Handmade in the Hills

A Sentimental Journey

In her new Orangeville sewing studio, Maudlin, owner Chelsea Bullock has found a creative way to honour the blood, sweat and tears stitched into the hockey jerseys many families have stored away. Rather than letting them gather dust, she carefully stitches them together into custom handmade memory quilts. “Hockey jerseys are expensive and they hold a lot of meaning, but people don’t know what to do with them,” says Bullock. “I take those sentimental pieces and turn them into something new that people can enjoy, that doesn’t get stored away.”

Bullock also converts pre-loved shirts, sweaters and other clothing into memory items like teddy bears and cushions, and teaches sewing classes at the studio. (Custom memory quilt, price ranges from $670 to $940 depending on size, shopmaudlin.ca)

For the Holistic Home

When it comes to ingredients, less is definitely more according to Andrea Rideout, the creator of Grand Valley’s Lavish Earth products. Her small-batch, hand-poured soy candles come in scents including Canadian maple syrup, oak barrel apple cider, orange ginger, and coffee cake and spice. They feature wooden wicks that crackle softly as they burn.

Rideout, who has a background in biological science and holistic health care, describes herself as an “ingredient nerd” who tests every product herself. Order online or find Lavish Earth at local retailers including Orangeville Flowers and More Than Just Baskets in Orangeville, Rusty Truck Trading in Mono, and the Village Green Florist in Erin. (10-ounce crackling wooden wick soy candle, $28, lavish-earth.ca) 

Playing with Fire

For her raku stoneware Mulmur potter Jackie Warmelink finds inspiration in a wide range of places, including hosta and rhubarb leaves, intricate lace patterns and tropical fish. Warmelink adds a copper matte glaze during the raku process, where pottery is heated to 1,000 C in a gas kiln, and then moved to a chamber containing combustibles such as sawdust, leaves, pine needles and bark, which instantly catch fire.

The result is an unpredictable array of coppers, purples, reds and blues to almost gold, while any unglazed part turns black – rendered in decorative bowls, platters and pieces mounted on driftwood. (Fiery fish raku on driftwood, $120, seagreen fish, $90, jackiewarmelinkpotter.com)

SOURCES

Maudlin, 234 Broadway, Orangeville. shopmaudlin.ca 

Jackie Warmelink, Mulmur. 519-217-6718. jackiewarmelinkpotter.com

Lavish Earth, Grand Valley. lavish-earth.ca

Orangeville Flowers, 121 First St., Orangeville. 519-941-2592. orangevilleflowers.ca 

More Than Just Baskets, 85 Broadway, Orangeville. 519-307-4438. morethanjustbaskets.ca 

Rusty Truck Trading, 793247 3rd Line EHS, Mono. 519-941-8651. rustytrucktrading.com 

The Village Green Florist, 120 Main St., Erin. 519-833-9991. villagegreenerin.com