This past weekend was our annual National Juried Show and conference put on by the Canadian Quilters' Association. My hosta bud quilt, "Rise" was in the show this year, after several years of not entering due to not having any new show-worthy work. I have managed to enter a few shows this year because I made new work early in the year, in preparation for my show in Spain, and also because I'm carrying a bit lighter load of teaching these days. The show this year was held in Vancouver. Next year's will be here in Ottawa, where I live. If you click on the high-lighted links in the above text you can see all the award winners and more information about the show. Thank you to Tracy Brittain Loyek of Purple Katz Quilts, and many others who shared photos.
The quilt to my right is by Leslie Forbes of Osoyoos, BC. I think she has very successfully captured an Okanagan Valley feel with her vineyard quilt.
The quilt immediately to my left is by Millie Cumming of Fergus, Ontario.
While that show was happening, I was in Montreal teaching at Courtepoint Quebec's Salon 2018. This is Quebec's provincial show. Not all of my classes filled, but my Intro Dyeing class did. Montreal was in the midst of a heatwave when I arrived on Friday night, and everyone at the show looked wilted and HOT! Fortunately things cooled down a bit for my Saturday class.
Last week I decided to dye myself some new garments. I found a few dress blanks and scarf blanks in my basement that I had purchased from Dharma Trading Company some time back. I'm pretty pleased with these two dresses. The one on left is short enough that it looks really nice with white leggings. I used elastic bands to bind various round objects in different sizes. I miscalculated a bit on the amount of dye powder and ended up with grey instead of black, but I am really starting to love grey in my wardrobe so I am happy with it. The dress on the right is in that currently popular colour that I would describe as gold? It was first dyed gold using a low water immersion method, and then wrapped on a pole and immersion dyed.
I tried the same circle idea on a velvet scarf. The dress to the right and the two scarves below were my first attempts this time around. While I love the indigo blue colour, I am not that thrilled with the way the circles fall on the dress to the right.
And while I was looking for simplicity for these scarves, one single circular motif on each end doesn't seem enough for me. Maybe because the contrast is so strong. I do love the colours though.
The last couple of weeks I also got immersed in dyeing the palette for my garlic quilt. See my May 11, 2018 blog post for photos of the garlic that I find so inspiring. I am really happy with the palette I've produced in the left photo. In the photo to the right, the reddish colours near the back of the photo were also dyed for this project. The 3 fabrics furthest right are too pink, so they will go to my store. In the middle of this photo, and the one below, are the fabrics that I've pulled from my stash that may work in this quilt.
