Quilt Canada Part 5

Okay folks, I'm back... I was away for three days this week and you know what it's like when you come home - always lots to catch up on. At this time of year it's mainly gardening. I now have my last planter planted, my vegetable garden in and some weeding done. I still have a few annuals left to put in  the soil (waiting for foliage from bulbs to die down) and one perennial bed which requires some serious thought/planning/revamping. There's always more to do, but overall I'm feeling good about the whole state of affairs right now... The last few weeks have been busy to say the least - getting back into the routine of both kiddos at work, juggling vehicles, etc. I finally have a new car, not quite what we had planned, but I'm more than happy. Laura has her bedroom painted a new color, so now I have another quilt to make.... Picked up some fabric this week for it so I'll have to find my sewing Mojo  and get at it... It'll be a more contemporary design than what she has now. Stay tuned...
So I think it's time to show you the last photos from Quilt Canada 2012 in Halifax, as time is marching on... First up - the "Miniatures" show - Nova Scotia guilds were issued a challenge to create miniature quilts for a concurrent show on the theme Seams Like Home. This show hung in Howe Hall; I didn't count but I think there were roughly 25 little quilts and each one was special. There were 3 winners in each of two categories (Traditional and Non-Traditional). Again, I would not have wanted to be a judge... At the top right is Seams Like Home by Kate Madeloso, which became the logo for the conference theme. I did not take photos of all the winners but here are three of them: First place (at left) in the Traditional category went to Anne Morell Robinson of  Cape Breton for The Cape Breton Heritage Quilt. It is a 1/4 scale replica of a full size quilt she designed several years
ago, featuring Cape Breton icons. To quote her Artist Statement: "All the images represent what makes Cape Breton Special: the farms, the sea, the Cabot Trail, the music, the wildlife, the Scottish,
the English, the Acadians, the Mi'kmaq, the homes and the woods. Cape Breton is full of colour and the colourful." Anne is well known in these parts as a quilter extraordinaire, designer and teacher. Her hand applique on this small piece was exceptional.
First prize winner in the Non Traditional category was Sandra Roch with her piece Blooms and Shells (at right). She combined hand piecing and hand embroidery with hand dyed cottons and cheesecloth, shells and beads and a variety of techniques including printing and tea-dying, silk ribbon embroidery and machine quilting. I thought this little quilt was charming and a great choice for first place.






Second place in Non Traditional was also won by Anne Morell Robinson. Home From The Seams is Anne's depiction of the coal miners of Inverness toiling underground, then walking home to the company houses known as the "red rows". When Anne heard people talking about the red rows, she thought they were talking about Red Rose Tea, so she backed the quilt with a floral fabric of red roses.













Another miniature in this show which caught my eye was Super Lobster by Pam White Tracey. If you are a lobster lover, you know you'd love to have this big guy on your plate! Nothing compares to fresh Atlantic lobster - because our Atlantic water is colder than most, our lobster is more flavourful. (oh dear, I'm starting to salivate...)





 










A Lazy Day by Vicki Burke just made me want to head to the nearest beach. That beach chair just looked so inviting... This was Vicki's interpretation of a pattern from the Spring 2011 Quilting and Embroidery magazine.











Seams Like Home by Jan Holleman also caught my eye - that beautiful blue water again had me wishing there was a beach nearby.  Jan used to own a wonderful quilt shop in the Annapolis Valley - I sure miss her and her wonderful shop!












Linda Smith's quilt, The Hobo, was a representation of a boat they used for family outings to secluded beaches in her childhood home of  Prospect N.S. Linda and I are blogging friends and I had hoped we would meet that week in Halifax but we never crossed paths... You can read more about her piece here on her blog.

It's getting late so I think I'll put up this post and do a separate post for the Mariners Quilt Guild Show..   To be continued...