These Are a Few of my Favourite Things....

When one attends a Quilt Show, there are always some pieces which catch your eye or appeal to you more than others, After all we each have our preferences for colour, technique and so on. One area which really caught my eye at our Show were the groupings we made of workshop pieces.
Our Guild tries to bring in a well known teacher from another area on a fairly regular basis.
Pippa Moore of British Columbia came to us in 2008 and led six workshops over seven days. Two of these were Out on a Limb- Designing with Trees, and Ferns, Flowers and Other Follies, using design motifs from the Art Deco period. This area at the Show captured the interest of many visitors. The Tree workshop was a two day session focussing on two areas - the design of the tree itself, done from a photograph, and the strip pieced sky background. I think these participants were very successful and deserve all the admiration they received.
At the top, on the left of photo, are "Memories" by Linda Glassford and on the right, "Family Tree" by Lee McLean. Linda's tree comes from a painting done by her mother while on her honeymoon, and Lee's tree and broken swing are a poignant memory from her childhood home. Jean Street's "Baobob Tree with African Sunset" (above left) is a reminder of her time spent in Africa in the 1960/70's. Cathy White's "Sunrise Over the Saint John River"(just above, right) is the view she can admire each morning from her deck, looking through the birch trees. Lastly at left is Jenny Adam's "Gone, but not Forgotten" from a photo of her favourite tree near the old UNB pool parking lot, long gone in the name of progress and a new parking area.
Pieces from Pipppa's Ferns, Flowers and other Follies also received lots of interest during the show, particularly the piece on the top right of this photo, a kitchen window valance called "Fiddleheads and Pitcher Plants" by Trudy Corey. The others shown here, clockwise from top, are by Barb Cross, Ann VanWart, Jean Street, and Linda Glassford.




Two other workshops were represented by pieces from Facial Portraits taught by Susan Tilsley Manley in 2007 and Pet Portraits taught by Karen Henry in 2009. These proved very interesting to the viewers. Whether human or animal, each was done the same way- you start with a good clear photo and then make a black and white photocopy. You work from the b&w copy, using thin tracing paper to draw a sort of topographical map of the face, outlining the different tonal areas. Then these pieces are used to cut the fabrics which have been arranged by tone, from lights to darks. Thread painting completes the piece to highlight hair or fur, and to add detail to some features like the eyes. Seeing these portraits completed inspires me to get back at mine from these two classes and get them finished up. Here you see Santa ("Oh My Stars - It's Christmas") above left, by Jane Gunn and "Gary" by Susan Dobson (at right). Below, left, is "Miss Molly" by Barb Perry, her beautiful Ragdoll cat, and "Angus" (bottom) by Sandi MacMillan.







This is just a small taste of the work by some of our talented members. In my next post I'll share more photos from our Show: the Miniatures and some humourous quilts. Stay tuned. I work the Federal Election tomorrow so I had better get myself off to bed.... Nighty night...

Piece
Linda

Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try...