Barn Quilt Paint Workshop November 23

Great evening.  Good Turn out.  Quilters have their designs chosen, colours selected, and a joint fabric order for both quilts.  The painting teams are getting signed up.  First come; first serve to adopt five quilt blocks each, set up a workshop, and have a weekend painting party.   Delaware Lions.  Tait’s Corner Community.  Upper Thames Military Re-enactment Society are in.  The painting schedule starts in the New Year.   We hope that whoever hosts a painting venue will be able to offer it to more than one group.  Call Denise Corneil at 519 693-7002.  Sponsors are being sought.

How to paint a barn quilt. Workshop in Wardsville

Great Barn Quilt Workshop presented by Denise, Mary, Sheila, and Rachel.  The “who’s who” of barn quilt champions attended.  Trail leaders and barn owners from Essex, Elgin, Middlesex, Oxford, and Norfolk got to view construction up close.  Artist Rick Sommer gave the group a quick tour through Made on Earth Art Gallery.  Denise showed them some painting basics.  Tips were shared on organizing a community project.   Sheila and Rachel fed the group sandwiches made by the Strathroy Seniors.  Shirley Baker talked about the Quilt of Belonging.    Call us to book a bus trip and workshop for YOUR community!  519 287 3566

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War of 1812 Era Fabrics Now in

Subscribe to the Great Lakes Seaway Trail War of 1812 Quilt Challenge blog to keep up with another great War of 1812 quilting project.  A recent post profiles some beautiful new fabrics:

“Lately Arrived from London” will delight fans of early calicoes and chintzes. The collection recreates fabrics from the turn of the 19th century when Americans imported their cottons. Traders brought the world’s luxury goods to wharves in Philadelphia,Boston and New York. Each piece is named for a trading ship that sailed intoAmerican harbors – the Charming Betsy, the Brigantine Sally, the Ship Surprise.

Tourism Sign Strategy

The County of Middlesex is working with four other counties to devise a collaborative tourism sign strategy.  What a great idea! Let’s harmonize signage for a large area: Norfolk, Brant, Elgin, Oxford and Middlesex.  Now known as South Central Ontario.

Tourism signs pose a challenge.  If the signs are too organized and consistent, they lose their artistic appeal and don’t convey a sense of place.  Too many haphazard signs, don’t work either.

I’ve always been relieved that Canada never embraced huge billboards.   What’s worse than too many advertising

Blank bill boards on the I-40. May 2010

bill boards?  Too many blank bill boards.  Check out this photo I took along I-40 last May, returning from California. Not sure exactly where we were; somewhere on the highway after leaving the south side of the Grand Canyon.

There were miles of bill boards with nothing on them.  Very eery.  I would prefer some advertising on them.

Quilt Discovery Days

I was thrilled to chat with Donna Sue Groves today, the creator of the original barn quilt.  She suggested that we take a look at “Quilt Discovery Days”.  Here’s a how-to from Florida Quilters.

A Quilt Discovery Day records details about the wonderful quilts that are currently residing in your community. The goal is to gather as much information on as many different quilts as possible.