ELAINE QUEHL, Quilt Artist, Teacher, Dyer, Designer

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Teaching and Travel, Back in Full Swing!

The last few days have been very busy with teaching and travel.  On Friday I taught Part 2 of my Uncommon and Unforgettable Threads class here in Ottawa at Dragonfly Fabrics.  We had lots of fun dyeing thread!

A couple of students brought their thread sketches from last class.  Ruth did a great job with the three chairs, although she found that because her stitching was fairly dense she could have used an extra layer of stabilizer on the back.

Not quite finished yet, but well on its way, is Sylvia's leaf.  You can see near the bottom left where she has started adding in the finer veins.  These are really more like thread paintings than thread sketches.

Ruth sent photos after washing out her threads.  Lovely colours!  

Friday night I drove to Kingston to teach at the Stitch by Stitch quilt shop for two days.  They have a wonderfully large classroom that is well-lit by natural light.  On Saturday I taught my Collage Tree class.  You can see the class busy cutting tree bark.

On Sunday I taught my Liberated Strip Piecing class.

Two students actually finished their quilt tops during the class.  This is Allison and her work; I love the movement and wonkiness in the central portion, and I really think this piece would work no matter which way it is turned.

Kiley put her piece, featuring the complementary colours of orange and purple, together quite quickly.  I love that the work is predominantly purple with only small bits of orange, and I like the small light strips she has inserted here and there.

My weekend included cats!  While staying with Betty, I got to schmooze with PITA (whose name stands for "pain in the ass" since he is always there wanting love).  When I came through the door at the end of Saturday, he threw himself at my feet.

He's a handsome young cat

who loves to snuggle, and snuggle we did!  Betty has a second cat, a beautiful white female who is a recent feral rescue, but she was too shy for me to get a good picture of.

Back home my kitties were waiting.  Here's my new Peekaboo.

After some play time she snuggled in the crook of my arm for a nap.

Kissabelle and Peekaboo are getting along fine now, for the most part.  There are occasional spats but most of the time they tolerate each other well.

Yesterday morning it was off to art class, and then during the afternoon I crashed in bed for a while.  This coming Friday I am off again for a teaching trip to Orangeville and the Greater Toronto Area.


8 comments:

  1. Classes looked wonderful Elaine - and lots of great results from your students. Love the cat pictures too!

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  2. What an exciting looking weekend you have had ! LOVE Pita! Tee hee . I had a cat like that once called Clovis, but Pita would have been VERY a propos!

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  3. I'm so glad to hear that Kissabelle and Peekaboo are getting along well now. And what a lucky one you are to get that extra cuddle with PITA. Oh, yes, the class looks like a good one, too.

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    1. Martha, I am indeed a lucky woman to have a Peek-a-Boo!

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  4. Your students' work is beautiful; must be that you're a great teacher. Your cat pictures make me miss my DD kitties.

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    1. Thank you Norma. What about getting a new kitty?

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