Jocelyn's Quilt

My friend Jocelyn has just completed her Masters in Education. To mark the event, she asked me to make a quilt for her. She told me a little bit about what the experience had meant to her - about the support from her family, about the growth and new-found ability to breathe that had come during the process, about the ripple effect this new strength would have on her students, and on everyone who knows her. There's new light and new life in her, and this is what I tried to capture in her quilt. In asking me to make it she gave me no parameters, no colour scheme, no size requirement. She just asked me to interpret what I knew of her in the work. What freedom! And when I gave it to her yesterday, I was so pleased to see her positive reaction. To make such a quilt was an honour, and my gift to Jocelyn. To trust me to make it was Jocelyn's gift to me.

Journal Quilts 3 & 4

You may remember me starting a series of Journal Quilts back in the summer, each one geared to reinforce one or more design principles. I haven't been as diligent as I had hoped to be in getting one done a week, but I haven't given up either. Here are Journal Quilts 3 and 4. The first one is constructed in predominantly warm colours with one cool colour, and the second is constructed in predominantly cool colours with one warm colour. There will be more coming shortly.

On another note entirely, and for those of you interested in the work of the Bitengye Designers, I want to share some exciting news with you. We received another shipment of their finished items last week, and a second is due to arrive this week. They have been so productive that I have had to ask them to slow down just a little. And the most productive of all has been Alice, who has produced another 180 of her bags, in order to raise funds to build her new sewing school. Already she has raised close to half of what she needs to begin building. She is one determined lady, and I only hope she isn't exhausting herself sewing so much. I have also had news that she has organized a 3-day refresher for the women who come from Kikagati to go to Rubingo to spend time sewing with her. She felt the quality of their work was not adequate, and of her own initiative will spend time with them, working through the problems. Kudos to Alice, and to all the Bitengye Designers!

Kitambaa visits Grand Forks

I'm just home from a wee road trip to Grand Forks, situated along the southern border between BC and Washington state, well on the way to Alberta. We drove through the fertile farmland of the lower Mainland, then up amongst the mountains of Manning Park, through the fruit growing and wine-making lands of Osooyos and Keremeos, then down into the Kettle Valley and Grand Forks. The quilt show was great, with lots of participation from all levels of quilters, and tea and goodies served to all who visited. A highlight of the trip for me was being able to visit with friends Kim and Denise, both known to me from visits to Gibsons. Another was visiting a new-to-me quilt shop - Heart 'n Sole. What a delightful setting - in a period house on a tree-lined street. Bolts and bolts of fabric, and lots of brights - you will be surprised to hear that I couldn't leave without a few new pieces to add to my collection!

I'm also pleased to be able to tell you that Heart n' Sole will now be carrying my patterns.

African Thunderstorm

Now for something completely different (and not exactly related to quilting). Those of you who have ever spent any time in Africa know that there is nothing quite like an African thunderstorm. Sudden, dramatic, powerful, crashingly loud, and gone before you know it. The thunderstorms we experienced during our time in Lesotho were afternoon storms, with much lightning, and heavy rains that ran off the baked red dirt. In Uganda, the thunderstorms can happen any time of day, but are every bit as impressive. A friend recently sent me this particular "African thunderstorm". I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I have. It can be found at http://videos.komando.com/2009/06/18/african-thunderstorm/#atabc/

Comox Valley Exhibition

Our local Exhibition was held this last weekend, and along with displays of prize-winning dahlias, and decorated wheelbarrows, was the Comox Valley quilt show. Exhibitions like this have something for everyone - antique farm equipment on show, 4-H judging of sheeps and goats, fruit and vegies, even a zucchini race. Bands played on the stage all weekend, and throngs of locals and visitors to the valley took it all in, including the quilt show that occupied one quarter of the Curling Rink. Ably coordinated by Therese Shwab, there was representation from the C.V. Schoolhouse Quilters, the North Island Quilters for Community Awareness, and I was

pleased to be invited to attend as the Featured Artist. I thoroughly enjoyed talking to people over the weekend, and hearing their responses to my work, as well as to the work of the Bitengye Designers. Thought you might especially enjoy this pic of Joan, visited by a pair of charming clowns roaming the displays!

African Collage

The other thing I did at Gibsons, besides enjoying the colour and energy of all the fibre artists, was to teach the class, "African Collage. Participants started with a selection of lino prints and a group of African and North American and batik fabrics that worked with them. They constructed borders and fillers for each of the prints, then tackled the challenging job of how to put them altogether into

one piece, that was balanced but not overly symmetrical. It was pure pleasure for me to be in the midst of such a creative group of women.There was enormous variety in the settings, and each one created a unique wallhanging. The possible variations on this kind of piece is endless, and provides a wonderful way to showcase African handwork and fabric. Some chose to add a little beading to their finished pieces, others included embroidery, and one person incorporated mask designs found on ancient African artifacts.
When I have photos of the finished work, I will be sure to post those too, so you can enjoy them. By the way, if there is anyone out there who would like to take on a similar challenge, I am willing to make up more kits and send them out with class instructions. It would be a great thing for a few friends to get together to work on. The kits would be $50 each, and include 10 fat quarters, 3 lino prints, some beads, and two borders.

Gibsons Landing Fibre Arts Festival

Imagine a fibre arts feast and you are close to imagining the richness and energy of the Gibsons Landing Fibre Arts Festival. Now in its 10th year, this summer festival attracts weavers and knitters, woodworkers and hookers, quilters and other fibre artists from all over BC. The classes offered over four days have something for everyone, the merchant mall has goods from yarns to buttons to sculpture materials to fabrics, and the gallery exhibit displays some of the finest examples of work in each category. I love going to this particular venue - so full of colour and
creativity. This year I taught my African Collage

class to a very talented group of students hailing from as far away as Prince George (more pictures soon on the wall-hangings they created in class), as well as having a booth in the Merchants' Mall, ably managed by my friend, Joan Darling. Over the course of five days, we met many old friends, and took the opportunity to tell many new friends about our work in Uganda, as well as introducing them to some of the specialty fabrics and designs we market.

On Sunday we headed home again to Vancouver Island, having enjoyed every minute we spent on the Sunshine Coast. We didn't even mind missing our ferry in Powell River too much. Took the opportunity to drive up to Lund and sit in the late summer sun where we watched sailboats and motor boats and kayakers coming and going from the porch of the Historic Lund Hotel. A lovely end to a lovely summer, methinks.