Quilting Designs

Conceiving of a design for your art quilt can be one of the most difficult but rewarding aspects of the artistic process. Considerations include fabrics and other materials, color, size, and composition. Inspiration for design can stem from a wide variety of sources, from nature to the work of other artists. For help deciding on or reworking your quilt designs, visit the Quilting Arts forums.


Related Posts

  • 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
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  • 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
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  • 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
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  • 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
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  • 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.
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  • 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.
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  • Want your quilt-in-progress featured on Quilting Arts TV? 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
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  • My Monday mornings recently became a bit less painful. You see, my three favorite TV shows held their season finales at the end of last year, which means I no longer stay up late on Sunday nights absorbed in the antics of: a serial killer, a womanizer
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  • I'm sure that many of you will be inspired by Lyric Kinard's clever methods for turning fabric dyeing disasters into works of art in "Disappointments to Diva," on page 28 of the February/March 2010 issue of Quilting Arts . See if you've
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  • Creating Figures in Fabric; Leftover Dye Pillows; Turning fabric dyeing mistakes into masterpieces; Experimentations in resist dyeing; Embellish your quilts with simple machine stitching; Lession 1: Focus on color; A conversation with art quilter Barbara
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  • Of all the elements of design--line, color, texture, shape, form, value, and size--I think the most difficult one to grasp is value. Not only understanding what it is, but how to use it when you're in the process of designing a fiber art piece. How can you use value to your advantage? How do you
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  • I love the variety of novelty yarns and fibers available today: thick, thin, sparkly, variegated, fuzzy, sumptuous-and they come in every color you can imagine. They are a feast for the eyes and whenever I see a ball, skein, or even snippets of these yarns, I want to plunge my hands into them and get
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  • Achieving multicolored silkscreen prints; Taking stitch-resist shibori beyond the norm with Mokume and Ori-nui shibori stitches; Artist Profile: Marianne R. Williamson; Pushing the boundaries of geometrical art quilting; SAQA@20: Art & Excellence
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  • One thing our editorial team loves to do is devise reader challenges, and usually during the brainstorming sessions, there is a lot of laughter around the conference table. This next reader challenge is no exception. I confess this one is of a personal
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  • Mixed-media fiber artist R. Paulette Lancaster chose Frida as the centerpiece of a collage of page-sized quilts made for a El Dia de los Muertos art exhibit. We thought this would be the perfect time to share the story of how she created this piece.
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  • Brace yourselves! I think I'm about to set a world record in the Blogosphere for the number of photos in a single blog entry. I took nearly 250 shots at International Quilt Festival/Houston, but I cut the lot down to 49. (The ones I don’t post
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  • This special issue from Quilting Arts and International Quilt Festival captures the energy, beauty, and community of today's quilt scene. Packed with feature articles, projects, and beautiful photography, this 148-page issue debuted at the International Quilt Festival in Houston this fall.
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  • Welcome to the Fall 09 Studios Tour! **Notice: For some reason, not all of the links here will "refresh" to today's new posts with the tours. I am particularly having trouble with blogs on blogspot. I have refreshed, cut and pasted into
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  • I always feel like the fall is such a busy but inspiring time of year. There’s so much to be done, and something about the cool air and crisp autumn colors gets the creative juices flowing. Lucky for me, Lyric Kinard was able to take some time out
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  • Designing Fabric; Sketches on fabric; Mixed-Media approach to quilting; dyeing technique; Sub Urban Art - selective Rusting; Edges; Monoprinting with texture plates; Journal quilts; Spontaneous explorations in color; Re-create your sketchbook images on
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  • A gelatin monoprint process; Asian-inspired, richly embroidered accessories; creating with silk: painted and beaded trees; printing with incised rubbing plates and non-toxic materials; the effective artist statement; The Lowell Fiber Studio; Artist Profile;
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  • I recently returned from the annual SAQA conference that took place in Athens, Ohio on the Ohio University campus, and what an incredible time! For those who are unfamiliar with SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) , it is the non-profit organization to
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  • Expert tips for selling your art; fiber and stitch samplers; paper-fabric quilts; wilderness landscapes; creating unique fabrics with your computer; enhancing quilts with Paintstiks®; deconstructed rubbings for screenprinting and more; Goddess reminisces
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  • Thread painting; pieced landscapes; perspectives on art and quilting with Inge Mardal and Steen Hougs; inspiration from the Symbolists; time management for artists; inspiration from a Kenyan tradition; image transfers; “Rock On!” challenge
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  • Please note: These exciting workshops are open to non-SAQA members! Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) will be presenting 6 exciting 3-day workshops May 18-20, 2009 in Athens, Ohio. The 3-day workshops are open to all artists - you don't have to be
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  • Want to see a sneak peek of the cover for the February/March issue of Quilting Arts (on sale February 3rd)? This art quilt is by Kathy York (who some may remember from this particular Saturday night event ). Doesn't it make you wish for spring? Kathy
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  •    Above: Debbi Crane, Pokey Bolton, and Cheryl Prater at Make It University! at International Quilt Festival/ Chicago in 2007.   We have a very special guest with us today: Debbi Crane , co-author of MIXED MANIA: RECIPES FOR DELICIOUS
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  • For all of us who survived Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday, I hereby offer you Totally Free Tuesday! Well, at least a free offer from me in the form of a Christmas tree skirt article. Click on the image below  to download a piece I
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  • Since the economy is on all of our minds lately, I interrupt our regularly scheduled art quilt blogcast to share some humor with you: The fact that I woke up this morning and it was 18 degrees outside.   18 degrees…in November!  The mail that
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  • This past Saturday afternoon I realized I was critically low on black and white screen-printing paint, so I hightailed it to one of my favorite places on the planet:   *** Blick. Ooh la la...this place makes my heart beat nearly as fast as sifting
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  • OK, my boogie-loving, head-thrashing, air-guitar-playing quilters, how are those Rock On! art quilts comin ''? T minus 10 weeks until the due date, so I hope you're jammin' and quiltin' the night away. We've gotten a handful of
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  • I want to thank everybody so much for your in-depth responses to my questions about winter woes and planning a three-day art quilt retreat at my house. I was amazed at how long and thoughtful those responses were!  What many of you said:  Coping
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  • Here’s a good way to start the workweek: Want to buy an art quilt? Today the reverse auction commences to benefit SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates). I am on the SAQA Board and I can tell you this is a very organized, forward-thinking organization supporting
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  • Ever since I returned home from Houston, I've been suffering from what I dub PPQSD: post-partum quilt show disorder. I'm home from the show I look forward to most every year, and now I'm back in my sleepy, bucolic town of Stow, MA. Quilt show
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  • Designing with sheer fabrics; soy wax for batik; quilts from photos and drawings; expert advice on selling your art; mixed-media canvas books; quilt storage and preservation; printing on fabric with Maggie Grey; collaged journal quilts; collaborative
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  • Virginia Spiegel’s e-newsletter popped into my in-box earlier this week, letting me know that another Collage Mania auction to raise funds for the American Cancer Society will be taking place. Virginia’s efforts to raise funds and rally artists for ACS
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  • Fabric design with discharge dyeing, crayon rubbing, and painting; using your stash; digital design; machine needle felting; stamped fabrics with Adinkra symbols; designing with thread scraps; image transfers on fabric and paper; surface design in fabric
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  • As my friends know all too well, I am slightly obsessed with HBO's The Sopranos , and inspired by a recent call for entries for an upcoming show in Long Beach , I came darn close to formally entering an art quilt dedicated to my Jersey boys. But there
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  • Collaged fabric panels with found objects; wholecloth facing technique; monoprinting fabrics, including sheers; free-motion machine quilting; mounting and framing art quilts; flour paste resist with Jane Dunnewold; painterly quilt collage; eco-friendly
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  • We’ve started taping for Series 200 of QA TV and I thought to give you a special, behind-the-scenes sneak-peek at how we put this together. It all begins months in advance when Kathie Stull (owner/producer) and I discuss the themes for each episode. At
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  • Apologies for the two-week absence, but I have been bowled over by a few important deadlines this month and I’ve also managed to catch the flu (no fun). While I sip chicken broth, huddled under my great grandmother’s quilt, I thought to share some happenings
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  • Machine needle felting with yarns, specialty fabrics, and digital image inspiration; the Kemshalls on quilting; binding techniques; autumn-themed art quilts; digital prints in fabric collage; discharging fabrics; India ink resist with Jane Dunnewold;
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  • Almost here! 1000 Artist Trading Cards is not available until next month, but I got my advanced copy a short while ago. What I love most about this gallery-style book is that these ATCs bridge both the art quilt and collage worlds. Lots of styles, themes
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  • Theme-based work; Tim Gunn makes Wearables Work for You; designer labels; machine needle felting; Clear Vision: Part II; pricing your art; textural surfaces; The role of tradition in quiltmaking; MetroTextural; More results from our Abstract Art Quilt
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  • Art Design Primer: Color and Value; Xpandaprint; Artist Profile: Deidre Adams;create transparent quilt art; Frayed Edges group; water-soluble stabilizers; creating translucency; The making of an art quilt; creative coffee cuffs; magical card case; results
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  • I'm home in body but not in brain, so let the pictures of International Quilt Festival in Houston do the talking! See those relaxed, confident smiles on Virginia and Nancy's faces? Just the night before, they counted the loot from the FFAC postcards
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