My Fave

There's one last quilt to share from Quilt Canada and it's the one that I would most likely make. Starsprung was designed by Julia Wentzell of the Maritme Modern Quilt Guild in Halifax (and Briar Hill Designs); she was asked by Cotton+Steel to come up with a design for the fabric line Kibori by Chiemi Fujita.

She wanted something to really show off the large scale prints and I think that she nailed it.

Its minimalist design nicely shows off the fabric's artwork, letting the patchwork play a supporting role - contemporary and traditional all in one.

The sashing is foundation paper pieced and the machine quilting really adds to the overall effect. Not sure if wonky stars would work on the corners as well or not...?

The quilting intrigued me - I couldn't for the life of me figure it out. Then and I found the panto that was used (Yonder) on the Briar Hill website. The stars were beginning to align. You could do a Kantha styled pattern by hand I would think but it would take me forever.

After a little sleuthing I also found the downloadable pattern - YIPPEEEEEE!. Lets see...would that be quilt no. 274 on the TO DO list? 😉....M

Quilt Canada's Artistic Side

It goes without saying that if you have a quilt hanging at Quilt Canada it has artistic merit, but there are some that are considered art quilts more than others, and I have a small sampling to share with you, the first two of which were in the Metamorphosis section of the show.

American Portraits: Family Farm was beautifully done using hand printed image transfers on vintage feed sacks. It spoke to the history of the family farm and how so many were married, raised children, and often died on the same patch of ground.

The images were so compelling...

it just drew you in to look and read a little.

Interesting that I focused on the images of women...

It brought to mind many of my relatives who were/are hard working farmers and how as kids we loved to go and help with the haying. In my mind, no one works harder than a farmer.

Then there was this one called Match Sticks. It had a completely different vibe but was equally appealing.

Those little blocks finish of about 2 x 3" and all of the fabrics are hand dyed.

We spent a lot of time chatting about how 'random' is not that easy to do!

Next up, Delphinium.

This small quilt was waaay above my head (so to speak) so I was only able to get the bottom corner of it but I like how some of the blossoms are three dimensional. Great work in selecting fabrics.

Beside it was this one, again waaaaay up high so tough to get a good straight on image.

The colours were beautiful and it almost appeared to be a tapestry. I think that the fabrics may have been naturally dyed.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I'm not usually a black quilt person, but there was something about this one that really caught my eye. Seeing it again I realize that it's an ode to maple syrup and tapping maple trees.

This one was called Pink and all those little bits hit the mark for me.

I loved the texture of these strips and all of the straight line quilting...

And this little guy? Well, besides being beautifully crafted, he was just too cute not to take a picture of and is a nice way to finish off this post....M

Soft and Delicate

I had promised to finish off my Quilt Canada posts with a few art quilts but realized that I had missed showing you several more traditional quilts so we'll look at those today and then next time finish up with the artistic endeavours. Today's selection are in what I would call dreamy palettes.

This one really caught my eye, not only because of the star-like block, but because the colours used in it were perfection,

to say nothing of the workmanship.

And those tiny cornerstones just feel like bits of confetti throughout the quilt, giving it a lovely soft finish. I could see myself making this one.

This was the very first quilt we saw and it took me back a bit.

The soft colour palette is so different from the rich green, teal, brown and cerise in Kim Diehl's  original work Warm Regards from the book Simple Friendships that she co-authored with Jo Morton,

but it translated beautifully.

We spent a lot of time chatting about whether or not those little yo yos were stuffed because they sat up so high, but I think it was just how they had been prepared.













This pink quilt caught my eye too. I would never make it, but it was beautifully done,

and beautifully machine quilted.

Someone had a lot of patience

And finally, there is one in every crowd - one that has everyone leaning in to confirm that ALL of those little squares are really as tiny as they think that they are.

It's called To The Nines and in the short time that I was looking at it the reaction was universal - WOW! Those squares are half an inch in size, reminiscent of the nine patches that I am making for Omigosh.

This is not the best quality image but I wanted to try and show the detail. Little wonder that it won the Excellence in Workmanship in Piecing award for the show.

Okay, that's it for traditional quilts. Coming up - my favourite art quilts. Hang in there with me....M

More Quilt Canada Goodies

This was a common scene at Quilt Canada last week - people taking their time to enjoy the beauty before them, like this Sue Garman design, and admire the talent and time that went into each creation. Everyone just wanted to soak it all in.

Like the woman admiring this Caswell Quilt. I don't know who she was, but she leaned over to me and said, "It makes me want to up my game with my appliqué".

It was beautifully appliquéd down to those pretty little butterflies, and hand quilted - yay!

I don't know if it was a detail in the original pattern or not, but I love the way the quilter alternated two different creams for the block backgrounds, a fine stripe and a delicate reproduction print; so subtle, but very effective.

This one also caught my eye. It was so nicely done, and with only three colours of fabric. I have a penchant for scrappy and lots of different fabrics, but this one made a beautiful statement.

And just look at that machine quilting.

I can't even begin to imagine doing that.

This one was lovely too, and if I'm not mistaken it is another Sue Garman design.

The colours were fantastic and the work impeccable. Loved this fabric - so light and airy and fun.

Anything with stars is certain to grab my attention,

and there were lots of them to admire. Lots and lots of flying geese too!

And this was the Best of Show - For Such a Time as This. I'm not a fan of black quilts but I couldn't help but admire the skill it took to make this. It looked more like bead work than a quilt.

Those tiny cream ovals are about the size of a finger nail and I can't even imagine what it took to make all those tiny dots!

I've got a few more to show you - a few art quilts that caught my eye and my favourite from the show - but will wait til next time. I'm certain that this was photo overload....M

A Dying Art

Yesterday we spent a great day strolling the aisles of Quilt Canada in Ottawa. Beautiful and creative as the quilts were, one thing struck me more than anything - hand quilting seems to be becoming a dying art. There was no end to the talents that quilters exhibited with thread and machine on display, but I found very few examples of works quilted by hand. I suppose it is a statement on the evolution of the craft but it did give me reason to pause, so I'll start my tour with three works where hand work excelled.

This is Paradise Landscape by Susan Sherman of Newmarket, ON. It. Was. Beautiful. The 2,000 hours of work that she put into it illustrate a talent for working with needle and thread...

and lots of fantastic colours. My photos don't do them justice, particularly the green and white polka dot that was used for the background.

It earned her the show's Excellence in Hand Quilting award. Little wonder - her quilting was unbelievably fine. You could get lost in this one for hours.

The second one brought a little squeal of delight from me when I turned the corner and saw it. It is Down the Rabbit Hole and I have followed its creation by Sandra over at her Quilting at the Cro's Nest blog. Click through so that you can see her progress too.

It is beautifully appliquéd and hand quilted - so amazing to see it in person.

It is such a whimsical piece. Not sure if it's all of the fun elements that run through the design...

or that fantastic bunny fabric that she used for the background.

And then there was a smaller piece in the Metamorphosis section called Sea Wall Secheron Bay #2 by Sandra Champion, all the way from Australia. Unfortunately, I did not get a complete photo, but this is most of it.













The sea wall at Secheron Bay has existed for over 200 years and the quilt attempts to illustrate the layers of history that it has adapted to over the years, from ship building and timber drying to the manufacture of jams and jellies and its current use as a park, where the wall is now used for scientific study.

It's many layers can only be guessed at. Vintage papers, silks, scrim, fusible web and acrylic paint combined with Kantha styled stitching in heavier threads are beautifully rendered and it too pulls you in for a good long look. Beautiful and compelling....M