Results of World Wide Whispers, an international
collaborative quilt challenge, were revealed at the Scottish Quilter’s Guild Show
in Glasgow earlier this month. SAQA Atlantic member Kathy Tidswell represented
New Brunswick on the Canada team, which was one of five country teams involved. Scotland, Ireland, the Netherlands and the USA each hosted their own World Wide Whispers challenge.
The project was described as being similar to a child’s game
where the leader whispers a sentence to the next person, who whispers it to the
next, the sentence evolving and changing as it goes on.
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| #1 Old Barn on a Crisp Morning by Kim Caskey (2018) |
Team Canada leader Kim Caskey (Alberta) made the first quilt, inspired by a photograph by Lesley Zwaal of Edmonton Alberta. Thirteen artists,
one from each province and territory of Canada, each in succession, were sent a
photograph and statement of only the most recent piece. Each had one month to
create an 18” x 24” piece of their own, inspired by the previous participant’s piece.
Kathy Tidswell: I created the third quilt in the series. It’s been a
long 13 months when we were not allowed to reveal our involvement and saw only
a photo of the quilt that inspired our piece.
The Canadian collection was shipped to Scotland and now
hangs with quilts from the other four teams at the Scotland Quilter’s Guild AGM in Glasgow. The entire collection will travel to The Netherlands for
a show in April and will be at The Birmingham (UK) Festival of Quilts in August
2019. I plan to attend and will give two, one-hour
demonstrations on using Inktense pencils to create appliqués, as part of the
Quick and Easy Demonstrations series.
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| #3 Looking In Looking Out by Kathy Tidswell (2018) |
LOOKING IN, LOOKING OUT
By Kathy Tidswell, Burtts Corner, NB - February 2018 – 3 of 13
Drawing inspiration from Pat Findlay’s landscape and suggestions from my “idea generating” husband, I chose to feature my favourite little owl, a Saw Whet owl. Surveying his kingdom from a fence post, he stares out with that quizzical expression. What could he be thinking? Is he wondering why he hasn’t moved further south before the snow has come to New Brunswick? Watching over him is a stately oak tree clinging to a few remaining leaves. I love to create texture and dimension and if you look closely you will find it.
Karen Henry, an early member of SAQA Atlantic, represented Nova Scotia in the challenge and created the sixth piece in the Canadian series.
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| #6 Anchor & Drift by Karen Henry (2018) |
ANCHOR & DRIFT
By Karen Henry, Dartmouth, NS - May 2018 – 6 of 13
At various points in our lives we feel anchored, adrift or
in the process of letting go. Any of these three stages could be applied to our
evolutions through aging, in creativity, in the growth of our offspring, in our
education, moving from one physical space to another, etc. This wall hanging
reflects the changing circumstances of our lives.
I am totally lost without my Japanese thimble. This is a simple metal ring that sits between the knuckles on the top part of my finger. It allows me to feel exactly where I want to place my needle and push it through easily - without getting in my way. 
