Fat Quarter Frenzy FUN!

What a fantastic day it was!  Celebrating the beginning of Spring (even thought it feels much more like summer right now... no complaints!) always makes me think of Easter and the Easter parade in New York.  

And that got me thinking: we should have our own parade here in the store.  So, if you wore an Easter Bonnet to the Fat Quarter Frenzy, there were in-store coupons up for grabs.  

Even thought I have a personal no-hats policy, it was great fun to see other people's creativity and how they got into the spirit of it!

Congratulations to the winner of the best bonnet designer... Paulette Sanderson!  Also, a big thank you to everyone who came by in their bonnets. Hats off to you! 

 

The Tiffany Exhibition: A Passion for Colour

Quilters know how we can get when we are entrenched in a project.  My husband felt that I should get out of the house, so he offered to go to Montréal and see the Tiffany exhibition at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

First, let’s differentiate between America's famous jeweler Tiffany & Co., in New York, founded by Louis's father, Charles L. Tiffany, and the glass and decorating companies of his son, Louis C. Tiffany.

Tiffany set out to become a painter, training in New York and Paris.  Tiffany exhibited his paintings and watercolours in international exhibitions, where he gained great acclaim. 

Eventually, Tiffany’s interests evolved, and he established his own decorating company and began receiving commissions from prominent Americans.  His company offered everything the imagination could desire …and then Tiffany discovered glass.    

Tiffany began to integrate glass in many forms in these interiors, including leaded-glass windows and lamps.  With glass, Tiffany was curious to experiment with the colours and brilliance as they changed under natural or artificial light, and he was captivated by the effects that could be captured by craftsmen.  New techniques were honed, using a combination of traditional glass techniques and an original, free approach.

Tiffany developed the making of stained-glass windows into an enormous business, using different types of glasses (2 which he patented himself), techniques and embellishments to create never-seen before works of art. 

The Montréal exhibition is breathtaking, and it is both varied and interesting.  Tiffany’s most famous designs are being displayed and they are nothing short of awe-inspiring.   Also a part of the exhibition is Tiffany stained glass windows originally made more than a century ago for the American Presbyterian Church.  That Church and its windows were acquired by the Montreal Museum in 2008.   

Some of Tiffany’s windows on display would make tremendous quilts, and I am surprised that we have not yet seen an adaptation of his work from glass to fabric. The colors and richness of subject would make for very challenging and beautiful quilts.

If you get a chance to see this exhibition, I encourage you to do it.  Tiffany’s work is fantastic and revolutionary.  The show is on in Montreal until May 2^nd, 2010, and it’s sure to inspire you. 

Aurifil

If you’ve ever been in the store and asked my opinion about thread, you’ve probably been treated to a rave review of Aurifil thread.  It is fantastic, absolutely second to none in my opinion.  I thought that I would do a little digging to see if I could validate my opinion.  Low and behold… there are very real reasons why Aurifil is great.

Established in 1983 by an Italian based company, Aurifil was born with the goal of quality thread always looking to become more refined and advanced.  The base reason for Aurifil’s success is the origin of the raw materials.  Egyptian cotton called Makò is used – taking into account staple length, fiber thickness and maturity.  While this might not sound terribly exciting, it’s critical for the final product.  Aurifil’s unique process continues through the Twist: the force that consolidates the fibers and flies of thread after the spinning process to create a balance of tension.  Too tightly twisted creates lively snarling thread and too lightly twisted creates fraying and breaking.  There are different weights of Aurifil thread available to suit your specific purpose – machine piecing, hand piecing, appliquéing, top stitching… Finally, in the dying process the thread undergoes a special process to be mercerized in addition to being dyed to give the thread the lustrous look associated with Aurifil. 

 
All of this means that Aurifil is strong, smooth and leaves little lint in your sewing machine which keeps it clean and running smoothly.  There are currently 216 colours on the market (and growing!).  All to say that I love how it sews and it gives me great pleasure to see the rack of Aurifil in the store.  We have the polyester Aurifil specifically for embroidery as well as the variegated in addition to the cotton (36 and 50 weight) in small and big sizes.   Come check it out – you’re sure to love it.  

Pamela Allen: Artist & Creator

The Running Stitch is excited to be hosting renowned artist Pamela Allen for a two-day quilt show, workshop and trunk show on May 7th and 8th, 2010.  It promises to be an exciting two days!  

Pamela calls Kingston home, where she spends many of her days in her studio painting, decoupaging, collaging, assembling, carving and… making art from fabric.  Pamela is inspired by Lucky Shie, her hero, who gave Pamela her first introduction to fabric art. 

 

Pamela has participated in a number of solo exhibitions in addition to group exhibitions.  Pamela enjoys a wide variety of subjects from still life (with her own quirky twists) through to a wide variety of historical styles, including medieval (while staying historically true).

Pamela’s work tends to the free form.  She enjoys creating art within the confines of her own boundaries – that is to say conventional methods may be ignored to create a more open-ended (and open-minded) piece of art. 

Pamela enjoys teaching.  She encourages and assists her students to create an original piece born from their own vision and personal expression.  She enjoys fundamentally challenging her students to express and create beyond their normal boundaries.   Creativity and spontaneity are hallmarks of Pamela’s work. 

Her work is celebrated in various publications and she has an instructional DVD called Think Like An Artist which debuted at the 2008 International Quilt Festival in Houston, Texas.  

Dena Crain: Artist/Teacher in Kenya

Dena will be at The Running Stitch on April 12^th, to give a workshop entitled Reflections.

In 1990, Dena moved to Kenya to take a teaching position at Egerton University. Since then, Dena has spent the majority of her time at Lake Baringo, north of Nairobi, Kenya's capital, where she lives with her life partner Jonathan Leakey.

Early on in her time spent in Baringo, Dena saw an opportunity to use patchwork quilting as a way to employ local women, taught herself the basics and began a small production quilting business in her home. With advanced degrees in design, anthropology and textiles, Dena was uniquely position to share her knowledge with the local woman and to produce quilts. Over time, she began producing unique, "one-off" works of art. Since then, she has expanded her horizons further.

Dena's quilts have been featured in several solo art exhibitions. In 2004, Dena joined the faculty of Quilt University, an online educational facility for quilters. Teaching in Cape Town, South Africa, for the Good Hope Quilters Guild National Quilt Festival in July 2002 moved Dena into the ranks of international renowned quilting teachers. Dena's impressive list of credentials also includes teaching at the Chicago International Quilt market as well as at Quilt Canada, Be Creative by the Sea in Coff's Harbour,

Australia and the 15^th European Patchwork Festival in Ste. Marie-aux-Mines, France. Dena was part of the East African exhibit and workshops run by Cotton-by-Post as well. She co-founded the Kenya Quilt Guild, together with Canadian quilter Anne Mains, in the mid 1990s. Dena acts as the Africa regional representative for Studio Art Quilt Associates.

Dena has written magazine articles and lectured at non-quilting functions. She has quilts displayed in various public places including commissioned works in the Rockefeller Foundation in Nairobi.

Of her work, Dena says "From simultaneous design and sewing processes, my pieces seem to grow of their own accord. I do not control their development, but they dictate to me what should come next. The nature of the materials, in conjunction with an artist's passion, produces unique results. I am never so happy as when my creative spirit takes control and the work flows."

For more information about Dena or her workshop, contact The Running Stitch.

Information Highway Brings Us…

… lots and lots of ideas. It's a huge forum with all the things you could ever think about wanting to know …and then some. Surfing around, I came across Cinda Baxter's brainchild: the 3/50 project. I don't want to preach, but I do want to share. I think Cinda is brilliant. Her concept, in a nutshell is to save local economies, three stores at a time. Cinda points out that shopping local has the impact of keeping that money local which in turn benefits the local economy. Cinda's principals are built around our neighbours to the South and their economy, but I believe that her concept can be applied just as easily in Canada. Obviously the Canadian figures would be different than the American ones, to approximately the tune of 1/10^th. That still brings us to the impressive figure of $4 billion in revenue a year. The idea of saving the brick and mortars that any nation is built on is an important one. I would encourage you to go look at Cinda's website www.the350project.net.

Fabric

Many quilters wonder if the type and quality of fabric they purchase makes a difference. There are no two ways about it: not all fabric is created equal. Quilting is a form of artistic expression, and there is a wide range of fabrics available for your perusal and consideration before you start any project.

There are a few central reasons that you may want to purchase quality fabric. Of course, the flip side of the coin has its own attractions as well. With quality comes increased price. The alternative to more expensive fabrics leaves you outside the traditional quilt shops, like The Running Stitch, and brings you to discount stores or sitting at home and doing on-line purchasing. This type of buying can be more miss than hit. Often the range of possibilities is narrowed and can be out-dated when compared to what quilt shops have to offer. Buying online might be fast and easy. However, it may leave you feeling far from satisfied when the delivery isn't what you had in mind when you compare what you're holding in your hand to what you saw on your computer screen (never mind the physical delivery issues). It's also harder to audition fabrics via computer screen. You might also be faced with the constriction that many fabric distributors only sell their collections to major customers (like quilt shops).

Back to basics: why you want to buy quality fabric. Quilt shops, and certainly The Running Stitch, pride themselves on meeting with distributors to ensure quality of fabric, availability, variety and competitive pricing. Fabric selection is at the heart of any quilt shop and becomes a defining trademark. The satisfaction of being able to pull beautiful quality fabric off the shelf and line it up in different permutations and combinations in the company of those who understand the need to have it "just so" isn't something to be taken lightly.
After all, quality fabric is like your favourite restaurant. You go out for the promise of an all-round first-rate experience, and that includes the chef using quality ingredients. You would never expect the ingredients or the final product at the restaurant to be inferior. So why go for less than high quality in a lasting product like your quilt?

The importance of quality fabric carries through after you get home from the store. High quality fabric is easier (and more enjoyable) to work with from beginning to end of your project. It stands up to the test of time in the way that lesser quality can't hope to compete with. It also leaves you with a second-to-none quality final product that best reflects your happy dedicated hours spent in production. Besides, when all is said and done, the satisfaction of having a lasting work of art that reflects you is priceless.