Thursday, June 24, 2010

Weekend in Seattle

It was great to have Jason, Aimee and my parents join me for the weekend in Seattle. What I love about being close to the ocean is the wonderful seafood that it offers. We had a great meal at a local restaurant on the wharf.
We also went to the aquarium and walked down to the Olympic Sculpture park which over looks the bay. Pikes market as usual is very fun to visit. I loved the blanket of color from all the flowers in the market especially all the Peonies which were in full bloom.
The seafood at the market was a visual feast.
The weather was perfect all weekend and it was really great to spend time together. I then flew home and Aimee and Jason returned to Spokane to spend time with my family.
Will be posting student work this week before I leave for the Sisters Show on Sunday.
Have a great week.
Sue

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Quiltsworks Northwest, Bellevue, WA

I had a great time in Seattle. My class was filled with very creative students who all pushed themselves to try new stitches and work with new textural fabrics.
I was in heaven as Quiltworks Northwest is also a bead store and they have an incredible selection of beads for embellishment. So as you can imagine I also had the opportunity to buy some fun stuff for my stash.
Some students added more textures to the background piece before we layered the leaves, birds, berries and branches.
This leaf is embellished with a fly stitch using seagrass and bullions using a Valdani perle cotton. These are two of my favorite threads. These berries are embellished with a variegated Valdani thread which completely changes the look using a fly stitch and then below using a combination of the fly stitch and bullion knots.
Is this not fun using our pom pom ribbon it adds such texture to the wool.
As you can see even though all the students started with a similar background each piece is starting to take on its own journey.
Thanks so much to Stacie, Susan and Chardel for making me feel so welcome and taking such good care of me.
Keep stitching
Sue

Friday, June 11, 2010

New Needle Point Designs from Patti Paints

I am excited to post the second collection of six hand painted Needle Point designs by Patty Bommarito from www.PattyPaints.net. I love the way she captures my work. They are fun and colorful. It makes me want to take up a new hobby! If you love to do handwork these would be great fun to stitch.
Magnolia House
These Magnolia canvases are taken from my Magnolia Quilt. Named after a small town I love in Ohio.
Magnolia Robins
Magnolia Bluebirds
Magnolia Pinks
Little Folk Art Dreams 1
Little Folk Art Dreams 11
These Folk Art Dreams images are from my Greenbrier Quilt.
Patty thanks for choosing to do these fun canvases.
Keep Stitching
Sue

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Bird Play Class SLC

What fun I had teaching in SLC! My good friend Kerry Green organizes this retreat. We had 18
students and the workshop was help at Elaine's Quilt Store in SLC. It was wonderful to see projects that my students had made from previous classes as well as some of my patterns.
This is Marianne's version of my Journey Tote from my 'Urban Sacs' book. I love her color combination.
This was last years workshop project a block from the 'Magnolia' Quilt.
This year I added a small project to the workshop which were these wonderful little pin cushions all with different personalities.
As the main piece for the workshop the students worked on a piece called 'Bird Play'. They came to class with the foundation appliqued then we spent two days embellishing and adding layers. Each student added individual character to their piece adding layers, beads and stitches to their birds.
The flowers were layered with cotton and wool fabrics some taking on a new life of their own.
This flower has a rayon ribbon rushed center.
It was fun to see their embellished leaves and berries. I was amazed at the assortment of techniques they all used.
Kerry and I have decided to lengthen the workshop for next year to three days. We have many new ideas and have already started planning the 2011 workshop.
After the workshop I was spent a very relaxing weekend at Kerry and Dales new cabin in the Mountains near Provo Canyon, Utah . I got to spend the days sitting on the deck watching the deer and hummingbirds while I sewed away at a new piece I was embellishing.
Many thanks to both of you for sharing this special place.
Today I travelled to Seattle where I will be teaching a two day workshop at Quilt Works Northwest in Bellevue, WA.
Will keep you posted on the great embellishments my students create here.
Keep stitching
Sue