Marsh Crab

Marsh Crab
23"x23"
Copyright Susan Brubaker Knapp 2022

I have always loved the beautiful color variations on blue crabs. This piece is based on a sketch and water color painting I made several years ago, after photographing some crabs in the marsh on Bald Head Island, NC. 

Batik fabrics, acrylic paint, cotton thread, cotton batting, cotton backing. Fusible and raw-edge appliquéd, painted, free-motion machine quilted. 

The blue crab, Callinectes sapidus (from the Ancient Greek κάλλος,“beautiful” + nectes, “swimmer,” and Latin sapidus, “savory,” is also also known as Atlantic Blue Crab, or regionally as the Chesapeake Blue Crab, and is native to the western Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. 

 The following information is from https://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/field-guide/entry/blue-crab :

The blue crab’s carapace (shell) varies in color from bluish to olive green, and can reach up to 9 inches across. The carapace has nine marginal teeth on each side; the ninth teeth are strong spines. Its claws are bright blue, and those of mature females feature red tips.

Blue crabs have three pairs of walking legs and paddle-shaped rear swimming legs. Males have a strongly tapered abdomen, or "apron," that resembles an inverted T. Mature females have a broad, rounded apron, and immature females have a triangular apron. Male blue crabs are known as “jimmies,” while mature females are called “sooks.”

The back

The back

October Moon

 

“October Moon”
Copyright 2022 by Susan Brubaker Knapp
17.25" square. White cotton fabric, acrylic paint, cotton batting, interfacing, cotton backing fabric. Wholecloth painted, free-motion machine quilted.

Orange County Artists Guild Open Studio Tour 2022

 

I’m busy getting ready for the Orange County Artists Guild Open Studio Tour 2022! Last year’s event was terrific – the first time I’d done anything like it — and I’m eager to meet new people and welcome old friends to my home studio the first two weekends in November. I’ll have lots of new work, as well as notecards and a few prints, up for sale. 

Saturday, Nov. 5, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 6 from noon to 5 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 12 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 13 from noon to 5 p.m.

There are 114 artists participating in Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsborough. For more information and the map, visit www.OCAGNC.org/tour/

Come visit me at stop #65!

Frond

Frond

Copyright 2022 by Susan Brubaker Knapp
13x41"
Cotton fabric, acrylic textile paint, cotton batting, cotton thread, cotton backing. 

Wholecloth painted, free-motion machine quilted.

Ravens

I’ve been working on a series of ravens, new small pieces, all based on the same drawing I made about a year ago. The idea is to make some pieces that are originals, but faster to make (and therefore with a more reasonable price point to sell – $175). All are about 11-12" square, and painted with acrylic paint and then free-motion machine quilted. I'll have these for sale at the Orange County Artists Guild Studio Tour the first two weekends in November. Details are at www.ocagnc.org/tour

Raven in Azure

Raven in Chartreuse

Raven in Sapphire

Wisp

Wisp
Copyright 2022 by Susan Brubaker Knapp
19" square
Cotton fabric, acrylic paint, cotton thread, cotton batting, cotton backing. 

Free-motion machine quilted, painted.

Persimmons 2

“Persimmons 2” Copyright 2022 (30.75 x 14.25”) by Susan Brubaker Knapp. Wholecloth painted, free-motion machine quilted. White cotton fabric, textile paint, cotton thread, cotton backing fabric. 

Just finished this commission piece, based on the same photos I used as inspiration for the persimmon piece in my solo show at the N.C. Botanical Garden earlier this year. I love the color combination, and the way the echo quilting recreates the way the wind was vibrating the ripe persimmons on that October morning I took the photos at Lake Norman State Park near Mooresville, NC, about 10 years ago. 

For information on my wholecloth painting materials and techniques, please visit my blog post here: https://wwwbluemoonriver.blogspot.com/2014/01/faqs-wholecloth-painting.html

Here are some detail shots:

Quilting Arts TV – Series 2900

After several years of craziness because of COVID, we shot the 2900 Series of Quilting Arts TV last week! I had to skip the last taping because I have some health issues that put me at higher risk for COVID. 

The shows will start airing on many PBS stations across the country, and will be available for purchase (as individual shows, series, or the entire QATV library) in October. (See more information below.)

This new series will features guests Lea McComas, Denise Labadie, Helen Parsons, Valerie Goodwin, Carolina Asmussen, Luana Rubin, Margaret Abramshe, Heidi Zielinski, Valerie White, and Barbara Yates Beasley. If you follow me on social media, you can see lots of photos of the guests and the projects and techniques they are demonstrating (July 18-22, 2022) here: 

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/susanbrubakerknapp/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/SusanBrubakerKnappFiberArtist/

We shot the show at Golden Peak Media Studios in Golden, Colorado, for the first time (Golden Peak Media owns Quilting Arts Magazine) with an entirely new production team, and had the opportunity to refresh the set, which features a more neutral backdrop that really makes the art and guests shine. There’s new lighting and camera equipment, and the light on set has a different quality, too. 

BERNINA machines – the 570 QE, 770 QE, and the Q 20 longarm – were on set, as usual. BERNINA has been our sponsor since the show began!

On TV: Visit your local Public Television station’s website to see if the show is available in your area!

Get access to all 29 seasons: Video Downloads or Stream All Episodes on Quilting Daily

Valerie Goodwin

Valerie White

Barbara Yates Beasley

Carolina Asmussen

Denise Labadie

Heidi Zielinski

Helen Parsons

Lea McComas

Luana Rubin

Margaret Abramshe

Me!

with Jeanne Cook Delpit

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Quiltfolk

I’m so thrilled to be featured in Quiltfolk magazine Issue 23: North Carolina, which is out today! The photo above shows me at the North Carolina Botanical Garden in Chapel Hill with “Pink Coleus,” which I shipped off to the Sacred Threads exhibition today. It will tour with the traveling exhibition through 2024. The cover (below) features work by Kimberley Pierce Cartwright. 

Quiltfolk is a beautifully produced ad-free magazine that’s more like a book. They do four issues a year, focusing on traditional, modern, antique, and art quilters in an individual state. This issue is 164 pages of North Carolina quilting wonderfulness!

Use coupon code SusanQF23 for 20% off your purchase through Sept 30, 2022 at
https://www.quiltfolk.com/issue-23-north-carolina/

The photo below shows me in the doorway to our house, with a miniature version of “I See the Moon” (the larger original sold to Karey Bresenhan for the International Quilt Festival Collection). 

Photography by Azuree Wiitala and Trevor Holloway. Writing by Meg Cox.  

“Three Fishes #1”

I’ve been working on several series of small pieces to sell at the Orange County Artists Guild’s Studios Tour this fall. (I'll be opening my home studio to the public the first two weekends in November.) 

The piece above, “Three Fishes #1,” is the first in my small fish series, based on some of my fish drawings that I did for a huge piece (in progress) called “We All Swim Together.” This little piece is 11.5" square. Cotton fabric, acrylic textile paint, cotton batting, cotton backing. Wholecloth painted, free-motion quilted. 

The technique I’m using to create these pieces is outlined in my article in the summer 2022 issue of Quilting Arts magazine. It’s on newsstands now, and is also available at QuiltingDaily.com

“Reaching to the Light”

Just finished this new commission, “Reaching to the Light.” It is 43.25" x 65.5". Cotton fabric, acrylic paint, cotton thread, cotton batting. Wholecloth painted, stenciled, free-motion quilted. 

Small Buddhas

These Buddha pieces are some of the small pieces I’ve been working on to sell at the Orange County Artists Guild’s Studios Tour.  It will be held the first two weekends of November, so mark your calendar now! The dates are Saturday and Sunday Nov. 5-6 and 12-13. My home studio will be open to the public then, and I’d love to meet you. 

Details about the studio tour will be available on the OCAG website by the end of the summer. Last year, more than 100 artists in Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsborough participated at more than 80 locations. 

Each of the Buddha pieces will finish at about 11.5" square and will be priced at $175. They are hand painted and free-motion quilted.