Shuswap Purse for Sorrento Centre

This pouch style messenger bag has been donated to Sorrento Centre for an online auction that they will be holding starting October 24th. It has been created with an abstract scene of Shuswap Lake on the flap that is constructed of hand-painted and hand-dyed fabrics that a pieced in softly curving lines, quilted by machine and then hand stitched to add even more dimension and texture to the piece. A few individual wisps of lake or sky drift across the back of the purse with additional stitching. The black reverse side of the purse is free motion stitched in a Sorrento landscape design to give it added definition.

The base fabric is a black linen blend and the wide shoulder strap holds the bag at a nice length so that it fits securely beneath your arm. The bag is lined with a light blue/grey cotton and has two large pockets. An interlining of quilt batting gives added structure to the purse.

The purse is accessed from the top of the open pouch and then the top half folds over where the strap is attached to the bag to create the flap. There is no hardware closure.





This bag measures approximately 10" when the flap is folded over and
will comfortably hold your necessities and more . . . The drop of the handle is approximately 16".









The middle photo shows the back of the bag.





Click on the photos to zoom in...





To bid on this purse visit
Sorrento Centre
after October 24th

Breast Cancer Awareness - October

It is October which is Breast Cancer Awareness month and I am offering these delightful pink card case/wallets in my Etsy shop. All of the profit from these little card cases will be donated for breast cancer research. They are just $12 and there will be a variety of styles offered. . . some of them have snap closure ... others have Velcro closure ... some have a wristlet strap ... others have a key ring ... others have nothing attached ... some have beading or embroidery ... others are plainer. You will be sure to find one to suit yourself or people on your gift list.

If you would like to purchase a larger quantity of them, please send me an email and I will make that happen for you. I will continue to list them throughout the month.

Thanks to my friend Ellen for suggesting this project for October. She didn't know when she suggested it, how important it would be for me to do this in memory of my Mom who had breast cancer, and in support of friends who have battled the disease.

Are you diligent about screening for breast cancer?!

Here's the link to my Etsy shop if you would like to browse a bit Kathy's Etsy shop.

This last little bag is one
of my small bag design,
also in pinks but with a
stylish artsy look.

Delightful Dove Purse

This purse was a custom design which was a delight to make . . . my customer asked for a purse of specific dimensions and design and that it have a dove on it ... and warm colours. Those were great parameters for me and, after more emails we decided that the base fabric for the purse would be navy blue. The purse you see in the photo was created on a base of navy blue linen and the orange and rust hand-dyed cottons are stitched to the linen in softly undulating curves. The dove was created separately, being quilted onto cotton quilt batting, it was then cut out and appliqued to the warm curves. The extra layer of batting behind the dove, gives it just a little additional texture.

The bag is about 10" square as you see it in the photo above, but the flap is also an extension of the purse (it is a large pouch) so there is lots of room for various things that you like to carry with you. The "back" side of the purse has a few drifts of orange fabric as well as the free motion stitching (in both navy and orange threads) which covers the entire bag.

There is hand stitching on the front of the bag and there are additional accessories which go with the bag: a wallet, card case, and eyeglass case.

Here is a photo of the back side of the bag











and the complete set.

Fun Felted Needle Cases

One of the most useful items in my sewing studio is my needle case ... in fact, I have two of them that I use all the time! They are a good place to store needles that are not used very often (think: curved leather needles, big fat embroidery needles, and long thin beading needles) and others that are used frequently but interchangeably.

These little needle cases have been created from pieces of felting that were left over from other projects and they make delightful covers for the little needle books. The interior "pages" are wool Melton which holds the needles very well and helps to keep them polished and smooth from the natural oils that are in the sturdy wool. A little bit of additional hand stitching and beading makes them worthy of gifting to your favourite sewing friend :)

New purses for August

I have been busy making some new purses to replenish the stock in my Etsy shop . . . here are photos of a few of them that I have finished and photo-graphed.

I am particularly pleased with the black linen bags with the raggedy silk flowers and stems . . . they really speak to me:) Once the first one was done I just had to create a second one in different colours . . . and I don't do that very often.

Likewise, the sunflower bag has been made in the same fashion as one I created a few months ago. The first one was a dark sunflower on a putty coloured background . . . this one is the lighter coloured sunflower that is on a faded green and rusty-red background . . . it makes me think of the colours we see as they fade in the fall.

The burgundy bag is made of Dupioni silk and has been free-motion stitched with a variegated thread in the shape of leaves and swirls . . . check out the cute beading on the flap of this one.

Discharged Fabric - Peace Symbol

This was a fun project to work on this week . . . one of my Etsy customers requested a purse that included a peace symbol and the colour purple. I pondered it for a while and searched for fabric printed with peace symbols and didn't come up with any that appealed to me . . . so I decided to create my own fabric!

This is a piece of purple batik that I then discharged with dishwasher gel to obtain a beautiful greyish-blue shade. You can never be sure just what colour a particular fabric will discharge to, so this was a delightful surprise. If you are unfamiliar with the discharge process, it is employing bleach to remove dye from fabric, which reveals the underlying colour ... if you stop the process at just the right time:) Dishwasher gel contains bleach (ask me how I discovered that one!) and the consistency makes it great for rolling onto a stamp for this purpose. The stamp I made for this commission was cut from a piece of craft foam and then glued to the lid of an old medicine bottle, which made a great stamp holder.

After the purse was constructed, I did some free motion stitching around some of the symbols and then created a drift of circles in a band on the purse . . . and then painted that band roughly with irridescent aquamarine textile paint and a brighter turquoise paint. The painted band has been outlined with a row of aquamarine stitches and a row of amethyst stitches. There is a cluster of beads on the lower edge of the flap to help weigh it closed . . . and a matching card case and wristlet key fob complete the set.

Artsy Little Mug Rug

This past week I was flying back and forth across the country and decided I needed to take along a little stitching project to pass the time on the airplane . . . and these little mug rugs are the result.

If you don't know what a mug rug is, it is an over-sized coaster that is big enough to hold a coffee mug or a glass as well as a spoon to stir with and maybe even a little snack. They vary in size but these three are about six to seven inches square (or almost square) and they have a layer of batting to help protect your table from heat and moisture.

I love to combine machine quilting and hand quilting in my work but, being on a plane meant that I had lots of time to do hand work and no access to a machine, so these are actually hand-quilted as well as having the decorative stitching. It's all done is a primitive style on a fabric that has a real ethnic feel to it and I love the result. I have listed one of them for sale in my Etsy shop to see what the reaction is to them.

"Fiery Incline" - A Three-Dimensional Art Quilt

I have been playing with the idea of creating a 3-D art quilt for some time and this fabric called out to me to try it!

The fiery oranges and rusts are set off by the black silk and fibre that have come to remind me of a forest fire on a steep slope ... can you find the charred fir needles?

This is a three-sided vessel that is 13-1/2" tall and has a 6" base. The foundation fabric was created as a strip-pieced quilt which was then cut up and stitched together again as pieces that would eventually form a vessel.

The bottom is weighted with plastic pellets so that it doesn't tip over and there are numerous embellishment techniques that have been used on the surface. It is a delightful piece that has much potential.

This entry won a Juror's Choice award at the Shuswap Lake Festival of the Arts July 15th.

Silk Fusion "Turmoil"

This is a piece of silk fusion that I made from gorgeous silk fibres in orange and fuschia. The fibres are used to create a "paper" that can be stitched and embellished just like fabric . . . and in this case I have quilted it onto a base of black cotton so that the free motion stitching creates added texture. It has been further embellished by hand embroidery in some of the sections of the stitching and a drift of clear tangerine beads drifting across the surface.

It is mounted on a 16" x 20" canvas with the edges wrapped with the black cotton so that it will hang like a painting on your wall.

This piece will be entered in the Shuswap Lake Festival of the Arts next month.

Be sure to click on the photos to see more of the details.  SOLD

"The Threads of St. Mary's"

This is a banner that I designed and constructed in honour of the 100th Anniversary of St. Mary's Church, Sorrento, BC. It was dedicated on Easter Sunday, 2011.

Prior to the construction of this banner, parishioners and former parishioners were invited to donate a "thread" to be incorporated into the banner . . . some of these threads were as fine as a piece of sewing thread or fishing line, others were heavier pieces of rope and leather, while still other pieces were yarns or ribbons remaining from significant projects. Some threads were utilitarian while others were decorative. Pieces of each thread were incorporated into the cross on the banner, with some of the threads being clipped into pieces to form the foundation under the longer ripples of thread on the surface. In some cases, several threads were twisted together and then stitched with yet another thread to create a heavier cord to use on the surface. The cross itself has an aspect of the tree of life, with roots in many parts of the community. There are a few beads on the banner that accentuate the sky, hills and the cross itself. The banner measures 31" x 44".




The background of the banner has been pieced from a selection of hand-dyed fabrics and has been designed to represent the Sorrento area . . . the beautiful hills, mountains, lake, forests and fields. It has been quilted in free-motion designs to accent each component and many of the sections have been hand-embroidered with textural stitches that enhance the overall design. Light seems to filter down onto the hills and the lake from the cross. (I have included a smaller photo of the banner here that is darker in colour (perhaps closer to the true colours in the banner...all these photos still need work -- what else is new!)

The reverse side of the banner has the lettering for St. Mary's, Sorrento, so that when used as a processional banner, the name of the church will be visible after the banner passes the observer. The lettering is created from fabric that I hand-painted in a strong turquoise blue. A swag of additional threads can be looped onto the reverse side when it is used as a processional banner. . . I forgot to take a photo of the reverse of the banner with the swag of threads, so I'll add one later.

St. Mary's is a beautiful small church located right on the Trans Canada Highway and close to Shuswap Lake. The church started life as a log structure in 1911, built by the Anglican community; it has been a shared ministry between the Anglican and United Church community for the past forty years.

From Fallen Oak Leaves to Art Quilts

Last fall I spent some time picking up fallen oak leaves and acorns in Salmon Arm and I had a great time experimenting with the various ways these could be incorporated into art quilts.

I love working with hand-dyed fabrics and this beautiful light sage green piece is one that I'd saved for quite a while before the right project came along for it. I love the way that I was able to create a circle of oak leaves by rubbing the real leaves with dye sticks and then creating organza leaves from the same shapes and layering them in the centre of the quilt.

The stitching is a combination of hand embroidered seed stitches, with varying combinations of brown and green in the threads, and free motion machine quilting. The finishing touch is some beautiful hand-dyed and hand-spun yarn from a friend . . . with some of the acorns threaded onto the yarn. There are just a few clear beads stitched onto the quilt. Approximately 18" square.

Click on the images to enlarge them to see more detail.


The photo of the second quilt made in this manner is actually done on a piece of commercial batik and the leaves are arranged in such a way that the stitching around them created a bit of a heart shape . . . the pale gold colours have just a touch of rust and they swirl with a bit of bluish-grey to create a beautiful backdrop for the leaves. Approximately 16" x 20".

I will be teaching this as a workshop at Sun Peaks Resort in July 2011. www.sunpeaksresort.com

Two new silk bags and a special sunflower purse

I have been replenishing my stock of fibre art purses this week as I sold a good number of them over the past month or two. Two of the purses that I am showing today are constructed of silk and each has an area with free-motion quilting. The first purse is made of dupioni silk that is chartreuse in colour with just a little hint of magenta. The area that was quilted in black thread was then lightly brushed with charcoal textile paint to highlight the stitching. They are delightfully simple and elegant and will be appealing to someone who is going on a cruise or needs a bag to accent a special outfit.

I think that one of the delightful features of the yellow silk noile bag is that it could also be worn with casual attire as the soft nubbly silk will lend itself to being paired with denims as well. The stitching on this bag has been done in a beautiful variegated thread and the beads weigh the deep flaps closed for security.



The third purse is constructed of linen blend fabric that is a light putty colour. The big sunflower gives it a playful feel but it is still a purse that could be used in dressy situations as well. The lining fabric matches the sunflower on the flap.

There are further photos of these purses in my Etsy shop ... kathykinsella.etsy.com.

Thoughts of Valentine's Day

It is ages since I've posted anything here and it's certainly not that I haven't been busy . . . so here are a few of the Valentines that I have created this week. These ones are listed in my Etsy shop and I will also use them as samples for the card-making class I will be teaching in February.

The first card is red silk hearts on silver dupioni silk ... with free motion stitched hearts on the background . . . the hearts on the other two cards are made from fabric that I "created" from various fibres and then stitched to the background fabric.

Deacon's Stole

This stole has been created for a friend who will be ordained to the Diaconate in the Anglican Church this Sunday. The images on the stole are wheat and salt and have been created with free-motion thread painting . . . the wheat is stitched over two layers of organza and the long beard on the wheat is representative of durum wheat The dish of salt is stitched with a metallic thread and sharp angles on the stitches to represent the grains of salt.

The lower section of the stole, both front and back is pieced with a variety of white, ivory and gold fabrics and there are couched cords and hand embroidery accenting some of the pieces.

You can click on the images to zoom in for a closer look at the details.

More Spawning Salmon Art Quilts

It is now late September and fall is really in the air. The leaves on the trees are starting to change their colours and the air is decidedly cooler. The salmon are en route to their spawning grounds and already we are seeing the streams turn red from all the sockeye that are returning. It is so incredible to see how very red their body becomes and how the head is a true olive green. The best time to see them on the Adams River is October 2-24 when there is an abundance of salmon as well as lots of festivities celebrating the salmon. Roderick Haig Brown park, just across the Squilax bridge from the Trans Canada Highway is the place to go.

I couldn't stop at creating one spawning salmon art quilt this year so here are photos of two others.

This is a small art quilt (approximately 23 " x 11.5") with a background that is charcoal and black. The background is also hand stitched and beaded and the salmon has additional hand stitching. It has additional organza ripples and free motion machine stitching. This quilt is SOLD.


The next quilt is approximately 18" x 28" and it has been entirely free-motion machine quilted. It has been quilted quite densely and I am very pleased with the results. Be sure to click on the images to zoom in on the details . . .Many of the free motion designs used in this quilt were inspired by Leah Day (daystyledesigns.com) who has created and blogged over two hundred free motion designs that are posted on her website. What an incredibly talented person she is.

This art quilt won a Juror's Choice award at the Shuswap Lake Festival of the Arts in July 2011. SOLD

Spawning Salmon Art Quilt

2010 is the year of a big run of sockeye salmon that spawn in the Adams River, near our home. In October the river will be the scene of millions of these salmon that are returning to the river of their birth to lay their eggs. There is a salmon run every year . . . but every fourth year is a "dominant" run and this one is the biggest since 1913 with an estimate of 30 million sockeye spawning.

This art quilt has been made in honour of the salmon returning to the Adams River. The sockeye salmon becomes very red as it returns from the sea, the head becomes green and the shape changes. To see more about the salmon run click here.

This art quilt measures 19.5" x 27.5" and is constructed from synthetic crushed fabrics and dupioni silk that have a bit of sheen and iridescence that mimic the waters of the river and cottons that I have used to create the salmon and the rocks of the river bottom. The bright salmon eggs are laid in the gravel rock bed. This has been made using curved piecing as well as raw-edge applique to add some more texture to the water. There is hand embroidery and beading on the background as well as on the salmon and the tail-end of another salmon is ghost-stitched on the top left side.

If you click on the photo you will see more of the details of this piece.

UPDATED July 9, 2010: This art quilt has been awarded a "Juror's Choice" Award at the Shuswap Lake Festival of the Arts this week. This quilt is SOLD.

Horse Chestnut Leaf Art Quilt

This art quilt is made with hand painted fabric that I sun-printed with leaves and blossoms from my garden. I later used that fabric to produce a rubbing of a horse chestnut leaf from the beautiful tree outside my studio. If you are not familiar with horse chestnut trees, perhaps I should explain that their leaves are HUGE and the chestnuts that are produced must number in the tens of thousands on this one tree. So, you see, I have lots of reason to love and loathe the horse chestnuts :)

This art quilt showcases the rubbing of the horse chestnut leaf with machine quilting and hand stitching. The four small squares that hang below the leaf each have a chestnut stitched to them . . . from the prickly, spiny horse chestnut that is just opening to the remnant of the outer shell and the shiny chestnut within . . . the chestnuts at the upper loops have been drilled in order to hang like beads.

The edges of the quilt are finished with a handmade cord that I created and then couched to the outer edges. The same cord suspends the quilt from the wooden hanger which was purchased from Ten Thousand Villages.

This photo isn't the greatest (what else is new) but if you click on it, you can see the details more clearly.

Thanks for checking in to see my latest work.

Some of the purses that are in Calgary

I have left some of my purses and greeting cards, and even a few wall quilts on consignment in the Galleria in Calgary. Most of the purses I left have been in my Etsy shop on on this blog, but here are a few that had not been previously posted. My work has even posted on the Galleria's website which is a delight. Here's the link if you want to check it out www.calgarycraftedgifts.com. . . it is a wonderful place that carries a wide variety of high quality handmade stock and is now located on 9th Avenue SE in the Inglewood area of Calgary.

The black purse with the daisies stitched on it is a lovely soft linen and the daisies have beaded centres. I was having so much fun stitching the daisies that I re-created them on the aqua daisy purse that I posted yesterday.

The turquoise and brown bag is an Amy Butler fabric. It has lots of machine and hand quilting on it and is a really nice texture.

The third bag is one that I call Queen Anne's lace as that is the image I see in the variegated fabric. This is a MacKenna Ryan print that is subtle and distinctive at the same time. It is lined with a piece of my hand-painted fabric.

As always, these purses are my original design and are created by me in my smoke-free, pet-free, fragrance-free home studio :)

New purses for spring

After a busy week in Alberta I am back home and working on some new purses to re-build my inventory. It has been fun selecting some fabrics especially for spring and summer and then doing a bit of different embellishing.

You might recognize the fabric in the first purse . . . I have made several from this batik with the dark blue, tan and plum tones because it is so very versatile and I absolutely love it. Each of the purses I have made from it is a little different but they all can go from everyday wear to dressy casual with ease. I think this might have been the last piece so I'll have to find a new favourite. It has a lot of seed stitches on the back. . . The daisy purse doesn't show up too well in the photos but it has daisies hand-stitched on it with beaded centre . . . click on the photo to zoom in. . . The green purse has a luscious variegated green lining (the same fabric as I used for the base of the key fob) and blanket-stitched and beaded edging . . . there's lots of that on the purses I've created in the past couple of months. . . . the neutral batik print purse needs a new photo for sure as it is a beautiful restful fabric that will go from casual to dressy with ease.

I have made co-ordinating wristlet key fobs for some of the purses . . . I will wait and see if they are popular as an additional purchase or if they more frequently sell by themselves. I've just ordered more key fob hardware in a slightly smaller size so I'll try them out for the next few that I make.

Artist Trading Card - mounted for framing

This is one of my Artist Trading Cards that I have mounted on a buttery yellow parchment cardstock and matted in a dark green mat.

This ACEO (which means ‘Art Card Editions and Originals’) measure 2.5 x 3.5 inches and the card has a fabric backing which is signed and dated. It is mounted on archival double-sided tape so that it can be easily removed from the mat.

The ATC itself is a collage of green and black fabrics, fibres and threads and and some free motion stitching an hand beading. It has a thin metallic black cord couched around the outer edge. This can be framed in a plain black 8x10 frame or displayed on an easel, as in the photo.