ELAINE QUEHL, Quilt Artist, Teacher, Dyer, Designer

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Spring Catch Up and Hitting the Road

Spring has arrived in my part of of the world. Plants are growing and blooming and I've had the snow tires on my car replaced with all season tires.

I know there are other parts of Canada that are unfortunately still experiencing snow. That includes Alberta, where I am heading tomorrow. However, I'll be in Lethbridge, in the southern part of Alberta, near the US border, and it is a bit warmer there so the snowfall is expected to be less than 1 cm. 

Invitations for teaching in 2018 are trickling in, and hopefully I will be able to post a confirmed schedule soon. If you are on the west coast of Canada, there is an opportunity to share travel expenses with a guild in Delta, British Columbia. We are looking at early to mid April 2018. Yes, I will be on the west coast at the end of June to mid July this year, visiting four different groups, but that trip is now full. Should you like to have information about the possibility of me teaching and lecturing for you in 2018 please email me at equehl@hotmail.com.

Friday I will be giving a lecture/trunk show at 2  p.m. at the Galt Museum in Lethbridge, Alberta. The Lethbridge Herald has written a small article talking about the history of quilting in Alberta, and promoting my lecture for Thursday. You can read it here. I'm excited about the 3-day workshop I'll be giving for the Lethbridge Centennial Quilt Guild because every student will be designing their own original nature quilt inspired by a photo they have taken. I will also be teaching a dyeing workshop for the Surface Design Group of Lethbridge.

Speaking of photos, I wanted to share a very positive experience I had this past weekend. But first I'll say this. Once upon a time I had a student in my class who said something like this: "I don't give a shit about copyright, but I sure would be pissed off if someone stole my design". It is hard to reach someone who thinks like that. I want to share a wonderful and positive experience I had today. I received an email from a painter asking for copyright permission to use my photograph (below) of Peggy's Cove, which she found in an on-line search. In fact, she even offered to pay for a high-resolution copy. I granted the copyright permission, sent the high-resolution image, and did not charge her since I am not a professional photographer who makes my living from my photography. However, I was impressed that she asked and did not just take. Copyright issues are something that I try to educate about in my quilt design classes. Students are discouraged from basing their work on the photographs of others unless they have permission from the photographer. If you are new and inexperienced on these matters (as I once was) there are great copyright guildelines on the Canadian Quilters' Association's webpage at this link. https://www.canadianquilter.com/pdf/Copyright.pdf



You won't be surprised that I've been doing a lot of dyeing since I last posted. I have almost achieved my goal of dyeing all the fabric I'll need for the year before heading out on the road. This week's 62 meters (some photos below) is mostly background fabrics for hosta kits and peony kits. They will be ironed upon my return, when I'll also do some dyeing for my upcoming Collage Tree class at Quilt Canada.



Which brings me to this subject. This is a message for local customers, and customers who visit the Ottawa Valley Quilters' Guild's show in May. I know that many are assuming I will be there selling my hand-dyed fabrics from a booth. This is to let you know that I am discontinuing sales of fabric at shows. I am cutting back a bit to save my sanity (and body), and I can't do shows AND have fabric available to support my classes. Also, virtually all shows now require vendors to have liability insurance, which significantly increases the cost of renting a booth at a show. I am not upset about this. I understand why, and it has helped make my decision easier about how to control my volume of work. That doesn't mean you won't be able to purchase my fabrics anymore. You just have to contact me personally to arrange a time and place.

It is probably a good thing that I'm flying to Alberta for 8 days. Our front porch has turned into a nursery with a couple of robins building a nest above the light fixture immediately above our mailbox. Mama robin appears to be waiting to lay her eggs. I simply can't resist the urge to crack open the front door to take a peek (or a photo), so I'm sure the robin family will have more privacy while I'm away. My husband has better self control

More news from Alberta soon.



5 comments:

  1. Your heavy dyeing schedule boggles my mind. I'm glad you are not trying to have a vendor booth at events--just too much. Those lucky people who are looking forward to your coming to teach! I hope all goes well. Teaching people to design their own quilt from their own photo is a great service to students. But your three boats in the harbor picture is a hard one to top! I covet that!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was much more manageable this year Martha because I was home a lot more. Most of the dyeing of kits for the year is now done before hitting the road. The "design your own" is my favorite class to teach because I get to spend more time with students while they get into more depth, and they all come out with something that is uniquely theirs.

      Delete
  2. Safe travels! I am so glad you are teaching art in Lethbridge. When I took the SAQA Trunk Show there in 2015 (Quilt Canada) there were mixed reviews...and the show's local organizer (who didn't see the actual pieces) thought the small works were photographs, "not real quilts". I hope your classes go well and that there is enthusiasm for the studio art quilt as a result!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Margaret,there is tons of enthusiasm in that area for the art quilt. This is a very "with it" group who has done many classes with well-known art quilters.

      Delete
  3. I see an art quilt in Mama Robin's future. Enjoy your trip.

    ReplyDelete

Your posts are important to me. Due to a huge amount of SPAM on my blog recently, I have decided to moderate comments, at least for the time being. Please be patient, your post will be approved as soon as I can get to it.
Elaine