A Teaching Trip & What's New?

I would have to say that winter is upon us! It's a great time for getting in the studio and getting things done.

Look at what arrived in the mail last week! A copy of my friend Anna Hergert's new Inspiration Kantha book. I will be delving into the book in more detail shortly and will be posting a review of it. I must say that I love the look of Kantha stitches, and think they would be a fantastic way to use my embroidery-weight hand-dyed threads!!

Just returning from a teaching trip (more on that in a minute), and recovering from a cold I caught while on said teaching trip, I've been working on finally getting my peony quilt quilted. I am teaching how to make this quilt (the other choice is Sunkissed Poppy) at a three-day retreat at Inspired Getaways December 1-3. I think there are  a couple of spaces available, so should you be interested, do check the website at http://inspiredgetaways.ca/. I even have hand-dyed kits available for you. All you need is a few supplies, like fusible web. You stay there for the three days, with all meals provided so you can focus on completing the quilt. I'll be doing a follow-up retreat in May 2018 where students get to design their own nature quilt.

So I had a lovely little trip to New York State and a visit with the Champlain Valley Quilters Guild of New York. Such a warm and welcoming group. I delivered a talk to them on the Wednesday night, and then on Thursday we worked with Tsukineko Inks and Inktense Pencils.

This group was really focused and wanted to experiment too, so I learned a lot from them.

It was really fun and interesting to have this mother-son team in the class. Kevin has an art background and is interested in taking his art to fabric.

After my time with the guild, I headed south to Poughkeepsie to visit a friend. She was sick with a cold when I arrived, and I had just started with mine. On my first day I took a drive around town, and did a bit of shopping. Poughkeepsie has many lovely old residences and buildings, and is situated in the beautiful Hudson River Valley. This tree stopped me in my tracks, and I had to turn my car around to get a photo. Isn't it stunning?

 

Since my friend and I were both ill, I decided to head home a bit early. Good thing because my cold really hit the next day. Peekaboo was waiting for me, and was on my lap within moments of being home. She spent a lot of time there while I got better.

When I finish stitching the peony quilt, I'll be starting in on some new designs. Stay tuned!

Two Visits to Newmarket, Ontario

On Thursday night I returned from a week-long teaching trip that saw me visit Newmarket, Ontario twice, with a weekend off in between two separate bookings. I decided to head to Newmarket a day ahead of my booking, and had a chance to enjoy a walk around Fairy Lake Conservation Area on a beautiful fall day.

I also had an opportunity to explore the historic main street lined with charming shops and restaurants.

I stopped for coffee at this funky little coffee shop called Covernotes.

That night I gave a lecture/trunk show to the Region of York Quilters' Guild. Patti Carey (of Northcott Fabrics fame) was in the audience and kindly brought this quilt she designed with my first line of Northcott fabric, "Falling Leaves". 

The following day I gave a Hosta Leaves workshop to a group of quilters who seemed also to be gardeners and hosta lovers.

Evelyn was the first one finished.

After my workshop I headed to Waterloo, where I visited my sister, and had a chance to check up on my 93 year old father who has been living in long-term care for the last year and a half. Yes, I know I look so much like him! But I also look like my maternal grandmother too.

This is "Foxy", the cat that lives at his residence.

I spent the weekend in Waterloo, and then headed back to Newmarket on Monday, where I taught two workshops for The Quilt Store. This is Denise and I getting masked up before mixing our dyes on Day 1. It also happened to be Halloween, so we thought these masks would make a great Facebook post.

On Wednesday I taught my Liberated Radial Piecing workshop.

We had the pleasure of having Amy, a rescue German Shepherd in our class. Amy has a bit of a foot injury, so Heather thought bringing her to class might help with her depression. Sue, on the right was the only person who came to all three of my classes (at the guild as well as the store). She is also a member of the very organized and welcoming team that brought me to The Region of York Quilters' Guild.

Janet's piece.

Within minutes of arriving home on Thursday night Peekaboo was on my lap, and she has been there every opportunity she could find for the past few days.

Thank you Newmarket, both the Quilters' Guild and The Quilt Store, for your warm hospitality.

Autumn Sights

Last week and this week I've been in Newmarket, Ontario, teaching for the Region of York

Quilters' Guild and the Quilt Store. I am heading home tomorrow and will blog about my teaching adventures in the next few days. Prior to leaving for Newmarket, I started this blog post to share some inspiration. I am also sharing these photos because they were taken with my Samsung phone! Sometimes students tell me that they can't come to my "design your own" classes because they don't have a good phone and they aren't a photographer. I am here to tell you that the cameras on smart phones are getting better and better! More and more I am relying on my smart phone so I don't have to schlepp that heavy DSLR camera around everywhere.

I took these hosta photos outside a bakery a few kilometers from my home. 

Just look at the amazing curl in the drying leaves!!

 

The top edge of this one is dried and decaying and looks like lace folded over the still-vibrant part of the leaf.

Just before I left for Newmarket, the sumac leaves were flaming red! This is one of my favorite sights in autumn, especially when the leaves are back-lit, as these area. Again, taken with my cell phone camera

Two weeks ago I enjoyed a beautiful autumn day in Gatineau Park. This tree photo seems to express, to me, the joy I felt on being in the woods that day. Is this not a happy looking tree?

 

During the walk in the woods, I found more curled leaves. I wonder if this look could be recreated in a quilt?