On Saturday September 16th from 10am to 12pm the Artisans London will have an open house at our new venue.  Come visit us and meet some of our members and see some modern quilts on display.
The open house is at Boyle Memorial Community Centre at 530 Charlotte St.  
Hope to see you there!

This weekend is also DOORS OPEN so while you are out and about, stop in at the other locations on the tour. 

Every wondered what to make with the beautifully coordinated and rolled Jelly Rolls of fabric?  
Well wonder no more, as this Saturday is Sew A Jelly Roll day and we have a few free patterns to inspire you.
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The fast and easy one is the Jelly Roll Race- Pattern can be found here > wisecrafthandmade.com/2013/02/make-a-jelly-roll-race-quilt/

Another pattern that uses just the jelly roll and no coordinating fabric is the Braid Quilt- pattern here > reannalilydesigns.com/2009/06/the-batik-braid-quilt-tutorial/

And you can even use the solid fabric jelly rolls- this rainbow bargello needs 2 jelly rolls to make- pattern here > letsquiltsomething.blogspot.ca/2014/12/rainbow-bargello-jelly-roll-kona-roll.html#more

Of course you can do your own search for jelly roll patterns, but be warned there are tons online and this will consume a lot of your free time- so get a cup of tea and jump into the world of jelly rolls.
Craftsy has a few right here > www.craftsy.com/blog/2015/04/easy-jelly-roll-quilt-patterns/

Check our guild Facebook page as well and we will post some PDF patterns that use Jelly Rolls- each different than the patterns listed here.
Happy sewing! 

Once again our guild had so much fun being creative by block printing our own fabric. We are lucky to have Maria as a member, and being an art teacher, she jumped right in to teacher mode for our lesson. (complete with chart paper notes)

Maria, explained all the tools we would need, the steps to take and did a bit of a demo on the actual printing step. 
First up we carved our blocks.
​You begin by drawing your design on paper.  Remember if your design has a direction, you are carving in reverse.  We used the lino carving tools and got straight to work.  Here are some of the designs our members carved. 

We also used any premade stamps to do some printing.

And here is what the fabric looked like once we printed on it.  

And I am not sure if I should say sadly this is our last meeting at the East Lions Artisans Centre, or be excited for our new venue?  We have been meeting at ELAC for a few years and have grown comfortable with the old building.  But for now we will be at a bright new building while the new ELAC is built.  Both the Boyle Community centre and the new ELAC look like lovely modern buildings which will make us miss our old building even less.  
​Good bye Artisans Centre! 

No regular meeting in September while we have our Libs Elliott workshop.
Next meeting is on Saturday October 14th from noon until 5pm at the Boyle Community Centre at 530 Charlotte near Dundas and Quebec.  

It's almost here- the Libs Elliott Workshop for her Embrace The Chaos Quilt!

Check back after our workshop on Saturday to see tons of in progress photos from the day. 

Our next regular meeting will be on Saturday October 14th from noon until 5pm at the Boyle Community Centre at 530 Charlotte Street in London.  Please note the time change as well as location change. 

It's raining today on our final stitch in the park night.  Will that stop us from getting together? NO!

If the rain clears by 5:30 we will meet in Victoria Park as usual.
If it is still raining then we will meet at the Toboggan Brewery right across Richmond St at around 5:30 as well.  
We can have some snacks and beer while we work on our binding, hexies and knitting!

Thanks again Stache Fabrics and Notions for sponsoring our blog!

We will be getting creative and messy again this month when we print our own fabric!

Here is the list of supplies that are needed, both individually and that the guild will supply.

We only have limited cutting tools, so if you would like to buy a cutter that would be helpful to avoid waiting for the few tools we have.  You can buy one and share between friends.  Or one buy the handle and blades, and the other friend just buy a handle? and share the blades.
Here is the link to an example of the cutter. 
This is an inexpensive one, they also have more expensive better quality ones 
https://www.currys.com/product.htm?Product=S4131&Source=Category&Category=LINO_CUTTERS

https://www.currys.com/product.htm?Product=S4138&Source=Category&Category=LINO_CUTTERS

So if you plan to do more printing in the future, maybe purchase this cutter:
https://www.currys.com/product.htm?Product=SP4131&Source=Category&Category=SPEEDBALL_LINO_CUTTER_SETS

Come to the meeting with a simple design you wish to carve that is 2x2 or 3x3 inches in size. 
You can also purchase ready made stamps at a craft store, look for ones with simple lines, nothing too detailed or the printing will blob and you won't see the actual design.
You can also bring found objects to use to print with.

Soft lead pencil that smudges easily
eraser
pen
Stamps and found objects if you wish to use
Your fabric to print on- canvas, cotton, cotton/ poly (not nylon) 
Newspaper
old tea towel with a smooth texture
apron and old clothes

The guild will also have the following to use:
newspapers
dish soap
wash tubs
plastic spoons
old dish cloths
scrub brush
paper towels
scrap paper
rubber gloves
cheap paint to test your design first on paper
and some plexiglass sheets 
blow dryer- cool setting

We have the Artisans Centre the whole day on August 12th so stay through the afternoon and print lots of fabric!
YOU TUBE video of block printing www.youtube.com/watch?v=Un2DUWn3FLE
Another video 
​Cutting Lino Video

A picture is worth 1000 words, so less typing- more photos!
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Here is Doris showing us some of her finished hand dyed scarves. 
The patterns are achieved by the way you fold the fabric before the actual dyeing. 

Learning how to prepare the fabric and what supplies are needed.

These little tubs of coloured water some how became a rainbow of fat 1/4s

We even attempted to dye yarn for knitting.  

Some of our clean up rags look beautiful too! 

Here are some of the finished pieces our members made!  

Thank you Doris for teaching us your love of hand dyed fabrics!  I can't wait to see what our members make with their OOAK masterpieces! 

Our Stitch in the Park dates for the summer of 2017 will be:

Thursday, July 27, 2017
​Thursday, August 17, 2017

Click here for all of the details!