Sewing Inspiration

I have been at home with sick boys after a 4 day weekend where we went to Vancouver Island to visit friends and family, so things at the studio have been put on hold for a few days here.  Fingers crossed, between the laundry, hand-washing, tea-making and constant cleaning, I'll be able to avoid this bug they picked up...

In the meantime, work on the website is resuming and tax prep needs to get back to speed, so maybe it's not too bad.  As long as I have patient customers and shops, I'll get through this little set-back and be back to speed before too long. 

Our local fabric store is closing down so I have been picking up thread, notion, and fabric for a quilt I've been wanting to make.  I found this amazing old measuring tape at a thrift store on the weekend and couldn't help picking it up for the sewing box.  Somehow working with old tools and pretty thread makes me want to dive into the quilt project, even though I'm a little hesitant considering all the work I have going on in the studio, not to mention the prospect of having to move in the next few months.

On that front, our place still isn't listed for sale yet, so we are sitting tight while the boys try to finish up the school year.  We aren't sure where we will find our next home and neighbourhood but are pretty open to moving a little closer to my studio in East Vancouver.   Crossing a bridge to get into Vancouver can at times be problematic (traffic!!) and bus fare costs more between North Vancouver and the city, so those are a couple more reasons to think about moving back to Vancouver.  We will, however, dearly miss our neighbours, the walking trails at the end of each road, the quiet street, and of course, the school and community that that has brought us.   We have had some really great years and times in this place- for which I am so grateful!

Hope you have a great week! Stay well!

Inspiration: American Quilts

I found an old copy of American Country Quilts at the thrift store a while ago and thought I would share a few of my favourites here.  Along the lines of cutting out designs to create a quilt, my own method of glazing often has me thinking about my process being so infused with the Arts and Crafts movement.  Vintage textile designs, Quilt patterns, cross-stitch and wall-paper designs so often inform my inspiration for new glaze designs.  It's no wonder this book resonated with me!

I'm off to NCECA for the rest of the week! It's a big clay conference happening in Seattle this year so I'll be out of town for the rest of the week, but I'll come back with my take on the whole experience here on my blog! It's my first NCECA and I'm really grateful to have been the recipient of the Maureen Wright Scholarship to help with the costs of the conference.  It's been a long time since I have received a scholarship- so far the Northwest Ceramic Foundation has been very gracious to me (I received the last jump-start scholarship that they gave out back in 2000 for my last year at art school). The event From the Oven to the Kiln is a yearly fundraiser the organization puts on to raise money for scholarships and grants- it's coming up in a month and I have a few pots designated for the auction! If you are in Vancouver please consider supporting what they do!