Bill Stearman, Quilt Maker

I'm feeling very grateful to have two of my quilts featured in the current issue (issue 51) of A Needle Pulling Thread  magazine. It is currently available online, but should be in stores soon!                                  

Congratulations! Your quilt The Power of One: Gender Fluidity (1328) has been selected for QuiltCon 2020 Artist Statement: We have a responsibility to act on social injustices. Trans folk are among the most 'at risk' individuals in our community. With your voice, that can change. Speak up for trans rights. Be inclusive of your trans neighbours. Challenge transphobia. Spread love with your smile. We all share the same world. We all have the same basic needs. And we all have the same basic rights!

These three patterns are currently available for on-line purchase ... It's a Breeze It's a Slippery Slope For Baby and Me The cost is $12 each, including shipping. Payment via e-transfer, or PayPal. b.stearman@hotmail.com They are also available at the following quilt shops Keystone Modern Creative , in Winnipeg, Manitoba Fun With Stitches , in Belleville, Ontario

Panic Attack Panic attacks seem to have become a thing for me ... tightness in my chest, a shortness of breath, and a general panic about … basically nothing. It seems they often accompany ADHD and Depression. Mine are rare, and I'm dealing with them. But they are real. This is what mine feel like.

ADHD Shifts (and yes, that IS the colour of negative space for me) 59” x 63” I have been blessed to live my life with ADHD. But this quilt actually speaks to 'Age Related ADHD' ... you know, when you go to the kitchen for something, and come back an hour later having made cookies, cleaned the stove, dried the dishes ... but without the coffee that you set out to get in the first place! Age Related ADHD is equally real, but much less of a blessing. 😊

  Rise Up: A Tribute to Successful Women In an industry where most of the end users are women, a disproportionate percentage of the folks at the top are men. This quilt is a tribute to a few of the many successful women who influence my quilting world. These include; American fabric designer, Victoria Findlay Wolfe; Australian fabric designer, Kathy Doughty; my long arm quilter, Deanna Gaudaur; and Geraldine Rorabeck, who ran Picton Fabric World on Main Street in Picton for 42 years.

The Power of One: Gender Fluidity We have a responsibility to act on social injustices. Trans folk are among the most 'at risk' individuals in our community. With your voice, that can change. Speak up for trans rights. Be inclusive of your trans neighbours. Challenge transphobia. Spread love with your smile. We all share the same world. We all have the same basic needs. And we all have the same basic rights!

Be a Man: Reflections on Masculinity, Part One I hated Gym class, especially the change room. Guys parading around wearing only jockstraps, flicking each other with towels. They knew how to 'man up'. Me, changing in the darkest corner, not so much. For years, the jockstrap represented my fear that I'd never be a man. Now, I understand the myth of manning up, and I am man enough! The jockstrap has a new role in my community for play rather than sport. And I'm comfortable with that.

I am pretty excited to have a quilt accepted into the International Quilt Festival in Houston. Here's the first part of the letter I received ... "Congratulation! Sapphire Celebration! Dear Bill, Congratulations ! Your quilt 'I Wish I Had a River' has been selected for inclusion in the special exhibit 'Sapphire Celebration'. This year was a difficult year for the jurors because so many beautiful quilts were submitted." Feeling proud.

'Going Home ...' 64" x 84" Hand guided free motion longarm quilting by  Deanna Gaudaur The fabric is all designed by my friend  Victoria Findlay Wolfe .  Her Neurals Line, which is much of this quilt is available in store or online  Picton Fabric World Designed and improv pieced while staying in our cabin overlooking the Huon Valley, in Tasmania. Artist Statement Going home … At the end of a day ... relaxing From being away … welcoming After leaving home … enveloping To hang out with friends … enjoying For holidays and celebrations … embracing To Mom's cooking … appreciating With new loves … adoring To aging loved ones … cherishing To parents who are failing … caring For their final days … wishing After they are gone … longing When it has been emptied … remembering Going home …

‘Rise Up: Celebrating the Women Who Teach, Inspire, Mentor, Motivate, and Encourage Me as a Quilt Maker’ Colourful fabric is Kathy Doughty’s Seeds and Stems Line.  Background is Victoria Findlay Wolfe’s Neutrals Line, which I purchased from Geraldine Rorbeck at Picton Fabric World.  And fabulously quilted by Deanna Gaudaur Of Quinte Studios. Double Disappearing Nine Patch Variation

Close friends, who are like family, recently had a beautiful baby boy, Emmett, enter their lives recently.   I used my own pattern, For Baby and Me to make this quilt.   The fabric is by a fabulous Australian designer and friend, Kathy Doughty. I LOVE her sense of colour and play! Emmett has a big sister, Hudson, who was already around when her dad joined the family, so she never did get a quilt from me!   I didn't want her feeling left out, so I grabbed a bag of fabric left over from other projects and made this for her.

“Be A Man": Reflections on Masculinity, Part One Artist’s Statement I hated high school Gym class, especially the change room.  I remember the Jocks who paraded confidently around the room wearing only their jockstrap, flicking each other with towels.  They knew how to ‘man up’. Me, changing in the darkest corner I could find … not so much … and I was told so constantly. For years, the jockstrap was a reminder of my fear that I’d never be a ‘man’. Now, I understand the myth of ‘manning up’, and I know that I am ‘man enough’! And the jockstrap has a new role in my community … not so much for sport, but rather for play. I’m comfortable with that. NOTE: I dyed all of the fabric for this quilt.  The background construction is a Double Disappearing Nine Patch Variation.   Along with the blue background, it includes colours from both the gay pride and the trans pride flags. Quilted by Deanna Gaudaur, quintestudios.com  .

While we were away, another baby entered our circle ... Oliver. This fabric is 50 Shades of Hay and the pattern is my own 'For Baby and Me'. I LOVE how quilts puff up once they are washed!! :-) Quilted by Deanna Gaudaur, quintestudios.com

This quilt is based on the tile pattern in the men's washroom at Vancouver International Airport. It speaks to the notion that without all of us who don't quite fit ... the misfits ,,, life would be boring. Imagine this quilt without the red and tan bits! They represent us, the misfits, and they/we make it all interesting! Quilted by Deanna Gaudaur, quintestudios.com

I made a video as an introduction to my BackPack Show at Quilt Canada. I think that it is pretty cool. The Music is called 'Grateful'. It is by Nimo and from their 'Empty Hands' CD.

I'm so bad at keeping this blog up to date.  Facebook and Instagram I do OK with.  But this blog!!  I am going to work at it! First off, here are the three quilts that I had juried into Quilt Canada ... Reflections of the Sydney Opera House I love the Sydney Opera House. And I love this iconic view of the sails of the Opera House. To me, this view captures the grandeur of this building, as it reflects over Sydney Harbour, and into the hearts and minds of visitors from all corners of the world. The ‘water’ is my own hand dyed indigo fabric.  The ‘sails’ are from fabric designed by Australian, Shauna Scicluna.  Jorn Utzon, the designer of the Opera House said that his design was inspired by the ‘simple act of peeling an orange’, so the orange fabric colour seemed perfect. Surviving January Resolutions. Plans. But I’m stuck. Starting. Starting again. And again. Until I can’t. Fighting to stay happy; to see the Light; to know that I

Just look at these pictures and tell me that you don't see inspiration for quilts!  The lines.  The patterns. The colour. Queen Victoria Building, Sydney Opera House Outdoor Restaurants  ... above and below National Museum of Australia  ... exterior above ... interior below

Each year, the Canadian Quilters' Association , in conjunction with Quilt Canada , our national quilt show, holds a National Juried Show . I've been a quiltmaker for the last five years and enter the show annually.  In my first year, 2015, I got a quilt juried into the show as a finalist. In 2016 and 2017 I got 'rejection' letters.  Yes that really is what the heading on the email says! In 2018, I had three quilts juried into the show as finalists, and won a third place for one of them. This year, 2019, I again have three quilts juried into the show.  I got word of this while I was in Tasmania and I was so excited!!! This year, they have asked that we not share our finalist quilts on social media and gave us this 'badge' to use instead. So ... here goes! I've pasted it here three times, 'cause I'm pretty happy to have three finalists.  Although I had none in for two years, I'm still averaging seven quilts juried as finalis

One of reasons for staying in one place for five weeks was so that Larry and I could tap into the amazing energy of the area! It worked! We travelled lots AND I still managed to get five quilt tops pretty much done in five weeks. Larry, I'm sure averaged over 1000 photographs a week. It was a wonderful stay! The first quilt was a test of my own 'For Baby and Me' quilt pattern.  The pattern is dead-on and ready to be published! It is a gift for Oliver.  Oliver is the son of the kid who used to work for me when I had my farm.  Hard for me to fathom how Matt grew old enough to have his second kid ... while I have stayed exactly as I was ... LOL 'For Oliver' ... finished photo to follow. \ The next one was a test of another one of my patterns "It's a Slippery Slope'.   I changed the colourway from the original white background and used a Canadian themed fabric line.   As I worked with Canadian themed fabric, while bask

Tasmania!! This is the third year in a row that we've spent time in Australia.    The first year we stayed five weeks and only spent a week in Tasmania. The second year, we stayed in Australia for six weeks and spent three weeks in Tasmania. This year, we spent February and March 'Down Under' with six of those weeks in Tasmania. There is a pattern ... :-)   We spent five weeks this year staying in a beautiful wee cabin over looking the Huon Valley, near Cygnet. The family who own the cabin have become friends and we feel absolutely at home in this space. The views were stunning.   Above is a view of a sunset from our cabin. Below is a view of the fog burning off of the valley below.   Down the road was what I'd consider to be a dream farm ... a beautiful Jersey cow, who shared her pasture with her calf, her yearling heifer, about six sheep, and a bunch of free range chickens.  All this on a small acreage that slope down to the Huon River.

This quilt was just too much fun to make! I used 5" squares purchased as a sample pack to highlight the colours in the Painter's Palette solids line.  I LOVE the hand of this fabric. The black is Colorworks Black, by Northcott Fabrics. It also has a wonderful hand. Here is the quilt as it grew on my design wall. Then it went to my long arm quilter, Deanna Gaudaur, quintestudios.com  . Her husband, Mike Gaudaur, quintestudios.com  photographed it for me. Artist Statement: Surviving January Resolutions. Plans. But I’m stuck. Starting. Starting again. And again. Until I can’t. Fighting to stay happy; to see the Light; to know that I’m OK. Always trying. Using words to convince myself. ‘Life is good. Life is good!’ Until I believe that it is. And I survive another January.