These Boots Are Made For Walking Challenge

This was a fun challenge organized by our Director at Large, Laine Canivet.   The theme was “These Boots are Made for Walking” to help get us to Brock University in St. Catharines ON where the next big Quilt Canada 2014 conference will be held. 

 Twelve CQA/ACC members used their creativity and produced some wonderful quilts for our viewing pleasure.   The three prize winners will be published in the winter edition of ‘The Canadian Quilter’.  

A special thank you goes out to Fridays Off Fabric Shop for sponsoring this challenge.

The quilts were judged by Beverley Chorney an apprentice judge in our Quilt Judge Certification Programme (QJCP).

By Shirley Tracy which received an Honourable Mention

This is a photo of my interpretation of one of Van Gogh's paintings of shoes.  I drew it on fabric, then thread painted it with Glide thread and painted it with Fantastik paint sticks.

Judge Beverley gave this entry an ‘honourable mention’. She felt the variations in the mottled fabric were used very effectively to represent the different parts of each boot and the machine quilting enhanced each part.

Made by Laura McEachern

The focus of this little quilt is the boot, complete with leather lacing, with a silk high heeled shoe appliquéd to the side of the boot. Hence, walking in comfort but not without high style. The addition of some thread-painted grass, cobblestone quilting and a “paved” highway are suggestions of the many types of ground this boot will have to travel to “Walk to Brock”.

By Karen Menzies

If I were bananas enough to walk to QC 2014 in St. Catharines, I would do it in style (and pain), wearing my stilettos.”  This is original work, inspired by my guru, Pamela Allen of Kingston ON.

By Gail Fearon

When I first read about this little project I wondered how I could enter…I really don’t have that many boots to depict and then I remembered my old winter boots-the ugly green ones that I use in the winter , of course, to walk around the property with my two Shelties. The boots are old and as you can see downright ugly but they are comfortable and they keep out the snow…what more could you ask for.  So. I took a picture, drew them on parchment paper and hand appliquéd  them (my favourite technique is backstitch appliqué and that is what I used here). I won’t tell you how many years I’ve owned these boot but I will tell you they have done a lot of walking.

By Nancy Sachro ‘Blue Suede Shoes’

Fabrics, cottons, velvet, upholstery. Techniques- raw edge appliqué, fusing, hand embellished, machine sewn and quilted. Elvis head from copyright free internet site.

By Nancy MacIntosh

My Theme is 'Walk Softly on this Earth' so I have chosen bare feet.  The feet are digitized embroidery with outline and cross hatch quilting.  Embellishments are embroidery or beads.  The foot designs are based on free clip art.  Drawing and creation are mine.  

By Susan Scott

This is Herk - he is ready to hit the trail!

By Betty Johnson

I'm a new member of the CQA/ACC, this is my first challenge.  I live in Langley, BC so I would not be able to WALK to Brock; I would have to fly.  My interpretation of the theme is an eagle flying across the Canadian skies, carrying my boots, dangling from a string, in his beak. I designed the paper-pieced Eagle in EQ7 and created boots that I could appliqué  onto my sky fabric.  Once I had finished the eagle, I couched the trim (rope) onto my sky fabric before appliquéing  the boots.  The piece measures 12"x12" and is machine and hand quilted.

By Jaynie Himsl, ‘Before Michael Jackson’

Surely these are the most famous boots ever. No other single step has ever been so significant. Method -fused applique, thread sketching and Inktense pencil shading.

                     

By Jackie White

This quilt was made by using my hand dyed fabric to imitate the look of sand.   Dye was thickened and painted onto my son’s shoe and then stamped onto the fabric.   Free motion quilting was done throughout.

Our next member challenge is ‘Things I Can't Live Without’.  Get creative and send us an interpretation of your “essential something’.   Details are here.

Walk To Brock - Month 1

WOW! There must have been a lot of pent-up quilters showing a full summer’s worth of quilts at their September meetings. You sent in an amazing number of inches for our first month!  Take a look at the map to see how far we went.

I really didn’t think we would get this far in the first month but here we are in beautiful Prince George, BC. This place has totem poles, dinosaurs and a drive-in movie. 

Get out the root beer and the popcorn and let's go to the Park Drive In - the number one tourist attraction. And while we are here, let’s send warm greetings to our member guild, the Prince George Quilters’ Guild.

Here is a cute story sent to me from the Cornwall Quilters Guild, Cornwall, Ontario.  They have collected 7,316 inches for the month of September. Their goal is 98,425 inches—the length of their bike path along the St. Lawrence River.  How fun that this guild is participating in our challenge but also has a challenge among their own members.  Way to go Cornwall QG!

I look forward to receiving even more inches from you next month.  Let's keep on walking!

Laine Canivet

Director at Large

It Is Time...

To send off your cheques to get your fun fabric for the Trend-Tex Challenge!
Thanks to the awesome folks at Trend-Tex Fabrics for sponsoring this fantastic challenge for CQA/ACC.

There are almost 300 kits of this delicious fabric waiting to be mailed out to be turned into a quilt or a quilted wearable.

You can find the kit application and guidelines here.  And the entry form here.

This is the scrumptious fabric you get to work with.   Don't delay because you don't want to miss out on this fun opportunity to have your quilts auctioned off at Quilt Canada 2014 to support our wonderful association.

Jackie W.

A Solution for 3D Embellishments

Do you wish you could embellish your little one's quilts, but know that they would get destroyed in the wash?

There are so many fun ways to embellish quilts, especially for children.   The only drawback is the quilts need to be laundered frequently and the embellishments might not stand up to the swirling of a washing machine.

Our Secretary, Lauren MacDonald, has come up with the perfect solution.   

After a 3D embellishing workshop at our guild, I was determined to make 3D flowers for my granddaughter Violet's quilt (Violet is 4 years old).  I knew though that her mom does a lot of laundry so I had to think about how to add dimension to the quilt and still have it washable.  It must have been around that time that I saw pink velcro at a local fabric store and realized that it would look cute on a quilt, even if the flower was off.  But with the larger flowers, I thought a button would work nicely as a way to put on and remove my 3D flowers.  

Thankfully you can buy the jumbo ricrac now, so I used all those ideas for Violet's Garden Quilt (although it looks pretty bare at the top, so I'm going to have to add some butterflies too.)  I had previously made a quilt for Darcy, Violet's first cousin and best friend, so I then had to make 3D flowers for her quilt  so both would be happy.

Great job Lauren and thanks for sharing!  

If you have any tips on 3D embellishing, leave a comment and let us know.

Jackie W.

Getting Creative

This looks like a short post, but it has some wonderful links that I encourage you to take the time to read.
The first one is called the 'McDonald's Theory' and it talks about brainstorming and thinking outside the box.  It can apply to everyone, and most definitely to creative quilters.

Now once you have got your juices flowing, check out CQA/ACC's 'Quilting Standards'.  This is not solely meant for having a quilt judged, but is a wonderful tool to use to help you make your quilt the best it can be.

In conjunction with the Quilting Standards is a great aid called 'Elements of Principles and Design', also found on our website.

To finish off your creative process is a very informative article written by member Anna Hergert titled 'Deciphering The Myth Surrounding Original, Derivative and Copied Work'.

After going through this creative process, why not enter your finished masterpiece in our National Juried Show?   Here is the Call For Entry.

You can get a ton of inspiration by looking at past NJS winners.   For more interesting articles check out our website.

These Boots are Made for Walking - Member Challenge

Get Published! Show us boots, shoes, feet – whatever it takes to get walking!

Join the fun with our current challenge. Your entry will get published either on our blog or in the newsletter. Take a couple of hours and create a quilt, any shape, based on the theme ‘These Boots are Made for Walking”. You can use any embellishments you want.  Deadline to send a photo of your entry is September 25, 2013. Full challenge details here.

Oh, and did I mention prizes?

Three great fabric prizes sponsored by: Fridays Off Fabric Shop.

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1st prize is 5 fat quarters of Valeri Wells-Wrenly Christmas.

2nd prize is 5 fat quarters of Little Red and Lady Bug Garden.

3rd prize is 5 fat quarters is by Anna Marie Horner-Field Study.

An Interview with Christina Belding

Have you ever met a person that just exudes charisma?   You love being around them as they are so passionate about something they adore?   I had the good fortune of meeting such a person in Halifax at Quilt Canada 2012.   Her name is Christina Belding, a CQA/ACC member living in Nova Scotia. 

Tell us a little about yourself.

  I consider myself to be an independent, creative, free spirited, and active world   traveller, with a strong sense of order and organization.

I have been working for Air Canada as a Lead Station Attendant since 1987. I marshall the aircraft on the ramp and load and off-load airplanes.

A collage based on the portrait above.

My hobbies are scuba diving, fitness, yoga, movies, reading, cooking and baking. Quilting was an unexpected activity that has tapped into my creative nature. It is now a passion and an identifier of who I am, where I've been, inspiring me on where I like to go creatively-future fabric expression!

How did you start quilting?

I took a class in the fall of 2009 to make Christmas stockings, rented a machine, discovered it was fun and it seemed easy. For Christmas that year I received a sewing machine. I started making pajamas and bags.  I still make and design my own clothes and bags when I am inspired. I like creating things with fabric; quilts are just one of the things I like to do.

I belong to the Mariners QG in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia and Mahone Bay QG.

I am inspired by colour; I flirt around with art, traditional, and modern quilting. I create my own designs, depending on what grabs me.

Christina's first foundation pieced quilt called 'Lady Liberty Goes to Hawaii'

You have some exciting news about a recent quilt?

My quilt 'Jeweled Diamonds' has been a home run for me. It was juried into the NJS 2013, AQS Paducah 2013 and now juried and selected as the Signature Quilt for the Houston International Quilt Festival 2013! It is on the promo materials, tote bags etc. After Houston it will travel as part of an exhibit called 'In American Tradition 2013'. I am beyond thrilled and still can't wrap my head around it.

Christina in front of 'Jeweled Diamonds' wearing a skirt she made.

I was inspired by Kaffe Fassett's 'Bordered Diamonds' quilt pattern. I began collecting Kaffe Fassett  fabric, as well as metallic fabrics. If it's shiny, I am smiling. 

My idea was to make a large 100" by 110" king size quilt.  I wanted it to look like stained glass, luminous, which is why I sashed each diamond with a metallic fabric. Each block is unique and does not repeat in the quilt. There are 70 + fabrics and 30+ sashing fabrics.

I used wool batting which is why you really notice the overall quilting pattern. It was machine quilted locally. I am currently using the scraps from this quilt on an ambitious foundation pieced project.

Original Collages titled 'Mermaiden' and 'King Neptune' inspired by Susan Carlson

I like to quilt fabric then make jackets from it. I choose my own fabrics and avoid safe choices. I follow what works for me, my vision of the project and what makes me smile.

Do you hand or machine quilt?

I have no interest in hand quilting. I like to quilt my own work if it small enough for my home machine - a Janome Horizon 7700. I would love a larger machine to be able to quilt all my work.

I try to complete one project at a time and don't have any UFO's. I am goal orientated and have a running list of future projects. Winning the 649 would allow me the time and money to make things happen sooner than later in that department!

'Glitz' made entirely of metallic fabrics and quilted with metallic thread by Donna Hazelton.

 What is your favourite food?

Pizza is my all time favourite ..Montreal pizza and bagels ..hands down! I keep M&M almonds and peanut butter pretzels by my machine so I can snack and sew without getting my hands dirty.

Thanks so much Christina for giving us a glimpse into your life.   We look forward to seeing where quilting takes you!

Jackie W.