Quilting Arts

You’re Invited To A New Retreat for Artistic Expression

Quilting Daily — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:13:00 GMT

Big news! We're starting a new retreat celebrating artistic expression through mixed media, and you're invited.

Join me and Cloth Paper Scissors Editor Jenn Mason for CREATE with Cloth Paper Scissors Mixed Media Retreat, August 25-29, 2010, in Rosemont, Illinois--just outside of bustling Chicago.

We'll have more than 60 workshops-from Fabric Fusion to Mixed-Media Jewelry, taught by some of the most sought-after artists and teachers in the country, plus a chance to meet and mingle, get inspiration, and shop for the coolest supplies and most current artwork.

We can't spill all the beans yet, but Jenn agreed to give you a sneak peek of what's in store for you at this exciting new experience through this little question-and-answer session.

Pokey: So, Jenn, tell us, what does CREATE stand for?
Jenn: Creative Retreat for Energy, Art, Transformation, and Excitement. I think that sums it up pretty well.

Pokey: What makes CREATE different from other retreats?
Jenn: Because Cloth Paper Scissors already has a great community filled with readers, artists, authors, and online members, CREATE is an opportunity to meet and/or reconnect with other like-minded people. We're all about spreading the mixed-media love. And because cloth is a big part of our magazine, there will be a focus on it that is sometimes missing at other mixed-media art retreats.

Pokey: Can you give everyone just a glimpse into the class offerings? For example, what are you teaching?
Jenn: We're still finalizing the schedule but I can tell you that we'll be offering both six-hour and three-hour workshops that cover collage, assemblage, art journaling, surface design, metal working, and a whole lot more. I'm looking forward to teaching both a Background Bonanza workshop where we'll take a look at all types of background techniques, as well as a gelatin printing workshop for creating wonderful pieces of art on both paper and fabric. And I heard someone is going to be teaching an all-day Printapalooza...someone who has a serious addiction to Thermofax screens.

Pokey: Hmmm...who could that be? Don't forget the Artist's Faire. Tell everyone what that's about.
Jenn: On Friday night we'll be opening the doors to an amazing night of shopping. There will be vendors selling all sorts of art supplies, tools, found objects, and unique finished artwork.

Pokey: It's going to be a creative, inspirational blast. Where should people go to sign up for event updates?
Jenn: They should visit the CREATE website at clothpaperscissorsretreat.com and sign up for email updates. As soon as we have more details, we'll post them there. But for right now, they should mark their calendars and start packing!

That's right, mark your calendar now for CREATE with Cloth Paper Scissors, August 25-29, 2010. And be sure to check the website for updates.

Spring Into a Fresh Batik Technique

Quilting Daily — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:46:00 GMT

I saw the most beautiful thing when I came home from "Quilting Arts TV" taping last week. Not only had all of the snow melted while I was away, but a small patch of bright green moss shimmered among the dull brown weeds on the hill behind my home. This spot of emerald was the first sign of spring I'd seen this season.

Green is my absolute favorite color and I surround myself with it. The walls in my bedroom are painted avocado green, so it's the first color that greets me when I wake, and I've set my computer desktop to green so it's the color I stare at most throughout the day. In my studio at night I have a tendency to print and dye fabrics some shade of kiwi or apple, and my fattest stash of commercial fabrics? You guessed it: all shades of green.

No wonder St. Patrick's Day is one of my favorite holidays (and not just because I'm part Irish). It celebrates everything green represents: warmer and longer days ahead, the promise of a blossoming garden very soon, and an overall celebration of creativity.

A few days ago when I was in a particularly creative mood, I decided to batik fabrics using a flour paste resist process Jane Dunnewold demonstrated on the "QATV" set last week. It's also a process on her upcoming Quilting Arts Workshop DVD, Screen Printing Sampler: 4 Fun & Innovative Ways to Make Artful Cloth. Of course, I dyed mine in shades of green

This is a simple yet satisfying process. Here's an overview:

Mix 1 cup ordinary while flour with 1 cup cold water (not hot, or the paste will be gluey) and stir until the lumps are gone.
Pour the paste over the top of your fabric. Spread it over the fabric with a squeegee. Make sure you haven't missed any spots.
At this point, you can let the paste dry thoroughly, and it will form a simple crackle. Or, you can use a skewer to draw designs in the paste, then let dry.
When the paste has dried completely, gently scrunch the fabric up, crackling the hardened paste.
Apply a coat of thinned black (or other color--I used green here) textile or craft paint over the flour surface, working it into the cracks (or design) and let the paint dry completely.
Wait at least 24 hours for the paint to set, then soak the fabric in warm water until the paste dissolves. Wash in the washing machine to fully remove the paste (you don't need detergent).
Dry in the dryer and press with a hot iron. Use as is, add more paint, or over-dye.

For a more detailed description of the process, see the February/March 2008 issue of Quilting Arts Magazine, now available on CD as part of the 2008 Quilting Arts CD Collection, and look for Jane's Quilting Arts Workshop^TM video coming soon.

Send us your Stitching Questions

pippapatchwork — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:35:00 GMT

Here at Quilting Arts, we’ve been thinking quite a bit about stitching, a natural component of nearly all art quilters’ work. Whether you’re a machine quilter, hand stitcher, or both, you've probably stumbled upon a few needle-and-thread quandaries at some point during your art making process.

Do you have any stitch-related questions that you’d like to ask your fellow art quilters? They could be about technique, materials, design—you name out. If so, leave a comment. We’d love to help you out!

Make It University/Chicago Countdown

Pokey — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:58:00 GMT

International Quilt Festival/Chicago commences April 16 in Rosemont, IL, and Yours Truly is counting down the days.

If you haven't heard of Make It University!(TM), it's a hands-on area that takes place right on the show floor in the vendor area and is open to everyone who comes to the show. It's a great place to learn about new techniques for art quilting and mixed media, meet artists, ask questions, make new friends, and trade your art with others.

At Make It University!(TM), we have an exciting and diverse line-up of artists teaching workshops and demonstrating techniques in Open Studios, and a variety of vendors offering art quilt and mixed-media supplies. We are also expanding our Artist Trading Card (ATC) exchange to trading fabric postcards, small art quilts, Inchies, mixed-media pendants, collages…virtually any art you’d like to create and trade. Dubbed “The Trading Post,” it’s open during show hours and there is no limit to the number of items you can create and trade. Want to make and trade 30 fabric postcards for other items? Get busy making them and bring them to the show!

One of my fondest memories thus far from Make It University! took place last year in Chicago when for Saturday night's “Surviving the Runway,” we hosted our mixed-media 80’s prom. Thanks to the fact that a number of people were willing to set aside their egos and be utterly silly for 90 minutes, it really was hilarious.

Check out this video, and take note of the innocent bystander who got pulled into a “Footloose” dance:

(Please visit the site to view this media)

I am certain the fun will continue for this next “Surviving the Runway” on Saturday night where we’re going back to the 60’s, and I have some incredible prizes to give away: fabric stashes, a box of Auriful threads, containers of fabric paints, quilting books, DVDs, and more.

So come join us.

The Make It University!(TM) schedule can be found here, and we will continue to update it with our Open Studios schedule and images of artwork.

Poetry spools by Kelli Perkins

See you in Chicago!

Become our Fan on Facebook!

pippapatchwork — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:28:00 GMT

I have a confession: I was one of very few individuals to survive their four years as a college undergraduate without having a Facebook account. There’s really no good reason for this other than the fact that I simply never got around to making one. However, when Pokey used ‘to Facebook’ as a verb on my second day at work—and when my parents and grandmother got Facebook accounts before I did—I decided it was probably time to hop on the bandwagon.

Admittedly, I’m still getting my Facebook sea legs, but its many benefits are quickly becoming apparent. The biggest perk is that it is another fantastic way to connect with the Quilting Arts community. As a Facebook fan of Quilting Arts, you have the opportunity to connect with your fellow quilt artists, ask questions, view other’s work, stay up-to-date on the latest QA news, and check out behind-the-scenes videos and photos from some of our photo shoots and TV tapings.

So, if you aren’t one already, become a fan of Quilting Arts by visiting our Facebook page. It’s yet another fabulous way to connect with the QA community. I hope to see you there!

How To Make A Quilt Shine With Metal

Quilting Daily — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:55:00 GMT

I'm pretty sure that when most people think about how to make a quilt, "metal" isn't the first thing that pops into their mind. But there are so many ways you can incorporate metal into your quilts and wall hangings, adding texture, dimension, shine, and that element of surprise.

Here are just a few ideas:

Wire:

Bend metal wire into shapes or images and couch or hand-stitch them onto your quilt to create a design.
Add jewels or found objects to your wire shapes to make unique embellishments.
Weave wires alone or with fibers and/or beads to create "cloth" that can be bent or shaped.

Foils:

Fabric foils come in a variety of colors and are easily applied with a specially formulated adhesive.
Apply adhesive to a rubber stamp with a clear, bold image (not finely etched). Press onto fabric, and apply the foil.
Create foil motifs by placing a stencil over the area you wish to foil, applying the adhesive to the fabric through the stencil, and rubbing the foil over the glued area.
Use paper-backed fusible webbing to apply foil fast. Cut or tear the web into the desired shape and iron onto the fabric, leaving the top protective paper in place. Remove the paper and press the foil to the fusible web with a hot, dry iron, burnishing with the edge of the iron.

Screens and mesh:

Metal mesh and screening can be printed on, stitched, and embellished to add texture to a quilt.
With patina solution, you can change the color of the mesh in interesting, unpredictable ways, adding yet another layer of dimension.

Metal sheeting (craft metal or shim):

Emboss metal with engraving tools, rubbing plates, or found textures.
Add paint or ink to embossed metal to create even more depth, color, and interest.
Stitch through metal to add texture and to apply the metal directly to your fiber art.

Found objects:
Everything from rusty roadside debris to gleaming hardware store finds can be attached to a quilt, providing a unique texture or focal point.

Incorporating metal into your quilting and fiber art is easy and the ideas are limitless. However, you do have to adhere to some guidelines to make it work. For example, you will need extra support on the back of your quilt if you want to attach heavy pieces of metal. And you should always wear protective glasses and gloves when cutting metal. If you machine stitch metal, use a heavy duty needle and go very slowly.

We've had several articles demonstrating how to meld metal with fiber in Quilting Arts. But I really learned a lot about working with metal while watching Mary Hettmansperger tape her hour-long Quilting Arts Workshop^TM video, Metal Embellishments: Incorporating Wire, Mesh, Metal Sheeting, & More into Fiber Art, for release this spring. Beryl Taylor demonstrates working metal into fiber art in her Layer By Layer Workshop video and Lyric Kinard shows how to design with foil in her QA Workshop, Surface Design Sampler Platter. But Mary's video is the first Workshop dedicated to metal work on art quilts.

We shot Mary's video (along with a Quilting Arts Workshop with Jane Dunnewold and a Cloth Paper Scissors Workshop with Susie Monday) while on set taping Season 6 of "Quilting Arts TV."

You can read all about this lively taping--with pictures--on my Editor's blog.

6 FREE Patchwork Quilt Projects for Contemporary Quilts

Quilting Daily — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:26:00 GMT

Patchwork and quilting go hand in hand. But these days patchwork quilts, once the province of traditional quilters, have become a big piece of the contemporary art quilter's repertoire, too.

Today's quilters are applying their outside-the-square attitude to patchwork quilts and patchwork projects, turning patchwork quilting techniques literally inside-out, making quilt projects that involve fabric painting and create cutting-edge wearable art with patchwork and quilting techniques.

Knowing how popular patchwork is, we're offering you this FREE downloadable eBook, How to Make a Quilt: 6 FREE Patchwork Quilt Projects for Contemporary Quilts, that gives you six ways to use patchwork patterns.

In two projects Malka Dubrawsky shows you how to make a small patchwork quilt. In her "Inside-out Mini Quilt" project, she turns Log Cabin quilt patterns inside-out for a distinctive, contemporary look. In her "Hexagon Mini Quilt" project, Malka demonstrates how to make a quilt from hexagon-shaped patches, using bright, contemporary prints.

Two patchwork scarf techniques are included in this free book: You get Malka's directions for turning fabric scraps into a modern scarf using patchwork piecing and a free quilt pattern. And Vivika Hansen Denegre shows you how to make a contemporary scarf using Japanese fabrics.

Finally, combine recycling with patchwork and quilting with two projects. Jeannie Palmer Moore turns men's ties into patchwork quilts unlike any you've ever seen, and Annette Morgan teaches you how to revive a cast-off quilt by painting it, cutting it up, and reassembling it patchwork-style.

Each of these techniques is fun and easy to do--and they're all just a free download away. Start making contemporary patchwork projects today. Download your free eBook, How to Make a Quilt: 6 FREE Patchwork Quilt Projects for Contemporary Quilts now.

It's a wrap! Just returned from QA TV Series 6 TV taping

Pokey — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 13:57:00 GMT

Above: Diane Nunez's dimensional fabric flowers

Five days, 39 segments, and 13 episodes later, Season Six of Quilting Arts TV is born. A number of very talented guests joined me this season:

Jane Dunnewold was back to dazzle us with two surface design/ resist techniques and to tape her hour-long QA Workshop DVD.

Even goddesses like Jane need a little touch up now and then.

In the green room from left to right: Julie Fei Fan Balzer, Jane Dunnewold, Jane's friend Mary, and Karen Fricke.

Karen Fricke who has written a number of articles for Quilting Arts and Quilting Arts GIFTS, taped an in-depth and tip-filled segment on machine thread sketching.

The ever-smiling and bubbly Jeanne Delpit of Bernina gives me a pep talk before I begin taping all of my opens (which I usually tape one after the other, making for a lot of wardrobe changes in just a couple of hours).

Here are some of the behind-the-scenes folks we have to thank for making QA TV happen. The folks in the control room from left to right: Alan Perry (sound), producer Kathie Stull, and Mike Murphy (director).

I love how the tables are turned. Here sits managing editor Helen Gregory getting all dolled up in the make-up room. Helen made her QA TV debut this season, taping three segments with me. We have a good friendship and I think our camaraderie came off well on camera.

Julie Fei-Fan Balzer taped a couple of very colorful, mixed-media segments.

Art quilter Liz Berg joined me to show how to create abstract quilts from photographs, and to also act as a design expert for one of our "Save My UFO!" segments.

I'm gloved, smocked, and ready to tape my deconstructed screen printing technique. I adore this process (thank you Kerr Grabowski!) and was excited to share this with the PBS audience.

Above Liz Kettle and I get ready to tape her technique on free-form machine and hand embroidery using water-soluble stabilizers.

And here's Terry Grant, maker of those fabulous fabric birds that don the cover of International Quilt Festival: Quilt Scene. Terry did a terrific job, even taping three separate segments with us.

Lindsey Mason showed us how to make stitched and embellished slippers. They are so adorable (and easy). Now I know what to make my mom for Mother's Day!

The shots below require some explaining. Kathy Mack (who has been our Quilting Arts GIFTS cover girl twice and is the designer of the Winslow Market Tote on the cover of International Quilt Festival: Quilt Scene) kicks off this season with the very first segment of the first episode. Understandably, I wanted to make sure we felt relaxed and exuded a lot of positive energy. How did we achieve this? By doing the "Elaine" dance from "Sienfeld," of course.

Don't we look happy now?

Save My UFO!

In this new segment to QA TV, we share unfinished artworks from viewers/readers that need a little design help to complete. Thanks to Sherry Soreo and Larissa Davis for putting together this moving graphic:

(Please visit the site to view this media)

We only taped three "Save My UFO" segments this time, but we're thinking of having it be a part of every episode, so keep those UFOs coming!

Above: Luana and her daughter Sophie Ruben of eQuilter.com with Helen. Seven-year-old Sophie set a record for QA TV by being our youngest QA TV guest ever!

Sophie's suitcase did double -duty as a booster seat for her foot pedal so she could sew on set.

Her segment was so hilarious, I promise you will enjoy it. (Everyone in the green room laughed so hard, their chuckles could be heard on set through the sound-proof walls.)

And Luana of course also taped a segment, this time on helpful tips on how to incorporate large-scale prints in quilts.

And you'd think there's just two of us on set in this picture, but no. Andrea Bishop of Electric Quilt is expecting!

I have a number of other pictures that wouldn't fit on this blog so I've posted them in this photo gallery so be sure to take a peek.

I'd like to thank all of our sponsors for Season 6, including Bernina, Havel's Sewing, Electric Quilt, Kaliedoscope, eQuilter, Coates & Clark, Sulky, The Warm Company, J.T. Trading, Prim Dritz, Rowenta, Cedar Canyon Textiles, Windham Fabrics, Alexander Henry, and Simplicity Creative Group.

Heartfelt thanks to all our guests and the TV crew including a special thanks to Kathie Stull for making this season's taping run so smoothly. Season 6 of QA TV will be available on PBS in late June.

Nancy Crow: Three Decades of Art Quilting

pippapatchwork — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:29:00 GMT

There is no doubt that Nancy Crow is one of the most influential individuals in the history of art quilting. From her intricate geometric pieced to quilts to her well-known teaching workshops and her co-founding of Quilt National in the 1970s, Nancy has been pivotal in advocating for an defining the art quilt. Having made over 300 quilts, she is still a prolific artist and currently has an exhibit, “Nancy Crow: Crossroads, New and Recent Quilts,” at the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, MA, which will be on display until May 9^th. A couple of weeks later, her largest solo exhibition to date, “Nancy Crow: Recent and New Work,” will open at the Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center in Auburn, NY, where it will be on display from May 29^th to August 15^th. Here, Nancy discusses the techniques, influences, and adventures that have shaped her 34 years of experience as an art quilter.

You began creating art quilts in 1976. How has your approach changed, or has it?

My early work was very much grounded in traditional quilt making, using templates which then fit together into huge compositions. I made very big works at the beginning of my career, and I worked that way until to the mid-to-late 80s. In 1990, I realized I had to go about this a different way. Templates were really restricting, and I felt like I couldn’t truly create art that way.

Then I realized that any kind of cutting, whether with scissors or a rotary cutter, is drawing. When that finally latched into my brain, it released me and I started working more improvisationally. That’s now what I teach in my advanced classes: you have to start thinking of cutting as drawing. It’s the closest thing quilters have to a pen or a pencil. The big difference for us, of course, is that the result is either good to go or we’ve ruined a piece of fabric. Very serious quilt makers have not been given their due for how technically difficult their work is.

Cutting and machine piecing is clearly a very important part of the process to you. What role does surface design play in the creation of your quilts?

I started dying my own fabrics a long time ago so I could achieve very saturated colors. But I didn’t start doing true surface design with patterning and printing until about five years ago—though I played around with it many times over the last 25 years. It’s an area where I’m still developing my abilities and I will continue to pursue it. I’m mainly interested in screen printing, making my own motifs improvisationally or actually having a screen burned, and in deconstructing the fabric.

Your quilts are known for their exceptional use of line and color. What inspires your designs? Do you get your ideas from concrete visuals or abstract ideas and emotions?

I live on a farm and I am a very keen observer, so I keep going back to the same patterns that I love. For instance, a critic once said my work looks like pickup sticks, which I think is a very interesting idea. I certainly have a few piles of lumber laying around that are chaotic looking and one of our fields is covered in wild flowers that deteriorate every spring and fall down into piles of lines—clearly, these images are influencing my pieces.

But there are always two things happening in my art: the visual influences and an emotional underlay. All my work has a very strong emotional underlay which I don’t necessarily write up or let people know about.

You work in a 2,400 square foot barn that is attached to your house. Is this space very important to your creativity?

I always feel like I am walking into my environment, somewhere that enables me to create. I have put the most wonderful things on my walls, things that are visually stimulating to me. I actually have three studios, but the biggest one is just chock-a-block of visual stimuli. I love it that way and I actually have a hard time letting anyone else into this space because it’s so private. I have textiles from all over the world, some really phenomenal baskets that I’ve collected, and my husband has found all sorts of odds and ends from the farm, like parts of old tractors. I love the shapes and configurations from these objects.

You have stated that quilting is a very personal, private activity for you, but also do a lot of teaching and are well-known for your retreats and workshops. How is your teaching important to your identity as an artist?

I come from a family of teachers so it’s something that’s highly regarded in my family. I think teaching done well is one of the hardest things someone can do in their life, but it’s also incredibly creative and fulfilling. As a teacher, I do things a little differently. There are very few who are teaching composition and critiquing it, and this has to be done if quilting is going to be regarded as art. Because I’m willing to do critiques, I put myself out on a line and to try to help people see their work in a more honest light so they can improve it.

Teaching also helps me clarify my own ideas. I always learn a lot from students. I think there’s a misconception out there that I teach people to make what I make, to make work that looks like mine. I teach techniques and design exercises with the intention of having my students go home and work hard for a year or two to develop their own ideas.

Can you tell us a little bit about your upcoming exhibit at the Schweinfurth Art Center this summer? How were the quilts selected?

First of all, the museum’s director, Donna Lamb, is outstanding in her absolute support of quilt making. She was brought up with it since her mother was a quilt maker. It’s a huge plus to work with someone who believes in quilting and has done it themselves; she is a very positive person.

Between 50 and 60 pieces will be in the galleries. I decided to include some very early pieces from when I still worked with commercial and printed fabrics. Some of these pieces haven’t been out of my studio in 20 years and will enable people can see where I came from. The exhibition isn’t a retrospective per se, but each gallery will have a theme. One will have the older pieces; another will have a sketch and the major piece that went with the sketch. Another gallery will have more narrow/vertical pieces, and the main gallery will have all the new and recent work.

You travel quite a bit and just returned from a trip to Vietnam. How does this influence your work?

Travel was introduced to me very young because my father and mother love to do it. When I was 19, I went to Mexico City and studied there. My mother took me around the world when I was a Junior in college. Years later, my husband and I went off to live in Ecuador and Brazil. Travel is an opportunity to observe and see what I can see.

Because I was introduced to Mexico so young, I love graphic imagery; that’s why my work is so colorful and vibrant. I go back there often and have a plan to go to Chiapas in August with some friends and search the villages for textiles.

Are there any artistic techniques, concepts, or ideas that you still hope to explore?

I’m 66 and I have made a decision and promise to myself that my work is going to keep growing and changing. I’m not interested in plateauing and doing the same thing. As long as I’m physically able, that’s my promise to myself. Perhaps this will mean exploring certain techniques in depth, perhaps not. I’m open to anything.

To learn more about Nancy, visit her website.

Images: From Top to Bottom

All quilt photos by J. Kevin Fitzsimons

Nancy in her studio; photo by Nathaniel Stitzlein
“CONSTRUCTIONS #83: Anxiety!” • 2006-2007© Nancy Crow 81½" x 79¼" • 100% cottons hand-dyed and machine-pieced by Nancy Crow; hand-quilted by Marla Hattabaugh with pattern denoted by Nancy Crow
“CONSTRUCTIONS #90” • 2007© Nancy Crow • 42" x 29¼" • 100% cottons hand-dyed and machine-pieced by Nancy Crow; machine-quilted by Kathy Loomis with pattern denoted by Nancy Crow
“CONSTRUCTIONS #84: No!” • 2007© Nancy Crow • 70" x 75" • 100% cottons hand-dyed and machine-pieced by Nancy Crow; hand-quilted by Marla Hattabaugh with pattern denoted by Nancy Crow
“STRUCTURES #5” • 2006-2009© Nancy Crow • 67½" x 84¼" • Screen-printed by Nancy Crow with help from Emma Reese; machine-pieced by Nancy Crow; hand-quilted by Marla Hattabaugh with pattern denoted by Nancy Crow

Our ‘Trade’ Secret Revealed

Quilting Daily — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:18:00 GMT

Each time we gear up for another International Quilt Festival Make It University!^TM with Cloth Paper Scissors® event, we try to balance keeping popular components with adding new features. As our staff brainstormed ideas for IQF/Chicago April 16-18, one thing we made sure to include was an art trade-but with a twist.

For years we've had a popular artist trading card wall where you could trade as many ATCs as you brought to the show. This year, we're expanding the trade to any small art creations: ATCs, inchies, pendants, charms, postcards, and more.

Just bring your mini pieces of art to the Make It University!^TM with Cloth Paper Scissors® area at Festival, and you can trade them for an equal number of tiny treasures.

If you've never made an ATC before or would like some ideas, check out my tutorial on the Quilting Arts Community.

In addition to planning the art trade, we're finalizing the list of artists who'll be creating in our Open Studios section and teaching our one-hour workshops. There will be many familiar faces as well as some who are participating in our festivities for the first time.

So far, we have the following artists teaching workshops: Jane Dàvila, Kelli Nina Perkins, Belinda Spiwak, Leilani Pierson, Judy Coates Perez, Julaine Lofquist-Birch, Beth Wheeler, and Pokey Bolton. These artists will also create in Open Studios right on the show floor, and will be joined by Lynn Krawczyk, Kayla Fujimoto, Rebekah Meier, Tracie Lyn Huskamp, Marylin Nouvelle, Melanie Testa, and Lois Jarvis.

If you've ever wanted to see how these artists work or question them about their techniques, this is your chance.

So if you haven't already, make your plans to meet us in Chicago in April. You can register at quilts.com and keep checking the Events & News page at the Quilting Arts Community for updated information on the Make It University! workshop schedule and other events as we have them.

Hope to see you there!

Create Unique Embellishments with Felting

Quilting Daily — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 13:03:00 GMT

Want to add interest and dimension to a quilted piece in no time? Try felting.

Whether you felt by hand (with water or needles) or by machine, it's an easy, fun, and fast way to make a piece pop. Plus, felting is a great way to use up little bits of fluff, fibers, and sparkly things you have on hand.

I've seen two examples of how a felted element packed some punch into an art piece recently.

In the current issue of Quilting Arts, Rose Hughes shows how to make beaded wool gems from wool roving, batting, and beads.

Rose just cuts layers of batting to the desired size, wraps layers of wool roving around the batting, then puts the bundle of fiber inside a knee-high stocking and ties a knot.

She continues the process until she has as many bundles as she desires, and then washes the knotted stockings in hot water with high agitation.

Rose removes the now felted bundles from the stockings, lets them dry, and adds beads, stitching, and other embellishments. Then she attaches the gems to a quilt. I love the way they add a sparkly, seashell-like element to her "Ebbing Eveningtide" landscape.

Natalya Aikens also recently experimented with felting. After painting a journal page and scanning it when it was dry, she printed a copy of the page onto sheer ExtravOrganza.

Then she hand needle-felted a mix of fibers (thread, color catcher sheets, dryer lint from, fabrics, netting) onto the printed image.

"This was the most fun part of the entire project!" says Natalya. "I have never needle felted by hand before, even though I had the supplies for a while. I figured this was the perfect opportunity to try it."

The needle-felted fibers add an interesting texture to the design, literally bringing it up off the page.

Wet felting and hand needle felting don't require a lot of supplies or time-though you may find you quickly become addicted to the techniques. It's fun to felt a lot of small pieces in one session or a little at a time, and then keep the samples for future use in a quilt, wall-hanging, or mixed-media piece.

If you've never tried felting before, we have plenty of supplies and books on the subject in the Interweave Store, so be sure to check it out.

A Sneak Peek at the Next 'QATV' Series

Quilting Daily — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 17:07:00 GMT

I'm packing my suitcase again, getting ready to fly to Cleveland to tape the sixth season of "Quilting Arts TV."

As hectic as the shooting pace is, I always look forward to taping, because I get to learn new tricks and techniques in person from the guest artist. This season we'll visit with some old friends and meet some new ones. We have some surprises in store for "QATV" viewers that I can't reveal now, but I can give you a sneak peek of what's on the schedule.

Here's who--and what--I'm putting in my suitcase for the next 13 episodes:

Surface design guru Jane Dunnewold, who will be demonstrating some exciting screen-printing and soy wax techniques.

Susie Monday, who will show how water-soluble crayons can create eye-popping art quilts.

Liz Kettle and Karen Fricke, who will be sharing techniques for free-form embroidery and thread sketching.

Diane Nuñez, who will be creating three-dimensional floral appliqués for quilts and wearables.

Terry Grant, who will show us easy finishing techniques for small art quilts, plus making her fabric birds.

Carol Ingram, who will provide a fun demonstration on how to make a paw print fabric doggie treat bag.

The new "Save My UFO" segment, where more than 10 quilts from viewers will get some design assistance. Check out the UFO quilts submitted in the Quilting Arts Community Gallery.

Totes galore! Kathy Mack will be demonstrating her Winslow tote from Quilt Scene and I will be making a reversible patchwork tote.

Liz Berg, who will show how to find inspiration from a photo to create an abstract art quilt.

Wow, my suitcase is stuffed, and that's not even the whole schedule of guest artists and techniques! I'll be showing you behind-the-scenes photos when I get back, so be watching for them. I'll have more to share then.

BodyQuilting: How Kari Souders expresses the female body through quilt making

pippapatchwork — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 13:04:00 GMT

I’ve always been intrigued by the link between contemporary and historical quilting, and the ways in which this traditional craft lives on in the work of modern day artists. Therefore, I was thrilled to have the chance to ask artist Kari Souders a few questions about her quilt paintings, which explore the intrinsic ties between quilt making and the experiences of women of the past and present. Through the construction of her pieces and the materials that she selects, Kari draws analogies between her art and the rituals of the female body. Her latest exhibit, “BodyQuilting” is currently on display at George School in Newtown, PA until March 4^th. For those who are unable to attend, Kari’s insights offer a glimpse into the nuanced symbolism of her work.

Your current exhibition features quilt paintings that explore the parallels between quilt making and women’s bodies. How do you make this connection in your work?

The obsessive process of hand sewing, cutting, patching, ripping, and layering textures and patterns to make a quilt is rooted in ritual. Quilt making is a very physical process. Some women have crossed over from the quilting bee to the Botox party; nevertheless, I wonder if our fundamental desires have remained the same. Like my work, these contemporary body rituals are rooted in physicality; the breaking down by cutting, ripping, and tearing in order to stitch, patch, and layer something new and more beautiful. Although sometimes painful, the physical aspect of these processes is an outlet and opportunity for women to embrace their bodies.

You mention the obsessive, repetitive quality of quilt making. How is this symbolically important in your work?

The obsessive process and all-consuming ritual gives women a chance for their minds to escape the confines of life and to be self-possessed and anticipatory for their new creation. In a society where consumerism has become our realm of worship, I want to infuse art with its original spiritual and ritual function. My paintings are intensely worked until the surface has crevices and areas that appear both destructive and regenerative. My work attempts to ignite the ritualistic flame that transcends time by creating works that are structurally iconic, and whose process is based on obsessive detail and endless repetition. The intensity and obsessive process allows me to interweave my collective unconscious and life experiences.

Many of your pieces incorporate writing. What is the role of text in your art?

Not only text, but also images, surround us and deliver fragments of meanings. Currently, I have been interweaving both new and old quilts with text related to our modern day obsession with body transformations. Words such as augmentations, plucking, lasers, peels, dying, rhinoplasty, face lift, transplants, liposuction, durmabrasions, lasik surgeries, botox injections, restyline filler, juvedurm, filler, dermal fillers, prollenium, and ayaluronic acid represent the rewriting on the surface of our bodies that has become our modern-day ritual. The text fragments in the work juxtapose the bits of unwritten language that the quilts embody.

Quilts are also composed of bits of cloths and fabrics that elicit the body. We see our flesh as compartmentalized fragments that can be resurfaced, patched, and transformed into new canvases piece by piece. In essence, we are quilting our bodies with the evolving text of culture and the visual standards of desire. It is the continuation of the unspoken need for women to exhibit and perfect their aesthetic desires out of something seen as flawed or broken which stems from the traditions of women being regarded as objects.

You clearly have an interest in the history of women. Do you feel that quilting enables you to tap into this history more effectively than other mediums?

Representing the creative traditions of women and acknowledging their voice is of utmost importance. I have always had an interest in history, women’s issues, and the culture we live in. Although I am a painter, my work is fundamentally and intrinsically connected to quilting and I can’t think of any other transformative woman’s craft that would be more effective on so many poignant levels. Quilting, a practical and meaningful aesthetic practice, has offered and still provides women with a chance to gather and communicate with each other. Quilts tell unwritten stories that are deeply ingrained in American culture and traditions, as well as express personal aesthetics. They are bits and pieces of women’s lives and ways of living that span over generations and stem from all socioeconomic circumstances.

How do you construct your quilt paintings?

I use strips of quilted fabric, oil paint, beeswax, lace, and fragments of text layered on canvas and wallpaper. Thick, white curved shapes made with oil paint are applied by my fingers and appear in areas of the paintings, while a coating of beeswax gives the quilted fabrics a rippled, shiny texture. My paintings are intensely worked until the surface has crevices and areas that appear both destructive and regenerative.

My work elaborates on one of the fundamental traditions in quilting: reusing, blending, and interlacing bits of fabric to form a new aesthetic object. I hand-stitch some quilts with new fabrics whose colors and textures derive from the rich beauty passed down through centuries of textile design. Other quilts are directly borrowed from history by deconstructing antique quilts. The recycling of old quilts is meant to create something outside of the original object and show that objects change as society evolves. With empathy, I want to give these old quilts an opportunity to be revaluated in new contexts that reflect and intertwine passed traditions, standards, and relationships with modern issues.

You use a wide variety of non-fabric materials in your work, including oil paint and beeswax. What role do these materials play in terms of both technique and symbolic significance?

I have a master’s degree in painting so paint has always been a part of my visual vocabulary. I paint with my fingers in a weaving and layering manner; this is my own painting language which appears in all of my work. Expanding one’s perception of things and altering context has been the goal of my using paint, beeswax, and other materials in my work. For instance, beeswax symbolizes healing, and is applied in its natural, flesh-like color to give the work layers of protective skin.

Images of Quilts (from top to bottom)

“Body Lore 4” • 24" x 18" • oil, quilted fabric, transparency and beeswax on canvas
“Fran’s Quilt” • 42½" x 59½" • oil, quilted fabric, transparency and beeswax on canvas
“Lacing” • 22" x 22" • oil, quilted fabric, transparency and beeswax on canvas
“Minuet II” • 20" x 24" • oil, quilted fabric, beeswax and wallpaper on canvas

To learn more about Kari and her work, visit her website.

A Peek Behind the Studio Door

Quilting Daily — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 11:54:00 GMT

The Spring 2010 issue of Studios debuts on newsstands today, so I asked Studios Editor Cate Coulacos Prato to be the guest editor for today's Quilting Daily blog post. Take it away, Cate!

Whenever I travel, I'm always taking pictures of interesting doors, doorways, gates, and arches. I'm especially intrigued by doors that are decorated and ones that offer a glimpse of what's behind them.

In art and design, a door is an opportunity: It can be a surface to be embellished, a promise of what's to come, or a way to keep something hidden.

A door can also be a useful storage, organization, or utility device, when used creatively. In the new issue, we list 101 Organization and Storage Tips, including Seven Ways to Make a Door Work for You:

Hang an "over the door" shelving unit to add instant storage and keep supplies in order.
Clear plastic shoe bags that hang on the door can be installed in seconds and are perfect for stashing yarns and rubber stamps.
Tack ribbon or trim to the door in a crisscross pattern to make a bulletin/inspiration board.
A door makes a great ironing station, especially for a small space. Check online or at your local home store for fold-down boards that attach to a door.
Or, turn a door into a pressing table by covering it with muslin and batting.
Make a worktable or cutting area out of a hollow-core door placed on top of two sets of drawers.
Put a door on the entrance to your studio and close it when you leave the room: Bye-bye mess!

In the current issue of Studios, you'll find some intriguing artists' doors, and in most cases, get a chance to see what's behind them.

		A garden path leads to quilt artist Linda Kemshall's studio door where you can peek through a diamond-shaped window to see what's going on inside. (A lot of quilting in close quarters!)

Mixed-media artist Holly Berube beckons visitors to stop at her studio with this door. The bright color, handmade awning, and springy décor make her entry stand out from her artist neighbors on open studios weekends.

		Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson's garden studio is just steps away from her house. The glass door lets in light during the day and her family can come by and keep tabs on her, too!

Azaleas and bougainvillea welcome Josie Rodriguez as she steps from her mixed-media studio to the patio where she does her encaustic work. Josie lives in San Diego, so something's always blooming.

		Art quilter Kathy York's studio is very colorful and highly organized. She uses the hidden crawl space behind this door to store bulky items, and usually covers this "hidden" door with a quilt.

To see what's behind all these doors--except for Kathy's secret cupboard, of course--check out the new issue of Studios.

Thanks, Cate! Now tell us: What's does your studio door look like? What do you use it for? What's behind it?

Cate is soliciting for quilt and fiber art studios for the fall issue of Studios. So, if you'd like to share yours, send her three lo-res images and a brief description to studios@clothpaperscissors.com.

And be sure to check out the studio video tours on the Quilting Arts Community.

Art Quilting Over the Years: An interview with M. Joan Lintault

pippapatchwork — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 17:12:00 GMT

I knew I had a difficult task ahead of me when my undergraduate thesis advisor informed me that my research on the history of the art quilting movement should focus on only a few innovative quilt artists. There were so many to choose from and narrowing my focus wasn’t easy, but selecting M. Joan Lintault was a no brainer. Joan has been making art quilts for over three decades and their web-like construction, large scale, and often rich colors are awe-inspiring and utterly original. While recently visiting the exhibition “Masters: Art Quilts: Major works by leading artists” (which is featured in our February/March 2010 issue), at its current venue, the New England Quilt Museum in Lowell, MA, I saw one of Joan’s pieces and was immediately reminded of what intrigued me about her work the first time around. Fortunately, she had the chance to catch up with me yet again to discuss her distinctive working method and long involvement in the history of the art quilting movement.

Your work has such an unusual construction. How did you arrive at this style?

In the mid-1980s, I received a Fulbright grant to research dyes in Japan. I needed something to do with the dyes so I started cutting stencils and I realized that I loved the negative spaces that they create. I wanted to do something that would give the same feeling.

But I had started making quilts even earlier; I made my first in 1969. At the time, there were a few of us that were doing this; the term ‘art quilting’ wasn’t even around—it was just called fiber art. I also have a background in ceramics which influenced some of my earlier work. When I first started, I did these all-white, highly quilted wall hangings. That was my way of transitioning from ceramics to quilting. I was afraid of color—but that didn’t last.

It must have been amazing to be a part of this movement in its earlier stages.

Yes, but it was also hard. Back then, it was much more difficult to find materials. There weren’t even dyes that you could easily use at home. I had to go on a quest to track down fiber-reactive dyes, and finally found them at the first Surface Design Association Conference in 1976. Now, I always print and dye my own fabrics since I have to have my own colors. I can’t be dependent on changing styles and patterns, or whatever is in fashion. I try to make my fabric reflect whatever the concept of my quilt is. I also don’t want to be too dependent on outside sources for my materials since these can disappear or availability can change, so I mix my own paints.

Could you briefly take us through the steps of your quilt construction?

I dye my fabrics several times to get real depth of color, and then screen print on top. Then I cut out the individual elements, sit down on my comfy sofa, and hand paint each one. I create little sandwiches with batting and backing, sew around the edges with a sewing machine, and cut out the shape again. Then I zigzag stitch the edges so I have all these little pillow-like shapes. I pin them to my design wall—which is huge; I need a ladder to reach the top—and start gradually sewing them together by machine.

Naturally, each piece is a little different and I work with several techniques. Sometimes I create sewing machine lace and use this to connect and suspend the different elements. A long time ago, I found a book that was printed in the early 1900s about how to create all kinds of lace on the sewing machine, and I decided to try it. Of course, it was far too difficult so I came up with my own way of doing it. I love the effect of laciness.

You work on a very large scale. Is there a particular reason for this?

Often, I have something I want to say and I simply can’t do it in a small piece. On the other hand, I have started to make things smaller as I get older since it’s hard to climb the ladder that I keep by my design wall—and I’m finding more and more that what I have to say can be accomplished in a smaller size. It’s very, very hard to go up and down the ladder, and pin all the little pieces on the wall. I had one quilt on the wall for two years because I got sick, and I just didn’t have the energy required to complete it. I plan on finishing it up soon—once I’ve finished my taxes. Right now, I feel like I have a whole bunch of things flying around in the air, waiting to land.

The larger pieces can take quite a toll on me. “Four Rivers” consists of four individual quilts which are each 18 feet long by 11 feet wide. They took me four years to complete. They were just so huge and the physical strength required to push them through my machine was too much at times. I have a semi-industrial Bernina on a power table, and I wouldn’t have been able to do it otherwise.

The subject matter of your quilts varies quite a bit, from abstract to representations of nature, and even the human body. What inspires your subjects?

I like to base my work on some kind of historical trend so I spend a lot of time looking at old fabrics and textiles. Sometimes I’ll have an idea that I won’t even execute until 30 years later.

“Uncoiling Snakes” was inspired by a lecture I attended at an art museum in India in early 1979, but I didn’t make this quilt until 20 years later. The lecture was about palampores, which are textiles that contain elaborate representations of trees and flowers. I was so blown away by what the lecturer was saying that I decided to make my own. In 1996, I finally finished this quilt.

I’ve also been inspired by subjects that surround me. “The Garden of Milk” represents a fence in my sister’s garden. When I visited her in Illinois, I slept in a back room with a window looking out over her vegetable garden where there was a fence with all different kinds of wires, branches, and leaves. I kept thinking: I have to make a quilt of that.

You’ve been quilting for many years; how has your style and process evolved over time?

It changes in little ways that no one can tell. I don’t concentrate on style, but I do concentrate on themes; I change the subject matters of pieces. Generally, I use the same way of putting things together, but the images and colors evolve. One of my themes is lacey, another is natural like “Uncoiling Snakes.” I’m currently working on a quilt of a broken mirror. This one is also constructed with the tiny pillow shapes, but the way it’s put together at the end stages may change. Often, the final construction is like an engineering problem; making the pieces lay flat can be very, very difficult.

Also, when I first started, I felt like I was fighting with techniques. It was really difficult—the inks that were available for screen printing were so toxic that they gave me a huge headache. When people started selling water-based inks, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. Digital imagery was so much more difficult to achieve. You had to go into a dark room to process photo transparencies. Then computers came along! I no longer feel like I’m fighting with techniques, and I will never do it again. We’ve come quite a long way.

Images of Quilts (from top to bottom)

“Heavenly Bodies” • 81" x 84"
“Four Rivers” (instalation) • four pieces, each 11' x 18'
“Uncoiling Snakes” • 81.5" x 81.5"
“Garden of Milk” • 81.5" x 74.5"

To see more of Joan's work, visit her website.

A Quilt Editor's Nightmare!

Pokey — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:28:00 GMT

I’ve had a lot on my mind lately, and when that happens, I can’t sleep. So last night I took a Tylenol PM and had a dream that was rather Tim Burton-ish.

In my dream, I volunteered at a major quilt show to help hang quilts. (And this was not an established quilt event company, this was something from the dream world). The quilts were to be hung in multiple halls, and I was assigned to a hall that looked like a barn: dark wood walls, low lighting, faint odor of hay, and a little drafty. I knew the people who worked at the event company, and after they greeted me kindly, I donned my white gloves and said, “Put me to work!” They all snickered and the volunteer coordinator looked at me slyly and said, “Here, Pokey, why don’t you take this one and hang it over there,” pointing to a far, dimly lit corner.

The box that had the quilt in it was rather heavy and unwieldy, and when I opened it, it really was a nightmare: a box within a box, within another box, within yet another box, taped within an inch of its life, and packaged in a sea of peanuts. Plus, there was a cooler in the box, filled with dry ice, a carton of milk, a jar of chocolate sauce, and a bottle of Kahlua. In addition there were three carefully wrapped hand-blown glass sconces with instructions that said, “Be careful! These glass sconces are hand-blown by the quilt artist and are the embellishments for the quilt.”

The quilt itself consisted of four bright orange quilted panels that were stitched onto an organza and cellophane base, which was shaped into ruffles and pleats, then burned at the edges to seal.

The instructions for hanging the quilt read:
1. Puff up, shape, and press the ruffles and pleats if necessary, being careful not to scorch the plastic and organza base.
2. Dip the rims of the hand-blown glass sconces in the chocolate sauce, then fill with the ingredients for White Russians.
3. Shape the cellophane in a fashion that is reminiscent of waves in the ocean, being careful not to crease the cellophane wrapping.
4. Press the organza in case it creased in places during shipping, but be careful not to burn or melt the quilt.
5. Carefully shape the handmade wire brackets that are to hold the hand-blown glass sconces, then gently place the sconces filled with White Russians into the wire brackets.
6. Don’t spill chocolate sauce onto the quilt.

A little frustrated and overwhelmed with the challenge ahead of me, a fellow volunteer offered to help me out with this task. As we were working I stepped out for a minute to make a phone call, and when I came back, the fellow volunteer gleefully pronounced that she was finished and we could go back to our housing. I looked quickly over my shoulder, noticed that the quilt didn’t look quite right but it didn’t really register what was wrong until we got back to our bunker. (Yes, you read that correctly: at this event, we didn’t stay at a hotel, we all slept in a bunker.)

I sat on my cot and it finally registered what this fellow volunteer had done to this quilt. Instead of following the quilter’s instructions, she splattered the quilt with the chocolate sauce, burned areas of the quilt with a lighter, scrunched up the cellophane and punched it in place with a staple gun. And if one looked closely, buried underneath all of that scrunched up and stapled cellophane was a twenty dollar bill, which after some thinking, I realized was the $20 return fee for the quilt.

I then thankfully woke up.

Needless to say, I think I’m going brave another sleepless night and do what I usually do around 2:00 a.m.: watch “Lock Up” on MSNBC. At least that’s a little less nightmare-ish.

Create Unique Prints with this Easy Technique

Quilting Daily — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 13:26:00 GMT

Last week the staff in our Stow offices got together for some after-hours creative play-time, making gelatin monoprints on fabric and paper.

I'd been cranking out monoprints for a segment I'll be shooting for the sixth season of "Quilting Arts TV" and everyone else wanted in on the fun.

At lunchtime we prepared the gelatin printing "plates" in baking pans and popped them in the fridge to set.

Here is the basic recipe:

2 pkgs. Knox gelatin (1 T per package)
1 cup water
Pyrex or non-stick baking pan (approx. 8" x 8")
Protected surface
Water-based paints or dyes
Brayer
Flat or shallow palette

Mix half the water (cold) with the gelatin and stir until dissolved.
Boil the remaining water and add it to the mixture. Stir slowly to avoid creating bubbles.
Pour the mixture into the baking pan and pull torn pieces of newsprint lightly across the surface to remove any bubbles.
Let the gelatin sit for 30 minutes, then place in the refrigerator until it is set. Remove the gelatin from the fridge about 30 minutes before you're going to use it to print.
Dip the bottom of the pan briefly into a hot water bath (you can use your sink) to help loosen it from the pan. Unmold the gelatin onto a flat surface (such as a protected cutting board or acrylic sheet).
Cut the gelatin to the desired printing size.

By the time we set out the crackers and crudités at 5:30 p.m., the plates were ready to go.

We threw a drop cloth over conference table and put out the gelatin plates, bins of acrylic paints, brayers, a basket of fat quarters, and some plain paper. We also had some painting tools (like a flexible comb) and found objects that might make interesting impressions: an ash tray with a cut glass bottom, a lacy plastic leaf, the back of a discarded tile, children's shape toys, and so on.

Most of the staff had never made monoprints before, so we quickly reviewed the basic directions:

Step 1. Pour or squeeze drops of paint onto a flat or shallow palette.

Step 2. Roll the brayer in the paint and then roll a thin layer over the gelatin plate.

Step 3. Make imprints in the paint by gently pressing found objects or a paper cutout onto it.

Step 4. Lay the fabric over the paint and smooth it down gently with your hands (trying not to move the fabric around).

Step 5. Gently lift the fabric off the plate and admire your results.

Step 6. Take another "ghost" print off the same plate or start over from Step 1.

At first, some people were hesitant about what colors to use or impressions to make. But pretty soon, the "hmmms" and "huhs" turned to "wows" and "ooohs." Time flew and the floor got covered with prints as everyone got into their creative zone. Some of the people who had the least experience with printing came up with the most interesting effects.

Monoprints, whether made on gelatin, glass, or Plexiglas plates, are an easy and fun way to add surface design to your fabrics. Monoprinting with paint can give new life to so-so fabrics (or dye "mistakes") or create a one-of-a-kind designs on plain fabric or paper.

It's no wonder one of our most popular FREE eBooks is Fabric Painting: 5 Surface Design, Paint, and Monoprint Techniques. This book includes two monoprinting techniques, one from Liz Berg on how to monoprint with paint and one from Fawn Mackey on monoprinting fabrics for textured backgrounds.

You'll also learn from expert artists about fabric painting with transparent paints, making sun and salt prints, creating patterned and painted cloth, and working with oil sticks.

Now that our staff has a bunch of monoprinted fabrics, our next step is to incorporate them into a project. I have a fun idea up my sleeve that's top secret for now. But I hope to reveal the results soon.

In the meantime, why not incorporate some monoprinting into your own quilting adventures?

For example, have you finished your "How Entertaining!" reader challenge entry yet? The deadline for entry is May 3, 2010, so if you haven't started, it's time to get busy. Get all the details on our reader challenge page.

Announcing the "Save My UFO" contenders for this next Quilting Arts TV taping

Pokey — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 19:45:00 GMT

Thanks to everyone who took the leap and posted a picture of an uncompleted art quilt in our Save My UFO gallery! For this brand new segment for Quilting Arts TV, we thought to bring about 10 quilts, and cover the gamut in terms of art & design challenges.

If your quilt-in-progress was not chosen for this next taping, we still may be able to bring it to the following taping this summer. We hope that everyone will continue to post their UFOs and that people will offer comments, advice, and words of encouragement. Let's get these UFOs completed and tout our successes!

The following artists should send their UFOs soon so that they arrive in our office no later than Wednesday, February 24.

"Color Gone Wild" by Skb2000

Winter Woods by Maggie in SC

"The Blue Girl" by Chris 68

"Heron" by Page 52

"River's Bend" by Peggy H

"African Flow" by ngdb4

"Memories of Drumheller" by Jody Johnson

"Hundertwasser Wannabe" by Cay Denise

"Ash in Autumn" by Suzanne Riggio

"Crosses" by Deeheit

"Petros of Mykonos" by Cheryl Moncrief

Please ship to:

Quilting Arts

Attn: SAVE MY UFO

23 Gleasondale Rd

Stow, MA

01775

Phone: 978-897-7750

We will be shipping your quilts back to you around March 15. And sorry, they're not coming home completed; that's your job! ;-)

Season 6 of Quilting Arts TV will begin airing end of June so stay tuned to see the advice given by some of our guest artists.

Again, thanks for participating, everybody, and keep those UFOs comin'...

The New and Improved QA Index!

pippapatchwork — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 18:51:00 GMT

Quilters tend to be savers. We save fabrics (no scrap is too tiny), embellishments, threads, tool, and even ideas. This is a good thing—we find inspiration all around us and build a collection of resources that allows us to act on it whenever our hearts desire. Which is why I’m pleased to announce that our reorganized and updated Quilting Arts Cumulative Index has just been posted.

This means that the next time you want to try out a certain surface design or stitching technique, you won’t have to search through all your old copies for that perfect article—just find the appropriate category under the “Techniques” heading and you’ll see a list of related articles.

Or maybe you want to peruse through past exhibition galleries or reader challenges? In the mood to re-read some advice on design considerations or the business of art quilting? All this and more is now at your fingerprints—and if you don’t have one of our past issues, most are available on the Interweave Store.

Especially if you’re having weather like we are at the QA headquarters and the snow is falling yet again (or even if it isn’t), this is the perfect excuse to cozy up inside with your old issues of Quilting Arts.

Commit to a Weekly Art Routine

Quilting Daily — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 13:02:00 GMT

In winter I crave creating with color--during the darker, bleaker months, my studio is completely taken over by paints and dyes (think periwinkles and lime greens, cerulean blues and bubble gum pinks).

Imagine my glee when I got the latest book offerings from surface design experts and Committed to Cloth founders Leslie Morgan and Claire Benn from the U.K. and their comrade Jane Dunnewold, the U.S. associate for Committed to Cloth.

In concise and clear language that is accompanied by images of supplies and fabrics in process, these four books (three of which include a bonus DVD) inspired me to develop a weekly regimen for creating colorful, original cloth every single day of the week.

As a screen- and dye-aholic who has a full-time job, here's how I set aside time every day (even if it's just ½ hour) to create colorful fabrics:

Sunday night: Mix the dyes and print paste and prepare the fabric in a soda-soak solution so it's receptive to the dyes.

Monday night: Prepare 2 - 3 silk screens for breakdown printing (also called deconstructed printing). (For quick and easy directions for breakdown printing, check out Rayna Gillman's article in the August/September 2008 issue of Quilting Arts.)

Tuesday night: Time to put the prepared silk screens to work! Deconstructed screen-printing is a lot of fun and will yield the most surprising results, so I make sure I set aside about an hour. When finished, I carefully roll the fabrics in plastic sheeting and batch for at least 24 hours, allowing the dyes to thoroughly saturate the fabric.

Wednesday night: Rinse and thoroughly wash the batched fabrics, then allow them to dry.

Thursday night: Time to apply more surface applications to these fabrics, including working with Thermofax screens, applying freezer paper resists, accenting with Shiva® Paintstiks®, or painting, stenciling, and stamping directly onto the fabrics with fabric paints or thickened dyes.

Friday: Date night with my spouse, which allows time for the fabrics to cure if I've used Paintstiks.

Saturday: Heat-set my fabrics if necessary and take them to my sewing machine!

With this time set aside for myself to experiment and immerse myself in color, I have certainly managed to stave off those winter blues and created yards of original fabrics to boot.

So how about you? Have you developed a weekly art routine or way to keep yourself color-filled during winter?

The Winner of Lyric's Fabric Quiz

pippapatchwork — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:06:00 GMT

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a fabric quiz based on Lyric Kinard's article on page 28 of the February/March 2010 Issue of Quilting Arts, "From Disappointment to Diva." The quiz tested your ability to recognize Lyric's clever techniques for transforming dye disasters into masterpieces--and judging by all of your comments, it was a challenge! Everyone who left a comment was eligible to win three jars of Lumiere textile paint and a bag of Pokey's screen printed fabrics.

And the winner is: Samantha76.

Congratulations! Please send me an email at peccles@interweave.com with your name and address so I can send you your prize. If I don't hear from you by 12 noon EST on Wednesday, February 17th, I will pick a new winner.

Thank you to everyone who took the quiz. I hope you have a fun, fabric-filled weekend!

Tell Me About Your Latest Art Quilting Endeavor!

pippapatchwork — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 17:55:00 GMT

I was supposed to spend this past weekend at a friend’s wedding in Baltimore, but thanks to some bad weather forecasts, my flights were canceled and I found myself with an unexpectedly free Saturday afternoon. Naturally, I decided there was no better way to take advantage of the situation than with a little fiber art.

We’re fortunate to spend lots of time reading about new projects and techniques at the QA office, so it’s always a pleasure to move from the page to the studio and actually try out some of the wonderful ideas that artists share with us. Since I happened to have some luscious wool roving lying around, begging to be put to good use, I decided to try making Rose Hughes’ “Beaded Wool Gems,” from p. 70 of Quilting Arts February/March 2010 issue. This was a fun, quick, and easy project.

I got some strange looks when I put a bunch of knotted knee high stockings into the public washing machines in my apartment building, but it was worth it! I decided to embellish mine with buttons, though Rose did some very interesting embellishing with lots of different beads. I’m not yet sure what I will do them, but they’re a great little addition to my embellishment stash.

So what’s the latest QA article project or technique that you’ve tried out? Or what are you dying to try next but haven’t yet had the time to do? Did anything catch your eye in our latest issue? Send me an email at peccles@interweave.com. I would love to hear about what our readers are up to!

We Reveal Our Animal Alter Egos

Quilting Daily — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 11:21:00 GMT

We received so many fun and interesting Let Out Your Inner Animal Challenge quilts from readers that the Quilting Arts editors decided we had to play, too.

You might recall my experiments in frog mutations (art quilt-style) on my editor's blog. I enjoyed reading all the feedback to my outlandish ideas. People really seemed to like that Thread-sketched Frog on Acid!

I find that it's helpful sometimes to go way out over the edge when you're in the designing-sketching stages, then pull it back a bit. I opted to go for a wholecloth quilt painted with water-based disperse dyes and thread sketched (left). I still need to put a few more thread, free-motion touches on him, but this is what I have so far.

Assistant Editor Pippa Eccles took her cue from our very tongue-in-cheek nickname for her, Pippapotomus. (It's a play on her name, only; Pippa actually looks more like a gazelle.) Pippa used appliqué and hand embroidery to create her animal alter ego (right).

Helen Gregory, our managing editor, sees herself as a free-spirited, fun-loving Labrador (below).

Helen says she was influenced by the fabric portrait techniques demonstrated by Maria Elkins in her Making Faces: Beginning & Advanced Portraits Quilting Arts Workshop and by Leni Levenson Wiener in the February/March issue of Quilting Arts Magazine.

Both artists use photos and tracing paper to break down an image into values so it can easily be made into a fabric portrait.

Helen added details with thread sketching and plans to add a few more touches, plus a binding.

You can see many of our reader entries to this Let Out Your Inner Animal challenge in the Reader Challenge Gallery on the Quilting Arts Community.

Be sure to leave your comments!

How to Turn A 'Mistake' Into Art

Quilting Daily — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:43:00 GMT

When something goes awry in the creative process—the ink splatters, the dye color is murky, the stitches have minds of their own—you have two choices. You can toss it and start over, or you can, as my favorite fashion designer advisor Tim Gunn would say, make it work.

I think most artists would agree, so-called "mistakes" can be your best creative friend. You may be temporarily derailed when the project runs off the tracks. But while you may have "lost" the plan you had in your head when you started, you've gained a whole new opportunity to create something exciting and different.

Designer and art quilter Lyric Kinard loves the serendipity of the dyeing process. But while she used to bury disappointing pieces at the bottom of her stash, now she embraces dyeing "mistakes" and turns them into masterpieces with bleach, textile paints, Thermofax screens, and her imagination.

Lyric details her process in the February/March issue of Quilting Arts. If you've read the article--and even if you haven't—you hop on over to Assistant Editor Pippa Eccles's blog and take her Fabric Makeover Quiz, based on Lyric's article. It's fun to figure out which processes Lyric used to take her pieces from disaster to diva. (Note: One of the best ways to learn Lyric's surface design tricks is by watching her Quilting Arts Workshop video, Surface Design Sampler Platter.)

Now, how about your art "mistakes"?

Do you have an unfinished art quilt (otherwise known as a UFO for UnFinished Object) that’s got you stumped on how to complete? Have you stuffed it in the back of a dresser drawer in the desperate hope that if left in the dark long enough, it’ll magically transform into something akin to a fine wine.

I’m here to help you. We are introducing a new segment to "Quilting Arts TV":

“Save my UFO!”

Here’s your chance to have your unfinished art quilt featured on "Quilting Arts TV"—and to get advice from the pros on how turn your UFO into a masterpiece!

But don't wait! You need to upload the image of your UFO to the Quilting Arts Community photo gallery by February 16. Get all the details at my blog.

We hope you’ll hurry up and post your UFO!

Last Chance to Enter the Fabric Quiz Giveaway!

pippapatchwork — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:38:00 GMT

Since the February/March 2010 issue of Quilting Arts has now been on the newsstand for a couple of weeks, I’ll be announcing the winners of Lyric Kinard’s fabric quiz this Friday (February 12^th) at 12 pm EST. So if you still haven’t read Lyric’s inspirational article, “From Disappointment to Diva,” and tested your ability to recognize her clever techniques for transforming ugly fabrics, now is the time!

If the chance to win some of Pokey’s screen printed fabrics and three jars of Lumiere textile paint isn’t enough motivation, Lyric’s heartening advice is in and of itself worth the read. We all have those less-than-perfect dyed fabrics that could use a little sprucing up and Lyric has some great tips for how to go about doing this. Personally, many of my earlier fabric dyeing attempts resulted in some pretty mediocre prints. In an act of optimism, I framed a few of them.

Believe it or not, these were some of the prettier ones of the bunch, and I have a whole lot more hidden away somewhere in my apartment. I’m too sentimental to throw them out, but they’re not attractive enough to work with. Fortunately, Lyric has given me hope that these rather dismal fabrics can one day be transformed into beauties.

Do you have any dye disasters of your own? Then check out Lyric’s article, fine tune your knowledge by taking the fabric quiz, and do some fabric makeovers of your own!