Shooting Quilting Arts TV Series 1700

I was in Cleveland last week to shoot Series 1700 of  “Quilting Arts TV.” This Series will start airing on more than 400 Public Television stations in the U.S. in January 2016. At about the same time, it will also be available on DVDs and as a digital download from the Quilting Daily Shop. Individual episodes in digital download format will also be available for purchase on QNNTV.com

This is my fourth series as host. By the time the sun was coming up on Monday, I was headed to the studio for makeup.

Our makeup artist, Karen, makes us all look good. Here I am with her, post makeup:

 

 Here’s the set on Monday morning, all ready to roll:

Jeanne Cook-Delpit helps ready the Bernina 770 QE for one of my short filler segments. Jeanne works for Bernina USA, and helps get everyone ready to use the machines on set.
The 770 has an extra-long free-arm and a huge bobbin; I love working on it!

The production staff keeps track of what I wear for each segment using photos pinned up on this board. I change clothing and accessories at least 10-15 times a day, because the episode segments, as well as the opens and teases, are not shot in sequence.

I got to pose with the current issue of Quilting Arts magazine, which has my “Fancy Goldfish” on the cover:

Lea McComas was our first guest. She shot one segment on lost and found lines (1707), a second on thread painted portraits (1701), and another on value that will air in Series 1800.

Here’s some of Lea’s work:

Daughter and mother team Kristin Rodriguez and Jan Girod of Fiber on a Whim shot one segment on collages made using their hand-dyed burlap (1710), and another segment on making fabric landscapes with photo transfers (1708).

 

Laura Wasilowski walks through her segment with me and producer Kathie Stull (the owner of KS Productions, with her back to the camera) before we start taping. Laura shot a segment on free-stitched embroideries (1701),

Brian adjusts Frieda Anderson’s microphone before she tapes her segment:

Frieda showed how she uses freezer paper to make precise leaves and create a beautiful quilt (1706): 

For Episode 1708, Frieda made the leaf collage below, then gave all of her fused leftovers to Laura…

… who made a whimsical color chip collage from them:

Laura and Jeanne help raise the table on set for the next segment:

Frieda also shot a segment on designing patterns for Series 1800.

And Laura shot one for Series 1800 on how to turn a sketch into a small embroidery.

Andrea Brokenshire shot a segment on painting on fabric (1702) and on creating the confetti backgrounds she uses behind her giant painted flowers (1712).

Both Andrea and Nancy McNally (with Vivika, below) used long-arm sewing machines in their segments. INNOVA is a new sponsor for the show. I think this is the first time Quilting Arts TV has featured art quilters who work on long-arm machines.
 

Nancy shot a segment on free-motion stitching (1709), and a second on fusible applique with strip sets (1705).

Lisa Chin taught us how to make cool stencils using a Silhouette cutter (1706):

… and sunprinting basics (1711), plus more advanced sunprinting techniques (for Series 1800)

Susan Edmonson gets set up:

Susan demonstrated techniques with painted batting (1709), free-style embroidery (1712), and how to make a darling bird’s nest with felted eggs (Series 1800):

Next up was Julie Booth, who showed us how to use dishwashing liquid as a resist (1703) and how to make stamps with cardboard and a hot glue gun (1711). Fun and easy! Julie is the author of Fabric Printing at Home.

Susan Purney Mark (below, with me) was our second Susan guest (making that a grand total of three Susans on set this week). Susan loves screen printing, dyeing and painting.

She demonstrated and color blocking (1712) and piecemeal applique (1705).

Lorie McCown (below) is drawn to old, used textiles that tell a story and add layers of meaning. Her work uses a lot of hand stitching.

Lorie’s segments featured a focus on hand stitching (1707) and a discussion of her recent series of pieces featuring dress images (1713):

The last guest we taped was Cyndi Souder. Cyndi showed how to use woodblocks to print on fabric (1704):

She also did a segment with tips for quilting text on fabric (1709). She calls this technique “quiltwriting.”

 

Whew! What a crazy, wonderful week! I hope you’ll enjoy Series 1700 this winter! 

On the cover

“Fancy Goldfish,” the piece I made for the The Alliance for American Quilts’ 2015 Contest, “Animals We Love” is featured on the cover of the newest issue of Quilting Arts magazine (the October/November 2015 issue). It is going out to subscribers now, and will be on newsstands soon.

All submissions to this contest became the property of the Quilt Alliance, and will be auctioned off soon to support the mission of the organization: “to document, preserve, and share our American quilt heritage by collecting the rich stories that historic and contemporary quilts, and their makers, tell about our nation’s diverse peoples and their communities.” 

I’ll post here to let you know when the auction starts. There are lots of beautiful pieces; please consider bidding on one – you’ll own a wonderful piece of fiber art, and help a great organization at the same time!

“Fancy Goldfish” (16" x 16", copyright Susan Brubaker Knapp 2015)
Cotton fabric, acrylic textile paint,cotton thread, cotton batting. Free-motion machine quilted.

For more information on the making of “Fancy Goldfish,” check out my previous posts here.

This is my fourth cover quilt for Quilting Arts magazine since 2010! The others were:

Stretching

It’s good sometimes to experiment, to step outside what one usually does and try something new, to stretch one’s creative muscles. I’m doing just that this week, in preparation for a few short segments I’ll be shooting for episodes of Quilting Arts TV in a few weeks. (We shoot Series 1700 in Cleveland, Ohio, then.) 

The photo at the top of this post shows a little sample of fabric that’s been quilted and then painted. The shot below shows quilting on a piece of fabric I created using soy wax batik years ago. This is for a segment on mark making.  

Series 1700 is packed with wonderful quilt artists, fiber artists, and surface designers. I'll be sharing photos from the set on Facebook and Instagram during the shoot; you can find me here:

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/SusanBrubakerKnappFiberArtist
INSTAGRAM: https://instagram.com/susanbrubakerknapp/

And I’ll do a big round-up of all the photos and stories on my blog here after I get back!

Merry and Bright

My “Merry and Bright” painted and quilted wallhanging is featured in Quilting Arts Holiday magazine! If you can’t find it on a local newsstand, you can purchase it here for $14.99. The magazine is also available as a digital download.