Merdith Annett stopped by the March 28 meeting to share her perspectives on finding and nurturing inspiration. Meredith, an award winning quilter and member of the Mayflower Guild, believes we all have a need to make things and owe it to ourselves to get great enjoyment out of creating.

Meredith recommends filling a journal with words and visuals that appeal to you. Not only can it spur your creativity, she says it helps reveal who you are and what you like. Magazines – all kinds – are a treasure trove of ideas and inspirations for her. And when Merdith is exploring a particular Continue reading →

The first Mariners meeting of the spring was full of examples of our creativity. Betty showed her 1930’s take on Ken Grantham’s transformer quilt, Jennifer showed her continuing love affair with Kona fabrics with a wonky log cabin and Tina showed off her black, white and red quilt inspired by Confucian sayings. Continue reading →

On March 12, textile history specialist Sharon MacDonald brought along her extensive slide show to talk to Mariners about old Nova Scotian quilts. Along with quilter Barb Robson, Sharon co-founded the Nova Scotia Heritage Quilt Project. Between 1995 and 2000, the project photographed and documented more than 1,100 pre-1970 quilts throughout the province. Many of the patterns Sharon came across will be familiar to quilters: basket, grandmother’s garden, sawtooth and Irish chain. Sharon has a strong interest in the social history of quilts and quiltmakers. Continue reading →

Congratulations to Jacqueline A., Jean E., Jean. G, and Charlene H. for their finished Quebec City door, based on a photo taken by Jacqueline A. It’s the second fractured photo quilt created for the Art Group Challenge. Jacqueline’s photo was cut into four strips and then each strip was interpreted by a different group member. The group’s now deciding on how to join the pieces as a finished work. Mariners look forward to seeing the end result. Continue reading →

At the last meeting in February, Jennifer T-Z shared her knowledge about Modern quilting with a fantastic slide show. Jennifer told us that while modern quilting has much in common with traditional quilting, it has a slightly different design aesthetic involving technique, style and colour.

Its beginnings owe a lot to the Gee’s Bend quilt exhibit in 2002 and the books of modern quilters like Denys Schmidt.

In a nutshell, the key to modern quilting is its flexibility; its reliance on simple shapes; asymmetry; improvisational piecing; use of grey and white as neutrals; use of solid colours; on-trend Continue reading →