Thread Power

The Nova Scotia Fibre Arts Festival is pleased to welcome back Kathy Tidswell to the teaching staff again this year.  Kathy is well known for her thread artistry; her pieces have been juried into Canadian Quilters’ Association / Association canadienne de la courtepointe (CQA/ACC) National Juried Shows, Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery Grand National Exhibitions and Ontario Network of Needleworkers Threadworks. In 1999 she won the CQA/ACC Award of Excellence in Wearable Art and in 2005 received Honourable Mention. Since 1993, Kathy’s love of teaching has lead her to share her knowledge and talent delivering workshops and slide/trunk shows from coast to coast for guilds, four Quilt Canada’s (the biannual National Conference of the Canadian Quilters’ Association), fibre art festivals, retreats etc. In 2005, she was honoured with the CQA/ACC Teacher of the Year Award. Kathy has been again chosen to teach at Quilt Canada in Lethbridge, Alberta in 2015.

If you have been longing to make jackets and vests that stand out from the crowd and are distinctly yours, Designing One of a Kind Wearable Art with Kathy Tidswell is a must-do workshop. Sewers and quilters at all levels are welcome, including beginners. In addition to suggestions on the types of patterns to choose, you will learn embellishment techniques such as lace cutwork, bobbin work, trapunto, arranging appliqués and methods for attaching appliqués. Information will be shared on types of batting to use...or you may choose not to quilt. Samples will be produced using free motion embroidery on a regular zigzag sewing machine and work on individual pieces will be started. This all-day class will be held Tuesday October 14, 2014 from 9 am to 4 pm.

A second class by Kathy teaches you to to create realistic images of flowers or birds totally from thread. On October 15, 2014 in the Creating With Thread workshop, you will learn to drop the feed dogs on your regular zigzag sewing machine and create beautiful pieces that can be used in quilts, artworks, cards and wearable art. In this class, you can choose to make flowers or birds but once learned the method can be used to make your own creations.

For more information visit www.kathytidswell.com or contact Kathy at 506-363-3560/ kathy@kathytidswell.com Further details on the workshops may be found here.

You Asked For It!

Due to popular demand, Mary Farrow Sinclair will be offering a second Harmonic Convergence workshop at this year's Nova Scotia Fibre Arts Festival.

The new class will be held Tuesday, October 14, 2014. Further details on the workshop may be found here.
To register call Mary at 902 – 667 – 7401 or email farrow.sinclair@bellaliant.net

Making Paper Beads

Normally when we hear the term "fibre art" we think of items made with yarn, fabric, and other textiles. "Fibre" however is a broader term which refers to any component made of composite materials or those matted into sheets...such as paper.  This year's Nova Scotia Fibre Arts Festival will host a paper bead making workshop by talented artist Diann McDonald who does amazing things with paper, from sculpture to jewelry.  Diann takes great delight in transforming ordinary pieces of paper into works of art.

This is the beginning stage of a piece entitled "Olive the Rug Hooker."

Here's Olive transformed by Diann's artistry:

Diann's latest papier maché sculpture, entitled Unity.

Diann says, "I enjoy creating beads from paper to use in my jewelry. This is a fun and relaxing hobby. Paper is a great fibre to work with and there are so many wonderful colours and types of paper to choose from...the beads are truly beautiful."

Diann's work is represented at The Papier Mache Resource out of the UK; you can see a gallery of her work here. 

For her workshop at this year's festival, Diann will introduce participants to paper maché bead making; paper will be formed into beads which are then glazed and used in a bracelet.

The ladybugs on the paper add a bit of whimsy to the bracelet. Diann supplies materials for the workshop however you can bring a favourite paper if you have one to incorporate into your own jewelry.

You can see more of Diann's work in her Etsy Store, Paper Me in Jewelry   

Click here to read the full workshop description on the festival blog.  The class will be held Thursday, Oct 16, 2014. For more information or to register for the workshop contact Diann  at 902-861-4749  or by email diannmcdonald@gmail.com