For those of you who have always wanted to travel to the American Quilters' Society's QUILT WEEK IN PADUCAH - here is your opportunity. Register now, as the seats are limited!

The Limestone Quilters Guild, Kingston ON

is sponsoring a 

QUILTERS BUS TRIP 

to the American Quilters Society 's 

"QUILT WEEK IN PADUCAH" 

this spring,  April 20-27th.

It is one amazing trip, and a very reasonable alternative to driving yourself, booking all of your own hotels and being on your own. Who wouldn't want to be among a group of great quilters and seeing the sights, touring the Quilt Shows, visiting the amazing Quilt Show and all of the Quilt Week events in Paducah, the National Quilt Museum and so much more. You will shop til you drop, share great evenings with quilt friends old and new and have so much time on your hands to see all that Paducah has to offer....

Seats are available now!!! The bus leaves from Kingston, and by special arrangement, may be able to pick quilters up at designated points across the 401 as they are driving through to Sarnia to cross into the USA. Passports are required, and yes, a minor technicality of a special rate $15 "membership" in the Limestone Quilters Guild as detailed below (this is a sponsored trip by LQG). .

And you be back well before the QUILTS KINGSTON 2015 Show, or events that your group or Guild is planning next spring. ... make this your reward for getting your exhibition entries in right away! There is no more beautiful city than PADUCAH in April - green grass, beautiful city, hundreds of vendors to shop for quilt supplies and MORE!

Contact Trip Conveanor, Susan Clarke at:  sjcway@cogeco.ca  for all of the details and be a part of all of the fun!

Note: Susan can email you a larger copy of the details sheet below...don't wait. Seats are filling fast!

 

February 6-8th CABIN FEVER WEEKEND is fast approaching and many area friends are coming together to create great, new FIBRE ART!

Woodland by A.J. Casson inspired Bethany's Sunday Collage project

So many thanks to all of our area quilters, dyers and fibre arts loving students. The hall is rented, the three days of shared learning scheduled and the response has been great! What better time than a winter weekend to get together to play with FABRIC... creating a quilt,or colouring fabric in a fun filled way or by layering cloth for free form applique design in YOUR own way! It's all about exploration of new techniques and FUN!!

Love that many of you have signed up for all three days and that friends are joining friends to make a weekend of it! There are many opportunities to learn new skills in the sharing time with old and new friends ... think about it. Our many friends in fibre arts bring so much experience and knowledge to the table in workshop settings! It is always fun to see the twists and turns as quilters and textile artists make a simple workshop plan turn into the magical time among friends that just could help YOU make that step toward an all new take on your own fibre art.

Come explore the various techniques and have some fun along the way. There is still time to prepare... and Show and Tell after the end of the weekend is always the best!

Looking forward to seeing all of our students in Odessa Friday February 6-8, 2015...

Registration information is in the CABIN FEVER Weekend blog post at http://www.fibreworkskingston.blogspot.ca  and on the right sidebar there at the FIBREWORKS blog.Do consider joining in on the fun!

TEXTILE DESIGN PROGRAM... St Lawrence College, Winter term 2015 starts January 15th and runs 12 weeks to April 2, 2015...

Free Form Pieced by Bethany Garner

When I hear that a class has been OK'd as a "go" with the college, the excitement and the work begins... I love to have students and friends in the classroom, and have the opportunity to see the stash fabrics come out from the closets and from under the beds.

This term we are focused on 

COLOUR - The Quilt Artist's Way

* We will start with some sketch book exercises

* Some great videos from the best teachers to inspire us as we work through some paint exercises

* We will dye threads and bits of fabrics (nothing too wild as I for one do not want to carry loads of supplies into the college in bad weather

* We will complete some exercises with Japanese BORO Textiles as the inspiration - so if you are attending the course - start scoping out the websites and library books you can find about BORO cloth

* I have new COLOUR HUE DYES to experiment with for silk fabrics

* We will have an evening of Marbling fabrics later as spring approaches with PEBEO Marbling paints

* YOU will be working on one, great colourful project to submit for your course grade at the end of the 12 weeks.

SO, now that you know what we will be working on... just register and come play! There are seats available... WE HAVE STUDENTS and class starts next Thursday, Room 00060 in lower level Green Wing - 6-9 pm.

Register at www.SL.on.ca, Part Time Studies, ARTS 109...Hope to see you here.

Bethany Garner

Professor, Textile Design

textiledesignslc@gmail.com

Please plan to visit Gallery 121 in Belleville before February 14th... I am so pleased to have been included in this great exhibition!

SAQA Central Canada members with work in the Exhibition/Sale include:

HILARY RICE, JOAN REIVE, CAROL PETERSON, ANN FALES, MARY MINIGAN AND BETHANY GARNER.

Gallery 121 is a non-profit cooperative art gallery founded in 1991 by Quinte area visual artists to provide exhibition space for its members.

Gallery One-Twenty-One

Quintessential Art

48 Bridge Street East

Belleville, Ontario, Canada

K8N 1L6

613 962 4609

Gallery Hours:

10:00 am to 4:00 pm Tuesday to Saturday

Contact us via email: gallery121artists@yahoo.ca

Visit our Blog:  www.gallery121artists.blogspot.com

Well, here we are at NEW YEARS DAY 2015... what will YOU be focusing on in this new year? And my choice for creative fun? Read on...

DARKNESS, Pine Rack in Ontario Winter by Bethany Garner 2014



 

First of all HAPPY NEW YEAR to each of you reading this post...and I am wishing for you all of the peace, joy and creativity that a year could possibly offer. Be kind to your friends and neighbors, think of those less fortunate than you and your family, hold your children and their children close and be loving and attentive to your husband or wife .

 

Plan to build on your talents this year, and focus inward, on whatever your dreams have been and could be for the future. Make time each day for creativity and fibre... and ensure that you are healthy, protective of your body and it's potential for taking you into the future. Sure we all think about the "fitness" resolutions that are common this time of year, but more importantly is just being as healthy as you can be today... use the power you have to control the vices, and focus intently on your innate and learned strengths.

 

For me, the last year was painfully wasted on health issues (back and left wrist, shoulder and hand). In this new year, I will watch where I am going to prevent falls - yes, a "senior" commitment that many of us should be taking seriously. Falls account for more than 80% of the issues seniors deal with! I plan to walk more... maybe accompany my hubby on the dog walks, and set up a "track" of sorts around our one acre property that I will walk several times a day - creating more awareness of my surroundings as well as allowing for THINK TIME!

 

If you can, and have time, please plan to join me at ST. LAWRENCE COLLEGE, January 15-April 2, 2015. 6-9 pm, Room 00060, lower level, Green Wing. Using E6 door, coming into the college... that is where ART will be happening for textile enthusiasts of all levels and with an interest in sharing, growing, networking and creating Fibre Art... your way!

 

Thursday evenings in the New Year.... where else would I want to be than with great students and new friends in a classroom, playing with fabric, design, paints, and threads. This year we embark again on exploring the path to creative development in COLOUR- The Quilt Artists Way, a full credit course, ARTS 109.

 

And what if you are not a quilter??? Well, how about painter, creatively exploring the development of personally original art on canvas, paper, various fibre sub straights?  Well, come join in and play!

Using wool or silk in your work - we would love to see what you are doing, and perhaps following along as we study the BORO ART of Japan and explore the MODERN QUILT MOVEMENT (certainly two contrasting art forms, albeit focused on textile)... then perhaps this is where you would like to be!

 

Photo of Boro Cloth garments from Textile blog...in a private collection




 

Modern Quilt created with stash fabrics, and applied 1/4 inch bias tape
Joe Cunningham, Art Quilter and friend from the past - stunningly MODERN!
Please visit Joe's website to see more HERE 

 

 

My plans are to explore the work of the amazing Japanese men and women who seem to be taking the front row as the awards are being handed out at Quilt and Fibre Art shows and exhibitions, and see what they do that is applicable to us as we explore new work for 2015!!!

I would love to help you take some steps that are easy and fun, and designed to address the changes in the worldwide quilt community that focus in on lots of open space, minimal piecing and applique and LARGE work - yes, bed quilts, large wall quilts and ART Exhibition entries that take the viewer by surprise.... think colour, size, texture, stitch, all created by YOU!
 

 

10 Students Needed To Run The Course...will YOU be there???

 

Check out our course online here at St. Lawrence College's Continuing Education Program this winter... and plan on making the first month of 2015 a new start on YOUR creative textile work...

 

http://parttime.stlawrencecollege.ca/stlaw/course/course.aspx?C=80341&pc=2&mc=11&sc=233

 

Details:

Colour, the Quilt Artist's Way
Course Code: ARTS109	Section: 860
Campus: KINGSTON	Instructor: Bethany Garner
Date(s): 1/15/2015 - 4/2/2015. Days of Week: Thursday evenings.   Time: 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Fee: $246.24	Additional Notes:  $35 materials fee due at first class

 

 

SEE YOU IN THE NEW YEAR... have a great next weekend!
Photo attributed to the art work of Kathryann White