Common Loon Quilts

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Improvised art quilt that depicts a bright flame with beams of light radiating outward. Caption stitched along the bottom reads “Burn not as the flame that destroys but as the light that illuminates a path forward.”

Close-up of text portion of quilt reading “Burn not as the flame that destroys but as the light that illuminates a path forward

Light a path forward.

Pain Map: Artist’s Statement — Common Loon Quilts I set out to document in quilt form a lifetime of pain experience. The result is Pain Map , a 24’ x 35” art quilt.

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New finish— “Oxbow” (41.5” x 52”)

“Arrange whatever pieces come your way:” Artist statement — Common Loon Quilts …We were charged with each bringing a piece of new fabric, a garment or otherwise repurposed fabric, a fabric not typically used in quilting, and some sort of notions or baubles. Thirty of us pooled o...

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New blog post! commonloonquilts.com/blog

Scrappy little stitch doodle.

Thank you! They are such amazing birds

Quilted decorative banner made with hexagons in shades of black and coral, some of which feature tiny raccoons.

“Trash Panda”- quilted banner made from secondhand fabric and scraps from my local creative re-use centre.

Book Feature: Worn — Common Loon Quilts Every now and then I come across a book that is so eye-opening it continues to rumble around in my mind long after I am done reading it. Worn: A People’s History of Clothing is just such a book. Aut...

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Behind the Blue Gown: Artist’s Statement — Common Loon Quilts Behind the Blue Gown is an experimental quilt expressing this experience of identity loss in a medical setting. Read on for my comprehensive artist’s statement for this piece.

commonloonquilts.com/blog/behind-...

Green and grey art quilt depicting a cluster of organic cells in the centre morphing into prison bars around the periphery

New art quilt—titled “Cells”
Tell me what this says to you.

Sampler quilt in shades of purples white and grays— held up for display on a snowy forest path

I’m starting a newsletter series on things that have influenced my quilting practice. If you want to receive the first instalment be sure to subscribe today at the link in my bio. Check my website to subscribe. commonloonquilts.com

I was the only Canadian in a group of Americans, and someone joked in passing about “the 51st state.” I know it was said in good humour, but my inner reaction was the same as when someone says something misogynistic or homophobic and then brushes it off as “just a joke.” It’s not funny.

Small quilt on a background of brown and orange batik. The quilt spells out a poem in words clipped from selvedge scraps. The poem reads: Legend. For years the city lights silhouetted forgotten life. We won over the division with sweet basics, original angles, small things crafted with pride, pure delight. We made friends to create freedom. We are the difference.

My writer self and my quilt self crashed into each other and the result was a poem made from selvedge scraps

Pierre Poilievre has racked up endorsements from a who's who of fascists, fraudsters and alt-right influencers Pierre Poilievre has racked up endorsements from Trumpists, fascists, alt-right influencers and disinformation specialists — concerning.

The vast majority of Canadians don’t trust the opinions of Jordan Peterson, Elon Musk and Joe Rogan — all of whom bait incels with misinformation.

Pierre Poilievre has racked up endorsements from a who’s who of fascists, fraudsters & alt-right influencers | @mtltoula.bsky.social

This is wild. I keep picturing it from the whale’s perspective— “So then this thing flew into my mouth and i nearly choked before managing to spit it out😝”

Portuguese editorial cartoonist Zez Vaz reaches back to Tiananmen Square to call on American defiance.

Book feature: Let’s Move the Needle — Common Loon Quilts “Craftivism” is a new name for something that has likely existed as long as humans have crafted. Artists are moved to create because they have things to express, and often the things they need and wan...

New post on my blog— first in a new series of book features commonloonquilts.com/blog/book-fe...

Three small art quilts on a gallery wall

I’ve added a brief CV of my past exhibits to my website—come check it out—https://commonloonquilts.com/new-page-1

Close up shot of the edge of a bright yellow quilt backing with red and orange striped binding, as a sewing machine is stitching on a label that reads “Made Especially for you by Anna Schmidt

The trouble with finishing making a gift is you have to wait so long to show it off😉

A brown pottery bowl sits on a hand stitched table runner of scrap fabric in hexagon shapes and assorted shades of greens. The overlaid text says “shop will re-open in January”

My web shop reopens this evening! commonloonquilts.com?fbclid=PAZXh...

This is a good piece on qualified hope, eyes-wide-open hope, realistic hope.

Screen shot of the opening of a blog post titled “Why Art Quilts?” illustrated with a picture of an art quilt of pink tendrils on a backdrop of blue waves

New blog post on my website. commonloonquilts.com/blog/evolve-...

Michael’s. (I’m in Canada)

This is what I use for smaller a scraps. If you leave off the back drawer anchors you can lift each drawer out and carry it over to your work surface.

Quilt-as-you-go blocks based on illustrations from an Advent/Christmas worship program from Sanctified Art.

Stunning quilt!

One thing that helped a lot is setting meeting times as we go based on people’s availability, rather than sticking to an arbitrary schedule. We also made a conscious decision to scale back on the refreshments because it was becoming too onerous to host.

I started a book club when I had my first baby. Said baby will be 31 in February and the book club is still going strong. The secret is in being willing to evolve. Over the years we have changed members, experimented with different approaches to selecting books, changed up when and how we meet.