next week...

WIP Wednesday #82 @ TN&TN

Friday Feature: Marianne @ TheQuiltingEdge

 Hi Everyone,

I’m thrilled to be a Friday Feature on The Needle and Thread Network. My name is Marianne Haak, better known as Mariquilts, if you happen by The Quilting Edge (www.thequiltingedge.com). I’m from St. Albert, Alberta most of the time, but also reside in Victoria, British Columbia, especially when I’m trying to escape Alberta’s cold winters.

I’m a quilter and addicted in every way.  Having grown up in a very creative home, I was playing in my mother’s scrap bin from an early age. I am mostly self-taught except for those two years of mandatory sewing and cooking classes in Junior High school, and as my family will attest, the sewing took…the cooking, not so much. In the early years I mainly sewed clothing for myself and later for my four children. Since money was scarce, I also sewed for my home.

I made my very first quilt in the mid-seventies but only dabbled at quilting here and there, over the years. As I was dabbling, I was also researching different quilting techniques…anyway, that’s the excuse I gave myself every time I wanted to buy a new quilting book, with some new alluring method inside its' colourful cover.  I started quilting a little more seriously about eight years ago, and had wealth of knowledge at my fingertips (this is well before my blogging days).

My most exciting accomplishments, of the past year, have actually been a direct result of blogging, which I have been doing for about two and a half years. The baby quilt I made, for my first little granddaughter, caught the eye of Fons& Porter’s LOVE OF QUILTING and my quilt, CIRCLES FOR PAIGE, was published in the January/February2013 issue.

Next, I made the quilt, COLOUR SHOT, using Oakshott Cottons, which was privileged enough to hang in the Oakshott booth, at the Birmingham Festival of Quilts.

Last but not least, I was approached by MACHINE QUILTING UNLIMITED to write an article on the topic Quilt as You Go. This resulted in a two part article for the March/April 2013 issue (part 1) and for the May/June 2013 issue (part 2). This project really pushed me out of my comfort zone, since I had to write the article and do my own photography (approximately fourteen photos per article). I must admit I was pretty excited to open that March/April issue. The photos I’ve included are from the QAYG article.

My future goals in quilting are to make what I love and love what I make. I have multiple projects on the go at any given moment and love to keep pushing my ideas a little farther. I love sharing what I discover along the way.

Thanks again to The Needle and Thread Network for inviting me to share a little about myself.

All the best

Marianne

WIP Wednesday #81 @TN&TN

WIP Wednesday #80 @ TN&TN

Friday Feature: Karen @ Bungalow Bay Quilts

Hi everyone! I'm super excited to be a part of TNTN's Friday feature!

So let's get down to business. My name is Karen Black and my alter ego blog name is Bungalow Bay Quilts.You can usually find me here at www.bungalowbayquilts.com Hubby and I, along with 3 dogs and a cat, live in a small village in a part of Ontario called the Lanark Highlands, known locally as "God's Country".

We moved here just over 3 years ago and bought a stone house that was built in 1850. It's our biggest WIP! I'm retired (hubby's not) so it's up to me to take our dogs for their daily hike in the woods. It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it!

for detail shots and a dresdan tip, click

After I get them tired out, it's time to head up to my sewing room and get to work. My main passion right now is Modern Quilting and my work is heavily influenced by modern Japanese quilt design. I love the Japanese way of combining prints, their use of text prints and the intricacy of their patchwork designs. I'm using that influence as a springboard to develop my own personal design aesthetic.

I'm a self taught quilter, although I started sewing my own clothes at the age of 10. So I had a very strong sewing background when I made my first quilt back in the early 70's just prior to the birth of my first child. Over the intervening years, I've drifted in and out of the quilt world, but have always pursued a textile craft of one kind or another.

for some detail shots, here and here

Knitting, needlepoint, cross stitch, fabric dyeing,screen printing, batik, marbling, dressmaking, macrame, even dabbling in jewelry making and bookbinding...no idle hands here! In fact, the only craft I never really took to was pottery. Too dirty for this child!

But the wheel of my life has turned again to quiltmaking as my primary form of self expression. I think that the big difference this time around is that writing about and photographing my work for my blog posts has become a form of self expression as well. The two go hand in hand, each one informing and nurturing the other!

In fact, starting and growing my blog has been one of my biggest accomplishments this past year. It's been a real learning experience (yep, self taught here too!) as well as a very satisfying creative endeavour. It's been the vehicle which has opened the door to making friends from all over the world. I'm always humbled and amazed by the kind words of people I may never meet in person, but with whom I am united by the mutual love of the craft of quiltmaking.

for a closer look-> click

I've also recently discovered the world of online quilt swaps and have become totally smitten with them. I find them a fun way to stretch my creative wings , as each one will have it's own theme and/or specifications. It's so much fun to make a special something for a swap partner, and then to receive something wonderful in return!

My short list of future goals includes growing my blog readership and selling my work through my Etsy store. I would love to have a design published in a quilt magazine. Note to self: prepare submissions! I also want to try my hand at designing patterns for paper piecing. And teach myself to free motion quilt.

My biggest dream for myself isn't actually quilt related per se. In a couple of years I'll be celebrating a very significant birthday and, to celebrate it in style, I plan to do a bicycle tour of the Netherlands, solo! It's something I've had on my bucket list for awhile now, and let's just say, I'm not getting any younger! And, I hear that there's a very active Dutch Modern Quilting community. This could be very interesting!
 Proost!

WIP Wednsday # 79 @ TN&TN