A Couple of Shows and All Things Dyed

This past weekend was our annual National Juried Show and conference put on by the Canadian Quilters' Association. My hosta bud quilt, "Rise" was in the show this year, after several years of not entering due to not having any new show-worthy work. I have managed to enter a few shows this year because I made new work early in the year, in preparation for my show in Spain, and also because I'm carrying a bit lighter load of teaching these days. The show this year was held in Vancouver. Next year's will be here in Ottawa, where I live. If you click on the high-lighted links in the above text you can see all the award winners and more information about the show. Thank you to Tracy Brittain Loyek of Purple Katz Quilts, and many others who shared photos.

The quilt to my right is by Leslie Forbes of Osoyoos, BC. I think she has very successfully captured an Okanagan Valley feel with her vineyard quilt.

The quilt immediately to my left is by Millie Cumming of Fergus, Ontario.

While that show was happening, I was in Montreal teaching at Courtepoint Quebec's Salon 2018. This is Quebec's provincial show. Not all of my classes filled, but my Intro Dyeing class did. Montreal was in the midst of a heatwave when I arrived on Friday night, and everyone at the show looked wilted and HOT! Fortunately things cooled down a bit for my Saturday class.

Last week I decided to dye myself some new garments. I found a few dress blanks and scarf blanks in my basement that I had  purchased from Dharma Trading Company some time back. I'm pretty pleased with these two dresses. The one on left is short enough that it looks really nice with white leggings. I used elastic bands to bind various round objects in different sizes. I miscalculated a bit on the amount of dye powder and ended up with grey instead of black, but I am really starting to love grey in my wardrobe so I am happy with it. The dress on the right is in that currently popular colour that I would describe as gold? It was first dyed gold using a low water immersion method, and then wrapped on a pole and immersion dyed.

I tried the same circle idea on a velvet scarf. The dress to the right and the two scarves below were my first attempts this time around. While I love the indigo blue colour, I am not that thrilled with the way the circles fall on the dress to the right.

And while I was looking for simplicity for these scarves, one single circular motif on each end doesn't seem enough for me. Maybe because the contrast is so strong. I do love the colours though.

 The last couple of weeks I also got immersed in dyeing the palette for my garlic quilt. See my May 11, 2018 blog post for photos of the garlic that I find so inspiring. I am really happy with the palette I've produced in the left photo. In the photo to the right, the reddish colours near the back of the photo were also dyed for this project. The 3 fabrics furthest right are too pink, so they will go to my store. In the middle of this photo, and the one below, are the fabrics that I've pulled from my stash that may work in this quilt.

 

This month will be a quieter month for me. I am spending some days planning a commission proposal, and writing an article (more information on that later). I'm also having a bit of dental surgery and wanted that in a quiet month when I wouldn't need to talk too much ;-)

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.

What's Up? What's Coming Up?

I cleaned up my studio, cleared the decks, and got back to work quilting the pieces I made this past winter!

But then I learned that my website had been hacked! What ensued was a frustrating week of fumbling in unfamiliar territory, a lot of calls to my web hosting company, and learning things I never hoped or expected to learn. The end result is that the problem seems finally to be resolved.

I've also been experimenting with brown dyes. My favorite Chino brown dye colour from G&S Dye has changed so much that I had to go shopping for something that might be similar. I ordered 6 different browns from Dharma, expecting that Brazil Nut would be just the ticket (stack on left), but it turns out that Bronze is very close to my old Chino. You can see it in the fabrics in centre and on right. I'm a happy camper to find such a good likeness of Chino on only my second try.

My main reason for writing today is to share details of some workshops I have coming up this fall.

I will be giving a lecture and workshop to the Region of York Quilters' Guild in Newmarket, Ontario  on October 25 and 26.

In addition, I'll be teaching two workshops for The Quilt Store in Newmarket, Ontario:

On October 31 I'll be teaching Liberated Radial Piecing. You will learn how to create a radial design similar to mine while using improv cutting and piecing methods.

On November I will be teaching an Introduction to Fabric Dyeing. In this class you will learn about colour by dyeing a 12 step colourwheel using only three dye colours. You will have a choice between a bright colourwheel

or an earthy colourwheel.

In addition, you will learn how I dye my multi-coloured fabrics.

If you've always wanted to learn how to dye fabric, or if you are curious about how I obtain my saturated colours, this is a great opportunity for those of you who live in or near the Greater Toronto Area.

On the weekend of December 1- 3 I will be teaching my "In Full Bloom" class in a retreat format at Inspired Getaways in Arnprior, Ontario. You will have a choice of either my peony pattern or my poppy pattern. You can bring your own fabric or purchase a kit of hand-dyed fabrics from me. Treat yourself to a fun and productive weekend with all meals provided.

Kits available for the peony in pink.

Kits available for the poppy in either red or blue.

If designing your own botanical art quilt appeals to you, I'll be offering my "Inspired by Nature, Designed by You" class in a retreat format the weekend of May 10-13, 2018. Check out some of the amazing quilts some of my students have created in previous classes here or here.

Christine Earl designed this lovely trillium quilt in the class I taught in London, Ontario.