Welcome to my Studio: Laurie Swim, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

My husband Larry and I bought a new house a few years ago and since then I’ve been working on a “new build” studio above the pre-existing garage and carport. The beauty of a new build is that so much is possible! I spent weeks working with graph paper, laying out work stations and considering the flow between them. I must have relocated the stairs five times before I came up with the present configuration! I learned to “tradespeak’ with those who made my dream a reality. They showed great diplomacy and patience, reeling in the crazy artist, pointing out impracticalities and adding their own creative ideas. 

After months of design work and a few delays, the studio is finally built and I’m loving it! Would you like a look around?

The new studio has cozy in-floor heating and a convenient ‘water closet’. The open ceiling and windows all around give the space a bright, lofty feel. Track, pendant and pot lights are generously distributed for evening work. A 10’x 10’ deck will provide additional workspace, great for drying my dyed and painted fabrics.

My excellent carpenter, Jeff, contributed a steel counter for my sink, something he had removed from a restaurant and just couldn’t let it “go to the dump”. I found a stainless steel sink at the recycling depot and a brand new faucet at the consignment shop. Luxury on a dime!

My sewing machines are on a custom-built shelf desk just beneath the corner windows, with a nice view of Lunenburg Harbour. Above my Sweet Sixteen sit-down long-arm machine is a home-built device with a clamp that I use to reduce the drag on my larger pieces, making them easier to quilt. The device is clamped to the table and swivels as I move the piece around. I found the instructions to make this Quilt Suspension Thingy on Caryl Bryer Fallert’s website a few years back. 
 

Just next to my sewing corner is my wheeled layout table. The table legs are off-cuts of the Bluenose II masts, nearly fifty years old. I feel so fortunate to have such an important piece of our heritage in my studio! 

The crowning jewel of the studio is a design wall that I can raise or lower as needed to spare my aching back. This was a feature I insisted upon but it took a few heads (sometimes banging) to figure out. Eventually my husband Larry found an electric, tubular, push and pull device called a linear actuator and carpenter Jeff was able to adapt it for my purpose.  

  

The 5’x 7’ design wall, essentially my easel, is made of fibreboard over plywood. This panel is set on rails, sliding up or down at the push of a switch, allowing me to work comfortably along either the top or bottom edge of a large piece.

I’ve just recently moved in to the studio and I’m still in the process of organizing and putting things away so that I can find them again. Having an easily accessible place for everything is a good incentive to keep my workspace in order. I store assorted bits and pieces in used plastic ice cream containers set into a shelving unit. 

My fabrics are folded around foam core boards and stored in baskets and colour-coded drawers. Large rolls of paper, used for tracing patterns and enlarging drawings, are stored horizontally on drapery rods just above the drawers.



All and all this is a lovely workspace. My original aim was to create an industrial feel, but all the bits and pieces from my life give it a more funky, folky look. My studio walls are graced with memorabilia and gifts from various artist friends, including a birthday gift from Linda Finley, a small piece from Pamela Allen, and a thank-you katazome stencil piece from Karen Miller. My own signature piece, Eve’s Apple, has found a home above the stairway. Eve and I reminisce together wistfully every day. Good memories mean so much!

What projects am I working on now? You might have noticed, in the photo of my design wall, a drawing for my next landscape piece. This is a scene from a friend's place on Heckman's Island just outside of Lunenburg. The fog sets the mood and the craggy trees reinforce it. The big challenge will be to capture the translucence of fog and the play of light on the water. It has all the elements I like, lots of texture, depth of field and a sense of mystery.

I’m also collaborating on a larger project with a colleague living on the northeast coast of Norway. Our project, The Gulf Stream, aims to bring attention to the significance of this warm, swift, current that connects our homes and the importance of ocean stewardship. Stay tuned, I’m not done yet!

Thanks for dropping by my new studio.
Laurie

Read more about Laurie Swim and her work on her website www.laurieswim.com.

Welcome to my Studio: Aprille Janes, Margaretsville, Nova Scotia

Winter by Aprille Janes (2020) 

I’ve just become an art quilter! Fabric and thread have once again become my primary means of creative expression after many years as a watercolour painter. I taught myself to sew as a child by carefully following the patterns my (non-sewing) mother bought for me. Later, as a young mother myself, I took classes and made a few quilts for family. But sewing faded from my life over time. My career required considerable travel so I took up watercolour painting, a more portable medium. Then last summer my love for all things fibre was rekindled when a friend invited me along to an art quilting workshop.

My husband and I moved back to the East Coast about three years ago. Our “new” home was originally a general store, built in 1893. In the 1960s it was a restaurant with a detached dining hall. When we bought it, it had been converted to a private home. The dining hall was in such bad shape that we were advised to tear it down, but we saw possibility. One year later, the hall had been transformed into a teaching space and a spacious painting studio, with soft northern light and long views of the Bay of Fundy. Because the building is situated on a slope it feels a little like being on a boat. I spent my days painting and teaching there, glancing up from my work to watch the waves and tide, so incredibly inspiring.

Lunenburg Dories by Aprille Janes w22"xh16"

But then, after that art quilting workshop last summer, my fibre art took over the classroom space! I set up “zones” for painting, machine and hand sewing and computer work. It’s wonderful to be able to move between activities without having to take down and set up. I usually have two or three projects on the go, allowing me to take my time with a piece. If I find myself rushing just to finish or feel that I might be overworking an area, I step away and do something else. This is important to my process and I’m thankful the studio supports this approach.

On sunny days, my studio is so bright that I don’t need artificial lighting. For the not so sunny days, we installed four full spectrum LED lights on the ceiling plus spotlights over my work table. Just for fun, I have twinkle lights running along the top of my shelving units. 

I’m most happy when my tools and materials are organized and visible (though the actual work can be chaotic!). Because I like to see what my choices are, I display my materials on a mix of shelving units from Ikea and pieces my husband refinished. 

My fabrics are wound on acid-free comic book backing boards and held in place with clips. The bolts sit on shelves like a mini-fabric store, taking up less room than they did when folded and stacked. 

While my good cotton threads are organized on a rack, my other threads and button collection are stored in antique mason jars. Baskets hold ribbons, antique laces and scraps. Right now, I’m looking for a better, more visible way to organize my scraps because they’ve become important to the work I’m doing. 


I found my Bernina 930 sewing machine on Kijiji, totally refurbished and complete with all the accessories and clamshell case. It enables my creative expression just as my paintbrushes do. It sews like a dream, never jams, and has all the features I need.

The one thing I would add to my studio if I could is a sink with running water. Bringing water to the studio in a bucket is fine for watercolours, but I’ve moved on to painting and mono-printing on fabric and I plan to work with dyes and cyanoprints come summer, so a wet studio would be ideal. 

I feel like I’m still an art quilt newbie, experimenting with different methods of expression. Yet the design principles I learned as a painter serve me well in textile work and my old sketchbooks are a rich source of ideas for my new medium. I’m drawn to the colour, embellishment and tactile quality of the fibre, which are deeply satisfying to me. 

I’m currently making a series of four original wall hangings inspired by Robert Frost’s poem Birches:

So was I once myself a swinger of birches. 

And so I dream of going back to be.

Fall by Aprille Janes (2020) 

Once this series is complete, I would like to re-create some of my original paintings in fibre, and design some new work with the goal of eventually submitting a piece to a SAQA call for entry.  

Thanks for dropping by my studio…

Aprille

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Read more about Apprille Janes and her artwork on her website Aprille Janes: Life, Art and Inspiration. You can also follow Aprille Janes on Instagram. 

Welcome to my Studio: Anne Morrell Robinson, Margaree Valley, Cape Breton Island, NS

My first workspace was in a corner of an upstairs bedroom in a 100+ year old farm house. My next studio was an addition built by my first husband with help from friends, trading labour and material for sewing or farm produce. After my first husband passed away I married another talented handyman and my third studio was built on his old farmhouse in New York State. When he retired, we remodelled the old Cape Breton farmhouse with a two-storey addition that became KingRoss Quilts and Fibre Arts. 

My studio is unusual because it serves as my workspace, my teaching space and my retail space. The upper floor holds the working studio and retail. It’s a large space with a hand-quilting frame, a rug-hooking frame, two 4’x8’ cutting tables, lots of storage and desks in both the production and the business ends. The lower level serves as a classroom, dye kitchen and longarm area.

Basement longarm area

I work on multiple projects at once to avoid repetitive motion problems and to keep me from sitting too long. I tend to work on the longarm first thing in the morning; the standing time loosens me up for the day. For much of the day I go back and forth, cutting, machine stitching, maybe some design work or rug hooking. By late afternoon I usually need a break, move a bit more, get some fresh air, and think through any design problems. I tend to do my hand quilting as a cool down after a much needed ski or walk. After dark I bind or hand appliqué while watching TV with my husband.

 Fabric storage
 The shelves on the left are behind a design wall that hinges in the middle.
I can access fabric even when I’ve got a large quilt on the wall.

Because I’m a long way from the stores, I keep a lot of fabric and thread on hand, all organized by colour, theme, project or size. My threads are mostly stored in plastic bags or boxes to keep the dust off. Bolts and yardage go on shelves, project fabrics are in totes stashed wherever I can fit them and small pieces are in drawers under the cutting table. Nothing goes to waste. I keep a basket under my ironing board to hold trimming for use on small details on appliqué work. Small pieces of fabric go to other artist friends who work small or make paper.

Cutting tables: organized clutter.

The older I get the more light I need. I’ve tried various light sources and the best so far is a combination of windows, ceiling pot lights and track lighting over the areas where I sit and work. My track lights are on swivel bases so I can turn them all toward the design wall for quilt photography. 

Design wall with storage 

My studio is a whole different world, the perfect place to spend my days in total creativity. It's where I start and end my day. I went from working in the corner of a bedroom to a wood-heated studio and now my dream studio. To be able to take two steps from the kitchen into my private work area is just magical. Each of my three studios has been bigger and more efficient than the last. I’m now about to add a real gallery space, connected to my studio. I'm at a stage in my life where I can choose to retire or push forward. I chose to leap forward.

Thanks for dropping by my studio…
Anne 

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Birds and Branches series by Anne Morrell Robinson (2019)
Available as a workshop.

To visit KingRoss Quilts and Fibre Arts, find directions here. 
Tel: 902-248-2466
Email: anne@kingrossquilts.com

Read more about Anne Morrell Robinson on her website, KingRoss Quilts and Fibre Arts. 

Welcome to my Studio: Jeanine Gunn, Antigonish County, Nova Scotia

My studio vibrates with colour! 

I acquired a passion for tropical colours while growing up in Brazil. I discovered shibori when living in India and took up hand dyeing while living in South Africa. Also a result of my travels, my studio is a showcase for a collection of tribal textiles. 

I’ve had this studio for about ten years. It’s the second floor of our new-built barn and has an ocean view. The four skylights and four windows fill the space with light. I absolutely LOVE it.

My fabrics and books are organized on shelves custom built by my husband, Bill. The fabrics are sorted by colour but also by type. For example, there’s a Kaffe Fasset and modern quilt fabrics shelf as well as a shelf for batiks and hand dyes and another for conversation fabrics etc.

My "cutting table” is a modified saw table that once belonged to my father-in-law. For lighting, I have four large light fixtures hanging over strategic areas (work table, cutting table, reading and socializing area etc). I also have Ott Lites for worktables and as floor lamps.

It’s a creative, messy space!! I have several work surfaces and two sewing machines so slowly projects and studio items just take over. But I don’t mind clutter and I always know where things are. 

My current favourite gadget is the Martelli Rotary Cutter, designed by a hand surgeon for his quilter wife. It is THE most ergonomic cutter I’ve ever used and great for cutting several layers of fabric. It did take a bit of getting used to though….

In my studio space I can teach or be on my own, listen to music as loudly as I want to and leave a creative mess behind. I can just sit there and admire interesting collectibles from around the world. I can meditate there and just be. When I’m having a thinking spell or trying to resolve a creative problem, just looking at my fabric stash feels very therapeutic!

Lately I've been working on a small series of pieces with the hope of having a piece or two for the SAQA benefit auction. Have a look at what's on my wall right now:

Playing with Circles by Jeanine Gunn, 2019

Thanks for dropping by my studio…
Jeanine 

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Follow Jeanine Gunn on Instagram at deveau9983 

Welcome to my Studio: Hélène Blanchet, Margaree Valley Nova Scotia

I have a brand new studio! 

I’ve been making embroidered fabric pictures since grade 7. I’ve since developed my own unique style of folk art, exhibited internationally and won several awards. Most recently, my traveling solo show “Calgary Days” has been getting recognition.

Yet until now I’ve always worked at the kitchen table. What a delight to have a studio of my own!  

We recently built a home overlooking the Highlands of Cape Breton. It’s deep in the woods and off-grid, so it‘s peaceful and absolutely quiet. My studio takes up most of the second floor. Because of the huge amount of snow here, the roof has a steep pitch and the studio’s “walls” are the slanted ceiling. Although the floor space is 22’ x 28’, the actual standing space is about 12’ x 28’ and the ceiling is 11’ high at its peak. A wide gable on the south side gives me a bit more room. 

The west wall

My studio is a beautiful space with elegant angles and lines everywhere. Two enormous mahogany windows, cobbled from various smaller windows, let in plenty of light. The views are spectacular from every angle. There is no shortage of inspiration.  

Being off-grid doesn't impact my work. Solar panels provide most of our electricity and  a backup generator recharges the batteries when needed. 

The view to the south

I’m a very early morning person – often up at 4am, my mind all abuzz and raring to go.

In those very early mornings the studio is lit up by three big antique ceiling lamps. I also have   spotlights over each work station. For fine detail work, I go to my fabulous tri-spectrum Stella lamp. It’s an LED light that uses very little power to provide sharp clear lighting any time of day. The three spectrums allow me to switch to whatever suits me best – usually daytime lighting. Its elegant curved body lets me position it exactly as I want and it stays there, always. 

I work better in a tidy space so in my studio, everything has its place.

Two small, built-in bookcases hold my library. Other shelving is made from bits of old furniture that I’ve salvaged and painted up. The shorter shelving units are on wheels so I can move them around as I need to and use the back sides as design walls. 

I have baskets for embroidery floss and quilting threads, other specialty threads, my scissor collection etc. I don’t need a lot of fabric, but I have a lot of small bits, stored in small foldable drawers and plastic bins stacked on bookshelves.

I use a lot of beads, gemstones and miniature toys in my work. When it’s time to do beadwork, I just roll my bead cabinet to where I’m working. When I’m not beading I use the cabinet back as a design wall. 

Design wall on back of bead cabinet

             

bead cabinet

My favourite tools are my Japanese thimble and my Janome Artistic E-Z thread snips.

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. 

And I love my new Artistic E-Z thread snips by Janome. They’re ultra sharp, always open with a curved tip to prevent accidental jabs. Just grab and snip. Perfect.

My studio means the world to me! Having a place of my own has given me impetus and my creativity is blasting off in all directions.  Perhaps the biggest advantage is being able to work whenever I want, for however long I want, without interruption or fear of disturbing anyone. 

I’ve been trying my hand at abstraction for a couple of years, and having this quiet space is allowing me to pursue that. I’ve recently started a collaboration with two other textile artists, and my contribution will be in abstracted forms. I’m not sure where all this will lead me, but I am enjoying the ride. Here’s a sneak preview.

                              The Pond Nos 1-4, Work in progress

Thanks for dropping by...                                                              
Hélène

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Read more about Hélène on our own 2016 feature interview Folk art in big nature.

Read a review of Hélène Blanchet's current show at the Cape Breton Centre for Craft and Design, on view until the end of March 2019.

Welcome to My Studio - Susan Lilley, Hebbville, Nova Scotia

A few months ago, I decided to (finally!) take the time to research and think through how best to improve my sewing space. The room is 12'x13', a nice room with a high ceiling and a large walk-in closet to keep my fabrics and materials out of harm's way. It has a northern exposure with a forest view.

Shortly after we moved in, a year or so earlier, I added a second window and good overhead lighting. I unpacked my gear and started creating. I loved the space, but the set-up wasn't working as well as I knew it could. So, early this spring, I began to plan my makeover. I used Lois Hallock's book Creating Your Perfect Quilting Space to help me with the layout and to calculate dimensions for the various work stations. 

Cabinetmaker Bob Mertens, of Pinehurst, NS built me a beautiful made-to-measure sewing table.

The table has a drop leaf on the back. Butted up against my old adjustable-height Ikea table, it provides good support for large quilts.

I had a big, heavy, office credenza I used for a cutting table. It has a nice large surface and great storage space, but was too low for comfort. Bob built a frame to set it on, bringing it to just the right height. My rulers hang from sheet metal screws on one end, reducing the clutter on the surface. So retro and oh so functional! 

I made an ironing station from an old kitchen cabinet topped with a canvas-covered board, following instructions in Sharon Schamber's Perfect Pressing Board. Unlike an ironing board, the canvas top grips the fabric nicely and the shelving provides storage for various notions and supplies. Nice! But what I most love is the handy on/off switch, inspired by Laurie Swim. The iron plugs into a power bar I've mounted at waist height beneath the window. The flick of a switch powers the iron on and off, and the red light on the power bar lets me know from a distance whether the iron has been left on. Laurie has a lamp plugged into the power bar as an additional indicator. When the lamp is on, she knows she's left the iron on.

So that's the story of my makeover. I love the results! The space works well and for now, at least, I have more than enough storage space. Next project: organize the space in the walk-in closet. Stay tuned!

Susan Lilley