Happy Thanksgiving Weekend everyone!!

Can YOU believe that it is THANKSGIVING weekend? I am sitting here after a hard day at work - retail is getting tough now with all of the impact that the economic trends have taken... we are blessed to be here in Canada where the economic health of our Country has not yet been severely crippled by the US troubles, though I can surely see that many of my friends and colleagues are trimming back, not travelling quite so much, and being cautious about expenditures. I will be working both Sunday and Monday of the Holiday weekend and straight through until Wednesday and then have four glorious fall days OFF! So Happy Thanksgiving to all of you who will be home enjoying family - think of me and have a turkey sandwich for me, too!

I am afraid the registrations for my dearest FIBREWORKS KINGSTON Weekend Workshops are just trickling in and we need to support Fibreworks and Hilary Scanlon's mission to bring the best and brightest Instructors for us to study with if this important academic and creativity series is to be there for us in years to come. This coming weekend is the exciting workshop with KIT VINCENT, Brockville Area Designer and Fibre Artist and I for one cannot wait to have 12 concentrated study hours with Kit ... and yes, I know that many of you will be heading off to the Creative Festival in Toronto for a good dose of shopping, but if you are NOT - please consider spending this next weekend with Kit. I have added an example of her beautiful work "RIVER'S EDGE" at the top right header on this blog and it will stay there to inspire you, perhaps to come spend the weekend of October 17-19th with Kit and see this quilter's work in person. River's Edge is a beautiful and moving contemporary composition which Kit created with her own hand-dyed fabrics. I love the colour, the movement and the intentional focus on the portrayal of the water, the shoreline, and the colours of the Thousand Islands in Summer...beautiful. Kit has recently sent this quilt off to be included in a wonderful Exhibition in Columbus, Ohio, only one of a very few stellar examples of the best Art Quilts in North America. Kit will be teaching at QUILT TAHOE in November - and you could have the opportunity to study with her FIRST!!! Contact Donna Hamilton, Fibreworks Associate Coordinator and Registrar at fibreworks@cogeco.ca for more information and to register for the QUILTS BY DESIGN workshop with Kit.

The students in the Design for Textiles course at St. Lawrence College have been gathering in our favourite Room 12050 for four weeks now, with some great experimentation in design work being demonstrated by this small group of outstanding friends and students (10)... Three new students have joined in on the classroom fun, while three others work hard to complete their Textile Design Diploma requirements. This past week we saw some amazing efforts in creating cut-work squares - working from the inside out in positive/negative explorations. Creative paint work with COLOUR VIE paints have given the students some play time, and we have even done some discharge work with Lysol "Bathroom Cleaner with Bleach" as the discharge agent - a product which was a great discovery at the Jane Dunnewold full week workshop Margaret Morris, Sandy Garner and I attended in June 2008. Try using a small amount of the bathroom cleaner in a squeeze bottle with a metal writing tip for adding great text to your discharge work... or use a sponge brush to add a light layer to your favourite stamps...use a rubber banded brayer to roll on a layer of the bleach product across your work, or use Shibori technique to fold your fabrics for special effects and use a sponge brush to dab on the bleach cleaner, or dip edges directly into the product... JUST WATCH YOUR FABRIC carefully... this product "develops" onto the black cotton or rayon very quickly and you can "lose your design" very fast if you are not watching! Sponging, stenciling and dripping the cleaner onto your fabric are just a few more ways to use this unusual product for fabric art. Consider joining us in the January - April term for more design play. Watch for the Winter term Course listings online at Sl.on.ca and come enjoy 12 weeks of good fun with friends.

When you have a chance this weekend, take a few minutes and spend them with our own Kingston area Fibre Artist, PHILLIDA HARGREAVES, at her newly launched website at http://www.phillidahargreaves.ca/ Phillida has designed a wonderful gallery based site that will help you navigate through her beautiful new work including her amazing Fossil Series, Trees Series and Ice Series. Please do make time to visit and have a good look through the site, the opportunities Phillida offers you to add her outstanding and dynamic work to your personal Fibre Art Collection and for news of upcoming events where you can see Phillida's quilts and embroideries. I particularly love her Moss pieces and find the irregular shapes, the hugely focused attention to realistic design and colour collaboration and her unique and beautiful mounded embroidery stitches inspirational and very, very special. Explore the site and be sure to see Phillida's work next in the Kingston Fibre Artist's exhibition during the month of November at the John M. Parrott Gallery, Belleville Public Library. Email me for a copy of the invitation or scroll down and see it below in another entry here on my blog.

Hoping that you will have time this weekend for some time off. Curl up in front of a first fall fire to watch a good movie with family and friends, catch some of your favorite sports teams (I am watching the Boston RED SOX as they pursue a 2008 trip to the World Series - they will win their series against the Rays this next week and then the excitement begins for sure!) Needless to say I am a huge New England Patriots fan and as always, Red Sox baseball keeps me watching fall TV broadcasts and listening to the radio whenever I can. Have a great weekend and make time for stitching.

One last thought - just in case you have room for one ART-Focused free weekend in November - please consider committing that weekend as that of November 14-16th and dedicate your creative design personal time to CATHY BREEDYK LAW , who will be the guest Lecturer/Instructor for FIBREWORKS KINGSTON's second Weekend Workshops Series for 2008-09 and will bring her innate playful quilt design style into the classroom for one exciting weekend. Find a friend or two and come play! This weekend will offer you the opportunity to use up all of those bright and funky fabrics in your stash and take an opportunity to design a new original design for a quilt that can be well on it's way to "exhibition ready" status at the end of two days with this dynamic Instructor. Cathy will also be sharing her exciting framing technique with her students, and you don't want to miss out on that! Hope you will join in on the fun.

FIBREWORKS Weekends coming fast now...are you registered?

Just a reminder to pick up your 2008-2009 FIBREWORKS KINGSTON Weekend Workshops Flyer at a local Quilt Shop or email Donna Hamilton, Registrar, for a copy at fibreworks@cogeco.ca

Kit Vincent from Brockville is presenting her QUILTS BY DESIGN workshop, along with a great Lecture and Trunk Show on Friday evening, October 17th at St. Lawrence College, in the Auditorium (near the Cafeteria, entre main doors) , 7 pm. $5 at the door.

Her two-day workshop will be in Room 12050 in the Link Hallway, Admin. Wing, Upper Level at St. Lawrence College on Saturday and Sunday, October 18/19th, 9:30-4 pm. Registration is $110. The college is located on Portsmouth Av at King St. in beautiful Kingston, Ontario. What a great time to come to Kingston for a fall visit!

ing this fun-filled Landscape Quilt weekend with Cathy. She is a dynamic and exciting Instructor who shares all she knows with her students. The framing options Cathy hs developed for mounting work is a great addition to this weekend workshop... don't miss it!

Cathy's workshop is $110.00 and includes the Friday evening Lecture.

Please plan to attend both of these Lectures. $5 at the door for those not attending the weekend workshops. Please come and bring friends.

Kingston is so blessed to have Hilary Scanlon, FIBREWORKS Coordinator and Donna Hamilton Registrar and Associate Coordinator, continuing to bring these workshop weekend opportunities for us. Take advantage of the outstanding learning opportunities and convince a friend to come along for double the fun!

FALL ARRIVES... and colour is all around us.

Seems that my goal of posting almost daily is NOT going to be a reality, and that is just fine with me. I have lots to tell you about every day, but my timeline for just settling down at the computer has been interrupted by STITCHING! A huge Hooray for time to do just that. This fall there are some pressing time lines that are taking up my "free time" like preparing for classroom Instruction at St. Lawrence College's DESIGN FOR TEXTILES Course, and the upcoming Kingston Fibre Artist's Show at the John M. Parrott Gallery at the Belleville Public Library during the month of November, my entry for the Alliance for the American Quilt Fundraiser, and making some Fibre Art Postcards for Virginia Spiegel's fundraiser for the Cancer Society that have to go to Houston for October.

This past weekend I had the terrific opportunity to share in Hilary Scanlon's seat (Thank you, Hilary for letting us all know the weekend workshops seat was available) at the QUILTFEST weekend at the Frontenac Cultural Centre, Kingston (a great facility for this type of retreat) along with a hundred or so other avid quilters and stitchers. The weekend was great fun and it was wonderful to see many old friends from Belleville, Napanee, Brockville, Ottawa and beyond, and spend time with many close friends from Kingston. I was privileged to spend some time in the COLOUR and quilt making classes that JOEN WOLFROM shared with students on Saturday and Sunday. Joen has been an huge inspiration to me over MANY long years, and it was fun to meet her in persona and see that she is just a normal, quilt loving and time crunching lady like all the rest of us....you know we get these images of our idols in mind that have them way up there on a pedestal and larger than life. Well, Joen is not like that at all. She walks and talks like us, has all of the same frustrations with finding just the right fabric, makes some design mistakes and stitching errors and yes, has to pick out seams from time to time. She doesn't use any big fancy machines, and has a stash that fits in a bedroom closet very compactly... no overflowing baskets of every imaginable colour that spans several decades for Joen. She USES what she buys and says that "fat quarters are my purchase of choice, as they are enough to offer me lots of variety and a background square up to 16" if I need one" and she is very happy with making "colour wheel" choices a large part of her shopping mantra. She bought a fat quarter or two when she was here, and two simply beautiful brown and green "sunflower" fabrics while visiting The Quilters Choice and The Perfect Stitch. All of the weekend retreat participants were invited on a mini-Shop Hop Saturday evening after classes finished.

Joen shared the magic of her " 3-in-1 COLOR TOOL" and I have a whole new respect for this wonderful little colour card system. The system is small and will fit nicely into a tote or handbag and is a must have for all of you who use the selection of a palette of colour as an important part of the design process in your studio or sewing space. I will keep this tool in the glove box of my car when on a shopping trip, and in my tote bag if heading off to a conference or Quilt Show. This tool offers us the options of shopping with EXACT colour matches to the fibre industry colours used the the print process and will help beginning as well as experienced quilters to have the work they produce appeal to their viewer both professionally and emotionally. Did you know that colour plays the MOST important role in what a viewer "sees" in your quilts? I have seen the reaction to colour make a huge impact on quilters and visitors to the recent KFPL Kingston Fibre Artists Show and amazing Quilts Kingston 2008 Show at Portsmouth Olympic Harbour this past May. Walking into the shows, the most colourful quilts instantaneously "draw" the visitors, and yet the subtle and intense colour palettes planned by the artist/quiltmaker to "share a story" are the most impressive and draw the most comments. Take the time to STUDY COLOUR... with an expert or on your own. Joen's outstanding books The Magical Effects of Color, COLORPLAY and Visual Colouring are still available. There will likely be lots of copies in the Kingston area after this past weekend. Ask your favourite Quilt Shop to order a copy for you or write to Joen at JOEN WOLFROM DESIGNS, 104 Bon Bluff, Fox Island, Washington USA 98333 or visit her website at http://www.joenwolfromdesigns.com/ for more information about obtaining her books and products.

I chose a switch into Joen's Sunday "Sashay Around The Block" pieced quilt class as a need to glean every bit of knowledge from her was my motivating idea. We didn't get very far - a quilt block apiece was the most I saw anyone complete, but it was a good start at honing new skills in coordination of colour palettes, the defining of scale and colour balance, and a new confidence in selecting a scheme that would make your quilt"sing" for the viewer. There were several other exciting options for all of the quilters participating, and a huge THANK YOU to Margaret, Adriana, Shelly and Karen for their hard work planning the event. Great friends, great food and lots of fun...

This coming Friday, I plan to attend the first "PARLOUR MEETING" of the local and distance Ontario members of the STUDIO ART QUILT ASSOCIATES group.Cathy Breedyk Law has invited the ON members group to meet together to get in some networking time and to allow us to get to know each other better. SAQA is a world-wide group based in the US that has the mission of preparing contemporary quilters to exhibit their work on the National and International stage around the world - a scary and foreboding challenge for some quilters, and yes, one that will take some nudging and confidence building for others. The opportunity for quilters to meet together, share ideas, planning options for self-promotion, establishment of networking with other quilters in Canada and around the world. I have loved collecting the PORTFOLIO 13 and PORTFOLIO 14 exhibition catalogues of beautiful quilts from SAQA exhibitions, and the DVD/Cd's that the organization offers on their website http://www.saqa.com/ and these books do inspire creativity and colour choices, offer insight into the wide world of of art quilting and give you some pleasure as you visit these outstanding collections of quilts at your leisure. Consider the option of joining this International group that will afford you exposure to quilters from around the world, the opportunity to learn and grow as the outstanding members and SAQA exhibitions share a world of information and insight into the growing phenomenon of Art Quilts. This is an excellent option for those who just want to be a part of the inspiration and information sharing (four great Journals received each year as a part of the $50 USD annual membership/ $110 USD for a professional artists membership which gives you website presence on the SAQA website.

Well, back to the vacuum cleaning, dog brushing and heading off for another four days of work before Friday's fun day, and I look forward to lots of sunshine all week long. Enjoy this first day of fall, and think AUTUMN when pulling fabrics for your next quilt... hoping to see LOTS of little maple leaf blocks at the Limestone Quilters Guild meeting "Block of the Month" display... I will make several as they are just 9 1/2" and good, easy fun to piece. Email Mary Waugh for a copy of the pattern.

Have a fun and productive day and coming week. Enjoy classes, make quilts and EXPLORE COLOUR.

Storms this week will not dampen the spirit of stitchers

Good Monday Morning everyone...
The clouds are screaming in all around us here in Kingston and yes, we will see the remnants of IKE this day - a hugely serious storm that has affected many of my friends from the QUILTART List and the International Quilt Festival crown including Karey Bresnehan who is the Founder of the Festival in Houston each year. Good wishes for a speedy clean-up and return to some semblance of regular day to day life to all...and yes, we are feeling the pinch of the gas price increases here in Kingston. Yesterday, $139.9 and growing. Please don't forget with all of this doom and gloom that we have wonderful friends and skills to lean on in difficult times. Call a friend today, make some great stitches into a small quilt that has been languishing on a shelf or get to the sewing machine and create ART! Take time to make a special dinner for your family today - maybe start the fall season with an old favorite soup recipe and use up some of the things in the freezer!

This morning is the opening Fall 2008 meeting of the Cataraqui Guild of Needle Arts - the local Embroiderers Guild, and I will be going to re-join this group of avid stitchers. A "next step" on my journey to re-claiming my former life when hand stitchery was a part of my every day life, and time was more precious and available to me. I have made some small strides toward "retirement" and hope that soon the reality of being home all day and doing what I want and need to do will actually be a part of my life. I look forward to seeing old and new friends this morning and getting into the swing of spending first and third Monday mornings at Edith Rankin Church on Bath Road in Kingston. Come join in on the fun. Keep in mind that the Guild is working very quickly now to host the National Seminar of the Canadian Embroiderers Association - May 2009 I believe, at St. Lawrence College. Membership is around $80 for the year and includes membership in the National organization and the receipt of four issues of their Newsletter/magazine. The meetings run from 9:30-3:30 with stitchers sharing brown bag lunch break and some "learning time" with a lesson in a particular stitch each meeting, afternoons with a dedicated class chosen by stitchers who wish to participate, or just time to stitch among friends. Come play...

Good News... our DESIGN FOR TEXTILES course at St. Lawrence College is up and running with nine students - THANK YOU to everyone who decided to come out and join us. This will be a very productive and enlightening term for students in Janice Van Dijk's Photography Courses, Tine Barnes/Zahra Husain's Silk Painting Course, Beth Abbott's Fibre course on Tuesday evenings and our Thursday night Design Program. This is really good news for our stitching community! Special thanks to Barb Rushton, Denise Sokolsky and Seymone Armostrong for sticking with the program and heading very quickly now toward their graduation. Huge Hooray.... and we will be experimenting with all sorts of great techniques this fall, including design elements in black and white, some stitching of Journal covers for small written records kept during this 12 week adventure with design, the creation of "deconstructed screen printed" cloth and more complex layering techniques and some collage work which is always a fast and exciting process.

Don't forget that FIBREFEST Kingston will be running this coming weekend at the FRONTENAC CULTURAL CENTRE at 711 Dalton Ave., Kingston. This weekend of quilting is sponsored by our local shops, The Quilters Choice, The Perfect Stitch, Wilton Creek Fabrics and Garden Thyme. Registration is still available and you can contact the registrar, Karen McGee at kmagee5@sympatico.ca for more information. The Lecture with Joen Wolfrom is Friday evening at 7 pm, $25 at the door or register at the shops mentioned above. Hope to see you there.

Now off to Guild and work and then a week watching the skies... the storms are headed right over us, and the blue skies this morning may be deceiving us into a lull of complicity. Here is hoping the forecasters are wrong and we will be in "fall season" which is a cherished right of passage for many of us!

Happy Monday..

THREADWORKS SHOW IS IN GANANOQUE

Rainy Sunday in Kingston - is this the tail end of Gustav or a touch of Hannah??? Well - one way or the other, it was a great day for a little SETACOLOR Transparent painting, and I love creating fabric, no matter what the weather. Not a good day for sunprinting, but the backgrounds I painted were wonderful and I can always use some beautiful pastels. I painted two book covers as well. One of the great things I have discovered since purchasing my JANOME 6600 is the many pieces I have been working up to practice using the new machine for free motion quilting are just wonderful painted AFTER the stitching! So much fun to add the layers of colour and see the raised surfaces accept the paints. Wetting the fabrics first makes the paint a bit more pastel, and painting the surfaces DRY mean deeper and more saturated colour. Try this technique with some of your free motion quilting samples. Most of us have a closet full from great workshops with teachers like Elaine Quehl.

Speaking of Elaine, she will be just one of the great teachers at QUILTFEST which is sponsored by The Perfect Stitch, The Quilters Choice, Wilton Creek Fabrics and Garden Thymes the weekend of Sept 19-21st. The festivities and classes will be held at the French High School on Dalton Ave beginning with a Friday evening, September 19th Lecture at 7 pm with JOEN WOLFROM, renowned American Colour Expert and Designer of Quilts. Classes are still registering, so check with your favorite Quilt Shop and see if there is still room for you in one or more of the classes.

Dale took me for a ride to Gananoque yesterday, one of the little treats associated with having four days off after working the Labour Day Holiday. The traveling show of the Ontario Network of Needleworkers, THREADWORKS, which was originally shown at the Wellington County Museum in May of 2007 has finally come for it's two month long stay at the Arthur Child Heritage Museum of the Thousand Islands. The Show opened on August 28th and will be at the Museum until the end of October. It was wonderful to walk through the sharing of some of the best Art Quilts, Framed Embroideries, soft sculpture, wearables and more created by members of the Ontario Network of Needleworkers... and 15 of the pieces are from members of the Kingston Fibre Artists Group, so very special to see those again. TINA BARNES wonderful Labyrinth piece has been sold since it arrived in Gananoque...a beautiful piece in Tina's series of Labyrinth works.

There is also a great exhibit of local Gananoque heritage textiles including a terrific collection of ladies undergarments, very interesting multiples of generations of dresses, quilts, tapestry, men's garments, baby clothes and more. The entry to the Museum is $5 and you are free to visit the THREADWORKS exhibit and all of the three floors of the Museum as well - a good investment. And be sure to think about making time for a cruise on the Gananoque Boat Lines - this is a perfect time of year to tour the St. Lawrence River and see the beautiful gardens still in bloom and the Bolt Castle which is now nearing completion of it's latest renovation phases.

For those of you who haven't registered for the classes I mentioned in my August 5th post...you might consider one last look online at SL.ON.CA - the website of the St. Lawrence College. Check for Part Time Studies, Kingston Campus, Creative/Fine Arts, Textile Design Program. I am offering a one time, $100 scholarship to the one student who's name is drawn on the first night of the Textile Design Course if we can get the course numbers needed to run the class... there were only four students as of Friday, August 5th. The magic number is 10 students for the course to be a "go", so for those who might read this and register tonight, August 7th online or tomorrow, August 8th and help us get this class off the ground (contact the college, 613-544-5400, ext. 60) for the three students who need the course to graduate, I will draw one name from the registrants today or tomorrow and that person will receive $100 of her $198.16 tuition back in cash from me... a good incentive to join us - but above all, the opportunity to come along and take the class which is design focused with a group of friends is the best incentive. be sure to email me at garner@kingtson.net if you register tomorrow so I include your name in the draw.

Thanks for checking in and do come back often.

Fall winds blow as free time allows for NEW WORK

Good Friday morning everyone... great sunshine and high winds are creating a good day for drying some knitted and fulled work I have been experimenting with. A couple of days off this week's end will allow me to refresh and refocus for new work - Hooray for time off!

Looks like my TEXTILE DESIGN course at St. Lawrence College will NOT BE A GO this fall, and while I am disappointed that more women in our area are not keen to come learn the basics of design and create new fibre work, this is an opportunity to me to have an extra evening each week to prepare new work for the upcoming KINGSTON FIBRE ARTISTS SHOW at the John M. Parrott Gallery at the new Belleville Public Library during the month of November 2008. This will be an exciting display of the work of this outstanding group of Fibre Arts professionals and we welcome two new members this fall, SANDRA GARNER and DENISE SOKOLSKY who will be sharing some of their most dynamic textile work as a part of our exhibition.

Today I promised Hilary Scanlon, FIBREWORKS KINGSTON Co-Ordinator to include some announcements about Fibreworks Weekend Workshops that are scheduled for the 2008-2009 Season. Fibreworks is a passion for me, as I had been involved as Associate Coordinator for eleven years before asking this fall to pass the torch to Donna Hamilton, new Fibreworks Registrar and Associate Coordinator. Donna will do a hugely effective job in her new role, and I ask you to join me in welcoming her to this fun-filled job!

This Fall two outstanding LOCAL ARTISTS, Catharina Breedyk Law from Perth, Ontario and Kit Vincent, a Studio Artist from Brockville will share the roster for Workshop Instructors of renown! I hope that you will read the information about their courses below, and consider QUICKLY a registration for each of their workshops! In the spring, Fibreworks welcome Dorothy Caldwell from Hastings, ON and Greta Kristiansen-Jacobs from Picton - two outstanding and highly respected Fibre Artists who will share their unique teaching style in two day workshops you will NOT want to miss. REGISTER EARLY for all of these wonderful workshop study opportunities!

BETTER QUILTS BY DESIGN, Kit Vincent, Instructor

October 17-19, 2008

St. Lawrence College, Room 12050, Upper Level in the Link Hallways, Admin. Wing

Lecture, Friday evening, October 17th, 7 pm, $5 at the door (for students, lecture fee is included)

Workshop Fee: $110 for two full working days in the classroom with Kit and her Friday evening Lecture

Description: This two-day workshop is packed full of information about colour and design. On the first day students will work with a unique colour finder tool that I use daily in my work. They will experiment and practice using colour, making several small fabric postcards. On the second day, they will assemble an original art quilt using fabric collage techniques borrowed from the fine arts world. Students will leave with a larger quilt top underway and several mock up compositions for future use.

The Artist: Kit Vincent constructs textile paintings using fabrics that she has patterned with a variety of surface design processes. These surfaces are then heavily thread painted with machine stitching and/or hand embroidery. Her work has appeared in numerous shows in Canada, the US and overseas.

Recently, her work was on view at the Sarah Sterkin Gallery in Gananoque, the Chameleon Nation Gallery in downtown Kingston, the Museum of Contemporary Textiles in Montreal and through the Ontario Crafts Council website. Kit is also a sought after teacher who enjoys exploring as many fibre-related techniques and materials as she can and sharing these with her students. Visit Kit`s website at http://www.kitvincent.com/

THE LANDSCAPE QUILT, Catharina Breedyk Law, Instructor
November 14-16, 2008
St. Lawrence College, Room 12050, Upper Level, Link Hallway, Admin. Wing
Course Fee: $110, includes two workshop days with Cathy and her Friday evening Lecture

Description: Let us enjoy the creation of a Landscape Quilt, manipulating colour to give our designs some ZING. Whenever I am in a playful mood or it is a dreary day, it is really fun to pull out bright fabrics, bring out all of my threads, beads I own and play with graphic shapes to design a landscape quilt. In this course, we will experiment with colour, shapes, machine applique, free motion quilting, beading, bobbin work including silk ribbon and curved piecing. Also, you will learn how to frame your work on a wooden stretcher. Come play, and learn to stretch your boundaries.

The Artist: Catharina Breedyk Law is a teacher who happily retired to be able to wallow in her passion, fibre art. Sewing since she was a child, and taking a variety of classes, Cathy discovered that it was an ÀHA moment when she found this art form. Sewing, fibre, painting, drawing, beading, digital photography. tailoring techniques, free motion quilting and embroidery all combine in her process of creating art. Cathy moved to Perth area recently, where her husband built her the studio she always wanted. Here she teaches what she has discovered, and it gives her great joy to pass along to others what she has learned. Cathy`s work has won many awards and is presently exhibited in several galleries. Visit Cathy`s website at: http://www.catharinabreedkklaw.com/

HUMAN MARKS, Dorothy Caldwell, Instructor

March 6-8, 2009

St. Lawrence College, Room 12050, Upper level, Link Hallway, Admin. Wing

Course Fee: $120, includes two workshop days with Dorothy and her Friday evening Lecture

Description: The marks we make record time and human energy. Working with paper and cloth, students in this workshop will examine different kinds of marks including stitching, resist and batik, discharge, drawn and painted marks and more unconventional marks such as burning, piercing and mending. Each of these will address a different aspect of physical movement and gesture that through time and repetition evolve into richly activated surfaces.

The Artist: Dorothy Caldwell is a graduate of Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia and lives and maintains a studio in Hastings, Ontario. She has carried out research in Japan and India on textile traditions and is the recipient of grants and awards including the Bronfman Award. her work is included in many permanent collections including the Canadian Museum of Civilization, the American Museum of Art and Design, The Carlton and Reta Lewis collection, Washington, D.C and the Canadian Embassy, Bangkok, Thailand.

TAPESTRY - A NEW YORK BEAUTY WORKSHOP, Greta Kristiansen-Jacobs, Instructor

April 3-5, 2009

St. Lawrence College, Room 12050, Upper level, Link Hallway, Admin. Wing

Course Fee: $110.00, includes two workshop days with Greta and her Friday evening Lecture

Description: Through Greta`s open and easy going teaching style, executing this beautiful old pattern which many have thought to be difficult and intimidating, becomes an enjoyable experience. Greta will not only take you through the steps of making sharp and accurate points using paper piecing and forever remove your fear of sewing curves., but also introduce you to the concept of designing your own quilt. She will bring several different New York Beauty quilts to the workshops showing you different types of New York blocks and the many different setting options the block offers. The workshops also discuss colour and fabric choices and the advantage of using a design wall in your design process.

The Artist: Greta Kristainsen-Jacobs is a quilt maker and fibre artist who upon retirement discovered that she had a hidden talent for colour and design. Born and raised in Denmark, her formal training is finance and her quilting career began when she moved to Picton in 1990. After taking several classes from various renowned quilt artists, she started designing her own quilts and very soon people began to remark on how they can always recognize her work. Greta opened a Studio, GRETONY QUILTS, in Picton where she displays and sells her quilts and where she conducts workshops and retreats. She has developed her own patterns which are available in Quilt Shops and the Internet at her website http://www.gretonyquilts.com/ and in her Studio. She has participated in numerous Shows and has own several awards. Greta introduced her TAPESTRY- NEW YORK BEAUTY QUILTS at Quilt Canada in June 2008.

FINAL NOTE:

Please consider all of these workshops key to your development as a FIBRE ARTIST and QUILTER...your participation is welcomed by Hilary, Donna and encouraged by ME...and I hope you will feel that YOU are an important member of the Ontario Fibre Arts Community and that you need to develop your skills and take advantage of workshops like these whenever possible! Hope to hear that I will be sitting near you in all four workshops. COME PLAY!

Have a great and productive weekend.

A little hiatus is good for the soul..getting back in the saddle!

It's Thursday, September 4th and I am off for four days in a row, so you will be hearing from me a lot in the next few days! We just returned from a nice vacation in Michigan and Indiana where we had the wonderful opportunity to visit family and friends and meet our beautiful new granddaughter Maria, adopted by my son David and his wife Sue. Maria is a Mayan child from Guatemala and so very beautiful... you just can't imagine that a child could be living in an orphanage for many years (she is 5) before someone chooses to love and protect her. Maria will have a wonderful and very blessed home with David and Sue, and her little sister Zara, just three years old and the oh so beautiful child of Dave and Sue born to them in 2004 after waiting for her for 13 years.... and Maria also now has a beautiful new quilt to wrap up in, thanks to a very generous and love-filled gift from my close friend, Susan Maclean... thank you Susan! The quilt is truly beautiful and so are YOU!

Last night I had the opportunity to attend the Limestone Quilters Guild meeting in Kingston and see many old friends again after a summer break! MARTA SMITH was the Guest Speaker, and gave all of us a delightful introduction to her work and passion, ART DOLLS. Please look for Marta's work at the PEC Studio Tour coming up the weekend of Sept. 20/21st. Please see the Prince Edward County Studio Tour website for more details.

The meeting was great, and I have to admit that I am likely NOT in the good graces of our President as I took (stole to be truthful) 20 minutes of time during the meeting's end to introduce the wonderful courses that are available at ST. LAWRENCE COLLEGE this fall. Those of you who know me well also know that I am a hugely committed and determined advocate of the Textile Design Diploma Program at the college here in Kingston, Ontario. As an Instructor with St. Lawrence since 1997, I have developed and supported the educational programs for Summer School for the Arts in Brockville and developed and delivered eight of the the courses for the 10 course Full Credit Diploma Program since January of 2005. The students in this Program have been very active as participants in the fibre art community here in Kingston, with some as members of the Kingston Fibre Artists Group, others members of the new Fibre Arts group meeting at the Scout Hall on Monday evenings and working toward community Shows in this new year. Others are active members of the Cataraqui Guild of Needle Arts and are hugely involved preparing for the National Seminar of the Canadian Embroidery Association which will come to Kingston in Spring 2009 at St. lawrence College. Many are Studio Artists now, as a result of creative work done at St. Lawrence College, which gave them the courage to strike out and develop new work which is exhibition worthy. Others are submitting work to national and international Shows and competitions, and placing their work for sale in Galleries in our area and beyond.

Many of the courses at St. Lawrence College this fall are filling nicely, and I am sad to say that the TEXTILE DESIGN course in the program which I will Instruct (and which would be in it's third presentation in three years to ensure that everyone has a chance to take the course for their diploma) is NOT filling well. Only five students are registered and we need a minimum of 10 to get the course rolling. This course will be an exciting opportunity for students to come and explore the amazing and important aspects of creating ORIGINAL DESIGN... whether a Traditional Quilter or a Contemporary Fibre Artist, students would have the chance to explore design in an all new way - through the development of a delightful and important course required JOURNAL/Sketchbook that will be submitted at the end of the course an assessment tool for the course grade. The goal of the course is to introduce commitment to design principles into the student's planning processes and add some fun and excitement to the 12 weeks of work in the classroom. Students will be working with paints, dyes and of course stitch, both by hand and machine. Developing new work is challenging and dynamic to the design process. Having the courage to step up to the plate and get work done rather than "intending to" is something that all of the students in this program have committed to throughout the past three years.

I invite you to join in on the fun and excitement of taking on a DESIGN journey with like-minded students. Please know that this appeal for enrollment is not to fill a personal need for ME (though I love sharing with my students), but a need that YOU might consider - taking those first steps toward your development as a serious and committed Fibre Arts enthusiast. Yes, there are dollars and time required for taking courses in the College's line-up this fall, and YES, I do definitley know that your discretionary dollars are limited. Fall is always a busy time, and with so many options open to students, there have to be courses that do not run. The college cannot afford to support courses with low enrollment, so I will happily defer to those courses that students DO support, but if you can join us or if you have a friend who would like to be introduced to the fun of original design, please share the information and invitation to join us! And yes, you can be a traditional quilter and work on advancing your love of traditional patterns, colours, fabrics and perspective in this course - just do come play. Be inspired by the work of new friends and area fibre artists and quilters who are working through the diploma requirements or as an "interest only" participant. Let colour, exciting materials, techniques and developing all new design provide new excitement in your life as a textile lover. Consider taking our Textile Design Course as an investment rather than a challenge or a cost...making new work is an inspiring and awesome experience. Watching and participating as friends develop THEIR new work is even more fulfilling. We all learn from each other at every step in the process.Please feel free to call me for more information or email me at garner@kingston.net

There are huge obstacles to filling this course for Fall 2008... there are MANY choices for students in the course catalogue line-up this fall. I have mentioned here before the FIBRE TO FABRIC course being presented by Beth Abbott of Godfrey. I encourage anyone who is wanting a great foundation for study of the history of Textiles to enroll for this course - Beth will share many samples of fibre with her students, and create a dynamic study environment for exploring the various Fibre types and their use. Janice VanDijk is the Instructor for several Photography Courses at the College this fall and some of our students from the Textile Design Program are required to take the courses in lieu of the Portfolio Development Course which did not run this summer. Janice's courses are hugely popular and will offer those who are wishing to learn more about Digital Photography, Image Editing and Photo Transfer the opportunity to get those skills under their belts for future exhibition and project development work. Christina Barnes will Instruct not only a three level FLORAL DESIGN course at SLC this fall, but is also the Co-Instructor of the SILK PAINTING Course with talented and experienced Silk Artist, Zahra Husain. This course will run in competition with the Textile Design course on Thursday evenings, Sept. 11-November 27th... and that means huge decision dilemmas for students. Which courses to take and which courses to pass on..

I will sign off for now, but encourage you to visit the College's website at SL.on.ca or simply get on the phone and sign up for the courses that are of most interest to YOU. The college phone number to register for classes is 613-544-5400, ext. 60.

Have a GREAT Day and enjoy the beautiful sunshine.... take a walk. I intend to do just that all of the next four beautiful days.

Traveling this month?? Catch KFA Show in Guelph

Good Monday morning everyone... in case you were up really early, the dense fog and rain drops were with us here in the country again. It's 8:50 am and the sun is out, burning off the fog and setting us up for a beautiful summer day! There isn't much of summer left, so get your calendars out and look for all of the options you have for fall activities! There is so much to do, places to go and wonderful things to see all around Kingston and it's surrounding areas.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS:

The Kingston Fibre Artists Group Show is currently being displayed in the Gallery of Greenwood Quiltery in Guelph, Ontario. For those of you who have the urge for a day trip, or are heading west toward Guelph, don't miss the opportunity to stop by this premier Quilt and Yarn Shop located at 275 Woolwich Street, Guelph, ON. Their website is http://www.greenwoodquiltery.com/ The Show will be up in the Gallery through the month of August, so the time is short if you are heading that way this week or next.
The group's members are pleased to have this opportunity to share a sample of their work with the Guelph area and surrounding communities fibre arts enthusiasts. Hoping that you will have a chance to see the Show in their lovely upstairs Gallery, and while you are there, take advantage of this opportunity to shop for some amazing fabrics, yarns and fibre. The next KFA Show will be at Brockville's Public Library in the John M. Parrott Gallery during the month of November. (actually the 6-27th of November). Please join us for the Show Opening event, November 8, 2008, 2-4 pm. Everyone is welcome.

The Limestone Quilters Guild begins it's fall program on Wednesday, September 3rd with a visit from MARTA SMITH, Dollmaker/Fibre Artist from Milford, Ontario near Picton. Marta is a delightful lady with huge talent and creative spirit! She will share a great talk about her journey as a dollmaker and share some of her amazing creations with all of us! This Guild is open to the public and new members are always welcome. The meetings are held at the Kingston Seniors Association Centre at 56 Francis Street off Mowat Ave. near St. Lawrence College. Contact Susan Maclean, Program Coordinator at macleans@cogeco.ca for more information.

ANDREA GRAHAM, Feltmaker and Educator will share her workshop, FABULOUS FELTED SCARVES at the Odessa Fairgrounds Hall on Sept. 20-21st. This workshop will find interested Fibre Arts enthusiasts enjoying the creating of beautiful silk based scarves, with the addition of beautiful and colourful merino wool. Andrea is a many talented lady with a lovely workshop Instructor's demeanor, taking care to ensure that her students have all of the materials and resources available to make their days in her classroom fun and meaningful. Please contact Andrea at acornsjourney@cogeco.ca for more information or visit her website at http://www.acornsjourney.com/ for more information on the workshop and the details. Cost is $125 with a $50 deposit at registration. This is a workshop many of you will enjoy.

The first meeting of the CATARAQUI GUILD OF NEEDLE ARTS is scheduled for the 15th of September at Edith Rankin Church located on Bath Road just west of Collins Bay Road in Kingston...and the Guild members always welcome new members, so get your dates all lined up for the exciting upcoming year as plans are underway for Kingston to host the Canadian Embroiders SEMINAR 2009 at St. Lawrence College. Details are available from members and you are welcome to get involved at every stage of the project development as a volunteer. This is a Guild that spends meeting days stitching together after a short morning business meeting. The Guild meetings are normally held the 1st and third Monday, and will move to that schedule in October. Plan to set aside some time and meet with the group this exciting planning year.

I attended an amazingly fun-filled Birthday celebration for one of our favorite Kingston Fibre Artists, FRANKIE LEMONDE-MEUNIER on Saturday. The event found 100+ family and friends celebrating a milestone Birthday for Frankie... and it was games, great food and wine for the grown-ups and lots of bubble blowing, ring tossing and hoola hooping for the kids. The sun did not fail us and it was a wonderful day with good friends. When KFA members get together, there is always lots of good conversation, merriment and fun. Thanks for inviting us, Frankie and enjoy this new stage in your life...

Heading into this last couple of weeks of August, we look forward to seeing family and friends and some R & R before classes at St. Lawrence College and all of the regular work routine (including Christmas season in the retail world - UGH) starts once again. I hope many of you will consider joining in on the fun at St. Lawrence this fall. Check out the fall courses at http://www.Sl.on.ca/ in the Continuing Education folder, Part Time Studies, Kingston Campus, Fine Arts/Textiles. I would be so pleased to have graduates join us once again for some fun and bring along a few new students for creative play and development of new work in the TEXTILE DESIGN course.

Have a great day... work calls.

Summer out of doors projects- Sun Printing and Flower Pressing

What a beautiful morning today - the skies are blue and I will have my day off with three good friends - time to chat and have some relaxing time in the country, so all in all a great start to the day. I don't know about you, but I am really sad that summer has passed so quickly. The gardens are looking very sad once again and this year it is not because of drought conditions as in the past several years, but because of RAIN. We certainly have been inundated with an abundance of rain and bad storms this summer, making for very green grass, and a proliferation of weed growth and sad, rain soaked plant stems. The trees are happy, but the leaves are showing lots of rust or the draining of the chlorophyll due to the insect infestations that have overtaken the gardens. I was looking at my purple sand cherry closely yesterday, and many of the leaves have been eaten completely, with only the skeletons left. They will make great additions to small art quilts - the colour is still quite beautiful. Be sure to use your imagination when surveying the garden to see if there are pieces of natural material that could be used in art work.

Fabric Painting this time of year is a terrific pass time for both adults and children. For those of you who have been in cottage country retreats, the days pass slowly without a project or two to work on. Take some great SETACOLOR Transparent Fabric Paints along to the cottage or use them right at home to create some beautiful new fabrics. The paints are available in Kingston at MICHAEL'S in the fabric paints isle and run about $5 a small jar or you could purchase a set of "Seta Soliel" fabric paints - sometimes hanging on the wall above the paint display or in KIT FORM in a box on the bottom shelf to the right of the display rack. The Setacolor paints are on the lower shelves of the rack, and small jars will go a long way, but the 250 ml. bottles are a good investment. Cardinal Red, Lemon or bright Yellow (I prefer the "sun" yellow which has a bit more orange in it) and Ultramarine Blue can be mixed to give you a beautiful palette of colour. Be sure that you have washed your quality cotton, and white is best of course. The paints should be diluted 50/50 with water right out of the jar as they are very concentrated and will be used up very quickly if painted full strength. You can layer in some great leaves, ferns, small sticks and stones onto the surface of the wet, painted fabric for great "sun printing" effects. Be sure that the items are pressed firmly into the wet paint for the best prints and leave your pieces outdoors in direct sunlight for at least an hour. Have fun.

As you are playing outdoors this summer, give "flower pressing" a try as well. Take a few flowers from the garden, at their fresh best. Use a nice piece of linen or one of your lovely hand dyed cotton pieces for a background and make sure you have enough "Steam a Seam 2" or Wonder Under (Wal-Mart) for the first layer of your design. This will be laid on top of your background BEFORE layering on the flower design. Cut two pieces of fusible, just slightly larger than your background. Start by laying a piece of copy paper on the table. Layer on your background fabric topped with a piece of fusible - just make sure that you have removed the paper backing from the fusible and that is laid onto your background, sans paper. Now you can begin the collage with your beautiful flowers... start with a few beautiful leaves and geranium leaves lay so nice and flat. Add a few thin stems or twigs (not too thick). Layer on the arrangements of flower petals, one at a time. When you are satisfied with the arrangement, stand back and have one final look. Then layer on your second piece of fusible right on top of the floral design, with the fusible side down over the flower petals and pin in place around the perimeter of your piece (this is where the Steam A Seam 2 is best - it will fuse to the background, hold the flowers in place as you layer on the petals because both sides of the fusible are "sticky" to the touch, and it will fuse to the second layer and the toile you will add as the last layer)... Now is the time to add a nice piece of fine toile or netting over the top to ensure that your petals will remain in place over time. Once the toile is pinned down, layer on another piece of copy paper or better yet, your TEFLON pressing sheet. (you can layer the entire collage between a good sized sheet of Teflon pressing sheet of you have it.) Now, PRESS WITH A MEDIUM HOT IRON - yes, press with the iron, moving the iron consistently and for a few seconds in each position across the surface of your collage. DO NOT USE AN IRON THAT IS TOO HOT... you might actually burn the flower petals evne through the Teflon or pressing sheet. This process does take some practice, so you might like to practice on a "starter" piece before doing a hugely amazing collage and then burning it with a too hot iron. The more of these you make, the better. The whole idea here is to sandwich your collage of beautiful garden petals between the two layers of fusible and the toile. Once you have your pressed collage all fused, remove the Teflon and test the layers for puckers or unfused areas that might need to be re-layered between the paper/Teflon and pressed a bit more. You want to have a great fused collage that will last for years. I have some that I did with Linda Burke in Napanee six years ago that are still quite lovely and are looking like vintage collages now with still beautifully preserved though paler versions of the garden flowers I used in the collage. Once complete, you can "square up" the collage, add borders or frame as desired for a great summer memory piece to enjoy all year long.

Here is hoping that all of you are checking out the calendar of College Fall Term Part Time Studies courses at SL.on.ca Continuing Education pages and registering either online, in person at the College's Student Services office or by phone at 613-544-5400, ext 60. TEXTILE DESIGN will be on Thursday evenings this fall, twelve weeks from Sept. 11th - Nov. 27th, 6:30 - 9:30 pm. We will be experimenting with deconstructed screen printing and more in class...and creating all new fabric designs for exhibition and sale. Come join in on the fun... Silk Painting with Tina Barnes and Zhara Hussein will also run on Thursday evenings, Fibre to Fabrics with Beth Abbot on Tuesday evenings and Janice Vandijk is presenting a variety of Photography and Image editing courses that will lead students to their PORTFOLIO DEVELOPMENT credit in the Textile Design diploma Program.

Have a GREAT SUMMER DAY.

Creative options for quilters this week...

There are so many creative options for quilters and we are blessed in the Kingston area to have three great quilt shops to choose from. The Quilters Choice on Gardiners Road at Progress Ave., The Perfect Stitch a bit farther down Gardiners Road across from Home Depot and Wilton Creek Fabrics in Harrowsmith, just a short 16km. north of the 401. All of the shops are beginning to receive their new fabrics for fall 2008, and the notions walls are filled! Sewing machines specials are everywhere, so if you are contemplating a new machine, check out the PFAFF at Quilters Choice, Husqvarna machines at The Perfect Stitch and BERNINA at Wilton Creek.

Many of you are bird watchers, and this morning the pair of Flickers who come back to our front lawn every summer have arrived and are just beautiful. It seems that there is just the one pair and if they have young, they have gone their own way by now. It is fun to watch as they sort through the sandy loam in the lawn searching for their favorite treat - ants! The grass is growing in leaps and bounds with all of the rain we have just had, so there is a bit of layering for the Flickers to sort through to get to the ants.

I have been re-organizing supplies closets after the Creating Fabrics with Dyes and Pigments Course at St. Lawrence College and trying to get the dyes and paints all together in one cupboard with the supplies like brushes and rolls of plastic for tables, the cups and bottles and tips used for applying silk paints and gutta. Books have been replaced in their great bookcase Dale built me last winter and it is amazing to look at the huge resource library I have amassed while Instructing at St. Lawrence College the past 5 years. I will have lots of great resources for those "golden years" that are certainly evasive at this point in my life, but the goal I am constantly working toward.

Hoping to hear from Hilary Scanlon soon that the FIBREWORKS KINGSTON Weekend Workshop Series brochures are ready for distribution. Many of you will be attending courses with great instructors this fall... and coming up really fast is the FIBREFEST KINGSTON weekend sponsored by the three quilt shops mentioned in paragraph one above. The weekend will be September 19-21st and JOEN WOLFROM is the featured Instructor from the States, along with great teachers Sylvia Naylor, Elaine Quehl and more. Visit the store websites and click on the link to FIBREFEST for additional information.

Just a reminder that REGISTRATION IS OPEN for Fall courses at St. Lawrence College in the Textile Design Program and other Continuing Education courses related to Photography, Image Editing, Photo Transfer and Silk Painting. Hoping all of you will have a look at the college website at SL.on.ca for more information and to register.

Have a great day and do look through those magazines and books and be inspired.

Get out your old shoes and do head to Odessa

Good Sunday morning all... I hope that many of you are starting to tune into my new blog for some thoughts and news each day... I can't promise that I will post everyday, but it is fun to try.

How many of you are finding time for some house cleaning and salvaging special collectibles that have been languishing in the back of closets and cupboards and drawers? I have been looking for things - and isn't that normal for anyone over 60? It is for me for sure. I have found some beautiful small sewing tools that I had been looking for and knew I had. I was thinking about the possibility of heading off to Odessa ANTIQUE SHOW today, and actually decided to go after work yesterday, as the clouds were gathering and it looked like a storm. The entry fee was $20, but I would have spent that on a couple of lunches, so decided my cabbage soup diet could cover that next week, and headed to Odessa. The vendors were just setting up, and I was determined to find one great treasure, thinking this might be my last Odessa Show if our plans to re-locate do work out for the next year.... and as the masses of people would not be there, it was a great time to just shop the booths and visit with the vendors.

The parking area was fairly full, and the grass very long (so do wear older shoes - it will be wet today after last night's storm). Many vendors were still unpacking vans and trucks. I had decided that my mission would be to find a miniature sewing machine, or my much sought after antique sewing tools or a small quilt. I didn't get very far into the fairgrounds entrance before I spotted a small, youth sized Log Cabin quilt that was a very close match to the one I found at the downtown Kingston Antiques Market last summer, and took a good look at it, making mental notes of Booth A-1 before moving on. Just down the first row was a vendor with MANY button jars, sewing tools and more stitch related memorabilia...I walked on, as the wind was picking up and the weather was foreboding. I wanted to get all around the fairgrounds before the rain came, and did indeed do that, all the while watching the plastic sheeting come out, booth after booth. The Show goes on, rain or shine! The smiles on the vendors faces had started to turn to looks of concern and many were packing their goods right back into their trucks to ensure they would be safe overnight. Others were draping huge tarps over their booths to ensure no leaks and adding side curtains to the tents.

I found several green glass antique bottles - a favorite collectible for my rather large collection started when I moved to Kingston 16 years ago. I have many old medicine bottles, and try to collect the Kingston ones first, then surrounding towns and villages bottles, and some that are Toronto druggists. The shapes and colour are very important to me and I love the bottles that have been "buried" and have a few scrapes and scratches and the glass oxidizes and more beautiful colours come into the glass from exposure to various minerals in the soil. I found two that came home with me. There are many wonderful antique quilts and not the "museum quality" quilts we saw at this show 10-12 years ago. The quilts that are at the show this year are common, but WONDERFUL quilts and most are priced under $300. In the main building where we often have classes at the fairgrounds, there is a vendor with the MOST AMAZING Star quilt I have seen in many years...hundreds and hundreds of very small diamonds make up the Star points. The background is pristine and the condition of the quilt just wonderful! If you go, don't miss seeing this one.

After two hours touring, touching great pine furniture that would look amazing in my studio, a hugely coveted drug store pine fixture with 27 drawers ($3500) that I had a very strong longing for... and many wonderful tables that would make great cutting surfaces, I decided that the time was near to leave. I just couldn't help thinking about the little Log cabin in Booth A-1 and headed back there as I left...and the quilt had been put away before the arrival of the storms...so I asked about it. The couple agreed to sell it without tax for $95, a price I just had enough cash to cover. So that beautiful little quilt (Log Cabin Barn Raising in old creams, purples, reds and blues with the odd pink and brown pieces here and there) is resting in my living room alongside it's close friend, the Fields and Furrows. The quilt was made in the Fergus area around the turn of the century - so at least 100 years old and now has a great new home with someone who will appreciate it, stroke it as she passes by each day and give it a good home for the rest of her life.

Do try to go... find your own treasure and celebrate the past. The present is frustrating enough to find us longing for the "olden days" when life was slower, dollars went farther and there was time to STITCH. Wait for the sun to come back out and make the drive. The men have lots to see whith huge collections of tools and wooden barn stuff...

Have a great day!

Sunshine for Odessa Antiques Market

It's Saturday and the Olympics have opened in Beijing with a flourish of amazing colour and pagentry...and here in our area, the excitment revolves around the opening of the ODESSA ANTIQUES SHOW, an outdoor extravaganza for history buffs and antique collectors. Located just a few minutes from Kingston, Odessa Fairgrounds located on Highway 6 at Highway 2 is an easy drive from Kingston or Belleville, Picton or any of our neighboring villages and towns. Dealers from all across Ontario and Northern New York will be setting out their best for the locals to view and purchase. Some of us a saving dollars on vacations this summer and doing short day trips - so this is an excellent opportunity to come on out and have some fun.

The Show opens today after 2 pm with a $20 entry fee to get in and see the antiques and memorabilia BEFORE the one day Show opens tomorrow, Sunday, August 10th at 8 am with a $7 entry fee. The Saturday shoppers are die-hard collectors who just don't want to deal with the masses and get to the fairgrounds so early in the morning. If you go today, there are at least 5 hours of great shopping time before the evening sun sets. Hope to see you there.

Quilt Shops are on summer hours, but I just read Margaret Millar's latest note from The Perfect Stitch on Gardiners Road in Kingston - Margaret relates that she has just received a whole new shipment of our favorite Kansas Troubles fabric lines for fall 2008, and has moved a large quantity of fabrics to the 50% off shelves - great news on both counts. Check out what the shop has to offer to Fibre Arts enthusiasts as well - Angelina, Merino Rovings and beads, beautiful threads and so much more. There is always something happening at The Perfect Stitch... so drop by and have a coffee, cookie and a visit with the staff. Fall classes are lining up and you can always take in Show and Tell and be entered in a draw of some kind at The Perfect Stitch....enjoy!

For those of you who are missing Dave Arnold and his machine repair service, PAUL TAYLOR of Taylor's Sewing Centre in Brockville is an outstanding technical service person and he will do the cleaning and repairs on your machine... just drop your machine in to The Quilters Choice in Kingtson and Adriana will exchange it with Paul and have it returned to the store here in Kingston. The fee is less if you drive the machine to Paul in Brockville, but with the cost of gas, you will have to justify that trip with some shopping at Taylor's Sewing Centre on Parkdale Ave just off the 401 near Pizza Hut... just turn left off Highway 29 onto Parkdale and into the shopping centre at the Pizza Hut.

While in Brockville, be sure to visit Jennifer Hodge's new PICKET FENCE FABRICS location on King Street downtown. It is on the south side of the street in the downtown core. Jennifer stocks a great array of contemporary as well as traditional fabrics and a visit to her website will give you the opportunity to get directions, hours of business and see some of the events and activities happening at the shop so you can time your visit to Brockville to take advantage of the specials.

Have a great day and hope to see you at Odessa...

Hoping you are finding time for friends and stitching!

Thursday was an outstanding day in my creative life... a great 5 hours with close stitching friends from the Kingston Fibre Artists group. We gathered at Hetherington House and the morning started out beautifully with sunshine and few clouds...the gardens were alive with colour in every range of the spectrum.....beautiful Morning Glories, blooms in the Lillies were magnificent, the pinks, yellows, oranges and purples blended with reds, periwinkle and mauve...amazing. We even saw a Cuckoo in the tall pines and a pair of Oriole bathing in the waterfall. A real treat... along with a good play with the dogs, this was an awesome day.

The gathering was to welcome new members SANDRA GARNER and DENISE SOKOLSKY, who shared a collection of their favorite new work in Fibre and knitting, small and larger art quilts, all in a collective of great technique. It is a delight to have Sandy and Denise as members and while not all of the KFA group were able to attend the "Stitching Day", those of us who were shared a terrific lunch and the opportunity to get to know Sandy and Denise better. Brian brought in a freshly caught Bass while we were sharing lunch - what a sight.

During the day, there was much discussion about upcoming courses and opportunities to study with renowned quilt artists in the next several months. There are many opportunities for sharing and fun, and particularly the next four months as the renowned FIBREWORKS KINGSTON 2008-2009 Weekend Workshops Series begins with area Quilt Artist/Designer KIT VINCENT presenting a two day version of her Quilting by Design workshop at St. Lawrence College starting with a Lecture on Friday evening, October 18th and two days of design play October 19-20th. Kit is from the Brockville area and has an amazing website that I hope you will visit and get to know her work a bit better.

The second workshop in the series will be the weekend of November 14-16th and will see Perth area Quilt Designer and Fibre Artist, CATHARINA BREEDYK-LAW coming to Kingston to share a weekend of design and techniques study as course participants design their own original country inspired quilt design. Cathy is an awesome and very well loved quilter who shares everything she has learned about design, colour, pattern and stitch along her journey as a quilt maker. I do hope you will mark your calendar for this great workshops series for Fall 2008 and register as soon as the FIBREWORKS brochures are available later this month. You will love seeing Cathy's great Trunk Show on Friday evening November 14th. Plan to bring a few friends...

We received news yesterday that the traveling THREADWORKS 2007 display of the Ontario Network of Needleworkers entitled "PASSIONS" that started on it's way on the tri-annual exhibition trail will be arriving in Gananoque later this month. The display will open with a grand evening at the Arthur Child Museum/Art Gallery on the waterfront near the Gananoque Boat Lines boarding ramps (just a few buildings to the west of the Boat Ramps) at 7 pm on Thursday, August 28th ... mark your calendar. The exhibit will run officially starting September 1st - October 31st in the Rotunda of the Arthur Child Heritage Museum of the 1000 Islands. A number of the Kingston Fibre Artists Group members have beautiful work in this traveling exhibit and you will surely enjoy the Opening Reception and a visit with friends several times while the exhibit is in our area.

There is so much more to tell you... but I have a new adventure here at home with a learning curve with my sewing machine just added to the collection of machines that I am challenging myself to master. Advanced technology will be a huge asset, but the many types and styles of stitching that have been developed, new feet for machines and advanced imagery make learning curves wider and longer. Wish me luck... More news to follow.

Have a great and productive stitching day.

The blog exercise begins today!

Good Wednesday Morning -

This is an all new adventure in communication for me, and I have many friends with blogs, and more that want a means to communicate - so CONTINUING THREADS... begins today!

There are so many exciting things happening this fall in and around Kingston. I just hope that many of you are starting to turn the calendar pages to September and the great fall happenings. I would like to encourage all of you to go to the St. Lawrence College, Kingston Campus, CONTINUING EDUCATION pages at SL.on.ca. The brand new Creative Arts/Fibre Arts programs are listed there and will give you details of the dates, times and cost of registering for the courses you WILL want to be a part of this fall.

I will be Instructing the 12 week course, TEXTILE DESIGN, to be held on Thursday evenings beginning Sept. 11th and running through Nov. 27th. This course will give the novice as well as the experienced Fibre Arts enthusiast the foundation for creating designs for new work. The course will be broken down into three components:

Sept. 11-Oct. 2nd, 2008: Design and Composition

Oct. 9-30th, 2008: Creative Cloth Development

Nov. 6-27th, 2008: Collage, Surface Design and Finishing

At the beginning, students will work in black and white, developing a portfolio of all new designs that will come from the study of line, shape, texture and colour. Line drawings, sketches, cutting of b/w paper design components (yes, you will need black and white paper) and finally coloured pencil sketces and painted samples will evolve into the design inspiration for your new work. We will create new fabric using dyes (DynaFlo) and paints that are easy to transport to class, and will form the basis for your coloured design interpretation onto fabric that will be used in your class projects. Painting, stamping and the basics of deconstructed screen print work will all be explored during this course. The final course project will be the student's choice, with a concentration on experimentation, learning and the use of the original design as a starting point for new work! Come join us and get started on some great new work!

This is another full credit course in the Textile Design Program at St. Lawrence College, and we enthusiastically welcome all students who have completed the Textile Design Program to return to the program for ongoing study and to find the creative spirit you can only find among friends for development of all new work! New students and those who are working through the program at SLC will want to attend and use the time to produce all new work for future sale, exhibition or just for interest sake, and share their unique and dedicated skills with new students in the program.

We hope you will encourage a friend to join you and plan to car pool to class to save gas! WOW - the costs of traveling anywhere are growing and we all need to be sure to invite friends to ride with us whenever possible! Even if your friend is taking another class at St. Lawrence ( Tina Barnes and Zahara Bilgrami are instructing their all new SILK PAINTING Course on Thursday evenings, Beth Abbott is instructing FIBRES TO FABRIC on Tuesday evenings and Tina Barnes will be instructing her all new FLORAL DESIGN courses on Tuesday evenings. Watch the course postings for Janice Vandijk's PHOTOGRAPHY, IMAGE EDITING, PHOTO TRANSFER courses and more (look under Photography in the college course menu)... so much to do and so little time!

Another blog entry tomorrow as work calls and there is so much to see on these beautiful late summer mornings - a walk with K.C. and Blue, the family dogs is a must! Talk to you soon!