WIP Wednesday #70 @ TN&TN

Feature Friday: Marjorie Henwood of Marjorie's Busy Corner

Hi folks, my name is Marjorie Henwood from New Brunswick, Canada. If you haven't visited my blog, it is Marjorie's Busy Corner.  (Click to link)

I am a hand quilter and have been doing this for just over 25 years now.  I love hand quilting and just can't get enough of it.  It all started when I wanted an old comforter fixed...didn't want to throw it out!  So my dear mother-in-law said she would cover it and add some quilting for me.  It was a much bigger job than she expected, so she showed me how to quilt so I could help with it.  I never looked back.  Before that day I couldn't do anything except sew a button on.  lol

In the past year, the biggest accomplishments for me have been learning new things from my bogger friends.  I am dead serious.  I am learning to FMQ, learning new techniques, and discovering my machines much more.  I am finally becoming relaxed with these things.  It is difficult to leave the old school ways you know... lol.

What I would like to do in the future is more FMQ.  It may not seem like much to some of you who do it, but for me it would be such an accomplishment.  I never want to leave hand quilting.  It relaxes me and that is what people come to me for.  I have been making and selling quilts for a number of years now.  I do quite a bit of commissioned work.  It keeps the brain going to keep learning and I have lots to learn yet.

My biggest dream is for my family of husband, 3 grown sons, and 4 grandsons, 1 granddaughter and spouses (wow..that is big) to have a long healthy life. I look so forward to watching those little ones grow up. They range from 5 years to 14 now.  They always amaze me!!

As far as me: I love to garden, work with my winters hardwood, mow lawns, plough snow.  Sounds country, doesn't it??  Well, it is!!!!  lol  I live beside the world famous Hopewell Rocks Park in southeastern New Brunswick.  It is one of the most beautiful places one could live.  There are lots of small mountains and rivers to view everyday.

I think I have rambled enough.  Please come visit me at my blog...or my home anytime.  I would love to sit and chat over a cup of hot tea!!!!

Thank you to my friend Monika for this opportunity.  You can read more about me HERE at MY BLOG : )

WIP Wednesday # 69 @ TN&TN

A Little Help From My Friends

Hey everyone,

I'm Monika, and I started this page a year and a half ago.  It's not a lot of extra work and I'm very proud to have started it.  I could use a volunteer / helping hand with a couple things.  Mainly, is anyone interested in a serious one year commitment to taking on the job of Feature Friday Hostess?  It's a easy because the person being featured does all the work.  The problem for me is that I have a lot on my plate and I'm not very good at meeting deadlines when it comes to scheduling.  This particular job would require two posts per month (copy & paste) and a bit of emailing.  That's all.  The trick is to be on time.  I have 9000 emails in my inbox and oops I missed one!

Shoot me an email at mysweetprairie at gmail dot com if you are interested or have further questions.
Thank you!

~Monika K.
Blog Owner TN&TN

WIP Wednesday #68 @ TN&TN

Feature Friday: Ginette Vallieres / The Quilting Princess

Hi.  My name is Ginette Vallieres. I am a stay-at-home mom/ part-time Educational Assistant with two beautiful little girls and a wonderful husband, who lives in Orleans Ontario, a suburb of our nation's capital, Ottawa.  My blog is called The Quilting Princess.  quiltyascharged-ginette.blogspot.ca

I have been quilting for almost 19 years now, I was 18 when I started.  I am a fourth generation quilter.  I grew up watching my mother and grandmother sew, knit, crochet, do needlwork and quilt.  I did a lot of cross-stitch in high school, while my mom was teaching quilting classes and joined a quilting guild.  I watched her quilt for a while and finally decided I wanted to give it a try.  I asked her to find me an easy pattern and some fabric.  She let me borrow all of her tools and taught me the proper way to use them.  I made a scrappy crib sized quilt.  I am not sure what the pattern was called, it was a mystery quilt from her guild.  My mom and grandmother hand quilted my quilt for me using a margarine container lid as a stencil.  They weren't even done quilting that quilt, that I was making my second quilt, a log cabin wallhanging using 1 1/2" strips, that I machine quilted myself.  I have been quilting ever since.

please click to view larger

I have grown quite a bit since then, sharing my passion with my mom and other quilting friends. I started my blog in September 2011.  I needed a place to share my passion with others who love fabric and thread as much as I do.  I have had lots of fun meeting other quilters.  What a wonderful on-line quilting community we have!  Although I do love seeing all of the new and modern quilting techniques, patterns and fabrics, I do consider myself a more traditional quilter.  My favorite patterns are the Log Cabin and Dresden Plates.  I do like playing with some of the more modern fabrics but my all-time favorite quilts are always scrappy!

My mother has had a Gammill long-arm quilting machine for 13 years now and, a year ago, I finally decided it was time to try.  I have quilted three of my own quilts on the long-arm this past year and they turned out pretty good.  I am looking forward to doing more!  My mom and I also finished our first collaborative quilt back in March!  We call it "Mother Daughter Baskets".  This quilt was started back in 1998!  Over the years the original plan for the quilt changed quite a bit but we are thrilled with the final product.  I machine pieced and hand appliqued the blocks while my mom machine pieced the border and the quilt top.  She also quilted it on her long-arm. You can read more about it here: http://quiltyascharged-ginette.blogspot.ca/2012/03/mother-daughter-baskets.html

This year I am the challenge coordinator at The Common Thread Quilt Guild.  http://www.commonthread.on.ca/  I had a blast in September and October convincing members to sign up for a box top challenge.  I can't wait to see what they come up with!  I love sharing my enthusiasm with others.  I also have a Designer I embroidery machine and love making custom labels for quilts.

click to view larger

I was asked to share with you my biggest dream.  My biggest dream has always been to be a great mom and homemaker, to have healthy, thriving children who will succeed in whatever they choose to do.  So far, so good!  I must say that aside from that, I would love to start teaching quilting classes in the next year or two, and eventually would like to teach children too.  Both my girls are already sewing and playing with fabric.

I love all aspects of making a quilt, from picking the fabric, to machine piecing, machine or hand applique, machine quilting and binding.  I have recently been bitten with the EPP bug too!  If you follow my blog, you will see however that I have a LOT of UFOs and my favorite part of quilting is starting a new project!  I hope you will join me and stop by my blog to see what project I am working on next!

Thank you Monika and Rita for letting me share my quilting story.

WIP Wednesday #67 @ TN&TN

WIP Wednesday #66 @ TN&TN

WIP Wednesday #65 @ TN&TN

WIP Wedndesday #64 @ TN&TN

All Candian Blog Hop

Mark your calenders!  There's an all Canadian blog hop coming up.  Check it out...

Thanks to the folks at Sew Sisters for organizing this and letting us know!  

You can read more about it HERE.

 

Feature Friday - Ariane Kring of Ariane Quilts

Hi! My name is Ariane Kring. I am 35 years old and a quilt blogger from Kingston, Ontario. My blog is called Ariane Quilts.

I've been blogging since December 2008 and quilting since August 2008. I've always been a crafter. When I was a young girl I always asked for craft kits and supplies for Christmas or my birthday. I tried many crafts, mostly paper crafts and painting. After I had my three kids, I did a lot of cross-stitching. The only sewing I really did was hemming pants which I was not very good at. The summer of 2008, I became really stressed out. Between work, kids and the normal life duties of a mother, I felt like I needed something: something for myself, and something to concentrate on so that I wouldn't stress so much. I took a holiday back home to Northern Ontario. My mother was going through some old quilts. These were all utility quilts that she had sewn for us kids. I remembered the warmth and comfort those quilts brought.
When I came back to Kingston, I decided to make a little baby quilt. I loved choosing the fabric and coming up with a pattern. I found it so exciting and inspiring. I had no idea what I was doing. I went online and discovered the blogging community. The tutorials helped me learn how to quilt. I was hooked. I just had to make more quilts. I became very inspired by scrappy quilts. I made three scrappy twin size quilts in my first six months of quilting. One of those was a hand pieced and hand quilted tumbling block quilt. The first year and a half I made mostly traditional scrappy quilts.

 

 
As I discovered more online, I started adding a bit more of a modern twist to my quilts. I loved the modern fabrics, but also loved traditional patterns. I love the mix of modern traditional quilts. I started designing my own quilt patterns. Putting my own twist on these modern traditional quilts. With inspiration from the online quilting community, I made a queen size carpenter star quilt for my youngest brother's wedding. I made a scrappy jumbo carpenter star block surrounded by a border that I designed with hst's. I quilted it myself on my 30 year old Kenmore sewing machine. That was a challenge.

   

I still have never taken a class. I've learned through trial and error. I've also been encouraged by the online quilters and the local quilters in the quilt shops and my quilt guild. I have become an executive member of my Local Quilt Guild. I have found this group to be so inspiring and encouraging.  This year I've made many smaller quilts. My favorite is the quilt I made for my daughter's grade 7 teacher. I used a very simple pattern found online on the Film in the Fridge blog called rectangle squared. I adjusted the measurements to make the blocks larger and sashing thinner. I love the modern fabrics in this quilt and the simplicity of the pattern. It was fast to make and fit into my busy schedule.

 
 
I do inspire to do more with quilting, like teaching classes and publishing patterns. I love to encourage other quilters, and do my best to inspire them through my blog. I do plan to make quilting a huge part of my life as I get older. It's one of those crafts that can be shared and bring a lot of comfort to others. I think that's why I love it so much!! I do hope you join me sometime on my blog, and share my journey as I grow and become a better more creative quilter. 

Here's the link to my blog: Ariane Quilts

Thanks so much to The Needle & Thread Network blog team for having me here. I'm honored!!

WIP Wednesday #63 @ TN&TN

CALLING ALL CANUCK BLOGGERS

Hey there everyone!  Guess what?  We now have no wait list for being featured on this blog!  Instead of hopping around inviting people, I though I would just put the word out here.  We love Feature Fridays!  It's a great opportunity to show off your blog and get a new load of visitors.  It gives us a chance to get to know you and connect with other Canadian fibre bloggers.  SO... rug hooking, crochet, felting, quilts, garments, dolls...  you name it, we'll feature you. 

All you have to do is leave your name in the comments section and we'll get back to you with a date. You will get a button for your blog, and we will list a permanent link to you in our directory so people can find/discover you any time in the future.  We give you an outline of questions to answer so that writing your post out is really easy. 

Invite your friends if you have already been featured here! 

Have a great weekend everyone!
~Monika, Rita, and Jackie

WIP Wednsday #62 @ TN&TN

WIP Wednsday #61 @ TN&TN

WIP Wednesday #60 @ TN&TN

HAPPY TURKEY DAY EVERYONE!

From all of us to all of you, thank you for being part of the Needle & Thread Network!  

Eat lots.  Love all.  Drive safe.  

: )

WIP Wednesday #59 @ TN&TN

WIP Wednesday #58 @ TN&TN

Friday Feature: Jennifer @ Sister of the Brush

Hi! I am Jennifer Scantlebury Vienneau and I originally hail from Prince Edward Island though my husband and I presently live in Moncton, NB. I grew up the middle child of wonderful parents who fostered creativity, independent thinking and community responsibility in their children. Some described our family as eccentric and my daughter still tells me “normal” is over-rated, so I suspect there are some who would still categorize me as such. I tend to be out spoken. Or so I am told....

When you grow up within the structure of family businesses, your outlook on life is certainly shaped differently. Our home had a revolving door that welcomed any and all and so it was as well with the business side of our lives. My father gave jobs to people others would not and in doing so, helped guide many into security and stability. He gave financial aid to others, helping them get a foothold in life. My parents have always contributed to their community, both locally and globally. This generous spirit has taught us to see the potential in others and in turn, given us the freedom to be ourselves.

I believe creativity is within us all, but some of us are luckier because it is fostered early and continually encouraged. My earliest memories are of painting, cutting and gluing, watching my mom sew beautiful clothes and my grandfather and father letter signs. My dad taught me to shade at age 5. I sewed my own clothes by age 12. With a family owned craft, hobby and framing shop, I tried my hand at many different medium so that I could more readily assist customers. Still, I continued to be drawn to fabric and paint.

I did leave home and go off to university and eventually gathered a few diplomas. In 1982 I enrolled in a sign writing course at George Brown College in Toronto to further develop the skills I had been gradually honing with my Dad. I successfully ran two small sign businesses in the following years, but still that love of fabric kept me sewing. A marriage, a move to Goose Bay, Labrador and the birth of my two best ever creative collaborations - my son, Gabriel and my daughter, Simone - kept me busy. We chose for me to be a stay at home mom and I embraced raising my children following the path my parents had laid out. And I continued to sew. I sewed clothes, home decor items, costumes, and gradually I started making quilts.

In order to encourage and involve my young children in my art work, I began using their drawings as my source of design. With only a small amount of formal quilting training, I fused long before it was fashionable, used my glue gun to adhere embellishments, braided, painted, dyed, and beaded fabric creating a collection of vivid, colorful wall hangings that showcased Gabe and Simone’s art. These remain my favorite pieces in my repertoire.

Surface design continues to hold my attention. I also love to photograph and often my shots end up printed on fabric combined with fabric and thread in a piece. I grew up near the water and have spent a huge portion of my life in it, whether it be beach, river, pool or more recently, “hotpots” in Iceland. You will find the ocean and all its various accoutrements as part of or adorning my work. I will always be an Island girl with waves and sea breezes forever on my mind.

The most recent development in my quilting and fabric life has been the acquisition of a longarm quilting machine. This partnership is still new but I can see the potential and the creative freedom I can achieve as I meld my love of quilting with my sign writing skills! I am excited to explore this area and see where it takes me as I continue creating. Already I am seeing myself stitching those waves I so love integrated with script lettering as I learn to find my place in the longarm custom quilting world.

I teach, I share, I design, I judge, I donate, I encourage, I contribute. And as I see my children grow into creative, successful, responsible, community minded individuals I feel I am successfully passing on the legacy that was given me. 

 

I am author of a blog called Sister of the Brush where I showcase some of my fabric work and photographs and where I also tend to ramble just because I feel like it! Feel free to check it and my work out and if you have any questions or comments, please use the comment tool. I love to know where readers hail from and if they share any commonalities with me.

Many thanks to The Needle and Thread Network for inviting me to be part of this forum! I love WIP Wednesdays and Feature Fridays - it's habit forming!

WIP Wednesday #57 @ TN&TN

WIP Wednesday #56 @ TN&TN

Friday Feature: Mary Ann Tate, Cloth Doll Maker

What is your name?

Hello my name is Mary Ann Tate. My first name is really Mary Ann Bridget but no one has ever called me that except my father when I was in big trouble. I am simply Mary Ann without a hyphen and without an “e”. I was named after my Irish Grandmothers Mary and Bridget but my mum refused to have a child called Mary Bridget so the Ann was inserted in there to make everyone happy.
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What is your blog name & blog address?

I actually have five blogs going at the moment. Yes.....I'm a blogaholic:) You will find me most often at A Cloth Doll Maker's Diary - http://maryanntate.blogspot.ca/ This is a blog that I originally started as a place to post doll related tutorials and various links that I had found on the internet. It was really created out of frustration when my laptop crashed and I lost all my bookmarks. My idea was to put them all in one place so that wouldn't happen again. Then a blogger friend suggested that I make it a public blog for others to see and share.
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Where are you from in Canada?

I live in Toronto, Ontario. I am married to a man from Liverpool and we have just celebrated our 37^th wedding anniversary. I have two handsome sons, a beautiful daughter-in-law and an adorable granddaughter.
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I was born in London, England and emigrated to Canada in 1954 with my family aboard a ship called the Atlantic. I don't remember much of the trip except the train ride from Halifax to Toronto. We originally lived in Toronto and then Oakville and then at the age of 13 my family moved to the village of Waterdown which is not far from the city of Hamilton, Ontario. This is where my mum finally got to realize her dream of having her own fabric store.

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The store was in an old Victorian house in the center of the village. The front and back parlours of the house were the store and we lived in all the rest. My mum was also a tailoress by trade so you can well imagine that I grew up sewing. By the time I was about seven I could just reach one foot to the treadle on her Singer sewing machine to get it going and feed the material under the needle.
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What is your craft? How long have you been doing this?  How did it all start?

I have dabbled in most crafts over the years. For many years...from 1982 to 1994...I did craft shows on the weekends where I sold mainly toy teddies, rabbits and mice that I made myself and my mum sold quilts and aprons. The pressures of my weekday working life forced me to stop going to shows. I really didn't do much creating or sewing for a number of years but now that I'm retired I have begun to make things again. It's really quite exciting as there have been so many changes and new products and of course we now have the internet. Right now I'm exploring cloth doll making. I started in February 2011 so I'm relatively new to this craft.
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What are your top 3 personal accomplishments in the past year? What are future goals? What is your BIGGEST dream for yourself?

I think my biggest accomplishment this year has been completing two on line doll classes with Canadian doll artist Colleen Babcock. They were both very complicated dolls and I'm very proud of myself for finishing them. As far as future goals? I would say that is not something that I have really thought about. I'm not sure where I'm going with my doll making but I'm enjoying the process and the learning experience.
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Anything else we should know?

Well...I'm a retired banker. I started my banking career in 1973 and left in 2008. I was once robbed at gunpoint when I was a teller and pregnant with my first child. I'm an amateur genealogist and have been researching our various family trees for a number of years. I took Creative Writing certificate courses at night school at the University of Toronto as something to do and was told that apparently I'm the next Alice Munro.....I wish:)

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It's been a pleasure and an honour to participate in the Friday Feature here on The Needle & Thread Network. Please come and visit me at http://maryanntate.blogspot.ca/.

WIP Wednesday #55 @ TN&TN

WIP Wednesday #54 @ TN&TN

And the Winners Are...

Thank you everyone for helping celebrate!  That was fun - I love all the prizes.  So here are the winners, picked at random.

One year subscription to A Needle Pulling Thread Magazine
#4 - ANNETTE

One year subscription to Quilters Connection Magazine
#9 - DONNA (Donna, I can't access your email... please write to me to I can get your contact info?  mysweetprairie at gmail dot com)

$30 for shopping at Hamels Fabrics & Quilting
#23 - DOLORES

Sampler Thread Pack from WonderFil Specialty Threads
#18 - SUSAN BEING SNIPPY!  (She was our Feature Friday)

Congratulations ladies!!  I'll contact you for your mailing address and then pass those n to our sponsors.  They will be shipping your prize directly to you.  Thank you everyone!

Birthday Thread : )

* * Contest is over.  Thank you!  * * 

WonderFil Thread Canada is jumping on board with us to celebrate our first birthday at The Needle & Thread Network.  Thank you WonderFil!

I love these threads.  One lucky winner will get a sample pack of the different threads they make - sparkly, shiny, variegated, thick & thin... cotton / rayon / ultra thin invisible poly... It's awesome!  Some of the thicker threads can even be used for crochet or bobbin work.  You can samples of how to use these on their Facebook page HERE.  Their Facebook page is full of useful tutorials.

This is the prize - but please note that the colors won't be exactly as the ones shown above.

So... if you are a follower of this blog (yes - including Rita and Jackie), you leave a comment as one entry.  For a second entry, please go like WonderFil on Facebook and comment back here to let us know.  The randomly chosen winner of this contest and the other giveaways offered this week will be announced on Sunday.  All contests will close Saturday midnight.  Sound good?  GOOD LUCK, and THANK YOU WONDERFIL!

Friday Feature: Susan @ Susan Being Snippy

It’s a good thing there is a somewhat loose format to follow for these Feature Friday blog posts or I would go on for days and probably say nothing!  That means I like to talk and I like to write, I like to write A LOT!

WHAT IS YOUR NAME?

Now there is a long story!  Suffice to say when I was born there was a big fight over what my name should be, but to make a very long story short I got 4 names, that way everybody who wanted me to have a particular name ended up somewhat happy, you would think -- no.  My Dad won out, he called me Susan, but that was not my first name, most everyone forgot my first name because it was never used and Susan fits me quite fine!   My last name is Barker and nice simple easy to remember name, except half the time people who fill out forms seem to forget the “k” and that has become a real point of contention with me!  So simply put, my name is Susan Barker…

WHAT IS YOUR BLOG NAME AND BLOG ADDRESS?

Again, a big long story about names… My blog name evolved from Miss Snips Notebook a previous blog that I kept in conjuction with the column I wrote for 9 years for The Canadian Quilter Magazine by the same name. (you can still find Miss Snips Notebook on the internet if you google it)  Miss Snips Notebook became Susan Being Snippy, mainly because I wanted to keep the image of Scissors (snips) in my title without being completely obvious that my absolute favourite piece of equipment is a pair of scissors.  My blog name not only refers to scissors but also to my careless remarks that can and have gotten me into trouble!   My blog address is http://susanbeingsnippy.blogspot.ca

Birthday/Christmas Quilt 2010,
made from 3 moda charm packs
and 1 meter background fabric

WHERE ARE YOU FROM, IN CANADA?

Currently I live in Abbotsford, BC, which is exactly where I should have been since the beginning, but I started out on the edge of Winnipeg, MB, spent my teen years on a farm near Lockport, MB and through planning and design married a fellow from the big city, Winnipeg, MB who was willing to follow me anywhere and all I had to do was blow in his ear!   So when we went to Victoria, BC at Christmas in 1982 and realized that one doesn’t have to shovel snow or shiver for 6 months of the year, I blew in his ear and we determined that being warm and happy but poor was better than being cold and miserable and not quite so poor.  After a few little hops around the coast, we settled in Abbotsford which perfectly suited us weather wise and financially and had and still has a great QUILT GUILD for me to be part of!

WHAT IS YOUR CRAFT?  And  HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN DOING THIS? And HOW DID IT ALL START?

Like most kids I started with a pencil and crayons and water paints.  My parents and grandparents were never stuck for what to give me at Christmas or my birthday, paper, pens, pencils, paint by number kits (oh boy! I sure loved those!) even books on How to Draw!  My Mother taught me to sew doll clothes and how to work with a pattern so eventually I was making all my school dresses. My grandmothers taught me embroidery and crochet and knitting and cross stitch and my Aunt Vera introduced me to quilting by showing me applique and I made a “Colonial Lady” block as a gift for my Mother at Christmas when I was about 10 years old.   I  have a “snip” I say about my house and home.  “There has not been a bed covering in my house that was not made by me, since 1975!”  So making quilts for myself, for friends, for relatives and for charity has been my main craft for a very long time.  It is not just quilts, I make pillows and tote bags (I don’t think I have bought a purse in 20 years!) and anything else that can be sewn either by hand or machine.

Crochet sweater, 1 of 2 gifted to twin neices

WHAT ARE YOUR TOP 3 PERSONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN THE PAST YEAR?  

I have to say, I am not really a goal orientated person.  I don’t make lists or keep a schedule or put unnecessary stress upon myself by making deadlines for accomplishments.   I am very lucky in that I have not had to go and work for wages and have someone else tell me what to do, how to do it and when it has to be done by, since the turn or the century (2000), although before that I did work as a bookkeeper and service  scheduler (it is easy to make schedules for other people!).   I do get things done though!  This summer I have kept myself busy with a self imposed challenge that I called THE SUPER SUMMER SNIPPY CHALLENGE and have posted my progress on my blog through the weeks since mid May 2012 til now.

This is a challenge that I gave myself in order to help me work with and clear out my stash of fabrics that I felt was as some say, “more fabric than can be used in this lifetime”  I have been so very  successful with this challenge!  I completed 10 quilt tops to donate to my quilt guild’s charitable quilts program “WE CARE” and also gave 2 large quilt tops to the local QUILTS OF VALOUR program.  The dent left in my stash is quite impressive!  The whole idea of my Super Summer Snippy Challenge essentially accomplished 3 goals: 1. Be charitable  2. Be economical by using what I have.  3. Be Creative

A Lunch sack, with recycled plastic tablecloth inside

I have also worked on a few projects of my own.  One is a Lap size quilt using a Jelly Roll of French General fabrics that I won at my guild’s annual retreat--there really is a trick to planning and using 2.5 inch wide strips in a way that pleases the eye and so that no further fabric needs to be purchased!

WHAT ARE YOUR FUTURE GOALS?

As to Future Goals, like I said, I don’t look too far ahead or plan or make goals that might fail.  The world around me is so changeable, I like to be ready for whatever comes along.  I am working on a few ongoing projects that keep my interest over the long term.

You will also see a renewal of my Miss Snips Notebook column for the Canadian Quilters Association, not in the magazine but on the Members Only section of the CQA website starting in September 2012.

ANYTHING ELSE WE SHOULD KNOW?

I am writing stories about growing up in the 1960’s, similar to Laura Ingalls Wilders book  Little House on the Prairie  and I would someday like to compile them into a book - even if I have to self publish!  I have yet to make my QUILT MASTERPIECE, although I might be working on it right now, one can never be sure which quilt is the Masterpiece!



Susan Barker aka Susan Being Snippy

More Presents!

* * Contest is over.  Thank you!  * *  

This is the third sponsored give away for The Needle & Thread Network's very first birthday party.  We've had 2 terrific magazine subscriptions... and now how about some fabric!?  Or quilt batting?  Or patterns and kits?  You got it!  Hamels Fabrics out of B.C. is graciously offering $30 toward any purchase from their online store.  If you've ever been to a big quilt show, Hamels is there!  They typically have the BIGGEST booth at our local quilt shows.  They sell some hooking and felting supplies as well, along with sewing notions.  They carry gorgeous batiks and Moda precuts.  Check them out!

THANK YOU HAMELS!  One lucky winner will be chosen at random.  You can enter once by leaving a comment to say you follow this blog.  You can have a second entry if you like Hamels on Facebook (click to link, like, and come back here to enter).  We'll let you know who wins this weekend!  Good luck!  (p.s. entries are open to anyone anywhere, not just Canadian residents.)

Have a great day, and thank you for celebrating with us.
~Monika, Rita, and Jackie (ps - Rita & Jackie - go ahead and enter the contests!!)
: )

WIP Wednesday #53 @ TN&TN

The Birthday Party Continues!

* * Contest is over.  Thank you!  * *  

Love quilting?  Love magazines about quilting?  Love Canadian quilting magazines?  Well, you've come to the right place.  Canada's only quilting magazine is helping us to celebrate The Needle & Thread Network's first birthday by offering a one year subscription to a lucky winner, drawn at random!  Thank you so much Quilter's Connection!!  Here is a snapshot of the current issue, just inside the cover...

you can click on the image to view it larger

QC magazine is a newer, fast-growing magazine for and by Canadian quilters.  Thank you so much for the subscription!  ANYONE is welcome to enter, regardless of where you live.  The magazine content, designs, and advertising is Canadian.  We think you'll love it!

* * * You can enter once by leaving a comment telling us you follow this blog.
* * * You can enter a second time by leaving another comment that you "like" QC magazine on facebook (click to link, like, and then come back here to enter).

One randomly chosen winner will be announced by the end of the week.

Have a great day, eh!?  : )

Happy Birthday TN&TN!

 * * Contest is over.  Thank you!  * * 

This blog is officially one year old.  Isn't that fabulous?  I think so!  The Needle and Thread Network began last year as a link-up party for Canadian bloggers in any area of fibre - from rugs to dolls, knitting to art quilts, lace to felting, and so much more.  I was started by Monika Kinner-Whalen.  You can stop by this blog any time mid week to see work in progress from bloggers across the country.

Shortly after, Rita Penner joined in as the Feature Friday host.  If you would like to see who's been featured so far, click on the Feature Friday tab at the top.  If you fit the bill, we would LOVE to have you sign up there to be featured in an upcoming post.  Please, don't be shy!

More recently, Jackie White was enlisted to post call for entries.  She's THE woman in-the-know for that job!  You can peek at current opportunities by clicking the top tab: Call for Entries Canada.

So, guess what!?

We are proud to announce that Canada's own A Needle Pulling Thread magazine is helping us with the party by offering a one year subscription to one lucky winner drawn at random.  Thank you ANPT!!

This particular magazine is packed full of fibre everything by Canadian designers - from clothing to crochet, hardanger to fibre art, quilts, rugs, knitting, embroidery... you name it!  Please go to their website linked above to see samples of what can be found inside.

Interested in winning a subscription?  EVERYONE can enter once by becoming a follower of this blog, regardless of where you live.  And EVERYONE can enter a second time by liking ANPT on facebook HERE.  All entries need to be in the form of a comment at the end of this blog post.  (Max. 2 per person.)  The lucky winner will be announced in a week's time here on The Needle & Thread Network.

Tell all your friends!  

GOOD LUCK!

WIP Wednesday #52 @ TN&TN

WIP Wednesday #51 @ TN&TN

WIP Wednesday @ TN&TN # 50

Friday Feature: Jackie @ Jackie's Art Quilts

Hi Fellow Canadian Quilters!

I am Jackie White from Jackie’s Art Quilts.  I live on Manitoulin Island, Ontario in a small town of 500 with my husband, two little boys 7 and 8, and our giant standard poodle.

I started quilting 12 years ago and can’t believe the opportunities I have had, and friends I have made along the way. I call myself an art quilter. Every quilt I make has some type of 3D embellishment on it and I love coming up with unique three dimensional items to add to my quilts. I was once told that my methods might be ‘too out of the box for Canadian quilting’. I disagree, Canadians are awesome at accepting everyone!

Ripple in Time

The quilt, ‘Ripple in Time’, was juried into the 2012 National Juried Show in Halifax.   Hours and hours were spent coloring fabric with fabric markers, then cutting out the shapes and assembling.   Embroidery swirls on the outside and many many hot fix crystals applied throughout.

 I have just joined the Canadian Quilters’ Association (CQA/ACC) Board and am absolutely loving meeting Canadian quilters face to face. I write a humourous column for CQA/ACC in their quarterly magazine. You can see a few of my past articles here.

I am part of an amazing design team for Amanda Herring of ‘The Quilted Fish’. She is a fabric designer and pattern maker. Amanda just published a book and featured a pattern from each of her team in it. My pattern was a fabric necklace. As for getting published, I was also featured in ‘McCall’s’ magazine this past May with a quilt pattern I designed.

I work for Pellon Inc. and Riley Blake fabrics doing tutorials for their websites.

Bird on a Wire

A note about ‘Bird on a Wire’:

The nest is three dimensional with a lovely blue stone in the middle and the nest is surrounded by couching eyelash yarn around border.  The background is a traditional pieced pattern with black ‘branches’ running throughout.

This past year has been absolutely mind boggling because I got to go to Quilt Market in Kansas City in May where all the fabric companies and designers showcase their new lines and patterns. I was there with ‘The Quilted Fish’ and we were promoting her new book and teaching demos on my necklace pattern. Six days later I headed out to Halifax to work at the Quilt Canada Conference. There I was able to see two of my quilts hanging in the National Juried Show. (Quilt Canada Conference gallery pictures)

Fall Leaves

A note about ‘Fall Leaves’:

Uses puzzle pieces as leaves and as a binding.   Shiva stiks help create a colourful background.   

The thrill of entering juried shows is one of the reasons I quilt, not so much getting the rejection letters, (and I have A LOT of them), but the challenge and the joy of being accepted. I have started teaching workshops on my 3D art quilting and thoroughly enjoy encouraging quilters to try new methods and create quilts in a whole different way.  I also continue to work hard at my blog to show my readers new and different things out there in the international quilt world and what I am up to.

Future goals include teaching workshops in Canada on 3D art quilting and someday winning a ribbon at a juried show.

My very favourite things about quilting are meeting fellow quilters, especially when I get the opportunity to meet Canadian ones, and continuing to create my 3D art quilts.

Please drop by and check out my blog, as I am having a giveaway today!  (Clarification: you need to leave the comment on my blog=)

WIP Wednesday #49 @ TN&TN

Friday Feature: Carolynn @ Artystuff

When I was very young, my parents thought I should have art lessons and they signed me up for a Saturday morning class at the old Art Gallery at McMaster University in Hamilton Ontario. I was NOT amused, even though I think I was born holding a pencil or a paintbrush. It is just that I am NOT a “now we’ll all...” sort of a girl! Sitting on a cold floor making a small part of an ugly mural with a group of unhappy and/or pushy children was NOT my idea of a good time. I did not do well.

Hello everybody. My name is Carolynn McMillan and I live in Burlington Ontario. I am a self-taught, artistic Lone Wolf, not a groupie and I do my own thing, my own way. My good husband and I just celebrated 46 years of marriage - a long time with one man, as a dear friend of ours once said!! Very true, but we are still good friends after all that time and Bruce is my best help and my best critic. Everyone should be so lucky. We have one daughter who is married and lives in Tennessee where she is a graduate student, almost finished her PhD in Archaeology. I repeat - everyone should be so lucky!

Westport Sunset (big version, scroll down)

Bruce and I live on the edge of a lovely woodland where a LOT of my inspiration comes from. Natural forms are my chief muse. I love colour and texture and am a self-confessed Colour Junkie! I am also addicted to travel and use my own photographs to make my fibre art creations. Bruce and I are our families’ genealogists. A current project is to create a series of impressions based on photos I have taken of our travels in Kintyre, Scotland where the the McMillans came from long ago. Kintyre is definitely a land of inspiration for painters, photographers, poets and even quilters!

Elf (more 3d art)

 I say I am a Lone Wolf artistically but I am inspired by several artists – Caryl Bryer-Fallert, Betty Busby and Elaine Quehl to name a few. Whenever I feel my inspiration flagging, I make a pot of tea, google one of those ladies’ blogs – and dream! Copying other peoples’ work is not for me although I DO often try out techniques I have learned from other artists. I prefer to use those techniques to do my own designs in my own way. Experimentation is my bag. Last summer for some reason, I went mad and tried every sort of fibre art I could think of, including cloth dollmaking. To date, this summer has been a bit less hectic. Our jets are still kind of laggy after a lovely three weeks in May in Kintyre.

Fatsia Project (the beginning)

Quilting has been a sort of passion for a long time although I gave up traditional quilting a few years ago. We live in a small house with only two beds so, after making several quilts for them, for friends and relations, I turned to making Art Quilts. MUCH more satisfying! I have also recently reconnected with my sketchbook after a long hiatus. Drawing, designing quilts, Zentangling and more recently, printmaking have all been keeping me out of trouble lately. Once, in another incarnation, I did a LOT of Batik dyeing: wall hangings and silk scarves. I had several solo exhibitions of my work in that medium. That was before our daughter was born and I have decided just in the past few months, to do my own dyeing once again. Enough with the commercial fabrics, already - except maybe for those yummy Kaffe Fassett prints! ( I AM a Colour Junkie, don’t forget!) Hand dyeing has provided me with a whole new springboard for my work. I am having a ball and my poor patient husband drives me way up to Guelph to buy the lovely fine pure cotton I am using to make my delicious hand dyes. I have just finished my first completely hand dyed quilt, The Fatsia Project.

I have really enjoyed participating in the WIP Wednesday project on The Needle and Thread Network. It is lovely to see the work of and to “meet” so many other creative people from all across Canada. Pass the word and let’s get others involved too. We all learn from each other. It has been an honour to be asked to do a Friday Feature post. Thanks! As well as WIP Wednesday, I participate in Every Inchie Monday and SketchbookChallenge. Have a look at the Inchie and Sketchbook posts on my blog and check out those two “fun” sets of posts.  The Golden Inchies I did so long ago are still one of my favourites.

There is always something going on my blog and plenty of archived posts as well at…rtquilter.blogspot.com

WIP Wednesday #48 @ TN&TN

WIP Wednesday #47

Friday Feature: Jeanette @ Stamp*Stitch*Create

Hi, I’m Jeanette Smith and I blog at Stamp * Stitch * Create.   I live in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia with my awesome husband of 14 years and 2 daughters aged 10 and 7 years.  I was born in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, and will always be “from” PEI no matter where I live!  My parents and 2 of my 4  siblings are still there, so we get to visit there a lot, such a beautiful place in the summer!

I’ve always loved trying new crafts.  I do a lot of paper crafts (hand stamped cards, scrapbooking) and I love to sew.  Sometimes quilts, baby blankets, purses, infinity scarves-the list goes on.  I knit a little, mainly just scarves and thrum mitts- but I would say that is mainly a winter past time for me. After graduating from Dalhousie as a Dental Hygienist, I found the nights a little long - I was so used to studying that I found I needed to occupy my time.  I started tole painting with a friend.  Then, after getting married when I was 22, we moved to Lethbridge, Alberta for 4 years and I discovered a lovely quilt shop named Thistledown Quilts.  I was terribly homesick, and when I walked by the shop I always noticed a group of ladies about my Mom’s age laughing and having fun.  I think I was drawn to that sense of community as much as the beautiful projects hanging all over the walls.  So, a friend and I signed up for a beginners class, I went and bought a sewing machine and all the rest of the supplies and never looked back!  Hooked from the first table runner.

Last September I was asked to be featured in an article called Passport to Creativity in the Canadian Scrapbooker’s magazine fall issue.  I displayed some of my scrapbooking pages and also did an interview.  I have to say, that was pretty cool and the kids were very excited to have their photos in a magazine!

I’ve finally gotten brave enough to try my hand at craft fairs and sell some of the things I make.  I discovered a local group called the East Coast Momma’s Collective and did a show June 24th.  It was busy creating inventory for that.   Right before a show I start to  worry  that my items will not be “good enough” but I’m committed and will follow through so will try to not let my self-doubt get the best of me!!

Another recent big change for me: This year, I decided to retire from my hygiene career and stay home with my kids, and focus on this new sewing venture.  I think I work more hours now than I ever did at the dental office, but this is much more fun! I’m not one to think to far into the future, just change direction as necessary when the time comes.  Now that the June 24th show is over, I’m going to take a break from the smaller items and work on a few bigger projects, I’d like to try my hand at a few more baby quilts that I display at a local shop in Halifax called Rusty Hinges.

My biggest d ream for myself is more a dream for my family as a whole.  I want my girls to grow into confident, self-assured young women who are independent and strong in this big world.  I want them to enjoy their lives and be interested in the world around them.  

Hubby and I like to travel, we will be heading to Europe in 3 months and travelling through Hungary, Germany and the Czech Republic.  I also love photography and am excited to go and take photos of all the lovely architecture there.  We will be visiting some castles, and Prague is full of old churches that will be lovely to photograph.   I’m wondering if I’ll find any fabric stores there..........although I have been told clothes and shoes are cheap in Budapest!

The tulip quilt is machine appliqued and hand quilted.  I made this about 11 years ago at Thistledown quilts and it is still a favorite of mine.  I have to admit, I am proud to have made it (and finished it!)  About the two other quilts shown above:  The gray and aqua is from a tutorial I found online at Fresh Lemon quilts.  The aqua and bright green is a pattern from Moda Bake Shop.  This was a commissioned quilt that I made for a friend who is a teacher at my children’s school.

I also want to thank The Needle and Thread Network for providing a Canadian only website- I love to see what local people are up too.  Thanks  for featuring me for your Feature Friday!!