Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Friday, June 1, 2012
Friday Feature: Sam @ Quilting Curve
My name is Sam and I am the author of my blog 'Quilting Curve'.
My blog is named for the insane learning curve that
represents my journey as a quilter. I have also learned that the
quilting curve is a never ending climb. My quilting story is
intertwined in my personal struggles, so here is the short version of my
tale:
I presently live in Dawson Creek, British
Columbia. I have lived here for two years which is the longest time we
(as a family of 4) has ever lived anywhere. We have lived
in Prince George (the big city) and McLeese Lake (population 300). I have worked for 'The Man', run our own business, and ranched 1000 head of cattle... there is absolutely no method to
the madness. As I am typing this up I am surrounded in
boxes in a cruddy little basement suite on my way to Saskatchewan next
month. Throughout my gypsy life I haven't left British Columbia, and I
am slightly concerned about the wide open spaces.
When I was hardly 21 my first daughter was born. I struggled to
find that maternal instinct and when she was 5 months old I found myself
pregnant again (Yeah, I finally figured out why this kept happening).
After my second daughter was born I completely lost touch with whoever
it was I used to be. I lived in a world of baby excrement and all of
the struggles a young family with no money. When the prices of
cattle began to drop we had no choice but to sink with the ship or bail
out. We bailed, and lost all we had accomplished. By this point I was
very unhappy. That Christmas is when I received my first
sewing machine.
I received my machine from my parents in 2010... Mom set it up for me and made sure there was thread in it and said;
"There you go, good luck. Call your deaf grandmother if you need help. Hahaha".
Well great... That machine sat at our table for months and months until finally my husband told me to step up or move the damn machine. The fear had built to such a level my eyes would almost cross in horror at the thought of breaking this fine piece of equipment. To tell you the truth I don't know exactly how it came about but I started to cut some dollar store fleece into squares and took the plunge into quilting hell. I have learned more swear words from that sewing machine than working in a sawmill!!! But soon my fear faded and the beginning of a wonderful relationship was born.
As
the year of 2011 progressed I was consumed by my new addiction, which
has caused a large shift in my lifestyle. I found a guild in town
called 'The Mile '0' Quilt Guild' (we live at Mile 0 on the Alaska
highway) they have been so important in my journey I don't think I could
really express my love for these women. I
joined the guild in July and when September rolled around I finally
realized I
felt more grounded and stronger than I had in years. Quilting has
given me a focus that every woman needs... on herself, for that brief
respite that is so important (especially in mid-winter with cooped up
kids eh!).
So
all in all I have been quilting for just over a year (May 2011) and
can't believe that I have been able to accomplish so much on a personal
level. My future is entirely uncertain but our move to Saskatchewan is
another new beginning and a great opportunity for my family. Plus I'm
pretty sure there are a ton of quilters in Saskatchewan!
I
have many goals to accomplish in the coming years quilt-wise. First I
have to make a landscape quilt that I promised my mother in a weak
moment, I've been working on the process of how to build this massive
monster of a project so far beyond my skill, but if you don't try you
will never know, here is a link to my progress so far.
I'm also bound and determined to make some really cool quilts and
maybe follow a proper pattern. The town of Kindersley that we are
moving to in Saskatchewan actually
has a quilt store so maybe I'll apply for a job there so I don't have
to work in the pub since I haven't really worked a real job since
becoming a mother and losing my job due to the nature of the work
(refinishing log homes). I may even try and start my own guild if the
one in Kindersley isn't to my liking.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Friday, May 18, 2012
Friday Feature: Brenda @ Scraps and Strings
Moderator note: Every Featurer starts with a list of points to get the writing juices flowing for a FF (Friday Feature) post. These points are in bold below.
Hi, I’m Brenda Suderman from Winnipeg, Manitoba. I blog at http://scrapsandstrings.blogspot.com
About
me: I’m a journalist for my local newspaper, a part-time graduate
student currently writing an MA thesis, and I’m also a quilt maker who
writes with fabric. I’ve made nearly a dozen word quilts, using the
free-pieced techniques developed by Tonya Ricucci in Word Play Quilts. I
also make art quilts, bed quilts, baby quilts, and wall quilts, mostly
from scraps. I started blogging four years ago after joining some group
blogs, and now I’m part of a dozen different blogs, some more active
than others.
I also run a group blog where we share our quilts made from strings, and we’re also making one together. Check us out over at http://stringthingalong.blogspot.com
About
my quilting: I’m a scrap quilter partially because of where I live. In
Winnipeg, we have a couple of small quilt shops, and several discount
fabric stores. I love shopping the sale bins, but I also get a thrill
when someone hands me a bag of scraps. For years, I’ve been playing with
scraps from my mother, from friends, and selvages mailed to me by
quilters I’ve met online.
I’ve
only been making quilts for the past eight years, although I’ve been a
sewer for all of my life. I started off with making clothes for my dolls
and going on to make my own clothes and those of my two sons, including
outerwear. My mother has been a quilt maker and
quilting teaching for three decades, and for years I was her cheerleader
and critic. I took the plunge into serious quilt making when my sons
didn’t want to wear homemade clothes anymore. When they were in
elementary school, I made a quilt with their class every year and in
2007, I made an 11 foot wall quilt with 150 people in my church. They
each made a square and I put them together for a permanent installation
celebrating the 50th anniversary of my church. I love making group
quilts, and right now I’m puzzling together 50 plus B blocks fellow
bloggers sent me for a recent big birthday. (I called the project
Brenda’s Big B Birthday Bee and you can find the tutorial and
explanation here. (link to
http://scrapsandstrings.blogspot.ca/2011/03/brendas-big-b-birthday-bee.html)
Highlights of the past year: More recently, I’ve been making quilts for Alzheimer Art Quilts Initiative (www.alzquilts.org)
and this past year, one of my little quilts made from teeny triangles
sent to me by a blogging friend was purchased by an Alzheimer’s
researcher, who received a grant from AAQI. After 25 years of having my
words published, I’m about to have my first quilt published in a
friend’s book to be released later this year. In the past year, I’ve
worked to improve my free motion quilting skills and I’m proud of the
fact that I can do feathers. I used to be exclusively a hand quilter,
but I bought a new sewing machine 18 months ago that sews like the wind
and does well with free motion quilting.
What’s
next? I’m plotting out ways to push the boundaries of writing on
quilts, writing with quilts, and practicing the craft of slow writing
with fabric. Since I have to write quickly and to deadline for my
professional life, it’s a huge contrast to deliberately make the
components of each letter with another piece of fabric, then piece the
letters together to make a word, and put the words together to make a
sentence. I’m also planning to use more found fabric, like old linen
calendar towels, to make quilts. Just this week I received a bag
containing a friend’s silk bridesmaid dress she no longer wanted to
wear, and a beautiful green sari embossed with silk. I’m thinking of
cutting up the sari and sending it to some blogging friends and together
we can incorporate them into our quilts.
What
have you always dreamed of doing? Since I’m a writer and a quilter, the
obvious answer would be to write a quilting book, but that dream will
have to stay on the back burner until I finish my thesis (on an entirely
non-fabric topic) this year. At this stage in my life, I can only
handle one big writing project at a time. I’m also keen about
introducing non-sewers to the joys of working with needle and thread. I
loved sewing with the elementary school students, and I’d like to get back to teaching them to sew and quilt.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
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