A Maritime Modern Quilt Designer

As you read in the previous post, the Maritime Modern Quilt Guild will be holding an exhibit here Oct 17 and 18 and the Fibre Arts Festival is honoured that this young and energetic guild has chosen us for their début show!  Linda Coolen Smith of Halifax is a member of this guild and will be bringing almost a dozen of her quilts to be part of the show. 

Linda began quilting in 1993 when she moved from N.S. to N.B. and joined the Marco Polo Quilt Guild in Saint John.  Returning to N.S. three years later, she continued to nurture her quilting skills and even worked for a bit at the Quilter's Hope Chest in Halifax before leaving on a different career path.  Linda began as a traditional quilter, first working her stitches by hand, before moving on to free motion machine quilting about 5 years ago.  Here's her very first quilt:

What drew Linda to modern quilting? "The freedom...the improvisation.....the creativity....the use of colour as well as the use of solid fabrics. I've always used solids in my work." Since joining the guild, Linda has felt encouraged and motivated to follow her muse rather than following a pattern.  The result is that she has now begun designing her own quilts, and making those designs available to others.  

The current issue of Quilter's Connection features Linda's very first published design and the N.S. Fibre Arts Festival is excited that this very project will be part of the MMQG exhibit at Amherst Town Hall.

"Colour Columns"embodies what defines modern quilting:  clean, simple lines, bold colour combinations, asymmetrical design and extensive use of white or grey as background. The magazine article shows a finished cushion, but also gives instruction on how to adapt the design to a quilt.

To date, Linda has hand quilted approximately 50 bed sized quilts as well as lots of smaller ones, and has machine quilted over 20 projects. 

These are some of Linda's quilts which will be part of the FAF exhibit.

You can see more of Linda's work on her blog, Scrapmaster.

The Nova Scotia Fibre Arts Festival extends to Linda a very hearty congratulations on her published design and invites everyone to come see for themselves October 17 and 18, 2014 what Modern Quilting is all about. Bravo, Linda!       

MARITIME MODERN QUILT GUILD @ NOVA SCOTIA FIBRE ARTS FESTIVAL

MARITIME MODERN QUILT GUILD @ NOVA SCOTIA FIBRE ARTS FESTIVAL

Are you interested in finding out what is happening with Modern Quilting in our part of the world?  The Nova Scotia Fibre Arts Festival is the place to be, to find out lots of information and to see, up close and personal, what our very own Maritime modern quilters are creating. 

The Maritime Modern Quilt Guild will be presenting their very first quilt show at Amherst Town Hall, on Friday the 17^th and Saturday the 18^th.

The Maritime Modern Quilt Guild was started in November of 2013 by Adrienne Klenck of Chezzetcook Modern Quilts.  A dream come true for her…to gather like-minded modern quilters together in our region…a place to share, inspire and just have some plain old fun with our common passion. She sent out the call via Blogland and 6 excited quilters showed up; the MMQG was born. 

To date, 30+ quilters have joined in and become members.   Although the MMQG is physically located in the Halifax/Dartmouth area, quilters who live too far to join in, can be linked up via video conferencing for meetings.  For example, modern quilters have travelled from Annapolis Royal, Yarmouth and PEI to join in from time to time, bringing along some amazing modern quilts to show and share.  We are a talented lot here in the Maritimes!

Monthly meeting are held as well as the very popular monthly Sew-In Days.  Check out the MMQG blog for dates and times. 

Here are a few examples of what you will see when you visit the MMQG exhibit at Fibre Fest.                

           

                  

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dayle's

The town of Amherst comes alive during the week of the Nova Scotia Fibre Arts Festival and the many shops and businesses which populate our downtown join in on the fibre celebration.  One of Amherst's largest and oldest shops is dayle's Department Store on Victoria Street.  Every year dayle's offer a variety of daily specials and demonstrations in the Dry Goods department and this year they've got a great line-up!

At the top of this page under the orange heading, you will see a list of light grey tabs;  click on the one which reads "daily events" to see some of the demonstrations offered this year - everything from beautiful "Belgium Bobbin" Lace to the intriguing "Poetry Mittens!" Not to be missed is a showcase of Deb Plestid's incredible work in the large front windows. The always-lively Market on Saturday will have a special focus on fibre arts.  

One of the most popular events is the quilt block contest and this year the theme is star blocks. Click the pictures below to enlarge:

By entering one block you may win 20 back - enough to make an entire quilt- or the Viewer's Choice which is a basket filled with quilting supplies.

The blocks entered are on display in Dry Goods on the 2nd floor;  it's so fun to see the different blocks and try to pick your favourite.

They're all so lovely it's hard to choose just one!

Quilt A Tiny Treasure

Have you been a quilter for a while, and feel you’re ready for a new challenge? Are you wishing your piecing skills were more accurate and precise? Would you like to raise the “wow” factor of your quilts?  Then we’ve got the perfect class for you!

 Linda Hubbard’s class “Tiny Treasures – Miniature Quilts” is what she describes as a “combo” deal – it’s both a “skills” class and a “project” class. Students will pick up many tips and techniques to improve piecing skills and the accuracy of their work on quilts of all sizes, while trying their hand at making a Miniature quilt! 

Linda is a trained teacher, with 10 years in the public school system before “retiring to her dream job” of teaching quilting classes! Linda has been a well known and respected teacher in New Brunswick for over 20 years, and has taught for guilds and retreats in Nova Scotia as well. She brings a high level of professionalism, energy and enthusiasm to her classes.

Linda has tried and enjoys a wide variety of styles and techniques, but her current passion is making miniature quilts. “Everyone’s idea of just what IS miniature is different” she says. “Everyone works with some sort of a handicap, whether it’s a finicky machine, or waning eyesight, or clumsy hands. So what is miniature to one, may differ from what another considers miniature. We all just do the best that we can with what we have to work with. I like to challenge myself to see just how small I can go, and still be as precise as possible. My current project underway features pieced blocks of three different sizes, the smallest being less than one inch. Of course, those are the ones I have to make the greatest number of!” she laughs. Some might consider her crazy, but once you see her work, you’re bound to be impressed with the accuracy and intricacy of the tiny pieces.  “Anyone can make a Miniature” Linda says, “but they may all vary somewhat in size.”

Students will choose their own design (with guidance) and just “how small” (or “large” if that makes you feel better) they wish to work. There’ll be no pressure from the teacher to do a certain size! Challenge yourself as much or as little as you wish! Linda believes all classes should, above all, be FUN, and a fun time you are guaranteed in this class! The project will be small, but what is learned is applicable to quilts of all sizes. The full day class will be held Saturday October 18 from 9-4pm. Click on the “Instructors” and “Workshop Descriptions” tabs above for more info on Linda and her class. Visit her blog at www.linda-hubbard.blogspot.ca to view her miniatures (under “Galleries” on the sidebar) and for a more detailed class description (click on the NSFAF logo at the top of the sidebar.) Contact Linda at 506-455-1825 or  hubbard2@nbnet.nb.ca

Call for Items for the Fibre Walk

An annual highlight of the Nova Scotia Fibre Arts Festival is the Fibre Walk where participants and other interested persons can stroll through downtown Amherst and enjoy many of the beautiful items displayed in the windows of the merchants. 

Now is the time the Festival Committee is looking for items for the displays. Anyone interested in lending their work for this purpose should contact Phyllis Cameron  or Patti Colson  for further details. 

The success of this event depends on the quality and variety of the items submitted for display. The Committee looks forward to a positive response from the fibre arts community - we'd love to showcase your work!