Summer Quilt Joy

Here are some recently made summer beauties to share with you. These are strip and crazy quilt patterns; a familiar style made on Change Islands and Fogo Island.

From the top: summer strip quilt made by Sadie Edwards, middle summer crazy patchwork quilt made by Phyllis Combden and bottom summer strip quilt made by Lisa Snow.

We Have Labels!

After months of deliberation, we finally decided upon our label design! Heather White of Change Islands made our simple fabric labels, which will adorn the back of each and every quilt. The embellished hand-embroidered 'signature' will be the main feature of the label, adding a nice little personal touch....here's how we did it: 

Heather White sets up her embroidery machine to do the 'made by' and 'on Fogo Island/Change Islands' parts of the label

the machine in process, it's quite mesmerising to watch...

nearly finished...

the completed label with hand-embroiderd signature

Tim Wilson's 'Old Hands: The Quilts of Change and Fogo Island'

We had the pleasure of hosting Canadian film maker Tim Wilson, who came out to visit us on Fogo Island and Change Islands for several weeks at the beginning of the year. He was commissioned by the Shorefast Foundation to made this lovely short film about the quilting project, featuring many of our quilters! 

OLD HANDS: The Quilts of Change and Fogo Islands from Shorefast Foundation on Vimeo.

We've Been Busy....

Four of our locally made quilts have been hand picked by textile curator Sandra Reford, to go to a quilting exhibition in France! 'Tradition in Transition' will take place from 13th to 16th September in Ste-Marie-aux-Mines, in the Alsace province, north east of France and will show case four quilts made by Doris Budden, AnnMarie Newman and Iris Newman. These quilts will be representing the province of Newfoundland and Labrador in the '18th Carrefour Europeen Du Patchwork' exhibit, so look out for us!
Congratulations to our quilters whose beautiful work will be representing our quilting project. 
If you'd like to find out more about the exhibition, Sandra has a mention on her website: www.sandrareford.com/Canadian_Exhibit.html

Doris Budden's king sized summer strip quilt

 Iris Newman's single sized summer crazy quilt

AnnMarie Newman's single sized summer strip quilt

Iris Newman's king sized summer strip quilt

Quilt Parade; A Wonderful Public Airing
Here it is folks, feast your eyes on all the quilty beauties! What a turn-out we had; over 40 quilts from both Fogo and Change Islands - our washing lines were straining under the weight! We took over the Wind and Waves Guild where there were quilts displayed on every surface and hung from every corner. Here are the picks of the best from the Parade, enjoy!
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Above: Our two volunteers Clem and Freeman braved the ladders to string up over 35 quilts, thanks again!

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Above: Margaret admires our oldest entry, a 'Coverlette' made in 1900's; it was in superb condition

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Above: A lovely view of some fine quilts, to the left is a design called 'The Compass'...

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Above: A charming design called 'The Tea-Leaf' - made on flour sack and recycled fabrics

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Above: An unusual quilt on dyed pink flour cloth with a hand stitch motif! 

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Above: A very contemporary design using a lovely gingham print

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Above: A four-pointed star design, note the Robin Hood ink print still remains on the flour cloth!

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Above: A gorgeous hexagon design with scalloped edges

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Above: Birds-eye view of washing lines.....so many quilts!

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Above: A hexagon quilt made buy Olga Cull's sister, made with all crimp-knit. It was apparently bought at a church sale for $20 - gulp!

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Above: A packed-out Guild! People lingered over tea to reminisce about quilts from there childhood...

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Above: Olga popped in for a cup of tea, what this lady doesn't know about quilting and knitting - ain't worth knowing! 

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Above: Mr Blake's quilt, this outstanding quilt has an ingenious design that efficiently uses the 'negative' out-cuts, using them elsewhere in the design

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Above: Kittens decorate the edge of the quilt.....heartbreak!

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Above: A detail of that amazing design.....

Sadie and Heather's Collaborative Family Quilts

It seems collaboration runs deep in this family; not only in the making of quilts but also as business partners! Mother and daughter team, Sadie and Heather, run a local sewing business on Change Islands called 'Seabreeze Sewing Solutions'. We went over to visit them where we learned that Grandmother and Great Grandmother also sewed together; making treasured quilts together to keep the family brood warm.

Above: Log Cabin Quilt made from a mix 70's crimp-knit, cotton, satin and shirting fabric
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Above: Heather's brother - Jim's baby blanket made by both Great Grandmother and Grandmother. This crimp-knit quilt has been 'tied' to the back piece by a simple piece of wool 
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Above: Heather's beloved quilt made for her also by Great Grandmother and Grandmother during the 90's. The soft pastel satin fabric is from Heather's Aunt's 70's prom dresses 
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Above: an unusual crazy quilt, framed by one piece of flannelette. How much fabric you have dictates what type of pattern you make; a beautiful logic that embraces and reflects what materials are readily available to you