Rayna’s new book is here!

All work has come to a standstill here now that the mail carrier arrived with Rayna Gillman's new book, Create your own hand-printed cloth: Stamp, screen & stencil with everyday objects.

I took a class with Rayna at Quilt Market in May, and got a sneak peak at the book. And now, I am fighting the urge to lock myself in a room away from my kids (they can forage for their own lunch, can't they?) and read the whole thing non-stop. Here are the things she covers: Stamping and stenciling with found objects; random screenprinting; gelatin plate printing; screenprinting with thickened dyes; discharge painting; soy wax batik; and rubbings.

For each technique, there are lots of detailed directions and excellent photos to accompany them. She also provides supply lists (and websites where you can buy the supplies).

I can tell that this is a book I will really USE. And I can't wait!

Surface Design Workshop for the York County Quilters

I had a great day yesterday in Rock Hill, South Carolina with the warm and welcoming York County Quilters showing them some surface design techniques.

They tried out Caran D'Ache watersoluable wax pastels, Angelina, Crystallina (crimped cut Angelina) and Textiva (Angelina film), Lumiere and Dye-na-Flow, Shiva Paintstiks, Tyvek, and Wonder Under (used as a paint transfer material).

The group (Kate Cole, Diane Cranfor, Judy Gabrenas, Jane Godshall, Molly Hunter, Mary Ellen Moegling, Gail Moss, Wynnell Shows, Andrea Todd, Willa Thiele, Barbara Wright, Linda Dellinger) fused, heated, painted, stamped, rubbed, stenciled, melted, wired and beaded up a storm!

Here's a look at the group in action, and some of the stuff they produced:










They were an enthusiastic group, and I'm betting they all ran for their local art supply stores or to their computers to order supplies online when they left the workshop!

Here are the books I took to the workshop to share. All are good books for the creative quilter:

The Panted Quilt: Paint and Print Techniques for Color on Quilts
by Linda & Laura Kemshall

Creative Embellishments for Paper Jewelry, Fabric and More
by Sherrill Kahn

Paintstiks on Fabric: Simple Techniques, Fantastic Results
by Shelly Stokes

Beaded Embellishment: Techniques & Designs for Embroidering on Cloth
by Amy C. Clarke & Robin Atkins

Between the Sheets with Angelina: A workbook for Fusible Fibres
by Alysn Midgelow-Marsden

Indygo Junction's Needle Felting: 22 Stylish Project for Home and Fashion
by Amy Barickman

Color and Composition for the Creative Quilter: Improve any Quilt with Easy-to-Follow Lessons
by Katie Pasquini Masopust and Brett Barker

Creative Quilts: Inspiration, Texture and Stitch
by Sandra Meech

The Fabric Stamping Handbook
by Jean Ray Laury

It’s here!

I just received my advance copies of the 2009 Quilting Arts Calendar, which includes my piece, "Home Planet." Woo-hoo! It is beautifully designed, the photos are lovely, and the work exquisite. It was so fun to read the other artists' comments and insights into this year's theme, "Celebrating Home."

I'll post a photo of my piece, which graces April, as soon as I get the go-ahead... part of the deal was that you couldn't publish the piece beforehand... in print or on a blog or website. I chose as my subject matter the planet Earth, which is home to us all. They chose my piece for April because Earth Day falls in that month!

You can purchase a copy of the calendar from Quilting Arts' website, where you can also get a sneak peak at all the art featured in the calendar.

Beach Vacation printing error

I just found out that about 50 of my "Beach Vacation" patterns printed within the past month are missing the pattern sheet for the sand bucket. If you purchased "Beach Vacation" and are missing this pattern sheet, you can download it as a PDF by clicking here.

To open the PDF, you need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer. To download this free software go to http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

If you would prefer to receive the pattern page by mail, please e-mail me at susan@bluemoonriver.com.

I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience I may have caused you! – Susan

What do you think?

I've been considering whether to offer my patterns to my customers in a downloadable PDF format. Several people who live outside of North America have asked about this option, since shipping to their countries is expensive. In some cases, packages are also held up for a long time in customs.

If you had the option to purchase a pattern and receive it immediately as a PDF (and save the $1 postage charge), would you choose this option over a printed pattern that came in the mail a week later?

Leave me a comment and tell me what you think by July 1, and I'll enter your name in a drawing to receive one of my patterns (your choice) for free. Make sure to tell me if you live outside the U.S.

And thanks for your feedback!

Susan

Bohemian Bouquet Block #6

Here’s Block #6 of my Mystery Block-of-the-Month program, “Bohemian Bouquet.” Block #7 will be revealed July 15. Blocks #1-6 are available for sale on my website.

Funny sign

This sign was just too funny not to post. I took this photo on the way home from vacation this weekend, in Southport, N.C. You can laugh, or you can cry...

ArtWorks on Main Grand Opening

Tonight was the grand opening of ArtWorks on Main, a new gallery in Mooresville. It was a lovely event, with delicious food and drink, a fabulous jazz ensemble, and several hundred art lovers there for the festivities. Here is a shot of the gallery from the street, showing the band, and some of the art (that's my "Harbinger's Hope" in the center!)



Here's Heather McFadden, who owns the gallery with her parents, Roger and Suzanne Hicks, talking to some guests at the opening. (She's the one wearing the totally glam shoes!) My "Dragonflies" is hanging on the right.



The gallery features wonderful display walls that pivot, and can be arranged as one flat wall, or in other configurations.



This model, posed as a statue in white paint, was very fun to watch.



Some of my friends from my quilting group and from Quilters Loft Company, a local quilt shop, came by to see the gallery and to enjoy the fabulous food. This shot was taken in the area that will be the classroom. It is very well lit (they hired a lighting technician who has done the lighting for museums), and lined with artists' studio spaces designed to look like stalls in a barn.



This is the entrance from the gallery space back into the classroom.


I was very excited to have my work exhibited here. I had several people approach me about selling my work (although I did not have prices on it tonight), and it was very fun to talk with the guests about fiber art. Many of them had never seen it before. Thanks so much to all my friends who stopped by!

Bohemian Bouquet Block #5

This is Block #5 (Passion Flower) of Bohemian Bouquet, my Mystery Block of the Month. It was realeased on May 15, and I am just realizing that I did not post photos of it, since I was at Quilt Market! I did mine on a black background using needleturn applique, and my friend DeLane did hers on a cream background using fusible applique and satin stitch. You can see (and buy patterns for) all the Bohemian Bouquet blocks that have been released on my website by clicking here.

I know there are a bunch of you out there stitching up Bohemian Bouquet... if you have photos you'd like to share, please send them to me. It is so fun to see the different color schemes people have chosen.