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.
No comments:
Post a Comment