Festival of Quilts

Brandy Maslowski

Special Guest Lecturer and Instructor
Festival of Quilts 2023

About Brandy

Brandy Maslowski is a quiltmaker and textile artist who travels the world as a teacher, speaker, author and NACQJ certified quilt judge. Her quilts and textile art explore meaningful themes in her life using the texture, colour and boundless possibilities of fabric, surface design and stitch. She leads quilt cruises and land tours worldwide with the tag line More Joy, Less Overwhelm. She hosts the Quilter on Fire podcast and can be found everywhere online as the Quilter on Fire.

COLOURWAYS with Special Guest Instructor Brandy Maslowski

Join Brandy for this unique workshop, and step into the spectacular world of textile art! Bring your favourite fabric scraps, batiks, beads and embellishments (pull out all your tucked-away yarns, ribbons and more) to add texture, colour and contrast to your beautiful masterpiece! You will be using your sewing machine to create a one-of-a-kind fibre art piece, a “mini quilt”, to be mounted on a small canvas frame, recommended frame size of 8″x10″, 10″x10″ or slightly larger. This workshop is for all levels of quilters, and no previous experience in textile art is necessary.

Brandy will show you many options and ideas which will appeal to your creativity; she will guide you through the steps to “build” the layers in your design, as you learn multiple techniques and skills along the way. Come and spend a day with us for a truly different kind of quilting class, enjoy the company of other quilters, and have fun playing with fabric in a totally new way! There is no pattern for this class. It will be amazing to see what you create! You will have a finished art piece, complete and ready to hang on the wall, at the end of this one-day workshop!

A supply list will be provided; parking is included in your workshop fee.

Where & When

Thursday, May 25, 2023

9 am – 4 pm with a one-hour lunch break

Price

$95 per person

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GLORIOUS & FREE with Special Guest Instructor Brandy Maslowski

Join Brandy for a day of inspired quilting as she guides you through the process to make her best-selling and gorgeous Canadiana pattern – Glorious & Free. This is a contemporary quilt that pays tribute to Canada’s iconic maple leaf, and you can sew it up in the maple leaf’s traditional red (single) colour, or in a colourwash palette…both versions are stunning! You will love having the choice of size for this pieced quilt – it can be made in a bed size, wall size and mini size.

The e-pattern in all sizes and both versions is included in your workshop registration fee. This pattern is suitable for confident beginners and intermediate quilters. Brandy will walk you through all the required steps and empower you with new skills, including her tips for precision piecing and the half-square triangle technique. With some advance cutting, you can get the first few rows done in class and will learn everything you need to know to confidently complete your quilt at home…maybe in time for our next Canada Day!

Patterns and supply list will be provided; parking is included in your workshop fee.

The $13.50 fee for the patterns (included in the $95 admission) is non-refundable.

When & Where

Friday, May 26, 2023

9 am – 4 pm with a one-hour lunch break

Price

$95 per person

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When

Friday, May 26, 2023

7:30 to 9 pm

Location: Wainwright Hotel

Description

This lecture and trunk show provides a feature of quilts, textile art and processes that tell the story of Brandy’s path to healing. With consistent practices in self-care, learning and creativity to live happy rather than searching for happiness, she discovered along the way that bringing joy to others through her podcasts, teaching and travel fills her cup every day.

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Karin King

Quilting continues to be a thread of the past sewn into the future, and this year’s Quilter of Distinction brings a very modern twist to the showcase. Formally trained as an accountant and financial analyst, Karin left the energy sector several years ago. She enjoys seeing the transformation of raw materials into works of art – from counted cross stitch and needlework, to lampwork (glass bead making), and has finally found her passion in quilting.

The modern quilt aesthetic, and a particular fondness for foundation paper piecing, makes Karin happy. She has had quilts juried into both QuiltCon 2022 and QuiltCon 2023, the largest annual show of modern quilts in the world. Her studio has grown to include a longarm machine and two resident feline supervisors, plus occasional foster kitties just for fun. Karin’s favourite colour is “all of them”, but she admits to a smaller stash of yellow. Cooking, music (especially from the band U2), and travel (everywhere, especially if U2 is playing there!) are also a big part of her life.

Karin has always been an avid volunteer – from boots on the ground (beer ticket sales, fostering, making charity quilts) to leadership roles on the boards of organizations near and far (Calgary Folk Festival, AARCS, Calgary Stampede Creative Arts Showcase, Calgary Modern Quilt Guild, and the worldwide Modern Quilt Guild). Calgary, and the local quilting community, have benefitted greatly from her enthusiasm and expertise. Karin’s strong voice, her volunteer achievements, and a growing body of quilted works has found her in this distinctive role for our Festival. We are delighted to showcase Karin – another gem from our local community!

Orange and White Quilts

We have used many colour combinations in the past (Red and White, Blue and White, White and One Colour, etc.). In this special display, these quilts must be mostly orange and white. Other colours may be used sparingly as long as the quilt reads predominantly orange and white.

Creative Kids Quilts

Another special display we are proud to present highlights our Creative Kids. Young quilters (16 years old and younger) who create a quilt(s) with a little help from a friend are invited to display their quilt(s) at the Festival. Don’t forget the outer perimeter must be a minimum of 60 inches. Go kids go!

Tree Quilts

We look forward to seeing a forest of tree quilts. We hope to see modern trees, landscapes with trees, tree of life blocks, or any interpretation of a tree. For your quilt to qualify, a tree or multiple trees must cover 60-70% of your quilt top. Please remember that major embellishments, such as real branches, will not be accepted. Small beads or embroidered areas which protrude minimally from the surface of the quilt are acceptable.

The 2023 Block Competition will be “Birds and Their Houses” and the cost for a kit will be $7. Get yours at the Information Booth in the Celebration Tent during Festival of Quilts.

When: Jan. 20 – April 1, 2023

The heart of the festival is the marvelous collection of quilts displayed throughout the Park. These are loaned to us by Calgary area quilters like you – yes, you! This is not a judged show, and we encourage everyone to show us your latest creations. This is your chance to share what you have been working on and help create a wonderful event for our community. Register your quilts by filling out and submitting entry forms during quilt registration.

Important Dates
Quilt Take-In: Tuesday, May 23, 2023
Quilt Return: Monday, May 29, 2023

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For more updates, follow along with our volunteer Festival of Quilts committee on Facebook as we prepare for the festival! You can find this page as Calgary Festival of Quilts at Heritage Park.