Farewell to Ottawa

I fly west this coming Saturday to set up my new home.  I am very excited to see my studio that awaits me. My sister's family has been working hard to make my new space functional and cosy.

I wanted to take this time to thank all my quilty ladies here in Ottawa and the surrounding area.  It has been a pleasure to know you and a priviledge to quilt your quilts for you.  All in all I have quilted over 800 quilts these past 6 years.  It was fun having you in my classes.  The stories and the laughs we shared will be treasured.

It has been a very crazy time for our family and it will be nice to settle in an start quilting and creating again.  In the next few months I will be setting up mail order quilting services so please check back to my Blog for details.

Please stay in touch and know that you are always welcome to drop by, sit on my deck and discuss our latest quilting adventures over a glass of wine or cup of tea.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I will miss you all.

Barb

New Beginnings - moving home

We traveled to British Columbia at the end of March to take possession of our new home in Summerland. It's an older home from the 70's era - but the view makes up for all it's little foibles.  And we found out that my Dad had put the railing on the deck a few years ago so it's extra special.


Proud new owners Sam and Barb - March 31st, 2011

 My new studio will be in the basement.  It was definitely a throwback to the 70's.  So we decided to do a little demolishing.  Friends of my mother, Doug and Carol arrived with crowbars in hand and had at it.  My nephew Ian is carpenter by trade and has offered to finish my space for me.  He has help from my nephew Brett and brother-in-law Kelly.  My niece Kara has helped with picking out all the paint, flooring and cabinets.  I am starting to get excited and can hardly wait to see my new space.

Click the link to see how my studio is evolving.   Home renovations slide show

Sad News

It's been an overwhelming month.  Five weeks ago today my Dad passed away from viral pneumonia.  He was my champion and very proud of my accomplishments.  Dad and I were both looking forward to us moving back home, visiting over coffee every day, discussing the next renovation that needed to be done on our new/old house.  I will miss him greatly.



Douglas and Gloria Dunsdon - Nov 2010, celebrating 50 years of marriage



Snow Dyeing!!

Well in Ottawa Winterlude is in full swing.....and I can't think of a better way to celebrate then trying my hand at snow dyeing.  There is plenty of the white fluffy stuff here so I might as well put it to good use.  After the results I got I will be doing a lot more snow dyeing this week!!

Fabric which has been soaked in soda ash is piled onto a mesh screen

Snow is piled onto the fabric.  I used 3 inches of packed snow

Dye is drizzeled onto fabric

Now we have to wait (no peeking) until the snow melts

I dyed three metres of fabric using 1 cup each of six different dye colours.  Once the snow is all melted then the fabric is rinsed in cold water. Bathed in hot hot water, washed and hung to dry.  Here are the results. Yummmm!!

Welcome to my new Grand Nephew!

My niece Kara and her husband Ian welcomed their new baby boy, Keegan Kelly MacMillan who arrived on January 28th, 2011.

He is just too cute.  Greatest Auntie Barb can hardly wait to hold him.....and spoil him.  I have a quilt or two in mind.

Fabric Dyeing - Flour Paste Resist

In our January fabric dyeing class we did flour paste resist. I loved the crackle effect you get and can see these fabrics being used in landscape quilts.  I tried it on both white dyers cloth and a piece I had previously dyed a mottled orange.

A mixture of flour and water is made into a paste and brushed onto the fabric and allowed to dry overnight

After the flour dries then you scrunch up the fabric to create cracks in the flour.

My friend Jan is now applying the thickened dyes to the crackled fabric

Burgandy thickened dyes used on this mottled orange piece

Chino thickened dye used on white fabric then over dyed using stormy grey

Stay tuned.....today I have been having too much fun doing some snow dyeing.  I will post the results tomorrow.

Time Flys!!

It's hard to believe we are heading into the second week of February.  I had great intentions of sharing all of my projects that I made for Christmas and those ongoing into January. I think I will just bite the bullet and share them all at once to get myself and you up to date on what's been happening.  January usually is a slow month - but not this one.  Between putting our house up for sale in Ottawa (and having to keep it pristine clean YUK - would rather be quilting), taking classes, giving classes and keeping up with customer quilts time just fly’s very quickly!

My niece Jocelyn and her Christmas quilt

My niece Gillian and her Christmas Quilt



My son Robert and his T-Shirt Quilt

In my fabric dyeing course we did some Shibori.  I made scarves for all my sister-in-laws, sister and mom.  Here they are showing them off....



My sister-in-laws, Frances, Susan and Pleasance