Ephemeral moments disappear unless made permanent in some way. My goal is to tap into the tradition of quilts and painted portraits as family heirlooms by creating contemporary portraits from these casual photographs that are snapped by cell phones, often live in the cloud, and usually disappear. I am working towards a new series that […]
January is the worst month for me. I live with depression. Winston Churchill referred to his depression as a ‘Black Dog’. I like that analogy. A dog can usually be trained or controlled. Much of the time, my Black Dog is well leashed and under control, but in January, when the sun hides for so […]
A favourite pair of shoes left by the door tells a host of things about the personality of the owner. I was intrigued by a David Hockney painting on the cover of the New Yorker magazine depicting two pairs of shoes on a mat by the wall. I thought it would be interesting to do […]
Vacation. The sound of the word alone is enough to conjure up ideas of exotic locales, warm days, toes in the sand, family fun, and maybe even some R-E-L-A-X-A-T-I-O-N. Wait. What? No quilting? Read more in our Issue 51. Heather McArthur [email protected] www.shutupandquilt.wordpress.com
Growing up, I was fascinated by the colours, designs and textures of the many different fabrics that my grandmother and mother used in their sewing. As with many women of that era, making curtains, upholstery and slipcovers was a necessary task and barkcloth was often the fabric of choice. The story of barkcloth is a […]
I wanted a bag with a firm bottom for carrying my current knitting project. I had some beautiful leftover upholstery fabric from a project that involved recovering a chair. When I spotted a brown suede jacket in a thrift store, I knew it would provide not only style to my bag but the firmness I […]
Transitions are a common occurrence in life that require movement from one state to another, sometimes abruptly, sometimes with planned steps. Often transitions demand a re-examination of self, our beliefs, renewed focus on the things that matter or ponderings such as the meaning of life, the life hereafter and so much more. Although transitions are […]
Since the theme for this issue is rainy days, I searched through my quotes collection until I found the perfect one – and this adorable duckling in his fun red boots fit the design to a T! A lovely over-dyed fabric added to the moody feel of the day – hope you enjoy stitching him […]
This quilt was inspired by my daughter’s high school prom theme of enchanted forest. The beautiful Banyan Batiks set the stage to create a magical evening forest canopy for the butterflies to shine in – much like I hoped the prom did for my graduate! The pattern is for 3 butterflies of each set on […]
An I spy quilt is the perfect project for beginner quilters. This particular quilt has the ‘around the world’ pattern to it for extra visual interest! Get the easy to follow cutting instructions and diagram. Read more in our Issue 49. Download the PDF pattern now. Designed by Elaine Theriault crazyquilteronabike.blogspot.ca