Author Archive

It’s cherry blossom time in Vancouver, and the city celebrates each year with a festival. Every year the Japanese Cherry trees bloom, lining our streets with beautifully delicate pink clouds that turn into a delightful blanket of snow as the blossoms fall to the ground. This year the Silk Purse Gallery in West Vancouver is hosting a textiles art collective featuring works by numerous local artists to celebrate the festival. The show is on until Sunday, April 29^th so if you happen to be in Vancouver I recommend you check it out!

In the early 1930′s Japan presented Vancouver with 500 Japanese cherry trees to honour the Japanese Canadians who served in World War I. The people of Vancouver were taken by their beauty, and our love affair with the cherry blossom began. Today, over 130,000 cherry trees show their splendor each spring, as they delight Vancouverites and visitors alike with their magnificent and breathtaking display of colour.

I joined my good friend Tricia Sherman, of Great Canadian Shop Hop, for a delightful afternoon exploring the gallery and the art, and afterwards a lovely walk along the cherry tree lined streets. The art, created by members of the Vancouver Guild of Fibre Arts, is as varied and individual as each petal of a cherry blossom. Created using a variety of media including quilting, beading and weaving, the artists have marked the coming of spring on the West Coast, each in their own unique way. Well worth the visit!

Silk Purse Gallery – www.silkpurse.ca

Vancouver Guild of Fibre Arts – www.vgfa.org

Bloomin' by Robin Fischer

 

Bloomin' detail

 

Blossom Shadowplay by Jennifer Cooper

 

Thinking of Cherry Blossoms While Yet Winter's Snow Lies Deep by Lesley Mayfield

 

I'm Fine by Niroko Hirano

 

Ahh, Spring. Time to refresh, to air out, to… Spring clean your quilt room! Here are some ideas for making your quilting space fresh and new and inspiring again.

Toss…
anything old that you don’t think you’ll use or finish or like:
- Pass on old fabric to friends or donate to a guild that makes quilts for charities
- Same goes for any UFO’s that you know you won’t ever finish
- Go through your threads and discard anything that is too old to use for sewing (test thread by holding a long piece in your hands, pull taught – if it snaps, toss it

Clean…
- dust shelves and wipe your sewing table
- vacuum or sweep the floor
- wash your cutting mat with soap and water
- clean your iron and ironing board cover

The Two R’s (Repair and Replace)…
- have a professional do the annual maintenance on your sewing machine
- put a new blade in your rotary cutter
- put a new needle in your sewing machine
- get your scissors sharpened

Get It Organized…
- purchase baskets, pretty boxes or a drawer unit to store all your supplies and works in progress
- arrange fabrics and threads by colour
- file patterns and ideas in a three-ring binder
- display your quilting books on a shelf in a specific order – by category, author, subject

Treat Yourself…
You’ve done such a great job at Spring cleaning, it’s time to go out and buy some new fabric or book. Go ahead, you deserve it!

The Spring 2012 issue of Quilter’s Connection Magazine A Shop Near You featured not one, but two quilt shops located in British Columbia. Tom Sketchley owns Countryfolk Fabrics in Chilliwack and Tom’s Sewing Machine in Surrey. The interview with Tom was quite entertaining, and the shops are delightful to visit – more like a social experience than a shopping trip. If you’ve ever watched the show, Cheers, where “Everyone knows your name”, you’ll understand what I mean!

On February 2nd, 2012 Tom and his Surrey store staff were hit by devastating news. The building right next to Tom’s Sewing had burned to the ground, and their shop suffered irreparable damage. But Tom and his staff took all this in stride, and quickly found a temporary location to re-open the Surrey store.

I visited with Tom and his staff at their new location. They were busy arranging fabric on shelves and setting up display racks for other products. Never one to stay down for long, Tom has kept a positive outlook on the entire situation. “When I saw the photos of our Surrey store in your magazine, I decided I didn’t really like the location…” he joked. If you read the article in the magazine, you would know that he’s just kidding around. After numerous moves to find just the right location for the store, staff threatened Tom that if he moved the shop again, he would be locked in the vault they had in the back of the shop (the shop was formerly a bank).

The new location, which I had the opportunity to check out, is much larger, and Tom and Kerri are excited that they can design the layout just the way they want it. Tom is hoping the new store will be open in late spring. In the meantime, the temporary location is already open for business, and Tom and his staff haven’t even had to cancel any of the classes they had planned, although the classroom is smaller than in the former location, and will be quite ‘cozy’ for students. They also have a small area for machine repairs, which is a major part of their business, as well as an area for sewing machine sales.

Kerri Sketchley has been overwhelmed by the support of the quilting community. “We have had hundreds of emails from customers willing to help us get the store back. We’ve had crews of customers in, counting fabric and cleaning shelves. Some who couldn’t come in and help would bring us lunch. We are so very grateful for all the help and support they’ve given us. We would not be nearly as far without all the help.”

We at Quilter’s Connection Magazine wish Tom and the rest of the staff at the Surrey store all the best!

Tom’s Sewing Machine’s temporary store is located at #100 – 8338 120th Street in Surrey. BC
The new store, which should be open in a couple of months (we’ll keep you posted), is located at #150 – 8338 120th Street.Tom has decided to re-name the store and it will re-open as Tom’s Sewing Centre.
Their telephone will remain the same at 604-507-2841

Click on a photo for larger image

Our friends over at Sew Sisters Quilt Shop in Toronto have an adorable project posted on their blog that you simply MUST check out and make! Click on the link below:

FAT QUARTER FROG

Do you live in the Niagara Region? Textile and Mixed Media Artists Needed for Cultural Capital of Canada Project – read all the details HERE

A couple of BC quilters will be featured in the “O Canada” exhibit touring the United States this year! Yay to Joy Hegglund and Annelise Massey!

Read the full article about these two great quilters and designers HERE

Heather McArthur & Esther Bryan in front of the Quilt of Belonging

A new documentary planned for the Quilt of Belonging….

http://www.standard-freeholder.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3457413

A bit short notice, but the International Quilt Festival is looking for entries for “Oh Canada 2012″

More information at: www.callforentriesocanada.com

Here’s some great advice from a friend and Canadian designer, Susan Purney Mark:

FIVE DIFFERENT WAYS TO KICKSTART YOUR CREATIVITY