Stepping out of the box!!

I was reminded of how much creatures of habit we are as I taught this past week. One of the students was having trouble 'seeing' what it was I was trying to say and I had to rethink how I was approaching the lesson. This is a good excercise for all of us to do now and again. To stop and think about what we're doing and why we are doing it a certain way. Is it because it's the only way we know how, or because we've done it so often that we don't even think of trying another route??

If you think this doesn't apply to you , stop and think about the millions of things you do without 'thinking'. Do you always drive the same way to work, the library, the grocery store? Do you favor one style of book or magazine over another? Do you do just one craft to the exclusion of all others? Do you think there is only 'one' right way to do things? If you really want to shake things up , watch children who don't know enough yet to know there is only one right way to do things. They approach problems in a variety of ways - they'll try and put that round peg in the square hole.......and sometimes they succeed.

Many inventions have come about because someone questioned why things were as they were or were trying to find a better to way to do things. One of my favorites for quilting is the rotary cutter! Wow!! Has that ever changed the face of quilting - accuracy and speed have increased - sometimes to the detriment of the whole process. Just because you can make a quilt faster doesn't necessarily mean that you should. Sometimes it's the journey that brings the most pleasure and not the final destination.

And in a long winded way , what I'm trying to say here is - stop now and again and re-evaluate what you're doing and why you're doing it. Consider new ways to do things, whether it's teaching, learning or just living!

Step out of the box!!

What a month!!

I know that I'm not the most consistent poster - but life has been full. Since I last posted, Marley, the new puppy in our lives has doubled in size! I had my car stolen out of my driveway, but thanks to an alert police officer on the Barrie force now have it back. Have taught at the CreativFestival as well as being asked to be one of the designers involved in the Jewels and Jeans fund raiser for the Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto. See, life is never dull!!

Marley has been a good addition to the family - once you get past the puppy stuff - like house training and bouncy critters who just love to play. He has tons of energy and a fun personalty, but like many intelligent dogs such as poodles, he can also be stubborn. We just have to remind him who the alpha is in the house - and it's not him!! Marley has provided us with many hours of laughter and fun!!

The CreativFestival ran from Oct 19 to 22, 2006 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. It's a large event featuring all kinds of creative endeavours - my favorite being the quilting, of course!! I am also now enjoying beads and beading and I did manage to see one or two things that caught my eye in those venues as well ;-) I taught 4 classes and was one of four teachers who taught in the Quilting Round Robin. It's always fun to get to the Festival and renew old aquaintances - some of whom I only see at the Festival!! It's amazing how much life there is to catch up when you only see people twice a year.

My favorite new class this year was my crazy beaded patchwork. I get to mix my two loves, quilting and beading, into one project. The feedback was very favorable and there will defintely be more classes coming out of this style of quilting. The enthusiasm of the students is very infectious.

I was also honored to be asked to decorate a pair of celebrity jeans for the Jewels and Jeans Auction. The proceeds will go to the Sick Kids hospital in Toronto - an amazing place that makes miracles happen for kids! My celebrity jeans came from Shayne Corson - former Toronto Maple Leaf - to check out these jeans and those of other celebrities, go to :
http://www.sickkidsauctions.com/jewelsandjeans
There is some pretty amazing stuff there!!

Now I'm back in my sewingroom working on projects for the spring show and a few other ideas that I have percolating in my brain.....

See you soon......

Karen

Sad Endings and Happy Beginnings

What a whirlwind this past week has been - physically and emotionally. We said good-bye to a very dear quilting friend on Tuesday afternoon, Eileen Chorley. Even though I didn't meet Eileen until 2002, I felt as if we had been friends for years. She always had a ready smile, a funny line and a mischeavious twinkle in her eyes!! Eileen was a war bride - although the fellow she married was British. She told me that she thought marrying a Bristish soldier would keep her at home in Britian, little did she know that her new husband wanted to emigrate to Canada. But being the determined lady that she was, she made a new home here and we are all the better for it. Fast forward many years and Eileen is a mother, wife, grandmother and friend and most importantly a quilter. That is how I met Eileen - she joined our quilt guild with her grandsons' kindergarden teacher, Loretta. I always looked forward to hearing of her latest adventures and projects. Eileen was a very proud breast cancer survivor, but also a lady who believed in giving back. One of her 'spare' time projects was to make chemo caps out of polar fleece for cancer patients at our local hospital. Unfortunately, her cancer returned and we lost Eileen. Good-bye dear lady, you're sorely missed!!



The same day as we said good-bye to Eileen, we added a new life to our home. Welcome Marley to the McCleary family!! Marley is a standard poodle pup and is about 11 weeks old right now. He is full of curiosity, energy and a cute ball of fur. Now begins the fun of house training, etc. We had a standard poodle named Dusty who was with us until last April when he passed away in his sleep at the age of 13. He was such a wonderful breed of dog that we thought we'd stay with the same breed. Right now I'm somewhat brain dead as we have bathroom needs in the wee hours of the night. My husband and I are sharing the duties, but since I have been out a lot this past week he's had more than his share of puppy patrol. We just keep reminding ourselves that he's a good pup and in the long run will be a wonderful addition to our family!

Add into this mix that fact that the CreativFestival is just weeks away and that we have Thanksgiving this upcoming weekend - and you get the whirlwind feeling. Ah, life! Ain't it grand?!?

Warm Fuzzies

Well, I am certainly not going to win any awards for being a daily or consistent blogger. But I guess I am only driven to write when I fell I have something to share.... and I'm not sure that I could make my daily life either interesting or funny enough to share every day. When I do write it's because I have something I want to share.....

As I was teaching a class the other day I noticed the wonderful synergy that happens when quilters gather - well, not just quilters, but that happened to be the group I was with - the support that flows out of these gatherings is wonderful. Whether it is simply a safe haven for someone to just breathe and relax - or for a mother to rant about the antics of her child/children - especially to hear that she is not alone and they usually grow out of it - and if they don't, how to cope. Or for someone who is dealing with a life altering disease - how to cope or just to get a badly needed hug and shoulder to lean on for awhile.

Now before you think that we don't get anything done and just sit/stand around in big, huggy groups, we don't. All of this love and support is filtered in between cutting, sewing, pressing and ohhing and ahhing at whatever color choices our neighbour made..... These exchanges usually happen over a day, a succession of days or evenings, or even months and years of gathering in the same groups. In between the tears and sadness there are also stories of joy and happiness - celebrations of healing, graduations, anniversaries and births to balance out the sad events.

In our hurry up, cell phone, pager, beeper society we seem to have lost that human touch. These classes, groups, sessions - whatever form they may take - fill in the very real need we all have for a bit of human contact - a real person to talk to !! And if you are having a hard time believing this - just phone any large corporation that has automated answering systems and feel the relief that you get if you finally get to talk to someone at the end of the maze of options, numbers and beeps that you have gone through.....

The point of all of this ? Maybe our grandparents were smarter than us with quilting bees, community socials, barn raisings and the like - yes, they were purpose driven - but they also built a strength into their lives and their communities because they were connected and felt connected......no lone gunmen, so to speak......

The dog days of summer......

I don't know about you but when June rolls around it seems as if the summer will go on forever and as I make plans I always think that this summer I will actually get some of the things done that I think I will....... you'd think that I would know better by now but being the eternal optimist I don't.

Mind, I am a bit further ahead than I usually am - just not where I thought I'd be. But some of the stuff that I have acomplished is better than I thought - so all things being equal I guess I'm not in bad shape.....

Have I gotten you totally confused - I almost am and I'm writing this..... so let me back up. When the summer starts I usually plan to have all of my samples done, write-ups and supply lists done, etc for the fall season. Well, I'm partway there.... I do have 4 of the 5 samples done for the Creativfestival ( www.creativfestival.ca) in October - the last I hope to finish designing this weekend. But I still have some shop teaching samples and write-ups to finish and they should be done by now. How do I get sidetracked?? It's so easy in the summer - it seems to go on forever so I always think that I still have lots of time and I procratinate!! Not good but I admit it. Sometimes good things come out of that - it seems with some of my projects that the longer that I let them percolate in my thoughts the better they come out. It's just knowing when to stop brewing and start the physical production.

The pictured quilt is just one of the classes that I will be teaching this fall . 'Circling the Stars' is one of those quilts that looks far more complex that it really is . I think that's why I like it so much. It also has the added bonus of stars - I have come to realize that I really like stars - I am drawn to any object with stars - I design quilts with stars - even one of my favorite machine quilting 'doodles' includes stars......

Well, I should sign off for now - quit procratinating and get that last design done......

Hazy, lazy summer days.....

Ah, the joys of summer in Canada - the days that we dream of all winter long - well, at least I do. Being able to roll out of bed and step right outside and feel the sun warming my face.....ah, heaven!!

It's also the time that classes tend to slow down as everyone else is also engaged in outdoor summer activities - golfing, gardening, camping, cottaging, walking and just generally being outside and soaking up as much sunshine and fresh air as we can. The slow down in classes opens up a window of 'free time' to devote to samples and trying out new patterns for the fall and winter classes. So while I do enjoy my outside time I do have to devote a certain amount of time to inside sewing.....a part of teaching quilting that many people don't realize. I'm not complaining just stating a fact.

This is the same with show promoters, magazines, stores - anybody who works in any of the industries that deal with seasons. In the magazines they work about 6 months ahead - so while we are basking in the sun they are thinking of Christmas.....I personally am busy getting basic samples and prep work done for the The Creative Festival in October - www.csnf.com - and have been thinking about the fall show since the spring one ended. I also have some long term work in the preparation stages - or idea stages for the spring 2007 show. Sometimes it's hard to think that far ahead - to know what students will want to see and do. On the other hand it does give you enough lead time to re-think a design or process in case it doesn't go the way you think it will. And believe me that happens more than I'd like sometimes - although with practice it happens less often.

Inspiration - Where does it come from??

I often get asked how I decide what quilt I'd like to do and how I chose my colors. Sometimes I don't really have as many choices as you'd think - students ask for very specific classes so I do quilts to fit the requests. Same thing with colorways - if the quilt is for a class then I will chose colors that are most likely to appeal to a variety of people.

BUT when I am choosing for myself - an entirely different set of 'rules' take over. Unfortunately I don't always have a lot of time left over after class samples to make things specifically for me. That is the reality of being a quilting teacher - what you want to do for yourself takes a back seat to what needs to be done first. This is not a complaint because I love what I do and I get so much pleasure from teaching that it is a small trade off. When I get to the point that I no longer enjoy teaching then I will stay home and sew just for me!!

Surprisingly having to sew for others tastes has actually made me a better quilter. It has forced me to use colors that I wouldn't have used - pastels - I love bold contrasts - and it has made me look at patterns not the colors that were used in a quilt or project. It has also made me re-evaluate patterns and the ways in which we sew our quilts together. There is nothing like the challenge of a student to ask why you are doing something this way to make you think about just why you do sew in the way that you do...... are you doing it this way because it's the only way you know or is it truly the best way to do it??


If you are feeling very comfortable and haven't done anything challenging in a while - get out of that comfort zone and tackle something new - a new colorway - a new quilt pattern - take a class - anything and you'll be surprised at what it does for your creative juices......

Flying High!!

When I started this blog I thought it would be so easy to post something every day or so - well, it wasn't as easy as I thought. Between life committments and then being tongue tied or is it keyboard tied these days? I just haven't posted but I am starting again and hope to do better....starting now.

I just got back from attending a great quilt festival better known as the Vermont Quilt Festival - to find out more about it visit their website at www.vqf.org. I have been attending this festival annually since 1991 - this is my girls version of the guys going off to a hunting or fishing camp. Only I think this one is a lot more fun!!

When I first attended I was in total awe of the quilts that were entered in the contest portion of their show and felt that I would never be good enough to enter a quilt myself. To this day I am still in awe as I walk the show and see the caliber of quilt that is entered into this non-juried show.

Two years ago I plucked up my courage and shushed the little voices that said that I was over stepping my bounds and entered a quilt in the competition. I took a second place ribbon and I was one very happy quilter! Last year I had nothing to enter as the quilt I had thought of entering was elsewhere. But in checking the criteria I saw that I could enter it this year and did so . Drum roll please - not only did I get a first place ribbon but I was also awarded the prize for the entry with the most points from outside the US AND I received a Judges Choice award from Libby Lehman. I am still 10 feet off of the ground.

I have included the photo above of Libby and I standing in front of my prize winning quilt - I'm the one on the left. So to all of you creative people out there who think that you'll never be good enough - keep plugging away and remember you'll never know if you're good enough unless you enter the contests.

I sure never thought that this could be me!! ;-)

Exciting, exhilarating and Exhausting

Whew!! I survived yet another weekend of lecturing at the Creative Sewing and Needlework festival in Toronto, Ontario.

It's one of those amazing experiences that take a lot of prep work and a lot of 'show' time but it's also a great time for renewing and rejuvenate the creative juices. I have yet to attend the show either as a consumer or an artist and not come away without at least one new idea, thought or process. Sometimes I wish that I had come away with only one. ;-)

To those who attend my lectures - thank-you, you are the reason that I continue to get invited back and the reason that I love to do what I do. For the most part what I do is quilting but it has taken on new directions in these last few years. Especially since I have found ways to combine a new passion with an old one - beads and sparkles with quilting. Your feedback and continued support help keep me fired up !

It's also interesting how at one show I can see a technique and see no potential in it and at the next show it sparks a whole new thought process......I'll let you know how it goes and if what I saw in my head works out in reality...if it does I have found an interesting way to get shimmery water into my quilted landscape pieces.

New Kid on the Block
What to write as the first blog in what I hope will be an ongoing process?? Weighty stuff....do I try to tackle the meaning of life? Or do I just bore you with the mundane minutia of my day to day life??
Mainly I plan to tell you about life as a quilter - the ups and downs - the joys discovered and the projects that take on a life of their own....and not always in the direction that you hoped for....
At this moment I should be writing handouts to accompany my lectures at the Creative Needlework Show coming up this weekend in Toronto but I've hit a writers block on my thoughts - and these ones are the ones blocking the way - so I think if I get these words out I can write what needs to be done.....
I teach a variety of quilt classes from beginners through to intermediate but one element remains the same - we are all looking for an outlet for our creativity. And usually the only thing that stops us is our fear of failure or being something less than perfect in our attempts. When did our fears overcome our sense of adventure and wonder?
I was reminded in a lecture that I heard years ago - and I wish I could remember who it was so that I could thank them for waking me up - that we didn't learn to walk, talk or run in a day - so why do we assume that as adults we should be able to learn any new craft or artistic endeavour in a day??
So the next time you embark on something new - remember to be gentle with yourself and to give yourself permission to make mistakes - it's part of the learning process.
I'd like to end with this quote from Albert Einstein who I think sums this up so well,
" It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer. "