On Again Off Again

I got back on my island on Tuesday night and will get back off it tomorrow afternoon. Then I'll get back on it again next week. On again, off again.

Fun though, I've been spending time with quilters - loosening up some lines. No rulers, no worries, no perfect star points.

Dear old Husqvarna

My first sewing machine - it was my mom's, and she bought the best machine she could find when she got married. It had fancy stitches - you had to change out the cams to produce some of them, and it was green with dark brown knobs and wheels. It would sew through anything! The electric motor finally went on it - my mom sewed a lot , then my sister and me too, and we all used that old Husky. It came in a green tweed hard case with lots of accessories. This is a photo of one just like our old beauty.  I was reminded of this old machine when Lysa posted a picture of a beautiful orange Husqvarna she coveted, and it made me remember all my lovely (and some not so lovely) sewing machines I've had. (I may have a bit of sewing machine acquisition problem- this problem comes and goes).
I think my favourite sewing machine is my current daily driver - a Bernina 1090. I bought it used, purchased a walking foot and a #37 foot (for 1/4 inch seams) and have never looked back.
I had a Bernina 1008 in the late 1990's. It was a basic machine, but a sturdy little work horse. I traded it in years later when I bought a big-dog computerized machine, and the next day regretted my decision to let it go - went back to the store to buy it back and it was already sold!
I enjoyed that big-dog computerized Bernina 200 for it's wide stitch and awesome machine quilting abilities, but was not using it's computer brain to its best advantage so it went on to bigger and better things at Cynthia's house. You should see what she does with it!
I have a semi industrial Bernina (good for curtains and slipcovers) and an industrial Consew with a built in walking foot (good for the really heavy sewing I sometimes do). I bought a Babylock serger a few years ago to finish the seams on some upholstery I was doing, I have mom's old Bernina 830 (she bought it when she passed the old green Husky on to me) and I have an older Bernina 801 that did its time in a school sewing room.

 I have bought and sold many pretty little Singers, old black ones in round wooden boxes or in leather trimmed boxes, I once had a little green one in a cabinet which I gave to a nice young co-worker who had a special talent for sewing. I used to have a Pfaff 130 with the choice of an electric motor or a hand crank. I had that one with me when we sailed down the coast - to repair sails, or just to sew when the urge hit. I sold it to another sailor friend.

I think my next sewing machine will be a treadle, so I can carry on stitching if the power goes out (which it does a few times each winter), otherwise my desire to acquire is dormant.

Do you have a favourite sewing machine?

Spring!

The first day of spring.
I love first days.
Another new year's celebration for those with a short attention span.

I have a pile of bright new solid fabrics all washed and dried and ready to press, ready to inspire, ready to be stripes, ready for whatever...  and ....I have two new classes to design.

1). Epic Skills For The Modern Patchworker - I'd like to teach the basics - so a person can have at their fingertips any technique needed to get their own fabulous designs out into the world. And some finicky stuff, like joining the ends of binding, and making nice mitered corners, easy ways to make good triangles in any size, nestling seam allowances, pressing geek-outs, etc. As time allows, I'll teach specific skills to those wanting to know how to do ... "that"!

2). Improv Quilt for Anybody - This one will be a class for anyone who wants to make a quilt, mixing big pieces of special fabrics (an old favorite shirt? Gran's embroidered linens?) and patchwork bits and other cloth... to plan, cut and piece a unique quilt top. I hope to have experienced quilters who wish to "loosen up" and new quilters who are simply excited by the whole idea of patchwork and its possibilities and people who just want to make a quilt.

Yay for the first day of spring.

Jane's House

I have a few photos of my friend Jane's design wall, taken while she was working through her HouseTop quilts in a couple of my classes.

two blocks and some colour ideas

Jane is a meticulous and methodical sewist, with a refined and particular flair for colour. Her knowledge of quilt history is expansive, and she has collected and sold many antique quilts. She displayed a wonderful array from her collection at the Whistler Valley Quilt Show in 2011.

adding sashing

Jane started her striped HouseTop quilt in a class in June, and brought the work in progress to another class in November, where she started another quilt. Can't wait to see what she'll have next time I see her!

Here it is, sewn together and with one of the borders she has designed sewn on.
 

Jane's neat set-up, and her wee Singer featherweight machine.

Jane started out on a different fabric story with the second quilt in her series. This time she had a contemporary leaf print and worked it up with solids and black.
Working in a series is great, because
all the stuff you learn in the first quilt
gets used in the next quilts, and you build up
a language all your own.

three improvised blocks

playing with layout and filler parts.

In a mad dash to locate lost keys some spilled coffee narrowly misses besmirching the sewn top! A lucky end to two days of hard but fun work.

Hello Dolly!

I haven't done this in a while...

I am off to Vancouver in a few weeks to show a wonderful group of patch-workers how to improvise a row of dolls. In my mind, I  have separated my piecing techniques into three categories: drawing, building and carving. When I "draw" in piecing, I use many strips of varying versions of a similar colour to fill in an area. It is similar to using a pencil on paper to make marks. At least it is to me! The border of this red log cabin quilt felt like drawing to me, (click on the photo to make it bigger) I felt as though I were sketching in the colour, filling it in with strokes form my red pencils. And even though the blocks are "built" from strips, or logs of fabric, because the reds are different stripes, I see them as sketched or drawn portions too.
Building, as I have eluded to, is where I use strips, or chunks, or logs of colours to create shapes by building them up together, and carving is where I take a bigger chunk of fabric (colour) and chop some of it off the make the shape I'm looking for. The dollies are made of building and carving. One makes building materials of fabric to delineate the figure's legs and arms, and carves a dress out of another piece of fabric. Create a head with a hat on it, stick 'em all together and there you have it. Its fun to make ridiculous coloured outfits and use prints that are far too gaudy for clothing to dress them in.

Above is a picture of the first row of dolls I ever did - they were simple and very fun and ended up in a quilt made by the people I worked with at the fabric store. Each of us did a row, then put it together and auctioned it as a fundraiser.

And over here is a detail of a couple of peeps in another quilt I did. I like it when their hands are joined.

Teaching In Town

Well, it's official!
 I'll be teaching the HouseTop class in North Vancouver.
 The Creative Edge Quilting & Sewing store in North Vancouver is offering my class on March 13 & 27. I'll do an afternoon session from 10:30am - 1:30pm and an evening session at 6pm - 9pm for those folks who can't make it during the day. I'm really looking forward to teaching in a store again. Its so good to be able to pop out of the classroom and pick up an extra bit of fabric or a new sharp blade for your rotary cutter.

mini HouseTop quilt

Speaking of stores, the Creative Edge is just lovely. Its stocked right up with great fabrics- clean graphic prints, plenty of solids, some nice kids prints and lots of batiks, and they also carry Bernina sewing machines. Maureen and Lauren who were both working in the store the day I popped in were full of creative energy for quilting and we had a fun visit, relaxing and chatting over a cup of delicious chocolate tea. I noticed one of Linda Sharp's pieces on the wall too! You never know where genius fabric artists will show their stuff...

The store's digits are:
Creative Edge Quilting & Sewing | 2065 Old Dollarton Road | 604-982-0088 | Tues.- Sat. 10 -5 Sunday 12-4 | North Vancouver, B.C. | V7H 1A6 | Canada

HouseTops in colour!

Here are the beautiful HouseTop quilts made by my brilliant students from Whistler, back in November. The fabrics brought to class were as varied as the women who came, and the quilts were unique as well! Some people like to work on the straight and narrow, and some are comfortable with a lot of variation, some love lots of colour and some keep it close. Have a look at the quilt tops, made in two days of hard work, with everybody playing by the same rule book. Brilliant, yes?!

Using beloved colours- matching luggage!

 

 

Nice sashing

Christmasy colours

Traditional prints with polka dots!

playing with line

limited colour palette. beautiful!

This is the second quilt in a series, nice and loose!

one student's very first quilt!