Why I don’t just paint

I’ve been asked a lot lately why I don’t just paint. It usually happens when I show people my wholecloth painted quilts before I threadsketch or quilt them. Believe me, I’ve thought the same thing myself. “Gee, it would be a lot faster if I just did this on canvas, and called it a day!”

I do think they are great in their unstitched form. Here’s an example of a small piece (about 7" square), called Suffolk Sheep #1, which I painted last month but have not yet stitched:

And here is a similar small piece, Suffolk Sheep #2, that I have just finished quilting:

For me, the stitching is where the real magic happens! Here is another version, Suffolk Sheep #4, which is much larger, about 20" square:

So that’s why I’m a fiber artist, and not a painter!

Book giveaway: 1,2,3 Quilt

 

I have a book to give away this week! 1, 2, 3 Quilt: Shape Up Your Skills with 24 Stylish Projects (Chronicle Books, $24.95) is the latest book by Ellen Luckett Baker (author of 1, 2, 3 Sew, fabric designer for the Japanese company Kokka, and blogger behind TheLongThread.com).

The book is organized by quilting shapes – squares, triangles, hexagons, circles, flowers, stars and diamonds – and includes 24 projects that help you build your own quilt design skills as you sew. I think it would be ideal for beginner quilters ,or for intermediate quilters who want to polish their skills. 

It definitely has a modern quilt feel, as the fabrics and color schemes are very contemporary and clean. There are lots of diagrams to make each project simple to follow. 

The spiral-bound format makes it easy to use, since it lies nice and flat, and 12 of the patterns are included in a pocket in the book.  

GIVE-AWAY!  I’m giving away my copy of this book. Leave a comment after this post and tell me why you want it. I’ll pull one name at random at noon, Wednesday, Oct. 23.

Note: If your comment does not show up right away, please don’t freak out. Please post only one comment. I now have to moderate/approve all comments, because I was getting a ton of Japanese porn spammers leaving comments on my blog! I’m a busy person, so it might now show up for a while, but I’ll approve it as soon as I can. I promise. 

We have a winner! Jill Schlageter has won the book.