lot of family up north --- Timmins and Sudbury -- and we are off for our annual visit. Since I have very few relatives in Canada , Terry's cousins have adopted me as one of their own. Besides the card playing and visiting, I can scope out the local quilt and fabric shops while he is playing golf.
The scenery is also magnificent and my new camera will get a workout. I need lots of pics for inspiration when the snow is blowing outside in the middle of January.
Talk to you in a week or so.

ARTWEAR -another pattern

This is a recent Lois Erickson pattern purchase which I bought at Creative Styling in Wesport.
I used some rayon fabrics and colour blocked the jacket with high contrast colours. I love it!
It's another brilliant pattern where you can "artwear it up" so to speak. What fun.

ARTWEAR- Kimonos

This kimono pattern by Lois Ericson is one of my favourites and lends itself very well to all kinds of creative ideas. Her patterns are fab as they are full of creative ways to sew up this garment. It comes in all sizes which I love and is easy enough for someone with very little garment making experience. There are ideas for sleeves, closures, pockets ,embellishments, etc,etc,etc.

The pattern is called Kimono Encore and is # 327
http://www.designandsew.com/

I haven't checked out this site as yet but I certainly will. I am assuming that you can order the pattern there.

In this one I pieced some panels and inserted them.






















In this one I used an embroidered fabric that had a border print.
One little hint if you are making it out of cotton. I lined the top half of the kimono so that it would be more comfortable to wear. Then it doesn't stick to The top that you are wearing under it.
Now I need to finish the one I started with my other Loose Threads. They are well on their way, check out Wendo and Pat's blogs.

ANOTHER NEW TOY

I just love teaching for many reasons but one of the best is to be able to buy myself new toys once in awhile .
Taking great quality pics of my work for entering competitions and getting work in a gallery has always been a bit of a chore. At first I had it done by a photographer which cost a lot of money.Then I had my brother Bart do it for me and he does an excellent job. It was his pics of my work that got into the March issue of the American Quilter magazine. However he lives two hours away and that can be a bit of a trek especially in the winter.
Also I love a challenge, and now I am ready to do my own pics. To do this I bought this camera last week at Henry's in Kanata. It is a EOS Rebel XSi with a lens that has an image stabalizer.
It has so many features and promises to take amazing pics. In order to really learn all the creative sides of this baby I bought the tutorial below. I can learn it on my own time at at my own speed. Perfect!!!

Now that I have the software all in the computer , I am spending time each day on a new chapter. Wonderful.

Later on when I am ready ,I will take a class to learn how to take the best shots of my work that I can. Bye time to play!!!

SLIDE SHOW 1

It has taken me all morning and if this works I will have put in my first Picassa slide show.This one highlights a series of work that contains holes and washers. The holes were created using facings which is a tailoring technique and the washers from the hardware store are hung in the holes using Wonderfil Dazzle thread.
I will be teaching this technique at our Art With Loose Threads Retreat at the Opinicon Resort Hotel in Chaffey's Locks in early Oct. Contact me at catelaw@sympatico.ca
if you wish more information.

Enjoy!

STRETCHING WORK ON WOODEN FRAMES

A few years ago I took a workshop with Marilyn Stewart-Stothers at A C.Q.A Conference in which we stretched our work over a wooden frame. I loved the finished effect as it presented the work like a piece of art. My husband adjusted this technique to make it sturdier as I was wanting to do bigger pieces. Below is one of the results. "# 56 With Attitude" which is now in a private collection.
Making a Frame Tutorial

1.My husband uses 1 in.x 2 in solid pine to make the frames.
2. He cuts them so that the outside measurement is the one that I want. Do not mitre the corners as this weakens it.
4. He then glues and clamps the pieces and has them dry overnight.
5.Then ends are then nailed with a nail gun.
6. If the piece is large like one of my Madonnas he will put an extra brace in the center.


The nails are quite long and go through. Two or three will do.

THIS AND THAT

It's summer and it's time to bring out some unfinished things. Last year when I was watching the Live Earth Concert I drew up this design for a Savin' Earth Quilt( I stole this name from the licence plate that my brother Peter has on his hybrid car). I was pretty proud of myself because I actually pieced the circle that represents earth. Then I had fun stencilling on a copper tree.More to come.

One rainy day last week and there have been many, I noticed my little friends across the road. This needed a pic and will probably turn into another cow piece. Love those rain drops on the fence. How will I ever do that???

The top half of my bed quilt is now pieced. No more randomness for me as the next 6 blocks have to work in this design. Who said that random was easy!!!

Again, more to come.

BACK TO MY LIFE

Here it is Canada Day and I realize that half of the year is now over. My spring classes are finished and I had a great time meeting new people and freeing them to follow their own hearts and work on their own ideas.

Now it is time to reflect on me.
Now it is time to finish a few of my projects.

Below is our bed quilt which I made about 15 years ago. The design came from a Kaffe Fasset Book ( he is coming to Perth, go figure!!!!) and I loved putting it together. Not knowing too much about quilting at the time ,I used a muslin for the whites ,which is now disintegrating before my eyes. Also I used a cotton thread on the top of my machine and a poly in the bobbin. Needless to say after 15 years of tugging and pulling the poly thread has cut the cotton thread in many ,many places.Our toes get caught in the threads. Oh how I seem to have to learn the hard way! It's still a pretty quilt and I will probably recycle it by making it into bags.
I have started a new bedquilt. Not wanting to do anything too normal and predictable I decided to participate in our guild block of the month challenge. Sharon, had a brilliant idea, to have everyone make a scrappy block a month which would then end up in a complete top for each of the participants.In this quilt there is a large square where we could do anything that we wanted. I chose four circles. The blocks were put together randomly and now I have the lovely job of making it work somehow. I do love a challenge. Below is the top half of the quilt on my design wall.

A closeup of one section.

Now, because I sit on my butt a lot, when this deal came to the Canadian Tire Store I could not resist. It was $499 on sale, the normal price is $1399. Who could resist saving $900? That is a lot of fabric.

Before I can work at my sewing I spend a little time on this machine. I am now up to 2 minutes at the lowest setting. My goal is to make it to 3o.I do love a challenge.