Meet Our New Vice President - Linda Schmidt

Spunk. That is the word that comes to mind when I think of our newest Vice President of CQA/ACC. 
The girl just has spunk. The dictionary defines it as courage, spirit and determination. Linda Schmidt has it all. Plus a smile that lights up a room.

We discovered this talented woman when we were in Penticton at Quilt BC 2013. She was the National Juried Show Coordinator... and so much more, as we soon discovered. She was organized to the last detail, efficient like none other and she is unflappable. We can't get that smile and calm demeanour off of her!  And we have tried. She just grins, takes the crisis and solves it. And we all just sigh and think 'thank goodness she represents Canadian quilters.'

'The Tree' done in 2008 for a challenge.

Who is Linda Schmidt, other than the woman who has these amazing qualities? She is super talented with her long arm machine and loves getting her quilts under the machine to do her magic.

Double Wedding Ring variation from McCall’s Quilting May 2011 issue.

Linda has recently fallen in love with modern quilts.  Her favourite thing about making quilts is doing the quilting on her long arm or less frequently on her domestic machine.

Being part of the  Quilt Canada 2013 Local Organizing Committee was such a rewarding experience that she thought working with the amazing board members would be even more fulfilling.  She tells us that she likes to organize and coordinate events so thought she would have something to contribute. 

Inspired by Louisa L. Smith’s book A New Twist on Strips ‘n Curves- titled ‘All Roads are Connected’, done in 2008.

I can tell you she has been with us for only a month and is definitely an asset to the Board. In due time will do a fantastic job at the helm of this wonderful organization of quilters! 

What completely sold us on Linda is when she said her favourite food was cinnamon buns! How can you not adore a quilter who loves cinnamon buns?

Please join me in welcoming Linda to the CQA/ACC Board of Directors.

Jackie

Fun Tips and Giggles #18

We are having so much fun these days, that we simply have to share it with you!

We are jumping into social media feet first and want you to come along with us and share the news with all your friends.

First off, did you know we have started a pinterest account?  Yessir, we are loving adding all sorts of great 'pins' to the boards.  Those of you that are unfamiliar with pinterest, it is a place where you can look for ideas or 'pins' that you then pin onto your bulletin boards.  They are all pictures and will link to the website the picture came from. It literally is a multitude of ideas. For example, we have boards and pins on guild programs, tutorials, black and white quilts and so much more.  You just have to check us out!

We are also set up with twitter. We are tweeting like crazy and would love for you to join us. Twitter is short little messages that you send out to fellow followers or 'tag' people that are also using twitter. For example, we tagged Aurifil in a tweet about how we were on the Gen Q blog and they sent it out to all their followers!

Our most recent addition to social media is Instagram. This is a platform to share pictures. Very fun and is done on a smart phone.

Many of you know that we are on facebook. We continue to increase our followers and thank you for constantly sharing our facebook page with your friends.

Lastly, but not least is the centre of our social media and the place where the centre of activity lies - our website. We have all our important information here.  Such as the list of certified judges and apprentice judges,  our galleries including the amazing NJS 2014 gallery, and up to date information on our next conference, Quilt Canada 2015 and we have listed all the teachers at it!

Here is your little giggle for the day=)

Jackie

Did you ever want to quilt in the park in the summer?

Some of us seem to stop quilting in the summer - it's too hot!

A group of avid quilters from the Niagara Falls QG want to keep on meeting and quilting. They meet informally in the local "Stamford Centre Volunteer Firemen's Park". As an added bonus, the community is made aware of the skills involved in quilting and the wide variety of quilts that have been made by local quilters.

Every Tuesday night, these women bring their supper, their hand work, lawn chairs, and quilting magazines to the park all summer long. 

Not only do they quilt, but magazines are shared and a lot of "show and tell" happens, too.

Stage for musical performers while people sit on the hill to listen

Around 7:00 pm each week, the Stamford Centre Volunteer Firemen's Association brings in a different group to provide a variety of music to listen to. 




A good time for friends and quilting too.






Marilyn

April Showers Bring May Flowers - Member Challenge

It was a wonderful challenge with some fantastic prizes thanks to our great sponsor, Claire at http://www.courtepointeclaire.ca/eng/home.htm. 

Note: the three prize winners will be featured in the upcoming issue of The Canadain Quilter.

Trilliums
by Ruth Quinn

It depicts the Trilliums that grow down the lane where I live.  The background is pieced and the Trilliums are machine appliquéd onto the piece.  Both the flanges and the quilting depict the pine trees that have fallen on the ground as well.  There are also brown and blue beads sewn onto the piece depicting rocks and the sky coming through the forest.  I used a photo I had taken to make this wall hanging.

by Beulah Caswell

This wall hanging was started in a workshop given by Anna Hergert of Moose Jaw. The original hand-drawn designs are done in reverse applique. Free-motion quilting is done with cotton and metallic threads. Water-colour pencils and beads are the finishing touches.

A Little Bit of Spring
by Joyce Heard

This little quilt was inspired by  a tulip block by Jayne Turner in a Miniature Quilts magazine, issue #59. The quilt measures 6 3/4” x 8 3/4” and is displayed in a 8” x 10” picture frame on my mantel.   

Singing in The Rain
by Mary Hopkins

My thread painted robin sits on a branch made of multi coloured cords and wools twisted together and stitched to the background. The leaves and flowers are snippets of ribbon anchored into the cord. The rain tracks are threads of blue and silver.

 

 Flower Power
by Linda Schmidt

This is an original design drawn by Shirley Tracey, stitched and inked by myself.  The technique is from the book “Bold and Beautiful” by Judi Dains.  It was such fun to play with the inks on this piece and I love doing the free motion stitching on my domestic machine. 

by Linda Schmidt

This was my first 3 dimensional piece.  Techniques used include couching, fusible appliqué, foiling, semi-attached leaves/petals, seed beads. The pattern for this quilt was in Quiltmaker magazine, Winter 2006 issue.  

by Hélène Blanchet

 I am relatively new to Calgary, having moved here 2 years ago from the East Coast. I  got a job as a gardener. Little did I know what the spring season is in the Prairies: from warm Chinooks in April and gale force winds in May to thunderous inundations in June to hail in July.  Yet despite the many challenges the Prairie garden is as lovely as any – if you’re stubborn enough. This is a picture of my boss’ place in the centre of Calgary.

AH SPRING TWO
by Pat Golem

This is a digital photo of crocus taken in my flowerbed, printed on fabric, thread painted, beaded and quilted.

 

The Promise of Spring

by Carol Swinden

This quilt depicts a snowy bank along a cold, flowing creek on a rainy day near the end of winter. Down the creek float some fresh, brightly- coloured spring blooms as a promise of warmer weather to come. 

by Betty Johnson

I tried a Ricky Timms transvergence background & then appliquéd my whimsical flowers on top. Lots of fun to fiddle with these small pieces.

Spring Bulbs
by Karen Menzies

An unusual and very heavy April snowfall forced my bulbs to retreat back into the ground.

It Was A Lovely Warm Summer Day
by Susan Taylor

It is based on an illustration in a charming 1922 Norwegian children's book "Kalles Eventyrferd" (Kalle's Adventure) by Sofie Voss, which belonged to my mother.  I achieved the gradations in the pink fabrics by discharging with bleach.

Sunshine's Coming
by Christine Reid

 It is based on Ricky Tim's Convergence Quilts book. I used four fat quarters and added the umbrella as raw edge appliqué.  It was fun to do.

Harbingers of Spring
by Mary Katherine Hopkins

This is the sight we all look for after the long winters -  those brave Crocus poking through the snow. A little modern and a little traditional. Cotton and chiffon.

 

Spring Fling
by Heather Chapplain

I thought I would enter this challenge has I just finished an original piece called" Spring Fling". It measures 15" x15". I used commercial batik  fabric and hand dyed fabric I dyed myself. I also used angelina fibres and metallic threads. The sparkle is swaraski crystals. The fabric weaving was based on a technique from the book "Fabric Embellishing" The basics and beyond. By Ruth Chandler, Liz Kettle, Heather Thomas and Lauren Vlcek. This is a great book with many wonderful techniques and ideas. Thank you so much for this opportunity. 

 

Party with Patrick

by Kaaren L. Biggs

This is a wall hanging I made as part of a Party With Patrick group a couple of years ago. It was a fun way to learn fusible techniques and simple free-motion machine quilting with a group of friends, each of us making a new wall hanging monthly for one year.

 

 

Sunbonnet Sue - April Showers
by Lynn McEachern

Sunbonnet Sue stands in the rain under her umbrella, admiring new flowers and a young robin.
The design was done by myself using EQ7 graphics; the fabrics, threads and beads were from my stash.  This project was designed for this challenge, June 2014.

 

Baby Quilt 

 by Anita LaHay 

I decided to combine the CQA Spring Challenge theme with sewing a baby quilt for my new baby due in September. This baby quilt has raindrops and umbrellas fused and machine appliqued onto a low volume patchwork background. Some of the background fabrics have raindrop prints too. The umbrellas and raindrops are made using a combination of Robert Kaufman Chevron fabrics and Bonnie & Camille for Moda's "April Showers" line. The quilt is hand quilted with a variegated Valdani pearl cotton thread to show dotted lines for the raindrops falling. The binding is a scrappy binding of the chevron fabrics used for the umbrellas and is machine sewn to the front and hand sewn to the back. All threads other than the handquilting thread are Aurifil. The quilt measures: 30 by 40 inches. 

Spring Forward

by Maggie Butterfield Dickinson

This quilt was inspired by one of my photographs of a tulip in its final days of glory. Many fabrics were auditioned for the petals and some of the "rejects" became the inner details. The technique is from Jane Sassaman where the individual pieces are embroidered on the background fabric before the quilt is batted and machine quilted.