More from Creative Festival

Sandy Camarda started out scrapbooking and taught scrapbooking at various stores for years. Her current passion is mixed media art. She loves anything vintage and when she noticed my memory quilts with the vintage photos at CreativFestival in Toronto, she stopped by to take a look. Sandy put pictures of a couple of my quilts on her Blog. Thanks, Sandy!

This is one of the designs in my Down Memory Lane pattern.

CreativFestival: Opening Day

The CreativFestival show in Toronto opened at 9 am and when we arrived shortly after 8, there was already a line-up. The aisles were filled with enthusastic shoppers all day. With all the news of a poor economy these days, we were all somewhat concerned. But it seems that people in the quilting, sewing and crafting business in general continue to be up-beat and definitely want to purchase all those new and different products that are available. Several vendors also noticed that there seemed to be more young people at this show than in previous years. That is another good sign for our industry.

Here are some pictures of the show that were taken on the second day because it was too busy for me to be out of the booth on Day 1. Even on the second day, it was so busy I had Janet's daughter, Sarah, take pictures for me because I couldn't leave the booth. Thanks, Sarah, for these great shots!

Watch for more pictures coming soon!

CreativFestival in Toronto: Set-up Day

CreativFestival is a 3-day show held at the International Convention Centre in Toronto. It is a venue for all types of quilting, sewing, knitting, beading, scrapbooking and more. Set-up day is always busy and often confusing, but as you can see, we did manage to pull everything together.


Here is my booth with quilts all over the place as we start setting up. I always take enough for 2 booths and then wonder why it all won't fit in!

Here is my booth almost all set up and ready to go.

My friend, Janet Rice-Bredin, (Botanical Art Quilts) had a booth right next to mine. Here is what she started with.

And with the help of husband Sid...

...here is Janet's booth all set up.

Watch for more pictures of the show coming soon!

"African Adventure" Kits

Here are some of my "African Adventure" kits all ready for the CreativFestival show in Toronto this week. The kits contain the pattern for 4 different wall quilts, an authentic embroidery from South Africa and all the fabric and batting needed to finish the project. E-mail me if you would like more information on these kits.

Ribbons and Trims

Here is my new ribbon and trim rack, all ready for the CreativFestival show in Toronto this week. I have a great collection of ribbons and trims that can be used for many different projects.

This leaf trim comes in black, burgundy and olive green. You can see the colours in the picture above.

I used the black trim to finish off my little beaded "African Adventure" quilt. Another project finished!

Here is a close-up view of the trim in the border of the quilt.

Wonky Stars and Mark Lipinski

I sent a picture of my Wonky Stars quilt to Mark Lipinski, editor of Quilters' Home Magazine and designer of the Krakow fabric line that I used for the quilt. Here is his reply:

OMG! I'm choking up! It's beautiful! I just don't have the words . . . Thank you so much for using my fabric. You can't know what it means to me! xoxom

Mark has a great website and blog. Be sure to check them out. I am looking forward to seeing his new fabric line at Quilt Market in Pittsburgh next month. I am sure it will inspire yet another pattern! I have already had a sneak preview of the fabric and it is wonderful!

2 New Patterns are Available Now!

My 2 newest patterns have now been published!

African Adventure (#333) has instructions for using different sizes of embroidery or other needlework. I have also included instructions for using a picture printed on fabric or a paper photograph in a special picture pocket that can be changed whenever you like.

Wonky Stars (#231) is a great stash-buster quilt! It uses fat eighths and fat quarters, or you could use pieces from your scrap collection. Instructions are given for 2 different sizes: 54" x 67" and 38" x 52". I used the Krakow fabric line by Mark Lipinski for this quilt. The fabric is distributed by Northcott and is available in many quilt shops now

Click here and here for more information about these new patterns.

More Quilts in Chernobyl

Here is another excerpt from Eric McKenzie's Blog. He has just distributed the last of the quilts, many of which were made right here in Brockville.

Murray and I went to the Chausy Orphanage today for a few last items on our list. We were the lucky ones who got to present more of the quilts created by a group of Quilters in Brockville. We let the children pick out their own as it means a lot to them to get to choose. Here are some of the childen making their selections.


And here is a small group of the children with their new quilts.

It is so rewarding for us to see that our quilts are truly appreciated in the orphanages and homes in Chernobyl. Thanks, Eric and all members of the Canadian Aid for Chernobyl group, for a job well done!

Quilts for Chernobyl

Here is an excerpt from Eric McKenzie's Blog. Eric is in Chernobyl with the Canadian Aid for Chernobyl group.

Today is the first day of school after the spring break. Cathy Boone and I headed to the Kostukovichi Orphanage to deliver a few boxes along with quilts made by local quilters, many of whom belong to the 1000 Islands Quilt guild. It is about a two our drive that took us through the exclusion zone created by the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

Speaking with the Orphanage Director, Valleri, we discovered that more and more children are being taken in foster care and the population of the orphanage is decreasing in this region. One result of this is a disproportionate number of boys in the orphanage. Families tend to prefer to take in girls over boys. One of the classes that we met had 11 boys and no girls!

Here a group of boys each select a quilt.


These quilts are lovingly hand-made by a group of quilters in the Brockville area. Every quilt is unique just like the children that receive them and we explained this to the children before they picked their own. Here a group of boys proudly display their selections. Living in the orphanage environment these children have very few personal belongings, but these quilts are theirs to keep forever. A treasured gift as evidenced by the smiling faces.


We also delivered quilts to a daycare in Gorbavichi. Again, these quilts were lovingly hand-made by a group of quilters in the Brockville area. We managed to arrive at naptime and all of the children were sleeping. I have no idea how they can get this many children to sleep at once.

We managed to sneak in and place a quilt on a sleeping child for this photo op.

Thanks, Eric, for a job well done! Thanks also to my fellow members of the Thousand Islands Quilters' Guild for your continuing support of this worthwhile project!

Canadian Aid for Chernobyl

You will notice that I have added a link to the Canadian Aid for Chernobyl site in the Favorite Blogs section of this Blog. This organization is based in my city of Brockville.

Here is their mission statement:
Canadian Aid for Chernobyl is dedicated to providing humanitarian and medical aid to those affected by the world’s worst nuclear disaster. Our primary focus is on the most vulnerable victims - the children - offering a healthy respite and dental and medical care in Canada to those who continue to live each day amidst the extreme radioactive pollutants.

My Guild, The Thousand Islands Quilters' Guild, sends over 100 quilts every year to the children in the Chernobyl area.

This picture shows some of the 152 quilts made by members of our Guild and the community as they are being presented to Eric McKenzie (far right), President and Communications Director of the Canadian Aid for Chernobyl.

Eric is part of the delegation that is in Belarus now and is the author of the CAC Blog. I hope you will enjoy reading about this amazing organization!

Adventure in Beading

Here is another little quilt from my "African Adventure" series. I printed a photograph on EQ Printables fabric sheets for the centre of the quilt. Then I decided to do some beading in the area around the picture. This was my first attempt at beading - I have no idea if I was doing it the "right" way or not - but I am happy with the result!

Close-up view of the beading

My "African Adventure" pattern is almost ready to be published and will be on my website soon. There are instructions for using an embroidery or photograph in the centre section and 2 different border designs.

The Ultimate Sewing Place

Yesterday I visited The Ultimate Sewing Place, a huge quilt shop in Titusville, Florida. On the pattern rack I found patterns by my friend and fellow designer, Janet Rice Bredin. Here is her Pansy pattern.

One wall of the shop was devoted to thread.

Fabric was everywhere. As you can see, there is too much fabric for the shelves and the over-flow is on the floor!

And yes, I did manage to find some fabric I just couldn't live without!