Joan Reive

Joan Reive was our guest speaker for the 2007 Year End Banquet. Turning 77 this year, Joan is an example of living life to the fullest. Born in Edmonton and then growing up in Saskatchewan in what she called the 'dirty thirties', she was bitten by the artistic bug at an early age. She always wanted to go to art school but in those days, she had to settle for art by correspondence school, where she learned the basics. Her first job was as a telephone operator, too monotonous, she thought, better to join the air force and see the world! In life's little ironies, the air force sent her to Saskatoon to work as a teletype operator! But it was through the airforce that she met her husband in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba and subsequently had 5 children. After living on many airbases they were eventually sent to Trenton, Ontario, where living on a base and taking care of 5 children, made her realize her creative side was in need of nourishment. There she took many art classes, and soon she was working at a couple of area retirement homes as an activity director. There she arranged quilting activities with the residents. Soon her quilting and her art background merged into fibre art. At one point she belonged to 3 area guilds, taking as many workshops as possible as well as teaching a few of her own.

She turned some of her paintings into quilts. Her favourite spot for landscape painting was Bridgewater. Below, Cynthia and Joan pose a sample of one of her 'Bridgewater Quilts'.

Later, Joan became fascinated with colourwash, creating pictures from 2 inch squares. She made so many of these quilts, she ruined her hands from cutting out all those little pieces.

Joan continues to learn new techniques in fibre art and never stops taking workshops. She has experimented with pieced applique, crazy quilts, applique using tulle, to name a few. (To see a few more photos of Joan's work, I've posted the rest of the photos on flickr.) She recommends that all quilters take basic art courses in colour and design.

​Joan is planning on attending Quilt Canada 2008 in St. John's, Newfoundland where she will be offering a workshop there. She is currently working on a book entitled The Quilted Landscape and is in the process of finding a publisher. The woman never stops! What an inspiration!

The London Freindship Quilters Guild would like to thank Joan Reive for sharing her life stories, showing us her amazing quilts, and inspiring us to think beyond the nine-patch!

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Other business:
Don't forget quilters, that this blog will be hosting an on-line show and tell, called My First Quilt (see previous post below). Please email me photos and stories of your First Quilt and I will post them on the blog throughout the summer.

Also if you have any quilting problems or questions that need answering, just ask Sun Bonnet Sue and she will post the Q & A on the blog.