Sunbonnet Sue, one of my favourite quilting figures. Who can resist her, especially as a little angel? These little angels from the Better Homes and Gardens Christmas Issue 1976 were done in colours used in that decade. She was stuffed and had two dimensional wings so she could hang on a tree or as a swag over a mantle. I prefer her done in real red and green Christmas colours. She would look great adorning a Christmas tree skirt or as a Christmas quilt for your favourite rocking chair.
Kaffe Fassett is renowned for colour and design. Knitters, needlework artists and quilters among others all know and love his work. He has designed his own fabrics since 1996. I was first introduced to Kaffe’s designs through a knitting show on PBS and now am the proud owner of several of his books. Quilt Romance, published in 2009 has the greatest, brightest quilts imaginable, all set out on gates, bridges and buildings in the Portmeirion Village in Whales www.portmeirion-village.com Portmeirion alone is a good reason to buy this book, add the quilts and you have a masterpiece. The photos literally sing to you as you turn page after page after page, 20 quilts in all. Clear instructions with full size templates and a catalogue of the fabrics used in the quilts are all included. Happy quilting everyone.
If you are not a fiber or textile artist but still want your heart to sing check out Kaffe’s website at: www.kaffefassett.com/Gallery.html Quilt Romance can be purchased at at www.taunton.com
Valerie Hearder is a Canadian quilt artist who has written 2 books on landscape quilting. www.valeriehearder.com She travels to South Africa, purchases textiles made by the Grandmother-to-Grandmother Campaign, donating 15% of the proceeds to the campaign. Also see her blog:http://www.threadlink.typepad.com/
Points of View is Valerie’s latest book. Valerie starts at the beginning with tips on what types of fabrics you will want to use in your landscapes, equipment that eases your journey through your personal masterpieces and how to get started. She includes lessons in creating basic landscapes, how to put together each piece as well as adding techniques throughout each chapter. You will learn how to colour your own fabrics using transfer dyes, fabric crayons, oil paint sticks and coloured pencils. The lessons are all well documented, photographed and easy to understand. I suggest you read through the whole book before trying a creation of your own….you won’t want to miss a step or technique that will make your landscape quilt shine.
I was first introduced to fabric postcards through Valerie Hearder’s Landscape Yahoo group. http://www.valeriehearder.com
These little mini quilts are so much fun to do and the possibilities are endless. Four were done for swaps and the other four were for family.
My first was the little church. I thought of our Gatineau Hills and the churches which are nestled among the trees in the Ottawa Autumn scenery. I felt there was more detail than needed in this card for such a small canvas. I learned to streamline as I went along. The second card is entitled “Flying Home in the Morning Mist”, a picture of the highway through Thunder Bay. It is the result of a monochrome challenge. I chose brown. The third is one of the bike paths approaching the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa. I called it “Cycling Through an Ottawa Dawn”. The deer was the next for a Christmas swap. It is called “Christmas Morn’ at Silver Lake”. The deer are from photos of a pretty doe that visited our garden through the fall and early winter. The singing snowmen I named “Snowdust Singers” and sent to family at Christmas. Two valentines were made for my grandgirls. The latest I made for a spring swap and I chose Ontario Trilliums growing in a forest glade. This one is “Ontario Trilliums in Bloom, a Sure Sign of Spring.
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