Red Coleus in progress

Here’s my new piece, which I am calling Red Coleus, in progress. I still have to do some shading on the brighter pink area, but it is getting close. This is the piece I started this weekend while doing demonstrations of painting on fabric at Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden during the opening of Fiber Art Optons’ exhibition. (See previous posts for details.).

This piece is 12" square, and will be donated to Studio Art Quilt Associates for their annual auction to raise money for the group.

Win a pack of my orchid notecards!

My publisher, C&T Publishing, invited me to post about the Fiber Art Options exhibition, “Orchids: Sensuality Stitched,” on their blog. Leave a comment there, and your name will go in the drawing to win a pack of my orchid series notecards. Here’s the link to their blog: http://www.ctpubblog.com

Sunday at Daniel Stowe/Debbie Langsam

This is the main entrance to Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden. This photo was taken last Thursday, when they still had a bit of snow on the ground. By today, it had finally stopped snowing and raining, and the sun actually peaked out a bit. We’ve been having some very uncharacteristic weather for North Carolina this past week!

With the slightly better weather, we had more visitors at Fiber Art Options’ exhibition today. Nancy, Debbie and I were on hand to do demos and walk-throughs for “Orchids: Sensuality Stitched.” Here is Debbie explaining her process to two garden visitors:



Debbie (Deborah M. Langsam) creates her fiber art pieces using several different techniques, but is perhaps best known for her photo mosaics.



This is one of her pieces in the show using this technique. It is called Orchids Squared: Purple Passion.



Here is Debbie’s description of this piece:

From a distance, this photomosaic gives an insect’s eye-view of the “landing platform” and surrounding structures attracting pollinators to orchid flowers. The mosaic’s “tiles” are half-inch square orchid and orchid-related images collected and printed by the artist on fabric. (A key to the photos is on the back.)

Debbie collects copyright-free images (or gets permission from the photographers) and then uses computer software to build her mosaics. Images are carefully chosen to correspond with different values, from solid black (or very dark purple, in the piece above) to very light. All her photos for this piece are orchids!



Here is the same orchid done in black and white. It is called Orchids Squared: Black and White Symphony.



After creating her mosaics, Debbie prints them out in sections on fabric sheets she runs through her printer, then carefully stitches them together. Precision is important so that the tiny images line up perfectly. Then adds batting and backing fabric and quilts the piece along the edges of the tiny photos.

Debbie’s third large piece for the show is called Aerial Roots (below). Here is her description:

A silk background highlights the sensual beauty of these sinuous structures. But beauty is only part of the story; aerial roots attach epiphytic orchids to their substrates, maintain water balance, and produce sugars for the plants through photosynthesis.

Can you tell from Debbie’s descriptions that she is a scientist? Her academic specialty is mycology (the study of fungi) and she taught for many years in the biology department at the University of North Carolina – Charlotte.

These days, Debbie and her husband Joal run Barking Dog Chocolatiers. They take no salaries, and donate all profits to local charities, including SupportWorks, a nonprofit organization in Charlotte that helps people find and form support groups and research medical information. Having taste-tested their wares, I can highly recommend their chocolates. Try the Hearts-a-Poppin’ dark chocolates for Valentine’s Day – they have Pop Rocks inside!

Saturday at Daniel Stowe/Nancy Cook

Today, four of the seven members of Fiber Art Options were at Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden for the opening of our exhibition, “Orchids: Sensuality Stitched.” We did walk-throughs of the show (that’s Grace Howes guiding a group through, above) and demonstrations.


Nancy G. Cook demonstrated how she inks her pieces with Tskuineko inks.
Here are her three large pieces for the show:


I absolutely love the minty green color in this one, Rhythms: Stems and Leaves. On one of the tours I conducted, there was a Belgian woman with two young children. Her young son (probably about 5 years old) was very enamored with this piece because it was his favorite color: turquoise. Interesting that he called it turquoise and not just blue, or blue-green, I thought. He took me all along the hall and asked me about lots of the pieces, and made interesting comments about them.

I told his mother that she might have a budding artist on her hands. Not many kids know specialized words for colors, in my experience. The visual ones learn words like “chartreuse” and “maroon” earlier than most. Her daughter loved my MOO cards, and was having a hard time deciding between two, so I told her that she could take both home. It is great to see kids interested in art.

Nancy based this piece on my photo (below), cropping in on just the top section of the photo, and changing the color palette.




This is Nancy’s Orchid Rhythms: Petals. Nancy is usually more interested in plant buds, stems and seeds than in the blooms. In this piece, she focused on the gorgeous patterns and color on one orchid’s petals. This shot does not show the magnificent lines of stitching.

Nancy starts most of her pieces with hand-dyed fabric by Heide Stoll-Weber. She makes detailed drawings of the subjects from photographs (or actual plant samples scanned in on a scanner to her computer). She creates stencils from freezer paper and irons them to the fabric, then uses Tsukineko inks to shade in areas, making them darker or a different color than the background. Her pieces are heavily machine quilted with “hand-guided machine quilting,” with her feed dogs down, guiding the needle in both straight lines and curves.




One of the things I love about Nancy’s work is that it takes you up close and personal with parts of plants that you might never notice at first glance. In her Rhythms and Buds you can see that in this orchid, she was interested in how the buds grow out of leaf structures that look like little canoes.



Grace took this photo of me starting to paint a new small piece that will be donated to Studio Art Quilt Associates for their fund-raising auction. It is based on a photo I took of a red and green coleus leaf.

We are going to be back at Daniel Stowe tomorrow, so I’ll take more photos then. I’m going to try to post some shots of each member’s work in the next week, so that you can learn a little more about their work, processes and techniques.

Hanging the “Sensuality Stitched” exhibition at DSBG

Today was an exciting day! We hung Fiber Art Options’ show, “Orchids: Sensuality Stitched,” at the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden (DSBG). The photo above shows us almost done with hanging and arranging the pieces.

Here’s how we started (see photo below). We put all the pieces on the floor, and moved them around until we liked the pairings. All the pieces needed to be hung on this one hall, which is directly off the main entrance area. Some of the Daniel Stowe folks came by to admire and offer their opinions on what should hang where:



Here are some of the signs I designed that will hang with the exhibition. They will introduce the idea behind the exhibition, tell about the group, and explain the techniques we used.



P.J. Howard was our primary ladder climber (and doesn’t that light right over her head look like a little halo? She really is very angelic, but with a wicked sense of humor!). That’s Grace’s piece behind her, which references the bassist for the band KISS (Gene Simmons’) tongue.


Here’s Nancy Cook filling out a commission form (below). All of the pieces in the exhibition are for sale (the range is between $100 and $2,500) and the forms are an agreement between DSBG and the artists.



After all of the pieces were up, we stood back and decided if anything needed to go higher or lower, or be moved to a different spot. We tried to mix up the pieces (so that they were not grouped by artist) and to ensure that their placement complimented each other. Here is (from left:) Deborah Langsam, Grace Howes, and Nancy checking out the placement.



And here is the hall, almost done:



After that, we moved out into the main area to arrange the seven smaller pieces. Each one of us had done one 12 x 18" piece based on the same orchid species, a white Phalaenopsis with pink stripes. It was amazing how different each of these pieces were. Again, all were placed on a sheet on the floor and moved around until we found a pleasing arrangement.



Then came the measurements and the math, trying to place everything up on “the cube,” a moveable display. That’s Cynthia Klemmer, DSBG’s Director of Education, on the left, in purple. She stayed with us until we had the whole show up, and has been incredibly helpful and great to work with every step of the way as we got ready for the show.



There are even live orchids in the hall with our work!



For more information on our pieces, our processes, and our hanging systems, please visit the Fiber Art Options blog, http://www.fiberartoptions.blogspot.com/

And come see us at DSBG this weekend, Feb. 6 and 7, from noon to 4 p.m. each day. We’ll be doing walk-throughs of the exhibition and demonstrations. We’d love to see you!

Want to go?
Feb. 6 through March 14, 2010
Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden
Belmont, NC
704.825.4490
www.dsbg.org

In the Pink

Quilter and author Maria Peagler started a great new feature on her blog this year. Each month, she selects a color, and asks designers and fabric companies to offer their advice about how to use it quilts. This month, my quilt “Pink Petal Party” is featured in the slideshow on her blog, Quilts and Creativity.



To celebrate her 250th blog post, Maria’s also giving away a giant bundle of pink fabrics from Robert Kaufman valued at more than $60. All you have to do is to subscribe to her blog. When she reaches 150 subscribers, she’ll draw a winner.

Maria is the author of Color Mastery: 10 Principles for Creating Stunning Quilts.

Notecards … and a business quandary

Today I received the notecards I had made of my four orchid pieces. I am very pleased with them. Overnight Prints did them; they are each 4-1/4 x 5-1/2" – nice heavy card stock, with a glossy coating on the front and the back, with plain paper inside. My information (the name of the piece, my name, materials used, and my website) are on the back. I ordered them on Jan. 26, last Tuesday, and they arrived in exactly one week (five business days).



I am going to be packaging these in sets to sell through the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden and on my website. I ordered 30 of each, and the cost was $120.09, including shipping and envelopes. Okay, even I can do this one without a calculator: One buck per card.

Now I need to decide how to price them. Retail establishments usually mark up their goods by 2 or 2-1/2 times wholesale. So if I price them at $1 each, a set of four for $4, stores would sell them for $8 or $10, and I’d make nothing.

If I price them at $2 each, a set of four for $8, stores would sell them for $16 or $20, and I’d make $4. Would you buy a pack of four notecards for $20? I wouldn’t.

So... I am thinking about this in a different way. These cards will go out into the world with my name on them. Maybe someone will see one and think, “I absolutely MUST have that artist’s work!” and they’ll call me and I’ll get a sale or a commission. In that case, it is worth the time I spent to have these printed and get them into shops, even if I make practically nothing on the cards themselves.

Okay, my head hurts. This business stuff is not my strong suit.

NOTE (added later in the day I posted this): The notecards are now available through my website, here: http://www.bluemoonriver.com/OrchidCards.html. I priced them at $12 for a set of four, plus $1 shipping (U.S. and Canada) and $2 (international).

Charlotte Quilt Symposium: registration is open!

Today is the first day you can mail your registration forms for North Carolina Quilt Symposium 2010! This year, symposium is in Charlotte, June 3-6. NCQS includes workshops with internationally known teachers, lectures, a quilt show and vendors, and lots of other fun activities.

Participants can stay in dorms at Johnson & Wales University in uptown Charlotte, or at hotels. I’ve heard that it is really fun to stay in the dorms, and at night, it is basically a great big pajama party, with lots of laughing, stitching and fun. I can’t wait!

It’s almost impossible to decide what workshops to take, with this lineup of teachers, offering everything from traditional piecing and applique to surface design techniques, thread painting, dyeing, and mixed media:

Charlotte Angotti
Cynthia Corbin
Melody Crust
Patti Culea
Kim Diehl
Karen Eckmeier
Ellen Anne Eddy
Robbi Joy Eklow
Flavin Glover
Bonnie Hunter
Janet Lasher
Susan Purney Mark
Velda Newman
Jenny Raymond
Paula Scaffidi
Pat Sloan
Karen Stone
Carol Taylor
David Taylor
Laura Wasilowski
Elin Waterson
Terry White

There really is something for every quilter’s ability level and interest.

The quilt I designed is the donation quilt for Symposium, and the pattern will be available for purchase there, with all proceeds benefiting the Symposum fund. It is called “Nothing Could Be Finer.”

To download registration materials, click here. And I’ll see you there!

Pink Rose

Here’s the little piece I made for ToteTuesday (see my previous post), all finished. It is 8-1/2 x 8-1/4". It’s getting a label and going in the mail tomorrow.

A pink rose for ACS fundraiser

This afternoon, I worked on a project I will be donating to ToteTuesday, a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society (ACS) spearheaded by Virginia Spiegel. My latest works, a series of orchids for an upcoming exhibition, are wholecloth painted pieces that start out as white fabric (Pimatex PFD by Robert Kaufman). I paint the entire surface with acrylic textile paint, and then quilt them. I decided to execute this small project the same way.

It is based on this photo from my garden, which I took several years ago:

Now that I can see the photo and the painted piece next to each other, I can see some areas that need to be lightened and others darkened. Somehow it helps to reduce the size and stand back; I can see the little details that can make a big difference. I changed a few things – I’m not trying to reproduce the photo exactly – and made the background more dramatic. It is a little piece, about 7-8".

This little art quilt will go in one of my friend Peggy Schroder’s “Have a Heart” totes that will be auctioned off in February, with 100% of the proceeds going to ACS. I’ll let you know the exact date once I know it. You can read more details about the fundraiser at my Jan. 15 post. If you want to contribute to a fabulous cause and get some great loot, please check out these totes and consider bidding!

Last orchid piece done!

Freckles

With about a week and a half until we hang the Fiber Arts Options exhibition at Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden, I have finished quilting my last orchid piece. I’m calling it Freckles. I still have to face it and stitch on the label, but it is done!

Here is a detail shot:


And I am loving the new #15 foot for my Bernina. I have been using the clear plastic free-motion foot (#29), and really liked it. After about six years of heavy use, and I broke through my original plastic foot and had to get a new one. But several of my quilting friends urged me to try a metal foot, so decided to give one a try. This one has a bigger loop than the regular darning foot, so I can see where I’m going better, and I think it will hold up better under the heavy-duty quilting I do!



Here’s a recap of my pieces for the show (from top left: Purple Phalaenopsis, Freckles, Pink Phalaenopsis, and Ruffles). Which one do you like best, and why?

Postcard from Glacier National Park

"Post Card from Glacier National Park: Avalanche Lake"

Did y’all get your copies of the February/March 2010 issue of Quilting Arts magazine? Mine came yesterday. If not, you should be able to get it at newsstands soon, and of course, you can get it online at Quilting Arts.

I’m so excited that the first lesson in my Thread Sketching 101 series is out! Throughout 2010, I’ll be writing about using thread to add color, dimension, texture, line, pattern and movement to the surface of an art quilt. This first installment focuses on adding color with thread.

The tiny art quilt above, created for this lesson, is only 9-1/2" x 6-3/4". It’s great to work small when you are learning a new technique, so I am making most of the projects for this series pretty little. This baby is based on a photo I took in 1987, when I visited Glacier National Park for the second time. Glacier is my favorite wild place to be.

I just finished writing the next lesson, which focuses on line, and has some more in-depth information on stabilizing your work before thread sketching.

Coming along

This piece is really coming along. I painted all last night. Just some detail work now. I am thrilled with this so far. I am finding it valuable to take a photo every now and then, because seeing it much smaller helps me to see areas that need more detail, or a higher contrast in value. There are a few areas where the petals overlap where I need to darken a bit. See, I learned from the Purple Phalaenopsis debacle! (See previous posts.)

Pink Orchids in progress

With less than three weeks to go, I am starting the last of my pieces for Fiber Art Options’ group show, “Orchids: Sensuality Stitched” (see the previous post). Cutting it close? Yep, but I often do. I must like the adrenaline rush. The photo above shows the piece in progress, in the painting stage.



I’ve been getting some questions about the process I use for these. They are wholecloth painted pieces. I start with Pimatex PFD (a tightly woven cotton fabric by Robert Kaufman that is Prepared For Dyeing). I trace my design onto the fabric and tape it down, very taut, to my kitchen counters. They are really old, ugly yellow laminate. It is probably a good thing that we can’t afford to replace them, because I use them this way a lot, since I don’t have space in my studio for wet work. The paint comes right off with SoftScrub when I am done.

The photo above shows how I work. That’s the original photo (shown below) taped up to the microwave. The kitchen is not terribly functional at this point, so I try to find a good block of time, a few days, where I can invest a decent amount of time on this one project. I can still prepare simple meals on the other counters, or we can eat fast food for a bit. I’ve probably put in about five hours of painting so far.

I don’t mix too many colors at one time, because I’m pretty much constantly interrupted by the kids, or the plumber (who was here this morning and left us with an audacious estimate to fix a water line problem) or the telephone, or the ten million other things I am juggling. When I have to, I put plastic wrap over the paint, wash my brushes and let it wait until the next ten minutes that come open.



I’m excited about this one. The colors are delectable.

“Orchids: Sensuality Stitched” exhibition starts Feb. 6

“Orchids: Sensuality Stitched“ is an exhibition of artwork by Fiber Art Options, a group of seven artists from the Charlotte area who work in fabric, paper and thread. The exhibition captures the exotic, colorful essence of the most diverse plant family on earth. Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden is hosting the exhibition’s first showing as part of its Orchid Spectacular.

Members of Fiber Art Options are Linda Stegall, Janet A. Lasher, Deborah M. Langsam, K. Grace Howes, Nancy G. Cook, P.J. Howard and me. We will walk visitors through the exhibition, demonstrate our techniques and talk about our work on Feb. 6 and 7 from noon to 4 p.m.

Want to go?
Feb. 6 through March 14, 2010
Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden
Belmont, NC
704.825.4490
www.dsbg.org

Thread Sketching 101, Lesson One: Focus on Color

"A New Box"

My first column on thread sketching is in the February/March 2010 issue of Quilting Arts magazine, which is hitting mailboxes now. Throughout 2010, I’ll be writing about using thread to add color, dimension, texture, line, pattern and movement to the surface of an art quilt. The first installment focuses on adding color with thread.

Thread sketching is something I discuss in my Quilting Arts Workshop DVD, “Master Machine Quilting: Free-motion Stitching and Thread Sketching,” but in the column, I’ll go provide lots more tips, go into more detail, and teach readers how to get great results through exercises and practice.

When I was a kid, I always loved getting a new box of crayons. Preferably the giant 96-count box with the built-in sharpener. I loved the look, smell and feel of those perfectly sharpened, waxy crayons. Pristine, before you had to tear the paper down. I’d take them all out and rearrange them in a spectrum. So when I wanted to demonstrate how much you could do with thread alone, crayons immediately came to mind.

Quilting Arts will be offering my “A New Box” design (above) as an online extra. It’s a great way to practice your thread-sketching skills. I don’t see it on the website yet; I’ll update this post with a link when I do.

Tote Tuesday: I’m on board!

An online friend, Peggy Schroder, has asked me to participate in Tote Tuesday, and despite my fairly substantial obligations and deadlines right now, I just had to say yes. Have you heard about Tote Tuesday yet? It is the latest fundraising idea from an extraordinary woman and artist, Virginia Spiegel, who has raised nearly $200,000 for the American Cancer Society through Fiberart For A Cause. If Virginia can do all that, and if Peggy can organize filling the tote, then I can certainly contribute a small item!

Here’s the information on Virginia’s blog:

ToteTuesday, a Fiberart For A Cause fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, will open Tuesday, February 2 and continue through March. It’s a fundraiser AND a showcase for everything that is fun and creative about the fiber arts.

ToteTuesday will feature themed totes filled with unique, beautiful, and inspiring items from the worlds of fiber arts, knitting, art quilting, mixed media and surface design.

You can expect totes offering original artwork, autographed books, hand-dyed fabrics, discharged, rust-dyed and painted fabrics, beads, gorgeous yarns, handmade journals, fun and useful materials/tools for mixed-media and surface design, certificates for online classes and much, much more.

Themed totes will include either a nifty purple Relay For Life (the ACS’s biggest grassroots fundraiser) tote or a custom-made one.

There will be an auction from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. every Tuesday with a required opening bid with additional bids requested in $10 increments. There will also be a Go for the Gold! price if you can’t wait to own the tote AND want to be a champion supporter of the ACS.

I’ll be contributing an item for a tote bag called “Have a Heart” that Peggy is sponsoring. She is sponsoring four tote bags in all (wow!) and the “Have a Heart” one is the first of hers. It will be auctioned off in February, before Valentine’s Day.

A list of the 24 themed totes now in progress are listed on Virginia’s website. The auction of the totes will take place Tuesdays in February and March on Virginia's blog.

One hundred percent of the funds raised by ToteTuesday will be donated directly to the American Cancer Society.

Want to know more about Virginia Spiegel? Pokey Bolton, editor of Quilting Arts magazine, has a great new interview with Virginia on her blog.

Note: The Tote Tuesday logo was designed by Jeanelle McCall.

PaperClay Valentine

I played with Creative PaperClay for the first time at our Pandoras meeting on Monday, and followed instructions by Elaine Thomas in the January/February issue of Cloth Paper Scissors magazine to make this cutie. What fun! I started out by molding the clay around a lump of aluminum foil (see photo at right), then let it air dry.

I painted it with liquid acrylic paint in pretty bright colors. The red of the heart, for example, was a cherry red. I needed a teeny-tiny brush to do the features, since the whole thing is only about 3" high, and the face is about 1". After that was dry, I coated the whole thing with brown paint, and wiped most of it off to give it a more mottled, antiqued appearance.

The ruff around her neck is made from a strip from a beat-up old hymnal I found in an antique store (no, I wouldn’t rip up a perfectly good hymnal, Mom!) Last, I added some superfine glitter on her collar, and a little bit overall on the heart. I am still considering giving her a little birthmark mole.

Elaine’s directions were very easy to follow, and I was pleased with the results. Next time, I’ll try to do something in my style, instead of following hers, but this was a great learning experience. I’ve been wanting to do some Halloween pieces, and the PaperClay will be perfect!

Lessons from the purple orchid

This is my piece, Purple Phalaenopsis, today, after major changes. I almost burned it in a ritualistic bonfire a few days after Christmas. In the process of reworking this piece, I have learned some important lessons about art, the critiquing process, and about how much to trust myself as an artist.

Want to hear the whole, sad story? Okay, here goes.

This is how it looked about a month ago, when I took it to a meeting of Fiber Art Options, a group of fiber artists in the Charlotte area:


Purple Phalaenopsis on 12.12.09

I was generally pleased with it overall (okay, to be honest, I was pretty excited about it), except for the labellum. That’s the fancy name for a specialized petal that acts as a landing platform for the pollinator. It is sometimes called the “lip.” It’s right below the column (or “nose”), which is usually a white waxy structure in the center, and contains the male and female reproductive organs of the flower. On my quilt, it is that elongated darker purple blobby thing below the white area.

I showed the piece to my group, and they confirmed my suspicions.

They told me that I had quilted the labellum too heavily. (Lesson 1: Quilt heavily on areas that should recede; quilt lightly on areas that should come forward.) It also didn’t help that it was darker, because dark things also appear to recede, while light things appear to come forward. Part of the reason for this problem was that I was trying to faithfully reproduce my photo. (Lesson 2: As an artist, you have the right and the duty – and the artistic license – to change things so that that your piece works better.)


Purple Phalaenopsis (detail) on 12.12.09

Then they moved on to other problems. They told me my background colors were too bright and too clear, and popped out too much, and needed to be toned down. They told me that there was visual confusion as to where my petals were, because the colors along the edges were too similar. They told me a bunch of stuff, and one person suggested one solution, and another suggested a different solution, and before long, my head was spinning and I considered running from the room. I stayed because I like these people, and I respect them. I trusted them to tell me what they really thought, and they did. (Lesson 3: If you ask for a critiqué, you have to be prepared for criticism. But you still have the right to draw a line in the sand, and politely explain that you’ve had as much as you can handle for that session.)

And so, after leaving that meeting, over the next week or so, I pondered what to do. I lamented my lack of formal art training, which might have helped me see what I needed to see, and avoid these pitfalls. I stopped thinking about the joy that creating the piece had given me – the process – and obsessed over the finished piece – the product. I let all the criticisms from others, and my own negativity, get to me, and I started hating that purple orchid staring down at me from my design wall. (Lesson 4: In the end, it doesn’t matter what others think as much as what you think about your own work.)

And then, determination set in. That orchid was not going to defeat me. I was going to fix it. I would rebuild it, better than before. (Cue the theme song from "The Six Million Dollar Man.”) I got out my paints and made some places lighter (the edges of some of the petals), some places darker (the areas of the petals that were going behind other petals), and some places muddier (the green background areas).

I repainted that d**n labellum. I put it back up on my design wall and pondered some more. Nope, still not right. I took it down the next day and tried again. And again. And then I cried (just the littlest bit). In the darkest hour, I started seeing it going up in flames in the backyard, and toasting marshmallows over it on a cold, clear winter’s night. A revenge fantasy. Go to hellum, labellum! I went to bed that night despairing.

Morning came, and, rested and more hopeful, I decided on a different tack. It didn’t make sense to burn it. Its image was already being used in online advertising for our groups’ exhibition. No, I would admit defeat, and with proper humility, begin again. Not on the whole piece, but on the most problematic part: the labellum. I re-sketched and painted that piece on a fresh piece of white fabric. I cut it out, leaving a seam allowance, and pinned it in place, and appliquéd it to the background, covering the hideous part. I stuffed it with a bit of fiberfill, so that it would physically stand out a bit more. Appliquéing was difficult, since the paint had made the fabric very stiff, and since it was in the center of the quilt, it was impossible to scrunch up the fabric as I worked. My fingers were literally bleeding while I worked. But I persevered. Next, I quilted it, but only a little bit, to emphasize the folds and curves. (Lesson 5: Things are always better in the morning. Sleep and a fresh perspective can work wonders. And “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”)

Did it look better? I wasn’t sure. I was so frustrated that I didn’t know whether to trust my judgment and my instincts, and frankly, I had reached the point where I didn’t care. My goal was to sew the new labellum on there and hang it up for a few days. If I still hated it, there was plenty of time for that backyard conflagration. I’m still not sure what I think. Probably it is better. I haven’t burned it yet.

***

“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” — Samuel Beckett

***

Here’s the next piece finished (except for the facing) and ready to enter the fray. As my husband is fond of saying, “We soldier on.”



Some detail shots:

January Pandoras meeting

Today was our January meeting of the Pandoras, my local fiber art group. It happened to fall on Grace’s birthday, so of course we had to have cake! Fluffy white cake with cream cheese frosting and lemon curd… yum! Grace’s husband interrupted our meeting every 10 minutes with a phone text message saying “Happy Birthday!” Very sweet, don’t you think? I love this photo of Grace, showing the cute little gap between her front teeth. She is very fun-loving and has the most amazing laugh. Happy Birthday, my dear friend!

Here is Grace in a more serious mode (below), working with watercolor pencils and Caran D’Ache Neocolor II Watersoluble Crayons crayons on fabric. She is experimenting with using them on one of her orchid pieces she is doing for our Fiber Art Options group exhibition next month. While we usually work on the same project (picked out by the host), this month we brought our own things and just worked side by side.



Michele worked on this lovely beaded fish piece. She’s done several of these beaded buttons, and they are to die for! Michele works in a very eclectic mix of needle arts… quilting, beading, needlepoint, doll-making…



Meanwhile, Alisan and I tried out Creative PaperClay for the first time, and followed instructions by Elaine Thomas in the January/February issue of Cloth Paper Scissors magazine to make folk art Valentines. (You can see Elaine’s wonderful work on her blog, her Flickr account, and her Etsy shop.)

Here’s how mine looked after I shaped the clay. The heart is built around molded aluminum foil, so it is very light. I’ll post photos of it once it is dry and painted so you can see how it turns out.



I really liked working with PaperClay. When I was in college, I made some pieces in porcelain clay while working at a YMCA camp during the summer. This has a similar feel, but has a little more spring or flexibility to it. It does not need to be fired, but simply air dries, and can then be sanded and smoothed before painting. It can even be wet again and re-worked somewhat.

I enjoy working three-dimensionally… guess I had forgotten how much. Must… resist… temptation… focus, focus!

Another embroidery piece

Last summer, I embroidered a piece I called Petri Dish Promenade. It was done on a piece of white fabric I had batiked with soy wax, and then dyed. I still have not decided what to do with it, but I’m leaning toward making a simply-quilted background and stitching it to that, rather than trimming it in any way (after some of my fiber art friends who saw it were aghast at the thought).

A few months ago, I decided to start another similar piece, this time using a piece of clamp-dyed shibori fabric I dyed last year. The black-and-white background gives quite a different effect, much starker. It is 18" x 20". And this time, I’m working with squares, diamonds and angles – quite different from the circles in Petri. It’s still in progress; I’m working now on the red patch at the bottom right.



I’m using all different weights of threads and flosses by many different manufacturers. The stringy bits are actually the threads that came out of my dryer after I washed quilting fabric (mostly hand-dyeds) for the first time. And a bit of hand-dyed silk hankie here and there.



I just love the simple hand stitching and French knots.











When I’m not working on a needleturn appliqué project, this is what I take to my kid’s soccer practice, piano lesson, dentist’s appointments, etc., to keep me busy. In between, it lives here (on top of this adorable child’s toy dresser) in this beautiful African basket:



I made the liner using a pattern by Clothesline Quilts. Inside is a little quilted bag with all my shreddy fabric bits:



… and below that, some of my embroidery threads:

Artist Profile: Beth Hemmila of Hint Jewelry

I just discovered an artist who makes the most delicious jewelry, and I wanted to share her work with you. Her name is Beth Hemmila, and I found out about her when she was featured in a promotion for Moo cards. (Moo, if you didn’t know, is a company that makes artful custom business cards, calling cards and postcards that are all the rage among artists. You can order 100 MiniCards with 100 different images on them for $20.)

Beth uses Moo’s MiniCards with images of her work on the front and clear stickers on the back that tell the story of each of the charms she creates:



Here’s Beth, who works and blogs and sells her work under the name Hint Jewelry from her home in Portland, Oregon:



Note to my husband, who may or not read my blog: There’s absolutely nothing on her blog or in her Etsy shop that I wouldn’t love to own and wear. Like the little beauty below. And Valentine’s Day is coming up. Hint, hint.

Beth’s Joy necklace (above) features her Field of Flowers handmade silver charm on a 16" sterling silver chain, with two pink tourmaline gemstones.

At the core of Beth’s business are these darling little charms ($12-$22, depending on size):


One really cool product Beth offers are her Charm Necklaces, which you can design, choosing the charms and gems you want to tell your story.

To build your personalized Hint charm necklace, you go to Beth’s online Etsy shop, and purchase the charms, silver jump rings, silver chains or leather cords, and gemstones, and when you place your order, you provide any additional instructions so she can build your necklace. Cool, huh?

Or you can buy just the charms and make your own necklace. Here’s an example of a necklace that another designer created using Hint charms:


This necklace features Beth’s Flaming Heart Milagro:


This is her Stillness charm, so lovely in its simplicity:


And I have to admit that I’m a sucker for her gorgeous photography, which sells her work very well and sets a sensuous tone. Like this one:

It is a shot to illustrate her blog post about pearls. Beth has been running a series of posts where she reviews a chapter from the book Jewels: A Secret History by Victoria Finlay. “What is it about pearls that is so enticing?” writes Beth. “For me, it represents what I feel most close to in nature, like the luminosity of the moon, fluffy white clouds, secret treasures found underwater, pure falling snowflakes, and being able to appreciate the unique qualities of each living thing.”

Beth’s beautifully written and photographed blog tells the story behind her charms and her necklaces. From what I’ve read, she seems to be a very thoughtful and spiritual person, and regularly donates 10 percent of her earnings to non-profit organizations like the American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).

Note: All photographs are copyrighted by Beth Hemmila and are used with permission.

An interview with Pat Sloan … and a give-away!

I met Pat Sloan briefly last October (she was surrounded by adoring fans at International Quilt Market in Houston) and snagged her latest book, Quilt the Seasons, Book 2. It’s packed with 14 great new projects to decorate your house for each month, including table runners, wall hangings, and lap-size and bed quilts. There are appliqué projects as well as pieced items, so there’s something here for everyone. Leave a comment about this post by noon EST on Monday, Jan. 18, and I’ll put you in a drawing to win my autographed copy!

I thought you might enjoy a little inside scoop about Pat, and I wanted to get to know her better, too. So here’s a little information about her, and a quick interview.

Pat worked as a computer programmer for 20 years, and started quilting as a hobby during that time. Pretty soon, she was obsessed with quilting, and she left her job to start her company, Pat Sloan & Company, in 1997. She lives in Fairfax County in northern Virginia, and is the author of more than 15 quilting books published by Leisure Arts. She has also designed several fabric lines with P&B Textiles.

In addition to publishing her own patterns, she also designs for American Patchwork & Quilting, McCall’s Quilting, McCall’s Quick Quilts, Quilters World, Create & Decorate, and the Fons & Porter magazines. And as if that doesn’t keep her busy enough, you can usually find her chatting it up on Facebook, and teaching workshops all over the place!

Pat is a ball of energy, and seems to always be smiling. Here’s the photo I took of her when she was autographing books – laughing, even with her eyes closed!



Me: Pat, I’ve only met you in person once, but you seem like a really fun, outgoing person. Are you really the quilting party girl you seem, or are you secretly shy?
Pat: Oh my.... I’m not shy!!! I USED to be shy.. painfully shy.. but I guess I just needed longer for my inner big mouth to come out!! I do need my quiet time, which is different. After being with people a few days I need some silence to recharge the batteries. I spent 20+ years in computers mostly working alone… so I’m used to hanging in groups, but like to work by myself in my zone.

Me: Tell me about an important turning point in your life.
Pat: You are giving me SUCH hard questions.. LOL! The first thing that comes to mind is the decision to have my own business. Which is a very classic turning point for many of us who have done this. I went against all biz rules and just quit ... then decided what my biz would be after I had already left the comforts of the corporate world!

But I’m wondering… was there another? I think a very long time ago when I left home it was a turning point. I was 17 and left my family in Europe to go to college in the mountains of Pennsylvania at a small campus of Penn State. I could not call home. No cell, no computers, no mom to run to. I had to toughen up and find other avenues of support very quickly!

Me: I see that you selected “Possibility” as your word for 2010. Why?
Pat: Ahhh… why DID I pick that? You know some of my friends were writing about the meaning of the word they picked… and I thought that sounded nifty… nifty as in maybe I should do that… have I?? No! Okay, let me think....

What does “Possibility” MEAN in a dictionary sense...
1) the condition or fact of being possible
2) archaic : one’s utmost power, capacity, or ability
3) something that is possible
4) potential or prospective value —usually used in plural

This year my business focus is to inspire and motivate quilters to actually QUILT! We want to quilt but life happens, other things get done, and the joy of stitching or pushing fabric under the machine does not happen as much as they want. So the word ‘Possibility’ seems so hopeful. It IS possible to quilt every day. It IS possible to have fun with your hobby. It IS possible to finish those projects (one of the top three things people told me they want to do this year!!)

My personal goals all fit in with Possibility too. The possibilities for change are endless… the possibilities to improve… the possibilities to have fun!! I want to look at everything I do and know that I can make it possible! (I'm SUCH a Pollyanna… my glass is ALWAYS half full!)

Me: So, what new projects are in store for you in 2010?
Pat: I have a VERY cool thing I'm doing! Starting on January 18, I'll be recording a weekly podcast interview with creative quilters and crafters. You will be able to listen live (maybe with call ins) and then download or listen to it online forever after it’s done… I'm SO EXCITED!! It’s going to be great… I’m lining up people now… mmm… So Susan… what Monday afternoon in March are April do you have free????

Me: Ooooh, I’d love to do that, Pat! You’re on! I’ll e-mail you with some dates. Anything else you want to tell us about?
Pat: Let me PLUG my cruise... it’s in June leaving Baltimore and going north to Boston, Maine and Canada! We still have a few slots and I’d LOVE to have you join me. Click to my workshop page here for info on WHAT a quilting cruise is and on this specific cruise... bon voyage!!!

Me: Thanks so much for letting me interview you, Pat. Here are links to all of Pat’s online ventures. As you can see, she is a very busy lady!

Where to find Pat:
Website - http://www.PatSloan.com
Store - http://www.PatSloan.biz
Blog - http://patsloan.typepad.com
Quilt Forum - http://www.quiltmashup.com
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/PatSloan
Twitter - http://twitter.com/QuilterPatSloan
Quilt GAMES - http://www.deathbyquilting.com
Yarn blog - http://patsloan.typepad.com/yarnmashup/
Studio webcam - http://patsloan.typepad.com/quiltershome/pats-design-wall.html


Pat’s adorable “Zig Zag Pillow” is one of many free patterns that Pat generously makes available on her website. But as she reminds her readers, “I can only offer these because quilters like you also buy my books, fabric and designs from my web store and your local quilt shop.” We all need to keep that in mind!

Okay, one more time: Leave a comment about this post by noon EST on Monday, Jan. 18, and I’ll put you in a drawing to win my autographed copy! Don’t forget to check back here that afternoon to see if you’ve won.

AND THE WINNER IS: Wordmama! Thanks for playing, everyone!

Salley Mavor

I have been working on a bunch of art quilts for my series of articles for Quilting Arts magazine and another big upcoming project, and they are all top secret for now, and it is driving me crazy not to be able to share them. BUT... I was reading the C&T Publishing blog today and found out some exciting news I could share with you: Salley Mavor, whose work I absolutely adore, is working on a new book called Pocketful of Posies that will be out this fall!

Salley is the author of the book Felt Wee Folk, which has directions for making the most adorable little dolls out of felt, pipe cleaners, silk flowers and acorn caps. I made my little fairy (above) about five or six years ago, following the directions in Salley’s book.



Felt Wee Folk was released by C&T Publishing in 2003. Salley has also created illustrations for many spectacular books for children. If you want to be really inspired, don’t miss Salley’s blog and her website.

C&T’s blog has photos of an amazing self portrait she made that has a little Salley doll for every year of her life, each wearing an outfit she would have worn that year, starting with her as a baby. The fashions are fun, and I love how she included her husband (next to her in her bridal gown) and her children (in her arms or pulling on her shirt’s hem).

My word for 2010:

A bunch of my online friends at Quiltart, “an internet mail list for contemporary quilters,” are picking words to motivate and inspire them for the year 2010. A sort of mantra to keep yourself on track, and mindful of your purpose or path.

To me, authentic means:
being true to one’s own personality, spirit, or character
being actually and exactly what is claimed
being genuine
having good faith and sincerity of intention
being reliable, trustworthy, bona fide
being free from hypocrisy or pretense
being original, not false or imitative

Here are words others in the Quiltart group have chosen for 2010:
Grow
Focus
Journey
Explore
Challenge
Bold
Balance
Work
Cultivate
Territory
Experiment
Innovate
Fun
Survive
Intent
Serene
Dare
Finish
Instinctual
Concentration
Accomplish
Courage
Simplify
What if
Discipline
See
Step up
Curious
Freedom
Me
Forward
Life
Joy
Over
Be
Dance
Yes

What is your word for 2010?

Bonnie McCaffery’s latest VidCast features Janet and me

For the past few years, award-winning quilter Bonnie McCaffery (well known for her Painted Faces and DigiBobbE techniques) has been interviewing quilters and producing videos, which she posts on her website. In May, she interviewed me and Janet Lasher (above, on the left) at Spring Quilt Market in Pittsburgh. Janet and I both belong to Fiber Art Options, a group of fiber artists from the Charlotte, NC area.

Bonnie’s just posted the VidCast, and you can now see it on her website!

For a complete list of Bonnie’s VidCasts, click here. You’ll find interviews with some amazing quilters, including Charlotte Warr Andersen, Maggie Weiss, Paula Nadelstern, Robbie Joy Eklow, Terry White, Larkin Van Horn, Isabelle Baydova, Maggie Grey, Denise Tallon Harlan, Ellen Lindner, Sue Nickels, Linda Schmidt, Ferret, Jenny Bowker, Melinda Schwakofer, Ricky Tims, Esterita Austin, Alex Anderson, and Caryl Bryer Fallert.

Bonnie is a fantastic teacher, a very talented quilter, and a really great person. It was an honor to be interviewed by her. Thanks, Bonnie!

Pink Petal Party featured in Machine Quilting Unlimited magazine

My friend Sarah Ann Smith has been writing a series on the elements and principles of design for machine quilters for Machine Quilting Unlimited magazine. The most recent installment is “Depth and Dimension through Contours, Rhythm and Repetition” in the January 2010 issue. When Sarah was writing this column, she was looking for examples from both traditional quilts and art quilts, and asked if she could include my quilt, Pink Petal Party. How nice!



Sarah notes that the dense quilting in the background helps to concentrate attention on the focal point, the vase of pansies. She also points out the realistic stitching on the pansies, and the stitching on the vase, where vertical lines cover the whole vase and horizontal lines come in from the left and right sides, making the center appear to come forward.

The article features photos of beautiful work by Sarah and Suzanne Sanger to illustrate her wonderfully informative column.

Machine Quilting Unlimited has a great mix of articles for long-arm machine quilters as well as for those of us who use regular home sewing machines. And there’s a nice balance of traditional quilting and art quilting. In the January issue, there’s a great profile of Laura Wasilowski, whose work is featured on the front cover.

My new thread organizer

Look what I got for Christmas! It’s an oak thread organizer by Rom Woodworking. I saw these at Fall Quilt Market in Houston and knew without a shadow of a doubt that one would go on my Christmas list.

They make several different versions, including full cylinders that rotate on a lazy susan and sit on a table, and in different styles for those who use thread cones and those who use smaller embroidery thread spools.

Mine is the “Wall Mounted Half Barrel” and is 29" tall x 22" wide. It holds 72 large cones of thread and 64 small spools or bobbins. It came with big pegs (for the cones) and small spindles (for the spools) but I drilled smaller holes in the spots for the big pegs, because I don’t buy thread in cones (yet!). Then I purchased some dowel rods at a craft store, cut them to length and sanded the ends, and used them instead of the big pegs. I didn’t glue them in place, so I can swap them out for the big pegs when I buy cones of thread.

Rom Woodworking also makes ruler organizers. The company is based in Harveys Lake, Pa.

The quality is exceptional, and you can get them in both clear finish and a golden oak stain. They are also not as heavy as you might expect, so it was very easy for me to mount mine on the wall.

I would need a second one to hold all my embroidery-weight threads and my hand quilting threads, but this one holds all of my spools for machine quilting, with some room to spare, and looks great doing it.

I am loving this thing! My husband calls it “the Thread Deathstar.” :-)

Christmas all over the house

I have been busy getting ready for Christmas, and thought you might like to see some of my decorations. The storm that is raging up the east coast brought us some wonderful winter white today. I took this photo at about 3:30 p.m.; we got a little more later in the afternoon, for a total of about two inches, I think. This is rare for the Charlotte area.


I have been collecting these glass balls for years. The nativity set is by Eldreth Pottery in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.


I purchased these darling primitive angels (”Hope” and “Peace”) from a woman at Barnful of Quilts last fall.


I got this standing angel on sale after Christmas several years ago... she was left behind because one arm is attached backwards... and I love that!


My mom gave me her carollers last year. They look marvelous on the piano.


My parents and my best friend, Dawna, gave me these elegant Russian Santas.


Snowmen and Eldreth Pottery Santas by the window in the family room.


My stitchery (a pattern by Buttermilk Basin) and little quilt, with my mom’s old wool skating socks, beloved Norwegian and Swedish mittens and booties purchased for my children when they were tiny, and a simple hand-carved wood star.


My wool advent calendar, “Gingerbread Countdown.”


A pile of quilts with the angels, and a sampling of folk art Santas by my neighbor.


A tin sign graces the old china hutch…


and these Eldreth Pottery Santas sit atop, in their wintery wonderland.


I put the Santas away after Christmas, but leave out the snow and the winter tree through February, wishing for snow.


Fresh mistletoe in a sweet vintage vase.




A wintery view out our window.

Working away

I’ve been working away on my yellow orchid piece, trying to add more depth, get the proper color balance, and fix the water droplets. I got some assistance from my Facebook friend Karen Dennison, who referred me to this great YouTube video and from Sandee Krueger, who left a comment on my last post. Isn’t cool that there is this wonderful community of people out there in the blogosphere who are willing to help? Thanks! My water droplets are looking much better, I think!

Yellow Orchid in progress

I have started painting the next in my series of wholecloth painted orchid pieces. This one is even closer up than the purple one that I just finished. Part of the challenge here is those water droplets. Like the others, it will be about 24" x 36". The first photo shows my painted version on fabric; the second is the photo from which I worked.

I still have a lot of shading to do, but it is shaping up. I am learning a lot about painting with acrylics, and cursing myself for not taking any painting classes before I attempted this. It is really valuable to take a photo of it at this stage and compare it to the photo with both at about the same size. I can see now more clearly what I need to work on.

How to face a quilt

Stitch Sampler showing facing (back of quilt)

Note: There are many methods for facing a quilt. This one is a combination of methods I learned from others, plus some tricks I learned while trying different techniques, and is the one that works best for me. This tutorial is available as a free four-page PDF – simply click here, or go to the sidebar on the right side of this blog, scroll down to “Free Stuff” and click on the “How to face a quilt” link to download and print the PDF.

For this tutorial, I faced a small stitch sampler I created when preparing to film my DVD, “Master Machine Quilting: Free-motion Stitching and Thread Sketching.” The back is black and the front is maroon. Normally I’d make the facing a color similar to the back of my quilt, or even the same fabric. In this case, I used white so you could see more clearly what I was doing.

I like to use this method on my art quilts; I think it makes them look more like art if they don’t have a traditional quilt binding. I have started using facings or a pillowcase turn on most of my art quilts, saving binding for my more traditional quilts.

DIRECTIONS:
Trim your quilt, squaring up the corners, so that the backing and batting are even with the edge of the quilt.

Measure the width and length of your quilt and cut four 2" wide facing strips that are 2" longer than each side. (For example, if your quilt is 15" wide by 18" long, cut two facing strips 2" x 17" and two facing strips 2” x 20”.)

On one long edge of each strip, turn under and press under ¼".


Mark the width of the quilt side on the unfolded long edge of the first strip. Then measure in ¼" and make a second mark. Do the same at the other end. Pin the unfolded edge of the strip to the edge of the quilt, aligning the outer marks.




Using a standard presser foot or your walking foot, stitch along the edge between the two inner marks, back stitching at each end, with a ¼" seam allowance. Make sure to leave exactly ¼" at each end unstitched.


Fold back the facing strip.


Pin the next facing strip in place.


Stitch it down in the same way, with a ¼" seam allowance, back stitching at the two inner marks.


Apply all four sides in the same manner. Finger press the facings away from the quilt.


Fold each corner of the quilt at a 45° angle, with the front of the quilt inside, and align and pin the facing strips. Then use a ruler marked with a 45° angle and mark this angle on the facing strips.


The line should go from the end of the stitching at the inner mark at the corner of the quilt to the folded edge of the facing.


Stitch on this line, back stitching at each end, and stopping exactly at the place where this seam meets the seam where you sewed the facing to the quilt. Trim to a ¼" seam allowance.


Press the seam allowance open.


Clip corner and then grade seams near the corner. Do the other corners in the same manner.


Turn facing around to the back side of the quilt and finger press seams again. Use a blunt-tip tool to turn out corners.

From the front side, stitch along the edges about 1/8" from the seam, through the facing and the seam allowance. It is impossible to stitch around the corners; simply stitch up as far into the corners as you can. This seam, often used in garment construction, will help the facing turn more easily to the back.


Turn the facing to the back side of the quilt, and press it so that the facing does not show on the front. On the back, pin the facing to the backing.


Note: If the mitred seam (45° angle at the corners) does not fit snugly, you can tuck it under, pin it in place and stitch a tighter seam when you hand stitch the facing to the back in the next step.
Stitch the folded edge of the facing to the back of the quilt, tightening mitered seam if necessary.


Here is the back of the quilt with the white facing.




Here is a corner of the faced quilt from the front.


If you are curious about other facing methods, here are some great instructions:

Grace Howes
http://barnyardchatter.wordpress.com/2009/04/06/facings-an-alternative-to-traditional-bindings/

Brenda Gael Smith
http://serendipitypatchwork.com.au/blog/2008/05/27/mitred-facing-tutorial/
and
http://serendipitypatchwork.com.au/blog/2009/01/13/my-favourite-quilt-facing-finish/

Jeri Riggs
http://jeririggs.blogspot.com/2008/02/facings-for-quilts.html

December Pandoras meeting

Today we explored several new materials at the Pandoras meeting, and had lots of fun! We made these cute little pincushions (the purple one on the right is mine) using recycled tins that used to hold Target gift cards and lip gloss. Alisan designed this project. Isn’t she smart?

Here’s what we played with:

Adirondack Alcohol Inks are dye-based, multi-surface transparent inks you can use on glossy paper, metal, dominos, shrink plastic, glass, and other non-porous surfaces.
Metallic Mixatives create luminous highlights when used with the Inks.
You can use rubbing alcohol in a little spritzer to get a neat speckled effect.
Adirondack Alcohol Blending Solution can be used to lighten colors and clean the inks off of things.
All these are made by Ranger Industries.

We applied the inks with felt pads; you can also use paintbrushes.



These are tins (below) purchased in the candle-making section of my local Michaels craft store that were painted with the Adirondacks and spritzed with rubbing alcohol and/or stamped:


This is a piece of tin sheet metal I got from Grace, and embossed using a wooden tool, then inked with the Adirondacks:


These little beauties (below) started out as ordinary metal washers from the hardware store. We inked them with the Adirondacks (the one on the far left shows a washer with just the ink), and then sprinkled on clear UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel), a “dimensional medium for decorative arts,” on top and heated it with a crafting heat gun.

Mine are the green and bright blue ones on the right. I applied several coats of UTEE. The UTEE powder kept blowing off until Alisan suggested using a base of VersaMark watermark ink first. This product is used for embossing using powders on paper. The VersaMark held the powder in place long enough for it to melt, and then the next two layers stuck to the melted UTEE fine.

Want to give it a try? Here are sources for the materials we used today:
Interweave/Quilting Arts
Judy Coates Perez’s “Painted Threads Inspiration and Creativity Store” on Amazon
Joggles

Two down, three to go!

I just finished quilting and facing Purple Phalaenopsis last night, and I really like it. I’m still trying to decide if I need to darken a few places to make it clearer which petals are in front. I think I do, but I’m going to take it to the meetings of my two fiber art groups next week and ask their opinions first.

It is interesting to me how valuable it is to take photos of my work and look at them; I see different things, and tend to look at the whole composition in a different way than when the piece is right in front of me.

The metallic paints I used on part of this piece make these spots glisten; they look like satin, and really give the feel of the orchid’s petals. They always look so moist and shimmery to me in real life.

Here are some detail shots to show the quilting:















I have three more orchids to complete by February 1 so that they can hang in an exhibit by Fiber Art Options (details to come soon!). All must be approximately 24 x 36" like this piece. I’m excited to move on to the next one. They are going to look great all hanging together!

I’m a Quilting Arts columnist!

I am pleased as punch to announce that I’ve been asked to write a regular column for one of my very favorite magazines, Quilting Arts, throughout 2010! The subject is thread sketching, using thread to add color, dimension, texture, line, pattern and movement to the surface of an art quilt.

This is something I discuss in my Quilting Arts Workshop DVD, “Master Machine Quilting: Free-motion Stitching and Thread Sketching,” but in the column, I’ll go into a lot more detail and show you how to get great results through exercises, practice and lots of tips. I’m totally jazzed about this opportunity. Look for my first column in the February/March 2010 issue.

Editor Pokey Bolton announced this in the QA daily e-mail, Quilting Daily, which also includes my top 10 tips for resolving tension issues.

I’ve been a fan of Quilting Arts for years. If you want to learn more about art quilting, and you don’t subscribe to Quilting Arts, you are really missing out. With each issue, I learn something new and find exciting techniques to try. And there are also wonderful profiles on fiber artists, and fantastic eye candy. The Quilting Arts online community is also a great place to meet other art quilters, share ideas and make friends.

Quilting “Purple Phalaenopsis”

I started quilting Purple Phalaenopsis this afternoon. Here are a few shots. I am using drapery-weight cotton fabric for the backing, and Matilda batting (40 percent wool/60 percent polyester) inside, and it is staying nice and flat, despite the heavy quilting in some areas. I used this combination on Lepidoptera earlier this year and was very pleased with the results. My friend Nancy G. Cook suggested it.



The challenge here is to add interest, color and texture with the quilting, but still make some petals and flower parts appear to come forward. I may go back in with a bit more paint, or even some permanent markers, and add some additional shading, as I am not entirely pleased with this aspect of the piece right now.

Win this book: Threadwork Unraveled by Sarah Ann Smith

I’ve been online friends with Sarah Ann Smith for several years, but just met her at Quilt Market and Festival this fall, and guess what? She has a great new book just out, too! To celebrate, we are both giving away copies of our books. Leave a comment here on my blog after this post, and you can enter to win her book or her Nourish pattern (see photo below). Go to Sarah’s blog, where she is reviewing my book, Appliqué Petal Party, leave a comment after her post, and you can enter to win my book or my Pinata Purse pattern. Double the fun!

I’ll draw a winner at random from those who post by noon on Monday, Dec. 16.

Here is a photo of Sarah’s beautiful quilt, Nourish the Body, Nourish the Soul :


Threadwork Unraveled (AQS, 2009, 111 pages, $28.95) is both an excellent reference book on how to use thread to enhance pieced and appliqued quilts, and an inspiring look at how some of today’s best quilt artists are using thread in their work. Best of all, Sarah’s sparkling personality and sense of humor shine through on every page. (Kudos to the AQS editor who was smart enough not to edit out Sarah’s unique voice.)

Threadwork Unraveled provides an amazing amount of information about:

• thread – weights and plies, strength, how it is made, different types of thread and their advantages and disadvantages, and how to select the right type of thread for your project.
• needles – sizes, structure, types, when to change needles, selecting needles for different kinds of threads, and troubleshooting tips.
• sewing machine basics – throat plate, feet, harp, lighting, speed control, tension, thread path, using a thread stand. Note: This section would be particularly informative for those trying to determine which features they want when purchasing a new machine.
• workspace and ergonomics issues – the sewing surface, chairs, and proper body positioning.
  
• foundations – stabilizers (tear-away, heat-away, wash-away, cut-away/leave in; freezer paper; coffee filters and dryer sheets; machine tape; copy paper/tracing paper), hoops and batting.
• marking tools – pencils, chalk, pens, scoring tools, transfer paper, how to mark a quilt and how to remove markings.
  
• applique – using thread to outline machine applique, and as a design element on its own; using thread to tone down, shade and highlight; stitching options (straight stitch, blind hem, blanket stitch, zigzag stitch, satin stitch, decorative stitches); and using thread to add visual texture, contrast and value.
  
• machine quilting – quilt top, backing, batting, basting, alternatives to pin basting, starting and stopping, stitch length, speed, getting sharp points, practice tips, stitching density, blocking, quilting designs.

But this is not just an excellent reference book. There’s also lots of eye candy, beautiful examples by both Sarah and other accomplished fiber artists (Hollis Chatelain, Gloria Hansen, Joan Hawley, Jane Sassaman, Pamela Allen and more).

In my mind, Sarah’s information on tension (both in the top thread path and in the bobbin) and how to solve tension issues is well worth the entire price of the book. When I teach machine free-motion quilting, at least half of my students’ problems are tension related. Sarah explains these issues in a straight-forward, step-by-step way that will be useful to quilters of all experience levels.

The section of the book that inspired me most was the machine quilting section. Using lots of examples from her own work and that of other exceptional art quilters, Sarah ponders many issues quilters face when trying to decide on how to quilt a particular piece. I learned a lot from this part of the book.

One of my favorite projects in Sarah’s book is the Thread Tension Quilt Reference Sampler. Sarah gives instructions for marking a grid with thread and needle information and tension settings, and then sewing straight, zig zag, and free motion stitches while gradually changing the tension settings. This would be both an educational exercise, and (when completed), a practical tool and reference guide for any sewer. Check it out:



There are also several beautiful projects (a table runner and three small art quilts) quilters can create to learn new techniques and then stitch them with thread.



Sarah is an art quilter and quilt pattern designer who lives in Camden Maine. You can purchase a copy of the book from Sarah on her website. To be entered in the drawing to win her book, take a look at the Gallery section on her website, and leave me a comment after this post, telling me which of her quilts you like best and why.

NOTE: We have two winners! Kate from Hamden, CT, was selected using a random number generator. She wins the book. And Sherri from North Little Rock, AR, won Sarah’s pattern, "Nourish the Body, Nourish the Soul." Congratulations!

Purple Phalaenopsis in progress

Today, I finished painting my next orchid piece for the Fiber Art Options exhibition. It is a purple phalaenopsis orchid painted with acrylic paints on Pimatex PFD (prepared for dyeing) cotton, which has a very tight weave and accepts paint well.

This piece will be about 24 x36" when it is finished. I am very pleased with how the painting turned out, and I can’t wait to start stitching on it!

I started with this photo that I took a year or so ago:


The photo I printed out, from which I worked as I painted, had a good deal more pink and red tones in it, which showed up in my painted version. I think I’m going to use a lot of bright purple thread to unify it a bit. The painted surface has so much detail that I’m not going to do my normal thread sketching on this piece. I’m just going to machine quilt it pretty heavily.

I’m so excited that I fear I will have to force myself to go to bed tonight, and not stay up until the wee hours working on it.

Pink Phalaenopsis

I finished this piece a few months ago, and posted about it in progress, but I don’t think I ever posted a photo of it finished. So here it is. It is called Pink Phalaenopsis, and it is 12x18". I just found out tonight that one of my fiber arts groups, Fiber Art Options, has a definite venue for a group show featuring our orchid pieces. It is time for me to hustle my bustle and finish my four remaining pieces before February 1. They will all be larger pieces, all 24 x 36".

Here are some detail shots:




I have one piece of a purple orchid in progress. I am painting it on white fabric, and the painting is about 3/4 finished. I did some of the painting in my room at the Houston Hilton in the evenings after Quilt Market and International Quilt Festival. I just spread out a big plastic sheet and went to town. I’ll try to post some photos of it later this week.

I’m going to have to put myself on a serious studio schedule to finish these pieces on time (while completing a lot of other things at the same time during the holiday season)!

Good thing I seem to thrive on deadlines. ;-)

Wishful thinking

The kids and I are starting to whip up our annual blizzard of paper snowflakes to decorate the door and windows on the front of our house. We started two nights ago, and are adding a few here and there as we feel like folding and snipping. I love the lacy look, and usually keep them up through February.

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas... Wishful thinking on my part; we rarely get snow here near Charlotte, NC, and when we do, it is usually not enough to play or sled in, and it is soon gone.

Want to learn how to make a paper snowflake? I described it in an old post; click here to see the photos and instructions. We use double-sided tape to stick them to the glass.

Tomorrow, at The Mint!

Tomorrow, Janet A. Lasher and I will be guest speakers at The Mint Museum’s Artists’ Forum. These events are designed to give area artists a platform to discuss their work as well as current issues and activities in their artistic fields. If you are in the area, please come!

The forum is being held in conjunction with American Quilt Classics, 1800-1980: The Bresler Collection, showing at the Mint Museum of Craft + Design now through February 6, 2010. The collection includes spectacular examples of Baltimore Album quilts, crazy quilts, Chintz pictorial quilts, Amish quilts and log cabin quilts.

DETAILS:
Tuesday, Dec. 1
7 to 8:30 p.m.
Mint Museum of Art
2730 Randolph Road, Charlotte NC
Cost: free

Happy Thanksgiving!

Johannes A. Gaertner
To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven.

Anne Frank
I do not think of all the misery, but of the glory that remains. Go outside into the fields, nature and the sun, go out and seek happiness in yourself and in God. Think of the beauty that again and again discharges itself within and without you and be happy.

Melody Beattie
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.

Fred De Witt Van Amburgh
None is more impoverished than the one who has no gratitude. Gratitude is a currency that we can mint for ourselves, and spend without fear of bankruptcy.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy
As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.

H. U. Westermayer
The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving.

W.J. Cameron
Thanksgiving, after all, is a word of action.

Meister Eckhart
If the only prayer you said in your whole life was “thank you,” that would suffice.

Edward Sandford Martin
Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow.

E.P. Powell
Thanksgiving Day is a jewel, to set in the hearts of honest men; but be careful that you do not take the day, and leave out the gratitude.

W.T. Purkiser
Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving.

Theodore Roosevelt
Let us remember that, as much has been given us, much will be expected from us, and that true homage comes from the heart as well as from the lips, and shows itself in deeds.

Surface Design Center and Jane’s new book

A few months ago, I was invited by C&T Publishing to test drive some products they were considering for their new Liquitex Surface Design Center. I created my Indian Corn and Hosta pieces using these products, and they are now touring around the country publicizing this new collection of professional acrylic colors, mediums and inks.

C&T designed this Surface Design Center as a way for quilt shop owners to bring surface design materials into their shops, making them more accessible for quilters who want to explore making art quilts. The Center will include Liquitex Soft Body Acrylic colors and Professional Acrylic Ink! colors, Liquitex Fabric Medium and Matte Gel Medium, and Winsor & Newton brushes.

These are really cool products, and I think you’ll enjoy using them. I had never used the Liquitex Acrylic Inks, and they are really great.

The Surface Design Center debuted at Quilt Festival in Houston to an enthusiastic response.



In conjunction with the Surface Design Center, C&T is releasing a great new book by Jane Davila that teaches you how to use all the products in it. Jane Davila’s Surface Design Essentials (72 pages, $16.95) will be available in January 2010. You can pre-order autographed copies from Jane by e-mailing her at info@janedavila.com

This is a smaller format book with a covered spiral binding that will be a helpful reference for fiber and mixed-media artists. Through 15 techniques and 7 projects, it shows you how to use acrylic paints, mediums, acrylic inks and water soluble pencils on fabric and some unusual, mixed-media surfaces.

In addition to Jane, the following fabulous artists contributed samples for the book:

Natalya Aikens
Terry Grant
Lynn Koolish
Jane LaFazio
Judy Coates Perez
Virginia Spiegel
Elin Waterston

I’ve had a number of questions from people curious about the Liquitex Professional Acrylic Ink! (and yes, the exclamation point is part of the brand name). I’d never used them before this. They come in little bottles like India ink that calligraphers use, with an eyedropper:



Here’s a sample of the inks used in a calligraphy pen on off-white muslin (I mixed the yellow and red in different combinations as I added more ink to the pen making these marks):

What’s really cool about them is that they don’t bleed at all into the fabric.

Here is the ink painted onto the surface of white Kona Cotton. The yellow band at the bottom of the photo was done with watercolor pencils to achieve the bleeding I wanted there; the other marks were made with the inks:


And here are the inks mixed with a bit of Liquitex Fabric Medium and stamped onto Kona Cotton:

The fabric medium acts as an extender (makes the inks go farther), and also keeps the hand of the fabric a bit softer.

You can also dilute them with water and paint on fabric to get a nice watercolor effect, where they bleed out into the fabric.

I really liked using these inks, and plan to buy them in a bunch of different colors and experiment some more.

“Bohemian Bouquet” giveaway!

I’m giving away a copy of all 11 block patterns for my “Bohemian Bouquet” quilt! To enter, just check out my website and then leave a comment on the C&T Publishing Blog, telling which of my patterns you like best. You have to leave your comment on the C&T blog, not mine, to be entered in the contest. Each block is regularly priced at $5 ($55 for the set of 11).

Here are some detail shots from the quilt:

SAQA Frontiers: Art Meets Science

I just got the news that two of my pieces were juried in to the Studio Art Quilt Associates’ exhibition “SAQA Frontiers: Art Meets Science.” They are Lepidoptera and Coleus, shown below.





My friend Nancy G. Cook also had her piece, Southern Hospitality, juried in. There were 147 entries, and juror David Fraser, MD, selected 35 for the exhibition.

This exhibition will travel to the 2010 Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, England. Additional venues are to be determined. This exhibit “explores the unexpected intersections of two seemingly different disciplines, Art and Science. The works focus on inspiration from scientific theories or phenomena expressed in new or unexpected ways, from the harmonies of randomness to the dynamics produced by scientific imagery.”

House Rules 2

I am in the middle of teaching an online course on how to make this little art quilt on joggles.com. I made a version several years ago called “House Rules” that featured only my kids and the dog. When I was getting ready to teach this class, I needed to re-do it so that I could take photos of each step and write directions, so I decided to include the whole gang this time. Yep, even Fishy. That’s him/her on the right, about to get trampled by Miss McDoglington.

How to make a French Knot

Here’s a little tutorial on how to make a French knot. You can download a printable PDF version by clicking here. This is free, so please share it, but keep my name and logo on the printout, okay? Thanks!

Note: Directions here are given for right-handers, but the PDF has photos and directions for left-handers on the second page.


Thread the perle cotton or floss in your embroidery needle, and knot the end. Bring your needle up from the back of the fabric to the front, exactly where you want the knot to form. Pull until the knot is snug against the back of the fabric.

Put the fabric down on a flat surface, like your knee or a table.


Take the thread coming out of the fabric in your left hand between your thumb and pointer finger. Have the needle in your right hand.


Wrap thread over the needle …


and around it three times. (To make a smaller knot, wrap only one or two times.) It should be wrapped tightly, and close to the tip of the needle.


Slide the loops of thread close together, down toward the tip of the needle, holding them with the pointer finger on your right hand. Push the tip of the needle back into the same place where the thread came out (or just a thread or two away).


As it goes in, keep pinching it in place with the thumb and pointer finger of your left hand. The loops must be kept tightly together, or you will not produce a neat, tight knot.

Pull the thread completely through to the back of the fabric, and the knot will form on the front.

Practice, practice, practice!

Lark Books contest

Lark Books has announced a new contest called Quilt It! and is offering some great prizes, including a grand prize of a $100 gift certificate from Hancocks of Paducah and 11 Lark quilting books. Four other quilters (one in each of the four categories in the competition) will each receive the 11 books as well.

Entries are due by Jan. 5. Winners will be announced Feb. 1, and all winning quilts will be posted on www.larkbooks.com.

To enter, read the rules then email them at QuiltIt@larkbooks.com with the title of your piece, at least one photo of your quilt, and the category in which it should be judged. Entries must be an original quilt of any size that incorporates at least three of the following five required elements:

• Bird(s)
• Mountains
• Silver fabric, thread, or item
• Recycled/repurposed material
• Beads
  

The categories are:
1. Best Use of Beading or Beaded Elements
2. Best Use of Hand-Dyed/Altered Fabrics
3. Best Art Quilt
4. Best Use of Recycled Material

The Grand Prize will be awarded to the quilt that exhibits the most quilting creativity, originality, ingenuity, and artistry in addition best use of the required elements.

The Grand Prize winner and Category Prize winners will each receive the following 11 books:
Quilt It with Wool
Simple Contemporary Quilts
Freddy & Gwen Collaborate Again
Quilts, Baby!
Masters: Art Quilts
Color Your Cloth
Pieced Symbols
Quilt National 2009
Creative Quilting with Beads
500 Art Quilts
Pretty Little Mini Quilts

Good luck!

A Tulip Bag of steel

My mother’s friend, Winnie Lemmon, a member of The Village Quilters in Loudon, Tenn., made this super-cute version of my Tulip Bag pattern. Can you tell Winnie’s a Pittsburgh Steelers fan? Just a little bit? She actually made this purse for someone she knows in Pittsburgh. It’s all done up in Steelers black and gold, complete with a little football button on the tab.

Winnie and her husband, Bill, are incredible Steelers fans, and even have a room in their house devoted to Steelers memorabilia.

I grew up in Pittsburgh, so I am waving my Terrible Towel right along with her. Go Steelers!

Nothing Could Be Finer

“Nothing Could Be Finer” is a quilt I designed for the Charlotte Quilters’ Guild’s 2010 Raffle Quilt. It is 82" x 84", and was hand appliqued by some very talented members of the guild, and then longarm machine quilted by Kay Giese. I just love how she quilted it.





Proceeds from the raffle will help cover the expenses of the 2010 North Carolina Quilt Symposium, which will be held in Charlotte at Johnson & Wales University June 3-6, 2010. Teachers now scheduled are:

Bonnie Hunter
Carol Taylor
Velda Newman
Robbi Joy Eklow
Flavin Glover
Cythia Corbin
Terry White
Laura Wasilowski
David Taylor
Susan Purney Mark
Charlotte Angotti
Paula Scaffidi
Janet Lasher
Elin Waterson
Karen Eckmeier
Patti Culea
Pat Sloan
Jenny Raymond
Ellen Anne Eddy
Melody Crust
Karen Stone
Kim Diehl


It’s gonna be great … because (sing along y’all!) “nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina!” For more details, check out the 2010 Symposium Blog.