Saturday, June 08, 2013

I'm So Excited

I can hardly stand m'self!  It's been quite a weekend -- and it's not over yet.  :-)

I don't have many photos from the Edmonton Festival of Quilts and those I have...I can't share online.  :-(  However, it was a grand show -- 300 pieces, not counting the special exhibits such as the Primrose Quilt Challenge (miniatures with the theme, "I've Been Everywhere") and the charity quilts and the "Bees".  Yes...the Edmonton Guild has a number of small groups (bees) within its purview, catering to quilters who want to meet in small groups and explore various techniques, such as applique, surface design, making bags from scraps, etc.  Great fun!

The venue was, in reality, far too small for the ambitious displays and vendors.  Parking was a nightmare because the women (quilters) were vying for space with the men (ball tournament players)...and there was also a wedding at a church nearby, so that parking lot was unavailable.  Whoa!!

Blessedly, everyone took it in stride (we are, after all, Canadian) and lined up and parked nicely and walked whatever distance necessary... It was good for us, after all, and it was a nice day! (Forecast showers held off, thank goodness!)

I made two passes through the exhibit halls...including vendors...with a break for a bite to eat in between.  Ran into some art quilt friends, saw the work of many others, and more.  Found my favourite vendor -- Copperfields Books -- which had been missing in Red Deer in April (the dear fellow made it to RD and came down with the flu and spent his weekend in the hotel room!!).  Made a purchase and solicited him to look for the latest Double Trouble DVD for his inventory.  Yeah!  I await news...

Eventually, mind overflowing, I made my way back to my car...and south to...Central Sewing.  This is where the excitement builds -- trust me!

It's their anniversary, and they've been having BIG sales for several months now.

And I've been pondering an 'embellisher' for 3 years now.

Today...their sale prices caught up with my dream.

I am now the proud owner of a Baby Lock Embellisher -- 12 needles, thread port, stand for thread/balls of yarn...

Be still, my heart!  I have landscapes forming pictures in my head.  Miniatures.  Felted backgrounds.  Uses for the merino fleece and wool felt batt and on and on and on.  I'm tempted to take "Summer School" into a fall semester...and hope that I come out in January with the start of an inventory enough for the next Lacombe Art Show and Sale!

This is what happens when you're a knitter (age 8) who learned to embroider (age 10) and later to quilt (forties) and spin (fifties)...

Eventually the fibre and floss catch up with each other and become...fabric!

Oh...and then a pit-stop (for over an hour) at River City Yarns (South), in order to spend some of the gift cards my kids gave me for Mother's Day.  Again -- WHOA!  I really wanted a Namaste bag, but their inventory had small ones...and large ones...but nothing that was 'just right' (with apologies to Goldilocks).

So...I went for a book featuring free-form knitting that I've been wanting to play with (Freeform: Serendipitous Design Techniques for Knitting & Crochet -- 2nd Edition -- by Prudence Mapstone)...and a roll of Sulky 'Sticky Fabri-Solvy' to add to my fabric-creating play inventory.  Believe it or not, these two items took 3/4 of the gift card funds...so just a wee bit left over for another visit...but LOTS of play time in between!

Thanks to my kids and my friends for a wonder-filled weekend!

Stay tuned...






6 comments:

Kit Lang said...

I have the same embellisher. It's how I often make my tree bark. Have fun!

Pat said...

Ah, I can understand your excitement. Have fun with your embellisher.

Regina B Dunn said...

Sounds like a perfect day. And many more more days of enjoyment and memories from it to come.

Bee said...

What a weekend!! I know you'll have many hours of wonderful playtime with your new machine! I can't wait to see what you create with it!

California Fiber artist and composer said...

Congratulation on your new toy. I have a Janome basic embellisher and am still learning the ins and outs. If you find good online classes please post.

Anonymous said...

Margaret, I have an embellisher as well, looks like the same model. I haven't mastered it by any means so maybe I will learn from you. You do such wonderful things with texture now.