Wedding cake like a quilt

Four years ago I was asked by my sister to make her wedding cake. Both excited and nervous I was honoured to be asked to take on such a task for my sister. Its not that I had never done cakes before, what made me nervous was wondering how I was going to manage to make a wedding cake and take care of my 2 year old and 2 month old all at the same time. After I agreed (which was right away of course) images stated to pop into my head of all the possibilities this cake could look like. Lynn provided me with a few guidelines such as 1) make sure it had fresh flowers, 2) it had to be 3 tiers, and 3) and that she wanted 3 different flavours, aside from that she let me run wild. Being a quilter I had to add my own flair .... a quilters flair... and voila here is my mater piece.

My master piece!

This was the bottom tier... My goal was to make it look like a quilt

This was the middle tier I wanted it to be whimsical yet elegant. 

Top tier... simple yet beautiful I wanted the the flowers on top to be the focal point.

It was so much fun! Thanks to my girls for being such great kids the whole time I was pre occupied with the making of the cake. The funniest part was when it was time to transport the cake to the venue. Given that I lived in Peachland and the event was in Kelowna I needed to be sure that I could get all 5 of us ( my 3 girls, husband and myself ) into the van while transporting all three tiers safely with no incidents. So, we loaded everyone up then loaded up the cakes only to start to back out of the driveway when we discover that we have a flat tire on the van... urggg... frantically we called my husbands uncle and he was gracious enough to lend us one of his vehicles to get there. Luckly it all worked out and the cakes made it there safely. Here is to a great night!

Cheers!

Please feel free to share with me anything that you have made that was outside of your quilting box!

Till next time, happy quilting!
Coleen

Summer Snap Shots

Today I was going through some my summer photos I have taken over the past few years and thought I would share with you some of my favourites.

Nakusp, BC (2010)

Alberta (2013) - It was a great day travelling back home from a great week in Calgary.

Flowers in my yard between the rocks. (2006)

Jackpine Lake, BC. (2007) The sun was setting it was so beautiful 

Jackpine Lake, BC. (2007) Sunrise

Jackpine Lake, BC (2007)

Burton, BC. (2010)

This was a great evening in my sisters back yard. The sun was setting over Kelowna and the sky was absolutely beautiful reflecting on the lake. 

Peachland, BC. (2012) Check out the double rainbow, you need to look close. 

Peachland, BC (2012)

Peachland, BC (2011) 

Its great look at these pictures. Each of them will be used as inspirations for my upcoming work. 

Hope you are having a great Sunday!

Happy Quilting!

Oh boy its been forever since I have had the opportunity to put a post on here. Since my last post I finished my Bachelors of Health Science degree, was awarded a new job, joined the Fibre Art Network and have been teaching many Free Motion Thread Play classes. Of course I have also been really busy creating new pieced to add to my collection.

Upon joining the Fibre Art Network group I was fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to create a piece for the Abstracted show in Washington. This pieced consisted of two quilters, one was to create a abstract piece while the other partner was to create a realistic piece. The goal was to create two pieced that were representational of a common theme. We chose to do an Okanagan scene, Peachland scene to be exact. I had the honour of doing the realistic version here is what I came up with...

 Here is the background fabric I used. I choose to paint the sky and water on white fabric to get the effect that I was after as I can never find good sky fabric. There is nothing better than creating your own fabric!

Next I added some appliqué and then did some heavy free motion quilting. Once my background was done I did some trapplique (a cross between trapunto and appliqué) and created my tree trunk. Once created I then made some 3D branches and added them onto my piece and here is what I ended up with...

I was very happy with the final effect. Here are a few more close ups...

Hope this inspires you to branch out of your normal and try something new!

Happy Quilting,
Coleen

First Day of Spring

I love signs of spring in the Okanagan. The butter cups are now in bloom, Irises are starting to come up and my cherry trees are starting to bud. How can you not love this time of year.

When the cherry trees bloom its so wonderful! Here is what my cherry tree branches looked like last year. It was a very fruitful year! 

With spring in the air and flowers on the mind there are a few things I love. Check out these flowers painted on silk fabric. I love how vibrant the colors are and how the water resist prevented the paint from spreading in areas that were not meant to be painted. 

Well till next time, happy quilting. 

Coleen 

Okanagan BC Photos

 There are two things in nature that absolutely draw me in. The first is my absolute love for waterfalls, I could spend days sitting by a waterfall and never get tired of it. We are very fortunate here in Peachland to have our own waterfall within walking distance. I take my kids for a hike to the falls sever times a year, they really love it when the salmon are running they say it makes the falls that much more interesting. 

Hardy Falls, Peachland BC

Hardy Falls, Peachland BC

My second passion is trees. Crazy some might think, but for me I think they are amazing. There are so many different varieties and you will never see 2 identical trees. My husband and I went on a hike the other day and I had the opportunity to snap a couple of really interesting photos. My goal this year is to do a huge variety of different landscape quilts using a variety of different techniques. I should have some really great pieces posted on here by July. However, in the mean time I figure I will share with you some of my photos.

Peachland, BC
All copyrights reserved. 

I showed this picture to my husband and asked him what he thought. His comments.... "its a dead tree." For me I see so much more. I love how intricate the branches are on this tree, they twist and curl. Remember when we were kids and we were asked to draw trees in school. I cannot ever remember drawing a tree that would like like this one, rather my branches were straight. I think that now that I am older, and the fact that I am passionate about art quilting I now take the time to stop and rally soak in my surroundings. Its amazing what we actually notice when we slow down and take the time.

Peachland, BC
All Copyrights reserved

I know that you might have difficulty seeing this but to the left of the amazingly tall tree is my husband standing on the edge of the cliff. He was only about 10 feet from the tree but he looks so small. My husband stands just shy of 6 feet tall and in comparison to the height of that magnificent tree he is tiny.

Peachland, BC
All Copyrights reserved

The tree on the far left had all shorter branches on it with the exception of this one long branch sticking out to the right. I did manage to go back last weekend on a sunny day and get some much better images of these trees with the blue sky in the background. Unfortunately I have not uploaded them so I will have to share with you a few more amazing shots when I do.

Well for now that is a sneak peek of some pictures that I will be using bits and pieces of for my future threadplay works. Keep watching and I will share with you some previews along the way.

Till next time Happy Quilting!!

Coleen

Saturday Hike in the Okanagan

Ok, so I have to apologize for the delay in my blogs, I am nearing the end of my degree and have to push a bit more to finish all the required assignments before the middle of next month. Once done, look out I will be blogging way more often.

Today I went on a wonderful hike with my husband and girls. The weather was great and the sky was an amazing blue. I have made it a personal quest to go out at least 2 weekends a month on a hike and capture photos that I can use in my thread play pieces. Here are a couple I thought I would share with you.

Peachland, BC.
All copyrights reserved by Coleen Adderley

I loved the color of the sky reflected off the water so beautifully, and how the grasses and tree just seemed to be so perfect. Clean crisp.

Peachland, BC
All copyrights reserved by Coleen Adderley

I took several panoramic views today, and each one turned out so beautifully. I am not sure why there is a black line on the side of the photo but when it uploaded onto this site it added a funny line.

These pictures have inspired a few new pieces. I am so excited to have a bit more time that I can spend in my studio. Looking forward to being done this degree!!

Hope you all have a great week.

Till next time, happy quilting.
Coleen

Stupendous Stitching!

So I would told you that I would show you what I was creating with the beautiful hand dyed fabric by Barb from Cherry Tree Quits and Glide threads by Fil-Tec a few weeks ago... well here is what I have created. There are just a few more things that I need to finish up but its coming along. 

I love the colors of the fabric playing off the colors of the thread I used. It was so fun to do a bit of hand work along with playing with a few different stitches on my machine. The pictures that are listed on your machine defining the look of the stitch sometimes does not do it justice. 

Dont mind my3 year old daughters little toes in this picture. I thought of retaking it but those little toes are just so precious. 

This will be a class that I will be teaching at Cherry Tree Quilt Shop in Summerland, BC. Please feel free to email me if you are interested in taking the class or call the store directly. 

Happy Quilting!

Quilted postcards here we come!

Today has been a great day. I managed to make several postcards, create a beautiful painted flower on fabric, and best yet started on another project that I will be teaching classes on. I am so excited. Here are some pictures of some of the things that I created today.

This is made from hand dyed fabric, couched fibers and decorative stitches.

This is made with some hand painted fabric, and decorative stitches.

This is made with hand made paper, fabric, and finished with free motion quilting. 

This is made with hand made paper, fabric, and finished with free motion quilting. 

This is contains some piecing, fiber couching, decorative stitches and finished with some jewels. 

Check out my Postcard Shop for the others.

Coleen

Quilted Postcards

 Winter is anything but my favourite, so I figure whats a girl to do on a cold day... well sew that is!

 My Goal today is to create at least 5 new postcards. I ordered these great postcard stamps and they arrived so I figured I would give them a test run. What do you think? I have to say I love it. I will post the rest of my postcards later tonight or tomorrow so that you can see the finished creations.

Hope you are staying warm on this cold day. And if you are quilting cheers!

Coleen 

Thread Play Fun!

I have been having so much fun making thread play pieces for my upcoming classes that the ideas and different fibres keep calling me to my machine. Here is my most recent piece

Fall in the Okanagan
This piece consists of piecing, thread play, fibres and hand stitching. 

Today I went to the Cherry Tree Quilt shop in Summerland and had a wonderful time picking out some of Barbs amazing hand dyed fabric and Fil-Tec (glide) threads to create my next piece. Here is a sneak preview of what I will be working with...

Barb has such a great selection of threads and fibres that you can incorporate into your quilting to give it a great unique look. I am so excited to have access to such a great supply. Thanks Barb!

Keep posted to see what becomes of these great threads and fabric!

Happy quilting,
Coleen

Fil-Tec Thread

Several months ago I discovered Glide Thread by Fil-Tec. This thread is a polyester thread that leaves little to no lint behind. Not only is this thread an absolute dream to use but you can also purchase their pre-wound bobbins which seem to last forever. When creating my thread play pieces I have absolutely no issues with breakage, or that horrid birds nest that sometimes likes to build under your quilt.

To a quilter good thread is like candy to the eye and a great glass of wine to go with it. Fil-Tec without a doubt has great selection of colours that are rich, and help you to create the look you are after. Their selection is bar-none one of the better ones I have seen. The affinity line which consists of variegated  threads are wonderful to work with and does not leave that chunky look as the colours change every inch.

Now if you are after a great metallic thread they have succeeded at making one that provides great shine, wonderful colours and best of all DOES NOT BREAK every few minutes. Metallic threads are generally more difficult to work with, however I have found that the Glisten Metallic line provides beautiful sheen to your quilt while making it easy to use. Look that this great variegated metallic thread, I have used it for several projects and every time I make something for my kids they always ask for me to add a bit of bling and shimmer to their stuff and what do they pick... yep you guessed something from the Glisten Metallic line.

Now that Christmas is over and we have started a new year I made a New Years resolution to complete at least 2 projects a month. So, I set out to begin my quest and in a matter of 3 days I managed to make 4 incredible thread play pieces. I will be teaching classes in February in Summerland and in West Kelowna so watch my class blog for an update on dates and times. Please feel free to call me or the quilt shop listed under the class to register. 

Unfortunately I am having difficulty with my camera taking good quality pictures of my work so I will be uploading several photos in the  next couple of days. If you are looking for a private class please feel free to send me an email and I am happy to instruct you either in a small group or one on one. 

Till next time... Happy quilting! 

Coleen