STITCH LINES...... Ramblings on life as a quilter, stitcher, traveler, photographer, gardener and lover of books, cats and fine chocolate....

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Jailbird and cellmate...

A week has flown by.... I have been busy as you no doubt guessed, from my absence here! I'm trying to finish up all the outdoor garden work- emptying pots and planters, cutting down my perennial beds, spreading a little slug bait and compost, etc. before the weather turns any colder.
Our Guild has just had Karen Henry of Dartmouth NS here for 4 days, 3 days of workshops and a Trunk Show Tuesday night for our monthly Guild meeting. Karen stayed with me for 2 nights, and I was thrilled to have her. We enjoyed getting to know each other, as we will be roommates in Calgary for Quilt Canada 2010. There's no doubt in my mind that we will have lots of fun together. She very quickly labelled us "Jailbird and Cellmate"... yep - we're gonna have lots of laughs.....
Karen is an exceptionally talented self-taught quilt artist. I so enjoyed the 2 workshops I took, and regretted not being able to do the third one as well. Karen has a very easy going, friendly and enthusiastic manner and everyone enjoyed her immensely. Her Trunk Show was a wonderful cross-section of her pictorial quilts - landscapes, animal portraits, commissioned pieces, flora and fauna wallhangings, (see "My Father's Dahlias" above) people quilts and still life- you name it, Karen has done it! I was most impressed with her "composite" quilts. She has put such careful thought into not only the composition and design, but also the colour, balance and detail. I would have to say my favourite was "Snowbird 1 Alpha - Pete Henry", (above) made for her husband to celebrate his term as a pilot with the Snowbird aerial team. I remember seeing this quilt in the 1999 National Juried Show in Charlottetown and it blew me away then! My other "most" favourite (because they were ALL favourites!!) was one of her tree quilts. The golden tree just seemed to glow. Karen's color sense is wonderful and her technical skills are second to none. Her use of a variety of techniques - a "woven background", confetti applique, bobbinwork, use of tulle and organza, etc. makes for such interesting pieces. We were so fortunate to have Karen with us and it's a shame more people did not take advantage of the opportunity to take her classes. You can enjoy more of Karens' work here.

Thanks Karen, for all the inspiration, and I promise - next time, there'll be no "bushwacking"!

Piece,
Linda

Life is like a cup of tea; it's all in how you make it.

4 comments:

MissesStitches said...

Her quilt photos are incredible! Unbelievable. I'd give anything to see them in person. Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

My favorite piece was exactly the item Karen made for her husband. My friend & I were still oohing and aahing about it last night. What a genuinely gifted and talented lady as well as a true Maritimer. I promise next time I won't miss out on any of Karen's classes should she ever come back to Fredericton. Looking forward to the shot of the tree quilt - liked that one too. LB

Colleen G said...

Thank you for sharing Karen's beautiful quilts. I, too, am so blown away by her husband's tribute. My son is in the process of becoming a pilot and naturally admires the Snowbird pilots. He was taken at the prospect that my passion and his could intersect on a project like this.

GailM. said...

Boo hoooo.... I'm so sorry I missed her show. I'm glad you took some photos. I'm glad everything went well. Thanks for hosting her.

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