World Wide Knit in Public

It is the official day of knitting in public!

A nice group of us met at 9 AM this morning at a local 'bar'.

We started with coffees and by noon we were onto "aperitivo".

As always lots of laughs!

There were some showing their work and others being inspired!

A few lessons happened!

People from different parts of the world that were in Verona on holidays stopped to see what we were doing and have a chat! England, New Zealand and United States.

This lady is from England. 

Even a bee stopped in!

A couple from the United States read about our event on-line and came equipped with yarn and needles!

Italy was the European country with the most locations registered. 27! Brava Italia!

Quilting Day

I spent Sunday in a fabulous Italian villa in Zelarino, near Venice...

... chatting with friends and sewing together,

... celebrating quilting in this province of Veneto.

I made this in the free workshop I took.

Teacher's example. The measuring tape
is in cm and inches. Bonus!

Lunch was great. The weather was warm and sunny. I even did some fabric shopping. I bought three raffle tickets (money going to charity) and I won three times!!

The Quiltitalia representative (centre) for the region of Veneto
with her husband,
one of many husbands who attended the day's event.
Her hexagon quilt is hand pieced and hand quilted.
Her husband entitled it Nightmare
because every evening for months she sewed with the light on
while he wanted to watch TV in the dark!

It was worth getting up at 6 AM for!

Back in Verona

Today's views.

Today's activities.

Ad Maiora studio

Too beautiful for words!

A block made by my friend Emanuela for her friend's birthday quilt.

Verona...again...and again

I am in Verona again.

I dropped in to see friends at the Associazione Ad Maiora.

Friends meet at the studio.

As always, there was lots of talking...

 and sharing....

and eating.

Home made, of course! Obviously made by a quilter!
Look at those strips! They're cut perfectly!

One of the neighbours brought some eggs to give.

I taught a class yesterday at the same studio.

Two students arrive early to set up. There were 6 students in all.

Today, a friend drove up to the studio and gave me a knitting class.

It is always a pleasure being here. The members of the association are incredible!

Quilting Day Lombardia

Last weekend, I participated in my first ever Quilting Day-which may sound odd seeing as I have been quilting for almost 25 years.

Clusone, Italy

Regions in Italy host these events which consist of taking classes,

having a nice lunch,

prizes and gift exchanges,

and sewing a community quilt together. Really fun! This time the organizers offered a tour of their town -added bonus.

View of Clusone from the Palazzo Fogaccia

This time Lombardia province hosted and the day took place in the town of Clusone. It was great to see old friends from the hosting area. There were about 65 people attending.

Registering for the day's events.

Clusone is 650m above sea level. The town is lovely and has gorgeous views.

The "local" prince offered his castle for the event.

Inside Palazzo Fogaccia built from 1693-1709

There were textile works in every room and out in the gardens.

textile art by Luca Zaglioni
hangs in front of the fireplace.

My piece from the Città Invisible exhibit
lay in front of a fresco.

Community quilt-works made at previous events hang in the garden
of Palazzo Fogaccia

The prince had lunch with us.

Walking around the grounds after lunch.

Pretty amazing day!

I will be going to the Veneto Quilting Day on Sunday, September 22, in Santa Maria di Sala. Looking forward to it!

Friday's Pleasure

I dedicated almost the entire Friday to art! Love it!

In the next two weeks, you can see a number of textile exhibits in the city of Oakville and Toronto while the World of Threads Festival  is on. Most of the exhibits were curated by Gareth Bate and festival chair, Dawne Rudman.

There are 12 countries and 8 Canadian provinces represented.

I specifically went to support the makers that exhibited a piece in Tradition in Transition.

Penny Berens (one piece),

Penny Berens' piece, Under Construction, 
part of the Connections fibre group exhibition

Anna Hergert (one piece),

Love the shadow Anna's piece casts
on the gallery wall.
You can see a little of her piece from 2009,
Acquatic Embrace
on the right side. It's made of stitched plastic
and is part of the exhibit Momento Mori

 Judith Martin (four pieces plus curator for and participant in Continuum).

detail, Monumental Simplicty, part of Continuum
109" x109"

detail, Trinity,  2011,
26" x 40"
part of Quiet Zone

detail, Light of the Moon, 2009,
38" x46"
part of Variegated Threads

detail, Heart to Heart, 2009,
24" x 60"

Another participating artist, Amanda McCavour, curated Material Connections which will be on next week in Toronto. I'm looking forward to seeing that.

And bonus, Gloria S. Daly flew all the way from Vancouver Island to see the 21 exhibits and we got a chance to meet!

Gloria S. Daly and I .... instant friends!

My New Cups

My friend gave me some gorgeous tea cups made by an American artisan.

I love the colours.

Today's mini work.

raw edge applique, free-motion thread work

I will send it to her as a thank you.