A Teacher's Gift

Despite the craziness of getting ready for our first big camping weekend of the summer AND the upcoming launch of my new Canadian Quilt Talk podcast, we set aside the time to make a special gift for Gavin's grade 5 teacher. He drew up a special flower and a little good-bye. His colours were so beautiful and he wrote LOVE Gavin which was so sweet. I printed it on fabric and made a quick little 5" x 6" wall hanging. Once we had his art transferred onto the fabric, the rest only took about 15 minutes. The little hanging rope is a hand woven yarn that I've braided for thickness and so she can hang it anywhere her heart desires. 

When it comes to teachers - they work so hard, bring so much joy and really shape our kids' lives for a good part of the year. They just deserve a special thank you. We are so happy to have had a stellar teacher this year. I mean, just stellar. You know it when you meet someone who is just a good, good person. You can see it in their eyes. 

Thank you Ms. Thorp. You have made grade 5 Gavin's best year of school yet. Before our very eyes you've built him up for success in years to come. You are truly a gem. 

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! 

Pinewood Lodge Quilting retreat

The main focus of this retreat for me was to complete a piece from the class I took from Heather Lair. I like calling myself a "finisher," so I tackled it with a vengeance because quilting time is much more scarce at home. The class was called "Colors of Nebula." It was a class based around pure color and self expression. Just go with the flow! I had it all pieced in the class the Saturday before, but quilted and embellished it with thread play to complete the project. It was so fun I'm sure I'll make a few more. If you are interested in this project or the techniques, visit heatherlairdesigns.com. She's a fabulous Canadian teacher.