Sick Days

I have been really sick for exactly 5 and a half days- in bed, on antibiotics, with terrible ear pain.

From my bed I can see my sewing machine...it's calling me but I can't sew.

This morning I watched 3 hours of decorating shows on TV and have come to the conclusion that I NEED TO REDO MY HOUSE!

It has been really frustrating not being able to do anything but lie there. My quilts have been a joy and a comfort though.

As my scrap quilts cover me and keep me warm, I look at all the fabrics and textures. That makes me smile.

The kids are coming home at the end of the week to celebrate Thanksgiving. I hope I am better for that.

A Special Visit

I found out last minute and only by chance that Judith Martin was coming to Toronto. I saw it on her blog. Turns out she was speaking very close to my house! So I called a neighbour and off we went!

It took me ten minutes to drive there and it took her hours to come in from Manitoulin Island.

I had seen all the pieces she talked about, either exhibited or in images on her blog. The thing I wanted to do was TOUCH everything.

Her biggest news is that one of her pieces got into the QUILT NATIONAL! She was so happy about that. It had been her goal for a very long time.

page 37 in the Quilt National Catalogue. There it is!

She shared her life for forty-five minutes.

I know so much about Judy from her visits, her classes I have taken and from talking to her at several of her exhibits. I remember many things about her because she and I are similar in so many ways.

We both have 4 children. We both made quilts and art about our kids. We both have a favorite red sweater we wear around the house. We both fussed about getting the kids on the school bus on time. We both forgot our cameras last weekend when we went to see textile at museums, her in Toronto and me in Montreal. We both use paper, fabric, stitch in our work.

One of Judy's early works-
a log cabin made from family photographs and paper
 stitched on fabric. The words are nursery rhymes.

She continues to be my most favorite contemporary textile artist.

Everything was so beautiful. Thank you Judy!

Movement

Collage class #3 was finally satisfying. I am getting the hang of letting go and just "doing" without a plan in mind.

I love the movement of my piece. It has good line.

My work over the teacher's samples.
The one on the right is about Romeo and Juliet- ahh Verona!

I had tried this idea many years ago using two pieces of pieced fabric but with the 1/4 inch seam allowance eaten up on both sides of the strip the design was less effective.

We had some time to finish last week's collage and I was pleased with the movement of the curves.

it looks a bit sexual, no?
a fluke! 

Surround Yourself with Art

My daughter and her room mate have a beautiful apartment, full of natural light and art work!

These McGill students have surrounded themselves with beautiful things.

"Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."

                                                                                                William Morris.

Two paintings they made are resting on the mantel.

Seagull painting done at TSA by a seaside vignette.

A painted canvas from high school, IB art,
 hangs in the dining room.

They have a folded quilt hanging over their couch.

It was given to the room mate's parents as a wedding gift.
It is a summer quilt, made without any batting.

I was thinking of art all weekend.

I designed a new quilt!

I collected some "found paper" for my collage class. Keener!

Jean Paul Gaultier in Montreal

I am in Montreal for the weekend. My daughter and I went to see the gorgeous textiles of "l'enfant terrible" of the fashion world.

He is self-taught.

He is one of the most important fashion designers of recent decades.

Jean Paul Gaultier's haute couture. (images courtesy of Zio Paolino from flickr as I forgot my camera!)

I loved the photo transfers onto cloth, the textures, the beading.

Pierre Cardin told him, "The idea is more important than the material used to translate it."

Quilt Shows Everywhere

This is the season of quilt shows.

On the weekend I visited my first this fall. It was hosted by the Yorkshire Rose Quilter's Guild. I am on the look out for possible submissions that are more traditional for the show I am curating in France.

There were many beautiful quilts exhibited. Coral presented two works she started in Verona. She was one of the Verona Trip travellers from March 2010. She learned these new techniques there and finished the works here. Brava!

miniature, Afghanistan hand sewing technique

Scrap quilt project taught by Roberta Bugli in Verona
No new fabric was bought for this! How good does that feel!

detail of above quilt:
 some of the fabric used: an italian mens shirt fabric,
a piece of hand dyed fabric from the class of Marina Tavella

The 9 patch is one of my favorite blocks! It's so versatile. I teach it as a first quilt.

This quilt was made using blocks from the
9 patch exchange I initiated with my guild last year.
It was made by Marg, another Verona Trip traveller!

I was happy to see many works from quilters that have taken classes from me. It is satisfying to see completed quilts started in my classes.

Grace and her work from the foundation piecing class

5-4-3-2-1- the countdown series shown below. No new fabric can be purchased to create the quilts in these classes. What a challenge! But these students did great!

The next show I plan to go to is the Rouge Valley Quilters' Guild Show, October 15-16, 2011. On November 11,12 13 the members of York Heritage Quilters Guild will have their work on exhibit.

Toronto Scapes

This is what I see when I walk in downtown Toronto.

It reminds me of the early works of Canadian textile artist Sandra Meech.

I walked downtown today for my collage class. I found the class difficult in that I had no idea where I was going during one of the exercises.

collage in progress using 'found' paper

Going with the flow again.