Carli The Quilter

Working on a quilt that celebrates the history and development of a community in British Columbia cannot be complete without the recognition of the first indigenous people who called the Bulkley Valley their home, their territory. I'm talking about our Aboriginal neighbors, the proud Wet'suwe'ten people, who without their peaceful acceptance, the Town of Smithers would not be here today. These lovely people are the original inhabitants of this country. The Wet'suwe'ten Nation still populate a large area from the modern day communities of Hazelton to Burns Lake and beyond, they live, fish, go to school and are growing as a nation.  The modern day name of Wet'suwe'ten really means "People of the Wa Dzun Kwuh River" and different spellings of this name, history and so much more, can be found on Wikipedia's site here. The elders of the Office of the Wet'suwe'ten, who have an office building in Smithers, graciously gave...

Wow, three weeks have gone by since I last posted, the time is flying by so quickly.This is what keeps me going!! I try really hard to live by this creed of Ghandi's. It has a prominent place in my sewing room. It gives me hope, when I have to make decisions that are not popular with others or have to brave ahead with only closest of friends behind me. Please don't think that making a Centennial Quilt is like my own private thing. Its strange, in my own home turf, few quilters have come forward to participate. I'm so glad that I have my good friend Nola to rescue me from the toil of the entire project on my shoulders.  Thank you Nola, you are a trooper good friend! I was chatting online with a friend of mine who lives in Grand Forks, BC. Our conversation made me think of the people that participated with the 1897-1997 quilt for Grand Forks. I was the coordinator of that quilt, but in the end, decided to have my name left off the brass plaque that was ...

   In the fall of 2011, I completed my first real pattern, tested with two versions and two suggested layouts. I am so fortunate that a pattern of my own creation was chosen for inclusion in western Canada's magazine Quilters Connection . winter issue. Heather Macauther, publisher is an awesome entrepreneur and loves my work too! I've designed all sorts of patterns that I make for myself, friends and family. If you'd like to join in an upcoming Snow Town Folk quilt along, just email me directly at carli the quilter (at) gmail (dot) com This pattern was inspired by the many types of head wear I see in the winter months while ice fishing with my husband.  Ice fishers are a special kind of fisher in my opinion. They are special because they brave the cold temperatures, lug all kinds of gear miles down a lake, sometimes they have a shelter, but most times they are simply after the experience and the fresh wild fish in the winter months!  Salmon, the main fis...

I trimmed to be positive of the size of each block to complete what I hope is the final draft of the layout.  The final draft of the layout is done! Todd's block had to have the machine embroidered salmon attached permanently onto the "water" block. The backside of which you can see, I simply did a machine satin stitch in red thread. This is the back side of a water themed crazy quilting block app. 9 1/4 x 15 3/4 inches.  The salmon from Todd's block, a local talent in Aboriginal art designed the three salmon, two males hovering over the female in water. As you can see, my draft is measured and I'll use this to proceed with how much fabric is used and when to cut what. Crazy quilting is my love in quilting and so its going to focused to represent the jewels of our valley and the very jewel of a community that Smithers really is will become apparant in this quilt. I tried to 'feel' the community, its different players, movers ...

Last year when I heard of the coming Centennial for Smithers, my largest nearby town in Northern BC, I spoke up and put my thoughts on paper. I was pleased that the Centennial Committee was interested and I began planning the project. Community interest in our Centennial Events is already high and I eventually had 7 artists step up volunteering a piece of their art to be included in the Smithers 2013 Centennial Quilt Project. The following are photos of the submitted blocks and the artist or sometimes just the block. Take a look at the beginning of this unique quilt creation of 7 artists collaborating around me who is the main finisher of this quilt. I'm OK with this and have little time to involve anyone else, still work full time and have a life too! So onward goes the quilt, quietly gaining ground in an enormous amount of work. If you ever think that you want to make a centennial quilt, they are numerous sites that exist for any kind of quilt you'd like. ...