Mountain Meadows Quilt Top

This is Mountain Meadows. A loverly quilt top finally finished. I had to go in the Way, Way Back machine to figure out when I started it. My initial sketch and images were made 3 years ago. And I collected the fabric over 2 years ago to make a few blocks. Then it sat and sat and sat. We had the great fortune of a handful of mountain trips this spring and summer and the original inspiration of the mountain meadows was on my mind.

When

The Modern Quilt Guild

asked me to do a Webinar this quilt popped into my head. Pulling it out and working on it helped me formulate the presentation: Improv With Intention. So I worked hard to get it done in time for the Webinar. It was well worth the effort.

(It measures roughly 55'' x 75''.)

These were my original inspiration images. Hikes in the mountains on sunny days. Meadows filled with small, colourful flowers. Expanses of grass and weeds and plants in varying shades of green. Vistas so beautiful but little tiny bits of life stealing attention. Just how to capture that in a quilt?

In the Webinar I discuss the process of making the quilt - from inspiration to the final top. It isn't as straightforward as one might think. If you are a Modern Quilt Guild Member you can access the Webinar for free now, even if you didn't join me last week. To access it make sure you log in and join the Community site. Then click under Resources and there it is. Not only do you get to see more images and learn about my process, you get to hear my awesome Canadian accent.

It was actually quite appropriate that this quilt was revealed through The Modern Quilt Guild. All of the green fabric in this quilt was generously given to me by quilters, readers of this blog. I knew I wanted green solid scraps and I had absolutely no green solids. To buy them all would have been impossible. So, thanks to the internet I just asked if anyone was willing to share, and boy did you! Packages arrived for weeks and I had a lot of fun sorting through and organizing by value. Some of you sent pieces larger than 1/2 yard cuts! It was so generous and shows exactly how the spirit and kindness of quilters, not to mention the creativity, is fuelled on line. Exactly what comes to mind, for me, when I think of the Modern Quilt Guild.

Thank you to everyone who contributed. I truly appreciate it.

Friday Favourites - Scrappy Fabric Rug

It's awesome when friends just get you. They know what you need, when you need it, or anticipate the joy they can give you. After the last few weeks it was so perfect to have this awesome rug arrive in the mail.

Amanda Jean made it for me. She is such a generous person and I'm really quite lucky to consider her a friend. Now, she may have finally got tired of me talking about how much I wanted one of her scrap rugs. Or maybe each of her showers had their own already? I'm going to go with she was just being her awesome self. It was quite a surprising birthday present.

Right now I'm not sure where to put it. I actually just did some spring cleaning and rearranging in my living/dining room. So it sits in the now dining room, hosting an up cycled table. It sits, rather like its own piece of art, in front of the picture window. Seems like a pretty good spot for now. That way I get to see it every day and think of my dear friend.

Now, I am no expert in knitting or crochet. That means I don't know exactly which technique she used to make this one (I think it is crochet?). But she has provided tutorials for both crochet and knitting one of these rugs. What an amazing use of scraps!

Inuvik Trip Part 1

A week ago I was driving the ice road from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk. A week before that I was snorkelling in the Caribbean. And this morning I'm sipping tea in slippers and listening to Motown. Have I mentioned before that I love my life?!

One of the things I absolutely love about my life is the chance to teach quilting (and travel to do it). Being in a classroom full of people who absolutely want to be there, whether they are there for a new experience or just a weekend off, is an energy boost for me. You can't help but ride their enthusiasm. And my weekend with the guild in Inuvik was unlike any other.

There is just so much to share about my trip to Inuvik that I have to break it down into two posts. It was such a phenomenal experience. Up first, the class.

Seeing as Inuvik is located in the far North, we chose to run a Scrap Management workshop. They have to pay a lot to bring in supplies, so I thought it best to get people excited about scraps. And get excited they did! As did I. The days would start at the sun was coming into the sky, peering over the irons as we set up in the morning.

Like most scrap classes I run many people at first think they don't have much that's useful. But after we sort then run through the slab technique eyes are opened. The potential can't be hidden anymore. Some people brought scraps they inherited from mothers and friends. Some seriously cool scraps there. One lady brought scraps an Inuit maker gave her last year at the Great Northern Arts Festival. And like everyone does, it was fun to see the history of their quilting careers, family, and guild projects through the scraps.

One of the great things about teaching with a guild is that most people know each other well. So there is an instant camaraderie. For the teacher it can feel like you are the outsider, but definitely not with this group! They instantly welcomed me in, sharing gossip and stories, and taking me under their wing for northern adventures. You know they are a cohesive group when three of them bring the same kind of muffins for us one day.

During this two day workshop we explored scraps - sorting, remembering, making slabs and storage boxes, and working on individual projects. Some people choose projects from Sunday Morning Quilts, some take off in their own direction. The important part is that they be excited by what they are working on. I'm just there to guide the process, teach some technique, and troubleshoot, if necessary.

I had one of the best moments ever in my career as a teacher there too. Two of my students were art therapists. They work in the elementary schools - for the kids and the teachers. They have a tough job, seeing the best and worst of these isolated communities. Communities that have most definitely seen the worst of times beyond the weather - addiction, residential schools, relocations, abuse. Coming to guild, for these women, is a break for them, a chance to recharge and put work behind them. Well, on the second day one woman pulled me aside and thanked me for her own creative breakthrough. She was sewing more than she ever does in guild and was recharged personally. Usually I am pretty happy if people have fun and are inspired to sew more once the class is over, but to hear that, from an art therapist no less, was inspiring to me.

Not to mention this beading. Oh, the beading... (This one wasn't by a student, but a woman dropped by to share it.)

Thank you to the NWT Arts Council for the funding to bring me to Inuvik.

Good Times with Alex Anderson

Last week I had the pleasure of chatting with Alex Anderson about my books, quilts, non-obligation sewing and finding the pleasure in quilting and the craziness of life. This first bit includes a lot about how I like to slow down and sew, and how you can too. Not to mention some gorgeousness and advice from the book.

Check it out here! And stay tuned for the second part.