Quilt It For Keepsakes Magazine

Yesterday I received my copy of Quilt It For Keepsakes magazine. This great magazine is published once a year in December and shows many ways to create memory quilts.

I have 2 little projects in this year's edition of the magazine. Little Cowpoke is a picture of my brother taken many years ago when the pony came around the neighbourhood and all the kids had their picture taken. I printed the photo on EQ printables fabric and then incorporated it into some pre-printed fabric. It is shown on the left in the photo below.

My other project is called Ancestors. It is the brown/beige quilt in the picture below. Actually, I call them my instant ancestors because I really have no idea who the people are. I collect antique photographs and often use them in my work. This is a small piece about 9" x 7".

Both of these pieces are in the article called Picture This on pages 12 - 15 in the magazine. The magazine was printed with 2 different covers this year. The other cover features a beige and pink quilt. The magazine is conducting a survey to see which cover is more popular. Details are included on page 4 in the magazine.

Kaleidoscope Kreator 3

Yesterday I had the opportunity to "test drive" the new Kaleidoscope Kreator 3 software which will be released in January. Many changes have been made to the program and it is now even better than it was before.

I have a few copies of the Kaleidoscope Kreator 2 program for sale as well as the Favorite Projects and Frame Frenzy Templates CDs, all at bargain prices. There will be a free upgrade to Version 3 when it is released in January. Just e-mail me if you would like more information. This is the program I used to create the centre blocks in Christine's Fibre Friends quilt. Have a look at my post on December 15 to have a look at these fascinating blocks.

You can have a sneak peak at Kaleidoscope Kreator 3 here.

Electric Quilt Blog

I have recently added a link to the Electric Quilt Blog. If you use Electric Quilt, even just a little bit, you will find this blog very informative. There are all kinds of tips and tricks and there are new posts every day. Just click on the link in my "Favourite Blogs" list on the right hand side of this page.

Christine's Quilt

I received 8 fat quarters from Christine to use for her Fibre Friends quilt. We exchange the fabric in February and have until December to finish the quilt. I started my quilt during the first week in December. Didn't want to rush things!

I have been using the Kaleidoscope Kreator software to create Kaleidoscope designs and decided to use some of these kaleidoscopes in Christine's quilt. I scanned this fabric from Christine's collection.

From the scans, I used the Kaleidoscope Kreator software to create the designs shown below. I sized them so they would be 3.5" squares and then printed them on EQ Printables fabric sheets. I could then cut out the squares, leaving a 1/4" seam allowance all around, and use them like any other piece of fabric. I printed a total of 12 kaleidoscope squares, all different, to use as the block centres.

And here is the finished quilt!

More Quilts from Our Fibre Friends Christmas

Here are some more pictures of the wonderful quilts we received from our annual quilt exchange.

Can you tell that we all loved our quilts?

A Fibre Friends Christmas

Our Fibre Friends group meets once a month to work on our quilts and share ideas. Each year in February we exchange 8 fat quarters and then we have until the next December to make a quilt for the person who gave us the fabric. Of course everything is a big secret until the quilts are presented to their owners. Yesterday we met for a delicious lunch and the exchange of quilts. Here are some pictures of the wonderful quilts we received. More pictures coming soon!

David Francis, Wood Carver

I met David at an Artists' Studio Tour this weekend. He has only been carving for about 2 years but creates some wonderful whimsical pieces from cottonwood bark. David says that if you tuck his fairy houses in a special place, they will immediately become the centre of activity for all fairies in your home. When one or more of the "Little People" move in, you might not see them, but they will show their appreciation by bringing you good luck and fortune will watch over you.

One of David's Fairy Houses

Brockville Arts Centre

The Brockville Arts Centre is a 150 year old building that, over the years, has been used as a town hall, market place, fire engine house, Opera House and movie theatre. Today it is a venue for local theatre groups and professional touring companies.

Next year this building will undergo major renovations and will be returned to the grand style of theatres as they were in the 1920s and 1930s. A new state-of-the-art audio system will also be installed.

Shown below is the first new installation - a demi-lune stained glass window - that is now in place in the lobby. All the work was done by local artists.

You can learn more about the Brockville Arts Centre by clicking here.

More from the Brockville Arts Centre Gallery

Here are some pictures of quilts made by my friend, Colleen Blackwell McMahon. Our quilts are hanging in the Brockville Arts Centre Gallery for the month of December.

Brockville Arts Centre Gallery Show

Several of my quilts and those of my friend, Colleen Blackwell McMahon, are now hanging in the Brockville Arts Centre Lobby Gallery. The Arts Centre has a very busy schedule for December so, hopefully, lots of people will be able to enjoy our quilts.