FALL PREVIEW_1

The last week of summer still puts me in a planning mood even 10 years after retiring from teaching. When the nights get colder and there is a chill in the air my mind starts organizing my life for the next few months. I am looking forward to sharing my work with like minded, addicted, fibre junkies and sharing what new things I have discovered.

This is what I am up to this fall.

1. Seaway Autumn Studio Tour on Sept. 13th and 14th.
I will be at stop #1 in Johnston with four other artists Joanne Zorzie, Bonnie Lemaire, Pat Lemaire, and Wendo Van Essen. At my table you will find my work large and small,postcards, journals, and my patterns. Come and have a chat.
Visit our website http://www.sast.ca/

2. Art With Loose Threads Retreat from Oct. 3-5 at the Opinicon Resort Hotel
Come and participate in a small and intimate retreat where three fibre artists will share with you what they have learned.These techniques can be used in all kinds of work, from fibre art , in your quilting, to wearable art. We will also try some painting on fabric.

Wendo will be showing you how to felt fibre and sculpt this moose head.

Pat will be demonstrating various embellishment techniques. Great for wearable art.

Cathy will share with you her new technique where she hangs washers in a hole . Small kits will be available for each demo at a reasonable cost so that all you have to bring is your machine and your favourite sewing equipment.



3.Then in November it will be my pleasure to participate in Fibreworks, in Kingston.
The weekend we have chosen is Nov. 13,14,and 15th. It will include a lecture on Friday evening and a two day workshop. I will be discussing how I use colour to give things life and you will be making a small piece that will use those colour concepts. We will try different free motion techniques as well as some bobbin work. I will also show you how to mount your work on a wooden frame.More info to come.

SOMETHING NEW

Now I have it designed and put the borders on. These will be the edges that will wrap around the wooden frame.
Next step ,my favourite part, free motion quilting.I will go around each shape with a colour to match and then quilt down the grout. I have no idea what is going to happen, it may distort in a crazy way or it may end up square. We will see. Isn't that the fun of it????

GREAT NEWS

For quite some time I have been totally in awe of Kaffe Fassett 's colour sense. I had bought one of his knitting books when they first came out and just loved looking at the pics. It was fascinating how he put all of those colours together, so many of them, and so brilliantly.
Imagine then how thrilled I was to learn that he was coming to Perth, of course I have to go to the lecture.
Janie H. Knits in Glen Tay is bringing him to town.This is another place where fibre junkies like me can get a fix. In a lovely stone house Janie has a fabulous shop. The most wonderful fibres can be found here. In my last visit to buy tickets for the Kaffe Fassett lecture I came home with the shawl kit below. The kit is designed by Gita Maria and it is fabulous. The Bandana Fringed Scarf comes with wonderful yarns and a hand made silver enameled "Hug" pin. I couldn't help myself and finished it that very evening. What a wonderful piece to wear when I lecture this fall.

Now to order tickets you can email info@janiehknits.com.

My old bed quilt is also a Kaffe Fassett design.

I am back happily creating this week working out some new ideas. Above is my first attempt at creating a mosaic type of piece. Will keep you posted to see how it goes, there are always glitches to work out. Take care!

PIECE ON A WOODEN FRAME

TUTORIAL: How to mount a piece on a wooden frame. After taking a class with Marilyn Stewart-Stothers at a CQA Conference I fell in love with this method of presenting my work. It really does look like a piece of art when you are finished and it is really fun to wrap the design around to the sides.
Now that the summer festivities are winding down and I have learned to take closeups with my new camera ,I am ready to share with you how I mount my work. If you need more info, just contact me at catelaw@sympatico.ca



1. Press and trim piece (quilt) including the extra inches needed to wrap around the sides of the wood (the depth of the wood plus ½ inch).
2. Lay frame on top of right side of the piece and mark the four corners with pins.
3. Flip piece to wrong side, mark where the pins came through on the wrong side of the piece with a fabric marker or a pencil.
4. Draw a line from left to right going through the dots at the top.
5. Repeat this step for the other dots.
6. Stitch the corner line with a very small stitch for strength.

7. Mark a ¼ inch seam inside each corner and cut it away. Also cut away the batting and the backing fabric to the stitching line to eliminate the bulk.

8. Mark the depth of the wood from each dot at the corners

9. Match the marks from the seam line with the point being the end of the seam. Stitch 3 times for strength.

10. Turn the corners right side out and slip onto frame. It should be a snug fit. If not, sew small seam again just inside the stitching line.
Put onto frame making sure that the corners are aligned.

11. Starting in the center of opposite sides, staple it down, pulling it tight each time. Follow diagrams for stapling order. Staple down to the very end. Trim away any extra fabric.

12. On the opposite side start in the center and staple the same way until you get within an inch of the corner. Fold like a miter and staple down.

13. Fold the corners neatly and staple.
14. You can customize your piece by adding a label to the back.