Here's that little journal quilt I mentioned last week. The challenge was to create a journal art quilt inspired by one button. It's a whole cloth piece with machine applique and word transfer with one tiny old button in the centre. The larger image should be more readable, but I wanted you to get an idea of the whole piece. The words are some prose that I wrote about my quilting friends. They read as follows; Once in a while you meet a quilter who selflessly sets her project aside to share her passion, wisdom and love of the craft just when you needed encouragement the most. She makes you feel as if you could take the tiniest little old tattered button and make it shine. Her words wrap you in a warm soft quilt of pure sweetness. I took this up to show and tell at my quilt guild last week and read it aloud to thank all of my wonderful quilting friends for their support.

Children's Hospital Donation

I have decided to donate an art piece to a charitable organization. The proceeds go to the children's hospital and the organization is the Chown Guild. They are having their annual Dinner and Fashion Show and my art piece will be auctioned off among other wonderful donated items. I chose this guild because my grandmother was a longstanding member before she passed away and I am considering membership myself. I love the idea of raising money for sick children and I am already involved in the ABC quilt program. I think it's a great way to get my fibre art out there for people to see. There will be an artist's bio beside the piece as well as my new business cards of course. This is a darker piece that a lot of people commented on at my show. I'm surprised no one purchased it because there was so much interest in it. I love the way the darkness of the night sky blends right into the landscape for a real feeling of night time, yet there is still a glimpse of snow drifting from one side.

I just had the greatest day with my quilt club "In Stitches." It was our fall luncheon. You could take the class all day or do your own thing and we have a wonderful potluck lunch. Wow, those ladies can cook. I spent the day working on on my very first private commission! I am thrilled to say that I am officially making custom fibre art quilts by private order. I can't post pictures of course as it is a private commission for a gift. After private commissions are sold, I'll keep them in a gallery on my website. I also finished my new business cards today. They turned out great! I found this fantastic paper that you can plant and it grows into soft little wildflowers. So I printed them, cut them up and put labels on them. I like how they turned out. The white words say, "Your only limits are the ones you choose."

I have been so so busy at work and with the fall activities. I am now looking forward to the next few quilting events. My quilt club called "In Stitches" is hosting our fall luncheon on Oct. 24th where members bring a potluck item and sew all day. You can either participate in a class or do your own thing. After that I'm taking a landscape class on Nov. 7th with a fabulous teacher named Heather Lair. I took the original "Landscapes from Outer Space" from her and was so inspired. After that it's right into the Pinewood Lodge Quilting Retreat. That one will be over 5 days this year because Remembrance day starts on a Wednesday. I'll keep you posted as I decide which projects to tackle.I just finished a cute button piece for my new art quilt group, so I'll post that soon. The challenge was to take a button that inspires you and make a miniature journal quilt. It was a very fun challenge. I was inspired to thank all of the wonderful quilters that have helped me learn along the way.

There is something so gratifying about giving a handmade gift to a good friend. This is the full piece. I wanted to create a sense that the cat was determined but effortlessly walking along the fence. The fence blends into the background like she's walking on water. I used one inch chunks of fabric to create a pixilated shadowy effect coming off the fence. I did the same in the high background but also used piecing to create a sense of the distance she has travelled. It feels really good to take that fat quarter you have loved and kept for so long afraid to cut and just chop it to pieces and play. It's invigorating.

I created a pretty structured fence on the left and tried my hand at a sewn signature. Ashley loved that. It's like a real friend's art on the wall.

I had fun machine quilting this project because the fabric was so beautiful and it lent itself to adding detail across the colors. I chose a flow of scribbly circles to make it look like the young cat was floating along on that skinny fence like she could do anything in the world she set her mind to. And she didn't care if everything was perfect.

Hooray! Ashley's Calico cat is finished and in her possession. We met for sushi at lunch and I gave it to her. She loved it! But I'm sure if I gave her some lopsided socks I'd knitted she'd love them too just because she is such a good person. This first picture is detail of the face. It is a combination of silk screening, machine applique, satin stitched edge and hand painting. The saying is something I made up, or may have heard somewhere, but I love it. It sounds so inspiring in english or french. It was my very first screen. Can you say Addicted! I have to find a thermofax machine because I could create an endless array of screens.

Berry Bliss

Here is a project I had so much fun with. The title of the piece is "Berry Bliss," and the theme is "Fresh Picked." All my life I have loved our glorious Manitoba strawberries. Every year from June to mid-July the U-pick signs grace the highways of our province inviting locals and visitors to pick them fresh or buy them by the bucket. We spoil ourselves with strawberries on waffles, crepes, and desserts as well as in salads and jams, but there is nothing like biting into a juicy ripe strawberry picked fresh.This 12 x 12 art quilt was made of cotton fabrics using several fun art quilt techniques including hand appliqué, machine quilting, embroidery stitching and invisible thread play.

Wow! October is here already. The fall always seems so busy with swimming and piano for Gavin, pool league for Bob and volleyball for me. But I'm very excited to have my art on display at the Grace Cafe and I'm clearing the clutter in my sewing room to prepare for my fall retreat. I just finished my Calico Cat quilt and I will post photos the minute I give it to my web designer next week. It's a gift because she is so great to me. I'm trying to decide which of my many UFOs I should tackle at the retreat. I might even try 3 different smaller pieces so I don't get tired of doing one thing for 5 days. This retreat is going to be so nice because it starts Wednesday on Remembrance day and lasts through to Sunday. This is a picture of my mother-in-law, Helen, my mom, Barbara, and me at the Pine Ridge Hollow Retreat 2 years ago. We go every year in November. We are usually sewing our buns off and forget about taking pictures. I promise to get some new pictures this year now that I have a blog. Happy sewing!