Barbara Latkowski
Caledonia Courier
Another workshop was offered at Pope Mountain Arts from Sept. 16 – 18.
If an avid quilter, or for those simply curious, the workshop was open to everyone.
Mona French, a local quilter from For St. James is known for her beautiful works, full of detail, colour and wonderful stories. She was thrilled to partake in the three day workshop.
“I was so excited to have Coreen Zerr join us for this,” French said.
According to Fort St. James Arts Council President, Mary Willick, the workshop could not have taken place if it had not been for French.
“Mona was integral in setting this up and she did all of the ground work to get Coreen here,” Willick said.
Zerr, who lives in Nanaimo, facilitated the workshop. She has been quilting for 25 years and was excited to see what participants at the workshop had to offer.
“It’s amazing because no matter where I go, everyone I meet has something different to share, a new creation, something that is their very own.”
Zerr had her quilts on display highlighting the art of thread painting on each piece.
Thread painting is a technique that can help achieve a realistic effect on art quilts and portrait quilts. Thread painting by machine is just like painting on canvas but with the fabric acting as the canvas and coloured embroidery threads are the paints.
Seeing each of Zerr’s elaborately detailed works full of colour, participants could not wait to get their own creations underway as they stationed themselves at their sewing machines.
Many of those taking part, used a photograph or painting that held special significance to them as their focus.
And from there, the assembly of each quilt began.
“I’ve learned so much,” French said.
“I really didn’t know much about thread painting before. It’s amazing because there is always something new to learn and we all learn so much from each other.”