Wednesday, April 08, 2015

Seduced by Colour - Part I

As my head-cold worsened, my ability to think clearly about colour declined...hence several days' delay between my last post and this one.

The afternoon of that last post, I drove in to Red Deer for the Annual Central Alberta Quilters' Guild Show -- one of the largest in these parts.  This year, I was going on a mission...mainly to do with the merchants at the show.  

On arrival, I was greeted by my friend Briony, who is in charge of the Exhibits this year.  She's also a collector of antique and vintage sewing machines.  This year she collaborated with other collectors to create a special exhibit:



Log Cabin quilt - date unknown - on loan
from the Innisfail & District Historical Village

My favourite machine was this one, owned by M. Wagner:

1911 Singer Fiddle Back with inlaid mother of pearl

From there, I made my way around the circumference of the main room and down the hall, then back to take in the quilts on display.  I confess that this year there weren't many traditional quilts that took my attention.  There was one that showed a wonderful use of fabric, though, and reminded me of Bonnie Hunter's adage that no fabric is so challenging that it can't be used if cut small enough.  Once it's cut small enough, a print "just becomes another colour" -- in this case, shades of blue and turquoise.  Wonderful!

"Eureka!" - Donna Parsons, Red Deer

"Eureka!" detail 

Then there was the collection of wildly coloured pieces by my friend and colleague, Patti Morris.  Two I particularly liked:

"Bubbles #2" - Patti Morris
Made for a class she taught at Quilt Canada 2013
"Colour Play and Experiment"

and her prize-winner at the show -- Best of Show, 'Innovative Art':

"Art Camp @ Lazy M"
From an art workshop at Lazy M Lodge

Demonstrating the use of colour in a different way...my friend and SAQA colleague, Wendy Greber, who made a sample for the Guild's "candy bar challenge".  The concept?  Take the colours from a candy bar wrapper and use them in a quilt.  Made to inspire her fellow guild members, Wendy's was a show winner too:

Here's the wrapper...

And here's the quilt:

"Chocolate Bar" - Wendy Greber, 2014

My adventure with colour didn't stop at the exhibits, though.  I moved from there back to the designated shopping area.   Hamel's Fabrics was having their regular show special: 1/2 metre cuts of batiks at $4.99 each.  I bought six...in the palette I plan to use for EB's MC topic this month...

And then it was suggested I visit one of the vendors 'down the hall' -- Quilters Dream Fabrics of Vancouver (not to be confused with Quilter's Dream in Edmonton) where, apparently, there was a wonderful collection of 1 metre cuts -- more batiks...and I bought 4 more...

Here's the collection:


To go with, I treated myself to one of Jerry's books at Copperfield's Books:


Ms. Issett is someone I couldn't afford to see when she taught (teaches?) at Gail Harker's Creative Studios in La Conner, WA...now I have her in my library...another book to inspire play...

And I visited the Superior Threads vendor, Cotton Mills Threadworks, where I bought a couple of spools of King Tut (my fave for my landscapes) and a package of needles...

I left around 3 p.m., completely satisfied with my afternoon.  :-)

To find out what happens to the fabric, stay tuned for Part II...

2 comments:

elle said...

Fiddles, chocolate and circles of COLOUR! A great day. oh please, a review of that book???

Maggi said...

Sounds like a great day out. I really like Ruth's books and she is often found demonstrating on the Art Van Go stand at out major textile shows.