Bill Stearman, Quilt Maker

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