Leslie Prokop

You never know when you will meet that person who makes you stop in your tracks and think about the generous quilters out there.    Every quilter has a story of how they began quilting.   This is one such story that grabbed my attention and is about an amazing woman and how she has incorporated quilting into the lives of the next generation.

Ms. Leslie Prokop was discovered by CQA/ACC when she sponsored a number of students in the Youth Challenge, through the exchange of several emails, she was gracious enough to share her story with us.

Tell us a little about yourself?
I am a mother of two and married for 26 years. I have been a high school guidance counselor/ teacher for the past 29 years.

Patch work quilt – in between every third or fourth quilt that I complete, I have tried to put a personal rule in place that I must use fabrics from my stash or scraps.  This is a table cloth we currently use in our kitchen.  It is quilted with thermal insult in the center to keep the heat off the table.

When did you start quilting?
I started quilting when I was a counselor with the Peel Board of Education. I oversaw a program called TEAM - Teen Education and Motherhood Program. Young girls ages 13 – 21 attended school either pregnant or with their babies.  This was a community outreach program with the YMCA and Peel District School Board. We offered a full range of classes from  English, Math Science, to physical education and parenting classes.  We tried to offer whatever courses were needed so the girls could graduate from high school with their Ontario Secondary School Diploma. These girls stayed with the program until they went to college, university or got a full time job. My first year at the program we needed a credited course that none of the girls had taken before that needed to be taught by me.  The only course we could find was a family studies course in sewing.

 I had sewn a little in the past: dresses for my daughters for Thanksgiving and Christmas, curtains and pillows etc.  My principal offered to send me to any sewing course to better equip me to teach this specialized area. I ended up at the Toronto Needlework Festival, registered in a variety of sewing classes.

The first class I attended was a quilting class with Ami Simms. I walked into her classroom and was totally overwhelmed – it was amazing.  She had quilts displayed around the room, with signatures and pictures of all of her students past and present. I decided immediately that I was going to do this. I wanted to create a memory of all of the students who had touched my life. So at the end of the class I went directly to the registration desk and changed my “sewing” classes all to “quilting” classes.

 Next I had a class with John Willard.  He was over the top creative and imaginative. I had no idea what I was doing, yet every woman taking the class took me under their wing and helped me. I had no stash, I didn’t even know what this was.  They all started donating fabric so I could stay a part of the class. I learned immediately that quilters were incredible people, and generous to a fault. They had hearts that were caring, plentiful and gave freely of themselves. 

During my four days I also had the opportunity to enjoy classes from Rosemary Makhan. Her supportive quiet nature combined with her vast knowledge and experience helped to solidify my interest in quilting. I have never looked back and have been taking courses ever since, reading books and magazines, attending retreats and workshops.  So far it has been 12 years of an incredible journey.

Sailing Quilt – I live in a home of avid Ontario sailors - our oldest daughter was on the National team and Olympic campaign last year. This quilt will be an auction item at Bronte Harbour Yacht Club’s fund raiser for the visually impaired sailing school / summer youth sailing program

You teach at a unique school, can you tell us about it?
 I currently teach at Appleby College. It is a university preparatory school in Oakville Ontario, attended by students from around the world. We host both local and international students who are either day students or boarders. One of the co-curricular activities that students have the option of taking is CRAFT CLUB. This club occurs every Monday after school for an hour and a half. Students learn a variety of crafts throughout the year. Every year we teach sewing and quilting. We donate cuddle quilts to the Neonatal unit at McMaster University. We create pillow cases for the Oakville Trafalgar Hospital and Ronald McDonald house. In the past we have donated full size quilts to the Quilt for a Cure Challenge. This year all of our Craft Club members created blocks to enter into the CQA/ACC Youth Block Challenge.  One of our members, Antonia Engel a grade 10 student won in her age category.  We were thrilled as it was her first time quilting.

Tula Pink – Free on-line pattern.  I currently love her fabric line – and patterns

What type of quilting do you like? 

I can truly say I am very eclectic. I like everything.  From traditional, civil war,  to applique and modern. I am limited like most quilters by not enough time. I have had the wonderful opportunity to attend the Houston Quilt Festival, as well as local quilt shows over the years.  I am currently a member of two guilds, the Grimsby Quilters Guild and the Stoney Creek Quilters Guild. The members in both are so creative and inspiring that every month there is something new to see and experience through the guest speakers and show and tell segment.

Tell us some favorite things you enjoy about quilting?

 My favourite thing about quilting  is the sense of community, and kindred spirit among its membership. I feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to include my hobby in my work place. It has enabled me to share my passion and creativity. I have been on several guild executives; Halton, Oakville, Stoney Creek and Grimsby.  Through participating in each, I have found the strength in women and a sisterhood through a common interest.

 I have also had the opportunity to work at a local quilt store and teach some classes on the weekends. The Quilters Garden Patch is a hidden treasure in Bronte, and has been amazingly supportive of my interest in quilting. The owner Janet Henry and customers are inspirational. I have a friend who also runs a long arm quilting business – Shelley De-Hay Turner.  Her company Perfect Pear Quilts makes all of our family quilts come to life.  Meeting and working with fellow quilters has motivated me, and helped to make my life more complete.

With retirement in the near future I have decided to launch an on-line quilt store with my daughters Joanne and Jenna.  JP's Quilt Studio will be selling fabric, books and hopefully inspiring others. We plan to have our kick-off grand opening on June 15th at our home at 6 Richmond Crescent in Stoney Creek. This will be an open house to show what we will be carrying and hopefully share the Houston quilt market experience with some of our local quilters. Lots of great new hot fabrics at some great low prices.  It might sound crazy but we don’t want to make oodles of money – we want to share our addiction by offering great value at market type prices.  This will provide me the opportunity to work with my daughters, and continue to share my passion and interest in quilting.

What would you like to try in quilting? 

I am about to try the Tula Pink hexagon quilt kit. The colours are fresh but the pattern istraditional. I like the blending of the two.

 Where would you like to see quilting go in Canada? 

My grandmother was a master quilter.  She was 99 years old when she passed away.  She always had some stitching in her hands and never sat idle.  She was so proud of being Canadian that she always tried to include a little maple leaf in her work. We have the opportunity to travel a great deal, and I am always impressed on my trips around the world, how stitching and quilting are everywhere. I would love to see Canadian quilters/artists continue with my grandmother’s  tradition and include a maple leaf somewhere in everything that they do. Either in the stitching, hidden in a border or on a label. I am so proud of our country, heritage and culture.  We need to stand up and be recognized as the best place in the world to live, and quilt!

This year was the inaugural year of the Grimsby Quilters Guild.

We were lucky enough to host a challenge sponsored by Northcott Fabrics.

My daughter and I each purchased a kit to enter.

We then decided we would try use them two-fold. 

Once for the challenge and secondly as a gift to my boss and her husband as they are expecting twins.

  

Grimsby Quilters Guild Challenge - Leslie Prokop

Grimsby Quilters Guild Challenge (made with daughter Joanne)

 Lastly, and I ask everyone this, what is your favorite food? 

Hahaha, could there be any question? Cookie dough, obviously.It has been such a pleasure interviewing Leslie, with her determination to educate the young about quilting and her strong pride in our country.  I think I am off to tuck a little maple leaf into my new art quilt.

Pssttt....

We have just a few openings left in a couple of our workshops and lecture at Quilt BC 2013.  Check it out here, act fast.... you do not want to miss out on all this fun!

Quilt of Belonging

Have you heard of the Quilt of Belonging?   Here is how it is described on the website:

Quilt of Belonging is 120 foot (36 metres) long collaborative textile art project, a richly hued portrait of the human family. Its 263 blocks portray the rich cultural legacies of all the First Peoples in Canada and every nation of the world at the dawn of the new Millennium.

Seeing it in person is a most moving and colourful display of humanity.   As stated on their site:

Quilt of Belonging is a collaborative work of art that:
                        recognizes Canada's diversity, celebrates our common humanity
                        and promotes harmony and compassion among people.

 The quilt consist of 263 11" blocks.  You can go here to look at each block.   This is a wonderful way to look at the quilt and the detail put into each block.  Each individual block has a story that goes with it that is enlightening to read.   

Most recently they have made a 48 minute documentary on the making of the Quilt and have completed a 'Youth Quilt Project', a 120' quilt made from artwork of almost 800 students from kindergarten to grade 12.

You will be inspired after reading the stories on the Quilt of Belonging and maybe even want to arrange for it to come to your event.

Fun Tips and Giggles #10

There is a growing trend to add embroidery stitches to our quilts.   If you are anything like me, you only know how to do the running stitch, and wonder how everyone else can make all those other intricate stitches that make their quilts come to life.   Check out this great site that shows easy to follow videos on embroidery stitches.  There are over 85 different stitches with videos and they are broken down into  categories with a picture for each..

Have you started working on our latest challenge, Through the Eyes of a Bug?  Did you see the prizes being offered?  Fat Quarter Shop is our sponsor and they have donated a Fat Eighth bundle for First Prize and a Jelly Roll for Second Prize!  Check out the details of how to enter here.




And now for your little giggle of the day:

Monika Kinner-Whalen

There is a delightful young woman who lives in Saskatoon.  She is taking the nation by storm with her detailed landscape fibre art.   Her love of  her country becomes evident when Monika puts camera, needle and thread together.  Her blog is an overload of colour and talent.  It is a total thrill to have interviewed  such a talented and wonderful young woman!

Please tell us a bit about yourself.
 My name is Monika Kinner-Whalen.  I live in Saskatoon SK with my family of 5.  I've been an active part of our local quilting guild for almost 5 years.  I'm a juried artist with the Saskatchewan Craft Council, and a member of the embroiderer's guild as well. 

What got you into this type of fibre art? 
 I was raised by a landscape artist who couldn't sew.  That's my story.  I grew up on an acreage right across the tracks from a grain elevator.  Summers were spent at the lake.  I know my subject matter like the back of my hand.  I just never loved using paint.  I preferred needle and thread.  So for a long time, art was a hobby and sewing was a hobby.  Three years ago I was given a Quilting Arts magazine.  I had never heard of such a thing - my entire brain re-filed and I sewed my first art that day.  I've been going strong ever since. My transition from quilter to artist happened via Postcards.  I fell in love with these little projects, and the happiness they bring people.  I've been offering Creative Quilted Postcards Workshops for 3 years now.

Explain   how you go about constructing a piece.  
 My main body of work is my thread-painted landscapes.  They are free motion stitched and hand embroidered on canvas.  All are based on my local surroundings.   I don't trace or use templates - I just stitch 'by sight' with photos nearby.

Is all your work from your own photographs?
 Being raised by an artist gave me a VERY strong sense of respect and etiquette for the art and artist.  It was drilled into me from a very early age never to copy anyone else's work EVER.  Not even a picture in a magazine. That would be breaking the 11th commandment and I would surely go straight to you-know-where.  The only photo exception is with commissioned work, but even then I ask for permission from the original photographer.   Sometimes I work with no photos, but when I want to get the true depth and distance in a landscape, a real image helps SO much.

So yes - I only work from my own photos.  I spend a lot of time photographing scenes to stitch.  I love driving down dirt roads in search of pretty things. I have THOUSANDS of personal photographs to work with.

You do threadwork and embroidery on your fibre art, tell us about the embroidery?  Is there only a few stitches you use?   
 My machine stitches are mostly straight stitch, grass stitch, or zigzag.   Not a lot of other stitches will work for free motion embroidery.  My hand stitches are what I call 'freestyle'.  Ultimately, my goal is to use whatever stitch will be most effective in resembling what it is I want to convey.  If it will look better done by hand, then that is what I will do.  I take no short cuts.  So, grass needs long straight stitches.  Dots of flowers may be seed stitches.  I love to fill a canola or flax field with French Knots.  I make things up as I need them - wrap once, wrap twice, wrap three times.   I've used Sorbello stitches for buffalo beans.  I don't have formal embroidery training - I try to learn as much on my own as I can to broaden my choices.  Double knot stitches, long and short stitches, couching, herringbone... There are a LOT of stitches out there!

Tell us where this fibre art has taken you.
 Oh my - where hasn't it taken me?  It's crazy really.  It's my day job now.  It pays the bills.  I pinch myself to see if I'm dreaming.  'Paid to sew?'  I thought that was just a silly fantasy.  I couldn't be happier.  My work has been purchased and commissioned from all around the world (thanks to the internet).  I had a Wearable Art piece accepted into the NJS, and that was the first time I'd ever entered anything.

 I've won awards for my art, and cash prizes for my photography as well.    I've been invited to do many public presentations to guilds and groups.  I've been invited to teach creative sewing to adults and children.  I'm doing fibre presentations in public schools now which is so very cool. 

 I am already booked into 2015 to teach nationally, and to curate a provincial art exhibit.  Truthfully, none of this would be possible without a strong presence on the internet.  That's how you get seen these days.  I was scouted for national magazines and recently had images of my work prominently published in Mastering the Art of Embroidery by Sophie Long in the U.K.  My head is spinning!  The possibilities are endless.

What is your greatest accomplishment with your fibre art?   
 My greatest accomplishment...  right now this solo exhibit I'm preparing for in the next province over is a pretty big deal to me.   Having A Needle Pulling Thread magazine and Janome America ask me to be profiled as an artist... that meant so much.   My Prairie Dress - it has a life of its own.  It was accepted into an exhibition with the Saskatchewan Craft Council, it went to Halifax for the NJS, and then later the provincial craft council used it for the visual in their ad in a national art and craft magazine. 

 I would also like to add that I've been published several times in Quilters Connections and A Needle Pulling Thread magazines.  I wholeheartedly support Canadian businesses as much as I can and encourage readers to do the same.   I have my own blog and also founded a blog called The Needle and Thread Network (TN&TN) that links Canadian crafters together with weekly WIP's and interviews of talented Canadians.

Do you have your own studio to do your work and how many hours a day do you spend on it?
I work full time.  You can find me there on weekends, late into the night, and all day too.  It's a big sunlit room with a vaulted ceiling in my home.  My three kids go to school right across the the street and come home for lunch every day, so I like that I can juggle motherhood and career like this.

What is your favourite food?
 Vietnamese or Korean food.  Salty, fresh, and gluten free. ; )

Truly a pleasure finding out about Monika and we will look forward to see where she goes next!

Gunnel Hag with a Screen Printing Tutorial

Gunnel Hag is simply stated, every art quilter's dream.   What she can do to the fabric is astounding. You simply have to check out her blog and website.  Read on to find a fun and easy tutorial.

Super Easy Screen Printing on Fabric with Gunnel Hag using Colour Vie.

I have been creating patterns, pictures and textures for as long as I can remember. Fabric, leather, paper, metal - nothing was safe. When I was studying English at Stockholm University, Sweden, I was introduced to master textile printer Richard Kunzl, who taught me fabric screen printing in his wonderful studio in Stockholm. That was it! 

I had found my calling. 

After art college in London, England, I emigrated to Canada. Not being able to find work as a textile designer, I started tie dyeing T-shirts, sold them to boutiques in Toronto and realized that I had in fact started my own business: Trees Textile Designers and Printers. 

I produced my line of hand printed clothing and accessories (sold across Canada and in the U.S.) as well as custom screen printed fabrics. For 12 years I was a professor in the Textile Studio at Sheridan College in Oakville. Now I teach workshops in my studio in Toronto as well as at quilt guilds, conferences and art schools. I also produce printed fabrics for theatre, ballet, film and television. Most of the fabrics are used in costumes. For several years I worked on the fabulous musical “The Lion King”, which is still running in England and other countries - and my Colour Vie pigments are still being used in these productions. 

 Screen printed silk crepe de chine by Gunnel Hag)

The Colour Vie Pigment System was born after I became quite allergic to some of the chemicals used in the pigments and base that were available in the early 80s. Colour Vie on the other hand is water based and environmentally friendly, completely washable and light fast. Its three parts consist of a liquid pure fabric Pigment that you mix with a colourless Base and Resfix (a fixative). The Base is what actually binds the pigment colour to the fabric. The colours are completely inter-mixable, so you can create an endless palette of hues and shades for your fabrics. Needless to say, this is what I use almost exclusively in my work. 

 “Heartbreak Hotel” screen printed quilt published in Quilting Arts 2009)

When it comes to creating pattern and texture on fabric, the possibilities are literally endless!

On my blog I am currently having a lot of fun creating prints from ordinary objects - a bit of an obsession of mine. To challenge myself I decided to print with objects starting with the letter A and working my way through the alphabet towards Z! I am currently working on the letter “I”. To see what patterns I have been printed so far please check out my blog.

“C" is for Credit Card” by Gunnel Hag

There are so many techniques for imparting colour onto cloth that it was hard to decide what tutorial to teach. I always get questions about screen printing on fabric, so that is what I decided to share with you:

The easy do-it-yourself-from-scratch version of Screen Printing on Fabric 

A Bit of History:

The first silk-screen was made in France in the early 19th century. It evolved from the paper stencils used in Japan as early as the 8th century A.D., where strands of human hair were often used to keep the stencil together.

The silk-screen is a frame of wood (or plastic or metal) with a mesh stretched tightly over it. The mesh used to be silk, hence the name silk screen printing. A stencil is adhered to the screen, and the design is then printed on the fabric by pushing the dye across the screen and through the open areas of the stencil with a squeegee.

The Screen:

• The important thing is that the screen needs to lie flat on your table.
• You can make a silk screen from a wooden stretcher frame (available in art supply                     stores), an old picture frame or even a wooden or plastic embroidery hoop.

- Instead of buying mesh from a screen print supplier, you can just use a curtain sheer.

• Use a staple gun to stretch the mesh/sheer tightly over the frame. There should be no “bubbles” or loose bits of sheer.
• Trim off the excess mesh/sheer with scissors.

 Student’s screen made from stretcher bars

Taping the screen:

• The screen will need to be taped all around to cover the staples and to create a “dye well”, a taped area measuring about 1.5” wide inside the wooden frame. (See Picture). Duct tape works very well - packing tape is also good, but a bit trickier to handle. The dye well will stop the pigment/paint/dye from bleeding into your print area. 

 Student’s screen taped with duct tape

The Squeegee:

- You can buy a squeegee in an art supply store OR just use a plastic drywall spreader or a credit card for smaller prints (a lot cheaper).

The Print Table:

For printing on fabric you will need a slightly padded surface.

• Simply put a couple of layers of polar fleece, thin foam rubber or a blanket on your table and cover it with some old smooth fabric. 

-You can also make yourself a pallet from a piece of plywood or insulation foam board and cover it in the same way as above. Very useful if you print more or less the same size fabric all the time. You can pin your fabric straight onto the pallet, print it and then put away the pallet until next time you use it.

Print pallet made from insulation foam, foam rubber and fabric

The Design:

1. Draw a design on paper. Newsprint works really well. 

    It can be your own simple design. The paper stencil  technique is perfect for designs that are not too detailed. Start simple. Think of a silhouette. As you become more comfortable with cutting out the paper, you will get more adventurous and use more detail in your designs.

2. Use an X-acto knife or scissors to cut out your design from the paper. The open

    areas in your design is where the pigment will print onto the fabric.

1. Tape your design to the bottom (back) of your screen using masking tape.

 Student holding her cut paper stencil ready to tape onto the back of the screen

 Student taping her paper stencil onto the back of her screen

Printing:

1. Pin or tape your ironed fabric to the pallet/table surface.

2. Place the screen on top of the fabric that you want  to print.

3. Put your pigment along one inside side of the screen. (Make sure you use a water based pigment/ink, so you can wash screen and squeegee under your tap after use).

4. Place your squeegee at about 80 degrees angle behind the pigment and push it  

 across the screen with a firm even pressure while holding the screen securely with     

 one hand (or get a friend to help). Squeegee the pigment back and forth a     

 couple of times (more times if the fabric you are printing on is thick and absorbent).

 Student printing with a drywall smoother used as a squeegee

1. Lift up the screen and repeat the print as many times as you want. The paper stencil will automatically stick to the screen after you’ve printed once. A word of warning here: Make sure you don’t leave the screen for too long before you screen print your second print. If the pigment dries into the screen, the mesh gets blocked, making further prints impossible with that screen. 

 Excellent student fabric

Washing the screen:

- Wash the screen and squeegee. (Like Colour Vie, many pigments are water based, so your screen, squeegee and all your utensils can be washed with water). When the screen has dried, you are ready to create another design and print more fabric!

Heat setting the fabric:

- Look at the instructions for your pigment, paint or dye.  Most pigments need to be heat set to become completely wash fast. This can be done by ironing the fabric with an iron set on a cotton setting after the fabric has dried.

There are thousands of different and fun ways of creating your own personal patterns and textures on fabric. Check my web site for more information, upcoming workshops (in screen printing as well as other exciting techniques) and loads of pictures. The Customer Gallery has some awesome printed quilts and fabrics!

 “Drunkard’s Path” screen printed - not quilted by Gunnel Hag

Thank you so much for sharing your work with us and how you create it!