Altogether Great Fun

I had a very lovely two days in Edmonton yesterday and the day before, largely taken up by my volunteering to co-monitor the Focus on Fibre Arts Association exhibit there.  Here I sat late yesterday afternoon, focused on the prayer shawl on which I knit to keep my hands busy both while chatting with visitors and when it was quiet.  There were more visitors Friday afternoon -- and more of them were seriously interested in talking about the art.  Yesterday there seemed to be more 'gawkers' in the mix.  Still, it's all great public education, and we gave away many cards for the Association as well as ones about our next show -- "Prairies" -- opening in the spring of 2014.  In the photo, clockwise from bottom left:

• Rug, Large Traditional, Original Design - Delightful Wednesday, Winner - Best of Show and 1st in Category - a group project by Cec Caswell, Rita Alfrey, Nancy Byways, Shirley Davis, Dianne Goodwin, Jan Leahy, Judy Sachs, Pat Wig, Laurie Wiles and Val Wissinger;
• Quilt, Large, Original Design - Granville Island Bridge - Winner - 1st in Category - Elinor Burwash;
• Weaving/Tapestry, Original Design - Rusalka - Winner, 1st in Category - Vladimira Fillion;
• Quilt, Small, Original Design - Sinclair Canyon - Winner - 1st in Category - Mary Anne Kilgannon;
• Multi Media, Original Design - Lake View - Winner - 3rd in Category - Kathy Logan de Chavez.
• Quilt, Small, Original Design - Nobody Here But Us - Winner - 3rd in Category - yours truly;
• Quilt, Medium, Original Design - Day Break - Winner - 2nd in Category and Winner, Viewers' Choice - Birdie McLean; and
• Rug, Small Traditional, Original Design, Neko and Cleo - Winner - 1st in Category.

On the table at my right elbow you can just glimpse a fabulous container by Wanda Cracknell, Open Spaces: Freedom to Roam - 1st place winner in the Textile Design - 3D - Original category.  In the booth but outside the photo:

• Dolls Representational - Fooled You, Ghillie Guerkin! - Winner, 1st in Category - Carol Kokotylo;
• Quilt, Medium, Original Design - Echoes of Infrared - Winner - 1st in Category - Margie Davidson;
• Needlework, Surface Design (Stump work) - Wild Rose & Bee - Winner - 1st in Category - Catherine Challenger; 
• Mult Media, Original Design - A Moment in Time - Winner - 1st in Category - Laurie Sobey; 
• Needlework, Original Surface Design - Urban Spaces - Winner - 1st in Category - Stephanie Brand; and
• Wearables Accessories, Original Design, Weaving - a shawl - Spaces in Lace - 1st in Category - Elizabeth Holinaty.

You can see all the pieces in the FFAA 2012 Gallery.  Enjoy!

When I wasn't at the booth, there was lots to see.  The full name of this show is Creative Stitching and Crafting Alive, so a portion of it is for paper- and scrap-book artists.  Such fun at their vendors' booths, too, because many of their paints trims cross over to crazy quilting and other forms of textile embellishment.  My favourite 'cross-over' vendor was new to me:  The Steam Trunk Craftworks.   

There was funky, tweedy twine, some wound on recycled wooden spools.

And more recycled wooden spools with ribbons wound on them (I bought 3!)

There were these wooden weaving tools from which to buy ribbon by-the-yard.  (Yes, Canada uses the metric system but this shop dealt in yards -- even though they're based in Surrey, British Columbia.)

These skeins of sari silk ribbon came in at $25 CAD.  Because I couldn't afford more than one, and all the colours were so luscious, I opted for five packets instead (below).

I selected two greens, a gold/brown mix, and a deep blue-purple.  I have a landscape dancing in my head already!

I was also looking for water-soluble fabric, which is different from the products sold by Sulky in that it has a more fabric-like drape and can be hand-stitched.  No luck, alas, but when I toddled over the the Quilter's Dream booth I did decide to purchase a small bottle of deColourant discharge liquid which -- unlike the thick dishwasher bleach/detergent liquid I have used -- not only removes colour from natural fabrics, but, if you add colour to the deColourant, replaces the removed colour with that added colour.  This can create a wonderful background fabric for quilting, painting or stitching.

And no visit to the vendors would be complete without a stop at Copperfield's Books.  This vendor always does a brisk business at any show he attends, because he carries a grand inventory at great prices.  I got my "Beaney & Littlejohn - In Action" DVD from him in Red Deer in June; this weekend I added to my B&L booklet collection with "Fragile Fabrics" (Booklet 23 in their series) and to my DVD collection with one from Quilting Arts Workshop: Catherine Nicholls teaching "Drawn to Pen & Ink".   I love to watch DVDs when I spend long hours in Lacombe on Mondays, between meetings.  This one is right on time for tomorrow -- and what makes it perfect is that I already own the pens etc. mentioned in the supply list on the back of the cover!

In addition to the Focus on Fibre Arts Association exhibit, there was one by FAN -- the Fibre Art Network -- entitled "From Away"  I took several photos for my records, because I have 3 friends showing in that exhibit, but you can see all the pieces clearly here.  :-)  Enjoy!

And so ends my mini-tour of this year's Creative Stitches show, Edmonton.  While the vendors will be in Calgary in October, our FFAA exhibit will not.  I don't know about FAN.  My recommendation is that you check the programme for textile art exhibits and make sure you don't miss any on offer.  They are great sources of inspiration and are guaranteed to lift your spirits after a long day of seminars and shopping.