Mystery Quilt Project Finished

It has been rainy and cold outside today so I have gotten quite a bit of sewing and quilting done today. I did mange to complete our Guild's Mystery Quilt project. We actually got the free pattern off the Internet but the website went down before we got all the clues! The layout is the best way I thought the blocks fit together.

I actually really like the final look of it all.

Shona

My NEW favorite quilt!

I have been continuing to work on "unfinished projects' and I am pleased to say I think I just finished my favorite quilt yet. I knew since last year that I wanted to do a pieced quilt with indigo sun prints. I even managed to find the perfect border fabric for it in Victoria, BC in February. Of course I used the log cabin piecing to frame the blocks as this is my favorite 'pattern'. I am going to get a lattice pattern quilted in the borders and frames but will do some free motion/thread painting work on the actual sun prints. I love it!

Shona

Experimenting with Tyvek

So I have been experimenting with Tyvek as part of an online class... here are some examples.

I tried it with a couple different paints and metallic (copper) gave a much better effect than matte paint. Also, the Shiva sticks (purple) actually worked... I was not sure this was going to work.

I used the red and green as I thought they could be cut up and sewn onto Christmas cards.

Where Have I Been...

Yes, I have still been finishing MANY unfinished projects. I spent the end of May at Quilt SK in Saskatoon and LOVED it. I will definately start making this a yearly trip (next year to Quilt Canada in Calgary). I attended two classes in Saskatoon (Journal Quilting and Beading on Fabric) and although I really enjoyed the classes a have decided I am NOT an art quilter and would much rather continue working on larged, traditional pieced projects.

June was filled with fabric dying projects and completing the quilted deck of cards. The Deck of Cards is ready to be displayed at the Great Northern Arts Festival in Inuvik beginning July 10 and I am very excited for this. I did manage to finish one large piece which I will post photos of soon. Also, did 2 small baby quilts that were donated to Ingamo Hall Friendship Centre. Whew!

The photos above are of some sun printing that I had experimented with. The plants are picked locally, many people will be able to recognize the Fireweed and the wild roses.

Enjoy!

Shona

A New Project!

This is not an unfinished project but a new project that I made for someone who has everything! My friends and I are all turning the big 3-0 (yes, 30) this year and this will be my closest friends birthday present (better late than never!). It is about 15" square-ish and is made of all hand dyed fabric from the Fabric Dying Project with the Inuvik Quilting Guild. The middle piece is actually commercial dyed fabric but I used Shiva sticks and a rubbing plate over. The buttons were a gift from 2 friends who traveled to New Zealand a couple of years ago. Usually, I do not include items given to me in pieces I will give away but I thought the turtle was worth including the buttons on and I know this 'gift' will make others happy as well!

Enjoy.

shona

Finishing Project.... March 2009

With curling season more or less over I had time to really settle back into my sewing room in March. There were three projects that I completed, again I managed to get the quilt tops finished and then will bring them down south to get quilted in May.

I used a pattern from a magazine to complete the Wobbly Houses quilt. It was very difficult to make small houses and so it turned into a much larger project than originally anticipated. It was also a bit more difficult to put everything together and now I understand why the pattern was 3 pages of hints and tips for joining everything together! The pattern has now been circulated among Inuvik Quilting Guild members as it seems like a great way to use up scraps!

The Inuvik Quilting Guild also did a 1 day activity making Easter wallhangings. This was done with fabric and patterns that I had purchased some time ago at the Sugar Pine in Canmore, Alberta. One of my favorite quilt shops! I donated my wallhanging to Aurora College as a Grad fundraiser. Then made another hanging as a gift for someone.

The third of my March projects was to start on a baby quilt that I had purchased fat quarters for at Earthly Goods in Edmonton some time ago. I am at that age where so many of my friends are having babies so it is nice to always have a quilt around to be used as a gift. I used my very favorite and oldest quilt pattern; Yellow Brick Road for this and completed the top in only 2 Monday night Quilting Get Togethers. Another Guild member worked along side on her own Yellow Brick Road as it was her first large scale quilt project! She used fabric from the The Fat Quarters Shop online. I am still not one to do Internet shopping! The backing for this project was purchased at Gala Fabrics in Victoria and is a wonderful pea-green floral which matches perfectly and fits perfectly! I am now working on one in more 'boy' colours, probably to be completed as an April project!

Enjoy!

shona

Finishing Projects... February 2008

My February projects (finishing projects) consisted of finishing pieces for a show with the Inuvik Quilting Guild. As part of a grant we received for a fabric dying project a requirement was to host a show with pieces made of the fabric we had dyed. This was a great project as none of us were too familiar with dying techniques and we got to teach ourselves and learn along side each other. I think we were a bit ambicious in how many techniques we could learn but we did get the basics down pat and produced some very nice fabric.

The theme of the show was; Colours of Our Delta and it was to showcase the colours of the Mackenzie Delta and the environment around us. I chose to focus on the pinks and burgundy's of fireweed and the deep blues and greens of the lakes and water. I love how my piece turned out. Now that I have the circle cutter ruler I would use that to get more 'perfect' circles. The show will hang spring/summer at the Inuvik Regional Hospital.

Our 09/10 NWT Arts Council grant application is to purchase a mid-arm quilting machine which would help so much in doing the actually finishing and quilting of pieces such as this one. I can only dream!

shona

New Year Creative Challenge 2009

Each January the Inuvik Quilting Guild launches its New Year Creative Challenge. We have made pieces out of all green fabric using the Log Cabin Pattern and we have all used a metre of the same fabric to create pieces. Usually between 8 to 12 people participate and the work becomes part of our Annual Summer Quilt Show. This will be the 3rd Challenge.

This year we decided to quilt a deck of cards that will be hung during the 2009 Great Northern Arts Festival. I have gotten somewhat addicted to making these cards and have now completed 6 cards. I have only the Ace of Spades left to do which was actually the first card I randomly chose.

Check out the 4 of hearts which really mixes my love of quilting and curling!

Enjoy!

shona

Finishing Projects... January 2009

My goal of not buying quilting fabric and finishing unfinished projects started in January 2009 upon my return from Christmas in California and New Year's in Aklavik!

In January I managed to get get two quilt tops finished. One of which (the black and white Fence Rail) is for Tommy as he is has yet to get a quilt of his own. I had been collecting black and white fabrics for quite a while but picked up the border fabric in California to finish it all.

The second quilt top was made with a jelly roll that I also picked up in California. This was the first time I had ever purchased pre-cut fabric before. I used a variation from a pattern in a quilt magazine as the design. I picked up border fabric during a curling trip to Yellowknife.

My one exception to buying fabric is that I can purchase fabric required to finish projects!

Neither of these quilt tops are actually quilted yet as I will do this on my trip South. I will be heading down for Quilt SK and plan on dropping these off in Alberta to be quilted at that time.

I Better Add Some Curling!

As this Blog is about quilting AND curling I thought I better add some curling information!

I had the great opportunity this past curling season to compete at the 2009 Scotties Tournmanet of Hearts in Victoria, BC, playing second for Team NWT/Yukon. We managed to win 4 games, had many close games, and got the David vs. Goliath victory against Team Canada (Jennifer Jones).

We had a great week... thanks to our families, fans, coach, teammates, and the all the volunteers and organizers of this amazing event.

And to Kruger Products (Scott Paper) who do so much to support women's curling in Canada.!

Team members (2009 NWT/Yukon Women's Curling Champions): Kerry Galusha, Dawn Moses, Shona Barbour, Heather McCagg-Nystrom, Sharon Cormier, and Fred Koe.

The Last Couple Years...

For the last couple of years my quilting endeavours have focused on fabric basket making, participating in the Great Northern Arts Festival in Inuvik (2007 and 2008) and in the Open Sky Festival in Fort Simpson (2008). I have also been involved in Ravn Cards (a quilted greeting card company) with a fellow artist from Yellowknife. And most importantly I have put much efforts into establishing and Chairing the Inuvik Quilting Guild (est. 2006), now a full operating Guild with over 50 members, receiving funding from the NWT Arts Council and with yearly class and activity calendars.

So what came with 2009--- I made the New Year's Resolution to stop buying quilting fabric and to finish quilts that have been on my mind throughout basket making and card making activities. I hope to create a post of each month focused on the projects I have finished for 2009!

The photos are of; the start of a basket display at the GNAF in Inuvik (2008) and a quilted panel that Carolyn Hunter and I created for the Inuvik Literacy Committee (2007).

shona

My NEW Blog!

Here is the start of my new Blog! Dedicated to my two favorite hobbies... quilting and curling. As curling season is over for the year I suspect that I will be focusing on quilting for the next little while. Although curling is never too far back in my mind! I hope to include many photos of my textile work for people to enjoy and as usual hopefuly to inspire (a little).

This Blog will also (hopefully) show people that it is possible to combine arts (creativity) and physical sport into one lifestyle!

Enjoy!

shona