"Sentimental Journal" Pattern is now on Craftsy!

This pattern is now available for immediate download from my Craftsy store at Craftsy.com.

You can use your favourite photographs in this little fabric book. There is also a special pocket on the front cover for additional photos or a small fabric journal The pictures are removable so you can change them whenever you wish.

Instructions are also included for a "Flip-Flop Frame". This is a stand-alone picture pocket page that can be hung on the wall or placed on a decorative easel for extra enjoyment. Use your left-over fabric for this quick project. You can flip the frame over and there is a space for another removable photo on the back.

A great gift idea!

 

"Califon" by Mark Lipinski for Northcott

I finally got to make something with this wonderful new fabric by Mark Lipinski, editor of Quilter's Home magazine. The fabric is being distributed by Northcott. You can see the whole line of this fabric here. This is a sample of my Little Picture Quilt #1. This little quilt has a "picture pocket" so you can change the picture whenever you like.

PS: Thanks, Mark, for mentioning my blog on your blog!

Here are some different views of my Little Picture Quilt.

Could this be a picture of Mark himself?

This is one of my "instant ancestor" pictures.

Don't you love the pigtails?

Portland Quilt Market - Almost Ready!

I have just finished a smaller version of my Thanks for the Memories pattern (#330) for my booth at Quilt Market in Portland. This quilt has removable pictures so you can change the photos whenever you like. The photos in these pictures were all taken during my trip to South Africa last November. You can see how versatile this quilt is because you can change the pictures.




Here is a picture of the large quilt made from this pattern. The pictures in this one are all printed on EQ Printables fabric.


Here is a picture of the blocks that didn't work! I really wanted to use this bright, colourful fabric to show off these wonderful houses in Capetown. Unfortunately, the fabric design was too large and busy, and the pictures just seemed to disappear.

The Great Canadian Shop Hop: Ready to View!

Tricia Sherman's Great Canadian Shop Hop programme that was filmed at the Country Quilter in Richmond, Ontario is now on her website. You can see my demo on Memory Quilts, as well as all the events connected with the Quilt Marathon, held annually at the shop.

Go to Great Canadian Shop Hop. Click on Video Player, then Video Library. Scroll down to Show 7 and hit the Play button.

The filming of the show took many hours and Tricia and her editors have done a wonderful job of showing all the highlights of that day in a few minutes. Congratulations to everyone involved!

The show will also be shown on the QNN network in the very near future.

Here are some pictures of the "Hang Ups" series of patterns that I talked about on the show.

The Great Canadian Shop Hop: Update

Episode 7 of Tricia Sherman's "Great Canadian Shop Hop", filmed at the Country Quilter in Richmond, Ontario, will be on Tricia's website later this week. The show will be airing on QNN (Quilters' News Network) in mid-May.

I was pleased to have been invited as the guest designer on this show which also featured the "Quilt for a Cure" quilt marathon, held annually at the shop. I had several posts about this event back in March of this year. Check out the posts on March 1, 3 and 5 for more information.

Tricia has a great monthly newsletter that you can sign up for on her web site. Be sure to have a look!

Another New Pattern

I have just finished this little Memory quilt pattern. It is called Remembering (Pattern #332). This quilt is 12" x 14" and it makes a quick gift for someone special. You can use a picture printed on fabric such as EQ Printables, or make a picture pocket so you can change the picture whenever you wish. The picture is framed with Crazy Quilting and embellished with stitchery, 3 dimensional fabric flowers and ribbon.

I used silk fabric and metallic thread for the stitchery in the black and white version. The beige quilts are made with cotton fabrics and the pictures are framed with lace.

Click here to see this new pattern on my web site.

A Photographer’s Dilemma

My photographer, Glyn Davies, had a real challenge this morning. He was photographing my “Portraits in Lace” quilts for the cover of my newest pattern. When we hung the quilts on the wall, there were large shadows behind them because of the wire hangers I used to display them. So Glyn came up with a very high-tech way of photographing them. Using duct tape, a piece of string and a 4-foot length of dowel from Home Depot, we suspended the quilts from some metal poles that were in the studio. My job was to hold the string at just the right angle, so the wire hanger would stay straight.

Glyn is now working his Photoshop magic to remove the background from the photos, and by tomorrow, I will have some wonderful pictures to put on my pattern cover!

And now I have to figure out how to photograph these quilts?

Glyn Davies, quilt photographer extraordinaire!

Notice the high-tech equipment we are using. The string was especially important!

Watch for the finished photo coming soon!

Little Picture Quilt #1 (Pattern #305)

Little Picture quilts are quick and easy to make. They have a picture pocket that holds a 4" x 6" photo. You can change the picture whenever you like and, as you can see, you can use either vintage or contemporary pictures. The quilts can be hung either vertically or horizontally so they are quite versatile and they make great gift items.

I have just finished these new models using some of the new Spring fabrics. I hope you like them.

"City Girl" fabric by Benartex

"Mambo" fabric by Windham Fabrics

"Mambo" fabric by Windham Fabrics

Happy Easter

My daily photograph for today, Easter Sunday, is of one of my Little Picture quilts - A Touch of Nostalgia (#312). The pictures is a standard 4" x 6" printed photo, so you can change the picture whenever you like. The fabric is one of the new Northcott fabrics, "Seems Like Old Times".


I have been busy making new models of all of my Little Picture Quilts for my upcoming shows at International Quilt Market in Portland, OR and the TrendTex Show in Vancouver, BC. The new spring fabrics are wonderful to work with - bright and cheery, and many have a very retro 1950s and 1960s look. Watch for more pictures of my Little Quilts using these fabrics. I will be posting them in the next couple of days.

Portraits in Lace

My newest pattern, "Portraits in Lace" #331, is now finished. It will be on my web site in the next few days. The pictures are printed on fabric and then framed with lace. You could also make photo transfers of the pictures. You can use lace applique shapes as shown in these pictures, or use lengths of new or vintage lace to frame the pictures. I used the "Memories" and "Family" hangers from Ackfeld Manufacturing to display these little quilts.

More from the Marianne van Silfhout Gallery

Here are pictures of some of my favourite pieces of art in the "Past, Present, Future" show at the Marianne van Silfhout Gallery, St. Lawrence College, Brockville.

"Ancient Angkor" Mixed Media Collage by Diane Godwin-Sheridan

Gnome Sculpture by Jean Marr

"Mad Hatter's Teapot" by Jean Marr

Marianne van Silfhout Gallery

I am pleased to have 6 of my quilts hanging in the Marianne van Silfhout Gallery at St. Lawrence College, Brockville, as part of the “Past, Present, Future” exhibit by former and present faculty of the College.

My "Working Girls" and "Thanks for the Memories" quilts

My "Hang Ups" quilt

This state-of-the-art community art gallery, opened in September 2007, is a focus for the visual arts for Brockville and the larger Eastern Ontario area. Creation of the gallery was made possible by a major half-million dollar bequest from the estate of Marianne van Silfhout, a graduate of the Fine Art program at St. Lawrence College, as well as numerous donors to the St. Lawrence College Foundation.

The Country Quilter

The Country Quilter quilt shop is located in Richmond, Ontario, just a short drive from Ottawa. It is situated in a heritage home that, over the years, has also been occupied by a post office, shoemaker, tailor and undertaker. The shop, owned by Ann Mclean, was the site for the filming of The Great Canadian Shop Hop for QNN last Friday.

Stairs to the upper level where my segment for the show was filmed.

The shop is full of interesting nooks and crannies for fabric, patterns and quilting tools and the dedicated and helpful staff is most hospitable. Be sure to visit this great quilt shop if you are in the Ottawa area.

Display of Northcott "Quilt For A Cure" fabric.

More fabric!

Even more fabric!

The Great Canadian Shop Hop for QNN

Filming for the Great Canadian Shop Hop programme for QNN (Quilters’ News Network) was done yesterday at the Country Quilter quilt shop in Richmond, Ontario. Shop owner, Ann McLean, was at the shop very early in the day, baking muffins and coffee cake, and welcoming the many quilters who were part of this event. The show, produced by Tricia Sherman from Vancouver, focused on The Quilt: A Breast Cancer Support Project. Co-ordinator of this event, Carol Miller, was there and it was a great pleasure to meet her.

Here I am with Barry (the camera guy) and Tricia Sherman, producer of the Great Canadian Shop Hop

I was thrilled to be the guest pattern designer on the show. I did a demo using some of my newest patterns, including my Hang Ups, Pop-Out Picture Quilts and Pop-Out Picture Books. I also talked about how easy it is to print pictures on fabric and incorporate vintage linens and lace in memory quilts.

Barry, the camera man, was amazing! He was interested in the whole quilting process, even to the point of wanting to film underneath the frame as the quilters were working, so he could show what was actually happening on the underside of the quilt.

Shop owner, Ann McLean was a wonderful hostess throughout the day. She remained calm and collected, while multi-tasking constantly. And of course, the shop was open, so Ann and her staff were dealing with the regular customers while all the filming was happening throughout the store. More information about this wonderful shop will be included in a future post.

"The Quilt" project co-ordinator, Carol Miller (l) and shop owner, Ann McLean

Here's Tricia getting a quilting lesson from one of the experts at the Country Quilter

Thanks for the Memories!

Last November, I traveled to South Africa with my quilting friend, Colleen. At Christmas, we were part of a quilt exchange group. I had 3 weeks to design and make a quilt for Colleen using fabric that she had given me 10 months earlier. We had shared so many wonderful experiences on our South Africa trip, that I decided to use some of my pictures in her quilt. The quilt is 41" square and uses 20 photographs that were printed on EQ Printables fabric. And yes, I did get it completely finished in 3 weeks! It’s amazing how the job always takes the amount of time you have.

This quilt then became my newest pattern called Thanks for the Memories (#330). It is now ready to be printed and will be available on my website at the beginning of March.

When I wrote the pattern, I also included instructions for using removable paper photographs instead of printed ones. This makes the quilt even more versatile because you can change the pictures whenever you wish.

Close up views