The CQA Workshops 2013

I just loved the 2 workshops I took while attending Quilt BC in Penticton.

The first was called Inspired by Travel with Margie Davidson. (Margie was honoured with Teacher of the Year at the Conference.) It was a 2 day workshop with photos of her travels. We carved wooden stamps, and created our own stamps on day one. Then on day two we were stitching with plenty more inspiring travel photos and videos from her trip to India. It really makes you appreciate the hand made batik fabrics and the incredible hand stitching that the ladies in the village are capable of.

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The next workshop was called Take a Leaf by Judy Farrow. Another inspiring teacher with some creative ideas. We played with a few techniques to make embellished leaves and incorporate them into a quilt. I loved using the burning tool a little too much considering my past career as a firefighter!

After the intensive judging course for the first 3 days it was a joy to take classes that were just pure play time. I enjoyed every last minute of the conference and can't wait to see what's up for CQA 2014.

Summerland Studio Tour

Welcome to the Brandy Lynn Designs studio! I'm open all weekend as the Artist in Residence in the Summerland Art Gallery on Main Street as a part of the Summerland Studio Tour. So if you are out and about in the Okanagan on this gorgeous day be sure to swing by and say hello. I'd love to see you!

I have loads of fibre art on display as well as the brand new pattern sample I'm about to launch. There are dozens of new art cards to choose from and I'd love to share my journey with you. 

The creative spirit is alive and well in Summerland with 15 studios open to the public. If you can't get by this weekend we are open all year round. Check the Summerland Studio Tour website for more details or to contact artists directly. 

Enjoy this gorgeous day!

Quilt Judging Certification Programme

I am thrilled to announce that I am now officially an Apprentice Judge! After 6 full days of classes, I am exhausted, but fully inspired and ready to go crazy in my studio this week. I just have to mention the amazing workshops I've taken this past week at the CQA/ACC Quilt BC conference. (And I'll feature them each in their own post this week.)

Monday to Wednesday - QJCP - level 1 judging
Thursday to Friday - Inspired by Travel - Margie Davidson
Saturday - Take a Leaf - Judy Farrow

But first, let's get back to the judging...

The QJCP class was preceded by 6 months of required reading, exercises and optional reading. Although at times intensive, this was a great way to create a base of knowledge, but also focus on areas where I had less experience. If you are considering the path of judging - sign up early and give yourself 6 months, planning to study at least 3 evenings a week. I think I spent an entire week just researching trapunto, because it happened to be a technique I'd never tried. The 3 day course was packed with content and intensive mock judging experiences. The Instructors Kathleen Bissett and Anna Hergert both brought an incredible amount of depth and knowledge to the course and ran it with an element of class that sets the stage for great judging in Canada.

The best part of this course, and the reason I want to be certified as a judge, is that the role of a judge is to teach. Yes, of course, all of the technical skill, design and colour elements are to be considered and critiqued, but the quilter needs to come away with some serious benefit from the judge's comments. 

I am very proud to be an Apprentice Judge! If you have a judged show coming up in your area, let me know. I just might get a chance to meet you in person! 

Cheers! 

Elvis is in the building!

The house was packed last night for the sold out CQA/ACC Quilt BC banquet. It's such a great chance to celebrate the incredible quilts in the show. The local committee did a stellar job of planning over the last year and ran things very well throughout the show.

It was so nice to see friends from fibre art and quilting guilds across Canada and really take the time to connect. The table games were hilarious and there were loads of prizes.

The entertainment was a hilarious comedic skit of The Fabricaholics - I am definitely a candidate to join the addict recovery program. Then the main event was an Elvis Tribute Artist from right here in Penticton named Adam Fitzpatrick. By the end of the night the ladies were fawning all over him and dancing the night away. I learned how to do the jive from my friend Paige. I was hopeless at it but we had so much fun. AND I even snuck in a kiss at the end with the King himself!

So if you've never been to a CQA national show or attended the final banquet, consider CQA 2014 in Niagara. You just might have the time of your life! 

The BEST Mother's Day ever!

Happy Mother's Day to all of my lovely quilting friends out there (and to my own Momma too)! I so appreciate all of the support and kind words I receive on a daily basis in the quilting world. I'm so lucky to be surrounded by strong beautiful women in my life (and a few wonderful men too!)

For me, this has been the best Mother's Day ever. It started a few days ago when my son brought home a secret surprise from school and had fun teasing me that I have to wait. This morning I woke up to hugs and kisses and a very thoughtful gift. The card had a little photo of him at school in the process of making my gift out of clay.

Then he made me a quilt poster with the sweetest words ever! I tried very hard not to cry, but the happy tears just flowed (which garnered more hugs, so that worked out). But he painted this paper quilt using a tape resist, hand stamps, markers and watercolour. He even added salt to cause cool effects with the paint. Here's what he wrote...

Mothers are like quilts...

They are soft and warm...

And wrap you up with love.

Happy Mother's Day!!!

And then there was the gift. Gavin made a clay castle for me. He says that it took them a few days because they had to build the castle, then let it dry, then glaze it, then fire it. He said they got to use a bunch of cool tools that looked like they were from the dentist's office. I love it!

So HAPPY, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY ladies!

Thermofax Screens

I was so thrilled last week to get my first big thermofax screen order from Poppin's Quilt Parlour. I love this quilt shop. Barb was one of the first quilt shop owners to put her faith in me as a designer and she's been by my side ever since. She is definitely going to be busy during Quilt BC. She'll have a full booth at the CQA regional show and with a shop in the heart of downtown Penticton where Quilt BC is held, she will likely be very busy in store too.

My two latest thermofax screen designs are GRAPES for a taste of the Okanagan and HOLLY for a holiday theme. The grapes photo shows the initial sketch and the holly photo shows the translation into the screen and end print. Screening is such a fun process you'll be instantly addicted and want to make holiday gifts for everyone!

 

I also just booked my first HOLLY HOLIDAY TOPPER class for the Penticton Quilting Guild in November. I'm excited now to get those samples finished for display. I'll be sure to show them here on the Explore Fibre Blog first!

Finally, here's a snapshot of everything ready for the big Quilt Show in Penticton, BC.

If you are interested in ordering a thermofax screen or booking an Inksations Table Runner or Holly Holiday Topper class for your guild, check out the Brandy Lynn Designs website or just leave a comment. I'd love to connect. AND DON'T FORGET I'm giving away one free INKSATIONS KIT when I hit 125 followers on this blog so tell all of your friends to check it out. You'll have a 1 in 125 chance. That's pretty good odds. Cheers! 

The Mad Scramble

It's a good thing to be madly filling orders for Quilt Market in Portland, Oregon and the CQA Show in Penticton, British Columbia! That means my Inksations Pattern Kit may be turning some heads. This is all so exciting! If you think being a pattern designer is all glamourous, check out the process for filling bottles with screen printing ink. It's all about getting your hands dirty!

I can't wait to participate big time in Quilt BC! I'll be taking my Quilt Judging Certification Programme (QJCP) class for 3 days while hosting a fellow student in my home and then 2 other exciting classes by Margie Davidson and Judy Farrow. 

My heart goes out to Libby Lehman and I wish her a speedy recovery. She was booked as the talented headliner for Quilt BC with the keynote lecture, the head judging role and teaching 3 days of classes until she suffered a brain aneurism and subsequent stroke last week. Everyone here at Brandy Lynn Designs wishes her all the best. And hats off to the CQA Board and the Quilt BC local committee for filling in the gaps with some stellar Canadian talent. 

Cherries in July

Who remembers my painted Cherries from March 25th? I posted a sneak peek at the painted cherries and still had much work to do. Well, I'm finally done and it turned out quite nicely. Here's a detail shot of one of the larger cherries at the bottom with the stem...you can barely see the invisible stitch.

The next one is a detail shot of the smaller, distant cherries at the top. Here you can see the tiny white microstippling which firmly set the background and really made the painted fabrics pop. You can also see detail of the shiva paintsticks on the leaves that added much more depth and shadow. 

This third shot is the full piece called Cherries in July. It is slated for a multi-artist travelling show of calendar quilts by the Fabricators. It was a brilliant idea by one of our members to create an Okanagan Calendar of quilts. They are all the same size (15 x 40) - we each randomly drew a month - and, since there are 14 of us, there is also a cover and a back, so a nice sized show. 

If you are a gallery curator, or would like to book the Fabricators show for a quilting or art event in your area, just comment on this blog and we can connect privately. This show will be travelling for a period of up to two years starting this fall. I'll be sure to post photos of the full hanging show then.

If you have some friends you think might enjoy the Explore Fibre blog - please invite them to follow. I'm almost at 100 followers and if I hit 125 - I'll be so thrilled, I just might give away a free pattern! 

Cheers! 

Student Feature - Joan Dupuis-Neal

In case you haven't noticed, it brings me copious amounts of joy to see my students thrive, have fun and create beautiful things, so every time I get an email with a finished quilt I literally do the happy dance around my house. The dog wonders what the heck is going on!

Here's a fantastic baby room wall quilt made by Joan Dupuis-Neal during my Black Sheep Block Party workshop recently in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

I absolutely love the final colour layout and how she created embroidered letters and numbers that line up perfectly with the angles. Her colour choices for the numbers from light mauve to blue, white and back to purple are very appealing to the eye. I love it when students take what they've learned in class and add their own personal skill and style to make it completely personalized. Great job Joan!

I find that students enjoy this class for the shopping experience first and foremost because they need to buy .2M of 15 different fabrics. It's so fun and the quilt shop owners have a blast helping them pick out 5 colours in 3 shades each. Then once they are in class, it's just play, play, play.

For more on the Brandy Lynn Designs line up of classes check out the workshops page on my website. I would love to come and teach at your guild and meet you in person!