Quilted Reflections: August 2016

Wednesday, 3 August 2016

Art in progress:

Summer is my favourite time of year. I find nothing more relaxing than to drive around and snap some photos of the landscape that surrounds us. The vast majority of the art I produce is based off photos I have taken at one point in time or another. For example... here are a few shots I have taken recently.

Using your photos as a source of inspiration lets you both take your photography to a whole new level but also helps you to identify what it is you like or dislike about certain photos. Now lets take those photos and turn them into art... Here is a picture of me doing just that.

The top image is my thread painted version of the photo below it. There are still a few things I have left to do but its almost finished. I encourage you to take one of your photos and try to replicate it. If you are intimidated by the thought let me know as I would be more than willing to come teach in your area, or you can join me in my studio for a lesson.

Hope the photos you take this summer will inspire your to try something new.

Happy quilting,
Coleen

Tuesday, 2 August 2016

How lucky am I to live in such a beautiful place, and get to experience nature at its best. There is nothing better than sitting on the beach watching the sun set and see the sky warm with such wonderful colours.

Here are some photos I took of the sunset the other day while my girls swam.

Not only am I fortunate to live in such a wonderful place but I am finally getting a quilting studio. I cannot tell you how over the moon I am. For the past several years my students have been asking if I teach classes in Peachland. With great hesitation I always said no. As much as I wanted to teach out of my house I felt I just didn't have the room to accommodate students the way I wanted. Now that is all chasing. Within the next couple of weeks I will officially have a 400 sqft quilt studio attached to my home. If only I could still do back flips I would post a video lol...

Have any of you had the opportunity to participate in this years Row by Row? For those of you that are not familiar what Row by Row basically you visit 8 different quilt shops and collect their patterns. You can either purchase their kits or just receive their free pattern. Once you have a minimum of 8 patterns you sew them together and take them back to any quilt shop that is participating the row by row. If that shop has not had a winner and you are the first to bring in a completed quilt then you will win 25 fat quarters. In addition, if you have that shops pattern in your quilt you will win an additional prize supplied by the shop. Here is a picture of my completed row by row quilt...

The patterns used in the above quilt came from the following (from top to bottom) Katja's Quilt Shop (Kamloops, BC), Linda's Quilt Shop (Kelowna, BC), Pleasant Valley Quilting (Armstrong, BC), Batik Corner (Oyama, BC), Cottage Quilting (Kelowna, BC), Cherry Tree Quilt Shop (Summerland, BC), Tyjo's Fabris (West Kelowna, BC), Thread & Paper Crafts (Salmon Arm, BC).

I took my quilt to Cherry Tree Quilts and won 25 fat quarters and a $100.00 gift card. I was one happy girl.

Well, keep posted for upcoming pictures of my new studio.

Cheers,

Coleen