Siam Fusion

Siam Fusion comes with two versions...a larger sampler where the various motifs are arranged sort of geometrically throughout the sampler and this one which has the motifs in bands.
I started it in Florida in February and finished it yesterday. It is done on a lovely purply 32 linen which was a gift from my friend Sharon.

Here are the fabrics that Fran has chosen for her huswife...very pretty. She has even started stitching as you can see.And here are my beautiful girls all groomed up and sporting their new neckerchiefs which I sewed myself on my 50 year old sewing machine!
The fabric was purchased at the Cataraqui Guild's Needle Arts fair from Elaine Quehl who sells a variety of gorgeous hand dyed fabrics. Her website is www.equarelle.ca It is worth taking a look it. Her quilts are magnificent!




Paddy

Mollie

What a good day!

Saturday was the Cataraqui Guild's Needle Arts Fair in Kingston.
Knowledge and Needles has been priviledged to have a booth at the fair for the last few years and I must say it is one of my favourite events of the year. This year was no exception.
We arrived around 8am and with the help of two good friends and capable helpers we had the booth set up in no time. Here are some shots of Susan, Dani and Dan setting things up. And a picture or two of some of the other vendors, also in the process of getting ready. Once things were up and running I had no more time for pictures.
Dani and I were busy all day selling stuff to some of the 160 stitchers who attended . For their $7.00 admission fee, they had about 12 or 15 vendors all in one place, a lovely lunch and an incredible exhibit of the fabulous work the Guild members have completed this past year. Some of their work was just mind boggling; it was so exquisite!

Among the visitors to the the Needle Arts fair were some very good and loyal friends of mine from the Friday Stitching group...Here are Cheryl, Catherine, Fran and Sharon. I have shamelessly lifted this phot from Fran's Blog.

You may not be able to see it in this picture but three of them are wearing Knowledge and Needles logos on their shirts. Fran can sew anything! Cheryl's is red on her black Tee shirt, Fran's is yellow on yellow and Sharon's is gold on her black sweater.

On Saturday I was so pleased at the ladies who came up to tell me how they were progressing on their projects. One woman who had seen my Prairie Schooler quilt two or three years ago, and who had purchased all the charts for it brought her finished letters to show me. Next year I hope to brings along the finished quilt!

Another one let me know that her Blackstone Fantasy Garden was on display in the exhibit hall...of course I looked at it and she had done a fabulous job.

I only see some of these women once a year but they are becoming like old friends and it is a joy to go back each Spring and renew the friendship.

Thank you so much Dani and Susan and Dan for the help. The setting up went so much faster with 4 of us setting up. I could not have kept up with the customers without Dani being there as another salesperson. And of course my walking advertisers...Cheryl, Fran and Sharon! Thank You all so much...and also the loyal stitchers who came out to the Fair!

Nan's finish

Nan just finished this Mirabilia for her second great grand daughter. Gorgeous or what?

On Sunday, I was stitching and visiting with friends when I realized that there had been a little too much visiting and not enough counting. So the stitching I did that afternoon was counter stitched immediately and my memory keeper is going to go away for awhile.

It is time to move on to another project and give this one a rest. It is very large and I believe I need a break from it. To that end I went back to my Toile pillow which even with yesterday's stitching is not looking very toile-like. A picture will be forthcoming in my next blog entry.

More great finishes

Of course they are not my finishes but I am delighted to be able to showcase the beautiful finishes of my frineds.
We have a Judie and a Judy in your stitching group...these first two framed pieces were stitched by Judie. Her teapot is for her own kitchen. This beautiful Lanate is for her grandson who recently got married on a beach in the DR.

Our other Judy is also a quilter as you can see from the fabulous way she finished her Jeanneatte Douglas "My Stitching album" pages...

And of course there is Barb who was featured in my previous post. This week she brought this Sue Coleman Butterfly to share. It is for her husband who chose the pattern.

Thursday and Friday stitchers

Not having anything photographed of my own stitching I am happy to share some other people's achievements. Barb spent most of the winter in Myrtle Beach and as you can see she was not idle. Here she is with Courtney Collection's "Alpha Bleu" (en rouge). It looks great!

Sharon is modelling her new sweater which Fran just embroidered for her. My friends are very loyal to my shop as you can see. She plans to wear it to the Cataraqui Guild's Needle Arts Fair in Kingston on May 1. If anyone will be in tha area that day and wishes to attend, let me know and I can send you all the information. It is a great chance to see the beautiful work the Guild members do while attending a merchant fair and getting lunch as well...all for the princely sum of $7.00! A bargain!

Mrs Waddelow

Ellen Chester of "With My Needle" designed this delightful "Huswif" and here is my interpretation of it. I used 30ct R & R Reproduction linen and Weeks Dye Works thread - Bordeaux. The fabrics came from a local quilt shop.
Diana sewed it together for me and did a beautiful job.
I sent these pictures to Ellen and she posted them on her blog... check it out
www.withmyneedle-ellen.blogspot.com
Makes me feel famous!!!

Lucie came by the shop on Thursday with two selections of fat quarters one in dark greens, oranges and yellows and one in dark blues, and purples... she is going to have a gorgeous "Huswif" regardless of which colourway she goes with. I will post pictures of the stitch-along as we go. I have a feeling that we will produce some incredible "huswifs" ? "huswives"?

New Start

You may remember in a previous post I mentioned that there were two patterns I got in Nashville that I really liked. One was Mrs Waddelow's Huswif from "With my Needle" and the other is this one from "The Workbasket"
This is my start on Memory Keeper. As you can see I am departing dramatically from the suggested colours.

I have completed the stitching on the Huswif and have shipped it off to a friend who sews to put it together for me...sorry Fran...I just do not want to sew it myself! I tend to run amok when I am doing anything other than zigzagging the edges of my fabric with my sewing machine.