Dianne Birnie - 2007-2011
Dianne can always remember sewing; even at an early age she was making doll clothes. She loved Home Ec during high school and carried on sewing clothes for herself and others into her 20’s. After having two children she kept herself busy making clothes for the whole family.
Around 1983 she made a baby quilt for a new nephew using what quilters call ‘a cheater cloth’ but Dianne tried free motion quilting the project and the quilt is still around today!
The Double O Quilters Guild started in 1988 and Dianne made a ‘shoo fly block’ under the direction of Donna Pringle. She was hooked! Dianne has taken many quilting classes, watched quilting TV shows, and read many magazines and books on quilting, but she says she is mostly self-taught. Dianne was mostly a ‘traditional’ quilter but did like the three dimensional effect she could get by manipulating fabric.
When the Fabricators Fibre Art Group asked her if she was interested in joining their group, with an emphatic “yes” she started venturing out into fibre art. The Fabricators are always pushing to unknown heights and Dianne is there ready to take up the challenge.
Her work has received many awards at Double O Quilt shows and Oliver’s Community Art Shows. Dianne’s work was recently shown as part of the Fabricator’s exhibit at The Canadian Quilters Association Show in Calgary, and in displays at the Penticton and Grand Forks Art Galleries and Oliver’s own Handworks Gallery. Watch for her work in the upcoming Fabricator’s exhibit at the Summerland Art Gallery, Aug. 12th – Sept. 25th.
Around 1983 she made a baby quilt for a new nephew using what quilters call ‘a cheater cloth’ but Dianne tried free motion quilting the project and the quilt is still around today!
The Double O Quilters Guild started in 1988 and Dianne made a ‘shoo fly block’ under the direction of Donna Pringle. She was hooked! Dianne has taken many quilting classes, watched quilting TV shows, and read many magazines and books on quilting, but she says she is mostly self-taught. Dianne was mostly a ‘traditional’ quilter but did like the three dimensional effect she could get by manipulating fabric.
When the Fabricators Fibre Art Group asked her if she was interested in joining their group, with an emphatic “yes” she started venturing out into fibre art. The Fabricators are always pushing to unknown heights and Dianne is there ready to take up the challenge.
Her work has received many awards at Double O Quilt shows and Oliver’s Community Art Shows. Dianne’s work was recently shown as part of the Fabricator’s exhibit at The Canadian Quilters Association Show in Calgary, and in displays at the Penticton and Grand Forks Art Galleries and Oliver’s own Handworks Gallery. Watch for her work in the upcoming Fabricator’s exhibit at the Summerland Art Gallery, Aug. 12th – Sept. 25th.
