Stitching up a flurry with the Lakeview Quilters

It was hot outside, but there was a definite chill in the air today at Pinwheels and Posies quilt shop in Dickinson, Texas. Members of the Lakeview Quilters did a fabulous job on their snowflakes in my workshop.























Such a great group. Thanks, y'all!

Circle study for The Sketchbook Challenge

I’m one of the host artists for The Sketchbook Challenge this year. One of my primary goals for working in a sketchbook is to get what I draw out of my sketchbook and onto my medium of choice: fabric. For me, a sketchbook is a way to collect and try out ideas, but it is not the finished art. I usually work very realistically, but I decided to try just doodling some circles in my sketchbook, using a black ink pen. Here is one of the results I liked:

  

I photocopied my doodle, and taped it under a piece of Pimatex PFD (prepared for dyeing) fabric. I can see my lines through this fabric, so it’s easy to paint the circles. I used PROfab Transparent Textile Paints and PRObrite Pearlescent Paints from Pro Chemical & Dye. After heat-setting the painted circles, I mixed up a little bit of Liquitex Acrylic Ink with water (to dilute it and tone it down) and painted the background.

After it was dry, it was time to stitch! What motif? Circles, of course! Lots and lots of circles. Here it is after my free-motion machine quilting. I’m thinking about adding some hand stitching. Maybe some little Xs in hand-dyed thread, kind of like my original sketch.

It rather reminds me of algae, or frog spawn.

There is more information about how I created this piece on The Sketchbook Challenge blog. 

Give-Away: Win Jane Sassaman’s new book, and some fabric!

Hey, want to win this book? It is Jane Sassaman’s brand new book, Patchwork Sassaman Style: Recipes for Dazzling Quilts! (Dragon Threads, $29.95)

And this? The top cut is 1/3 yard and bottom cut is 24" square. These are a special give-away from the private stash of Dragon Threads publisher Linda Teufel. 

In this post, we giving away a copy of the book and the fabric! Keep reading for details.

I remember the first time I heard Jane Sassaman’s name. It was 1997, and her quilt “Willow” was featured on the cover of the March issue of Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine. I remember staring at the photo, mesmerized, in awe. Isn’t this an incredible quilt? It was later named one of the best 100 American Quilts of the Century.

“Willow” 75"x75" by Jane Sassaman, 1996

Jane’s fabric designs and art quilts feature graphic garden motifs. You can see her sources of inspiration – 19th century Arts & Crafts designer William Morris, Finnish design company Merimekko, Kaffe Fassett – but they are undeniably Jane. There is just a hint of danger: Dandelions with razor-sharp serrated leaves. Flowers that hint at the man-eating plant from Little Shop of Horrors. Ferns with fiddleheads that bring to mind tentacles. Beauty and the Beast. Jane’s work glorifies everyday beauty found in the garden, but it is mixed with a little darkness, too. It kind of makes me tingle to look at it.

Jane introducing her fabric line “Feather Your Nest” at Fall Quilt Market 2011

Her fabrics, manufactured by FreeSpirit, are brightly colored, with large-scale motifs, so they are easy to love, but difficult to cut into – and it’s sometimes hard for people to know what to make with them. Her new book is an answer. It includes simple recipes for using “big, bold and beautiful fabrics” inspired by simple traditional quilt patterns.

The instructions show you ways to cut up the fabrics for different effects. Jane points out that it is faster and easier to make large quilts using these kinds of fabrics because “the complexity is in the fabric and how you use it, not in the construction.” Many of the quilts in this book are stunningly simple to piece, but they pack a huge design wallop.

Her recipes would work equally well for other large-scale prints, and not just Jane’s own. 

But why tell you in words when I can show you in photos? Here are some of the quilt examples in the book. Try not to drool.

“Radiating Diamonds”

“Trading Blanket”

“Circus Bars”

“Checkerboard Plaid”

And now, for the give-away!

This giveaway is limited to U.S. residents only; sorry. Leave a comment on this post for a chance to win a copy of Jane’s book, plus the fabrics. I’ll pull one name at random on Friday, July 13 at 7 a.m. EST. Please note that it might take a bit for your comment to appear; I have to moderate/approve comments because I’ve been targeted by Japanese porn spammers! Yes, really. We have a winner! Jean O. has won the book and the fabric. Thanks!

For more chances to win, remember to visit the blogs giving away books on the dates below:

July 2: artfabrik.blogspot.com
July 3: remnantsfiberculture.blogspot.com
July 5: judyperez.blogspot.com
July 6: sassaman.blogspot.com
July 7: Dragonthreadsopenbook.blogspot.com
July 8: gloriahansen.com/weblog
July 9: 100billionstars.com/blog
July 10: wwwbluemoonriver.blogspot.com
July 11: tallgrassprairiestudio.blogspot.com
July 12: www.craftnectar.com
July 13: sewcalgal.blogspot.com

July 14: twinfibers.blogspot.com 

July 15: www.delrayfabrics.com/blog
July 16: http://www.friestyle.blogspot.com
July 17: patsloan.typepad.com
July 18: jankrentz.com/weblog
July 19: makeitsimpler.blogspot.com
July 20: http://lyrickinard.com/blog/
July 21: www.thequiltshow.com/os/blog.php

July 22: janeville.blogspot.com
July 23: freespiritfabric.blogspot.com

July 24: nancyzieman.com/blog

“Rituals” book available on Blurb

Book cover art (Left to Right) by - Susie Monday, Susan Fletcher King,
Judy Coates Perez, Desiree Habicht, Yvonne Porcella,
Gerrie Congdon, Gayle Simpson

The catalog book for the “Rituals” exhibition by Dinner at Eight Artists is now available through Blurb. It was designed by Loris Bogue, and you can see inside and order it on the Blurb website. This is the first chance I’ve had to see all of the artists’ work, and I have to say that I feel even more honored to have been included than I did before. This is fabulous work.   

My piece, “I See the Moon,” is one of 42 art quilts in the exhibition, which will debut in a few weeks at International Quilt Festival – Long Beach, July 26-29, 2012. It is sponsored by Moore’s Sewing Centers. (Thanks, Moore’s!)

  

RITUALS
An exchange between friends.
A handshake. A kiss before bedtime.
The artist at work. A sun salutation.
The wave before boarding the school bus.
A song, a word, a meditation.
A habit, a custom.
The traditional toast at a gathering.
A rite of passage.
The sacred moments of the ordinary.
Rituals:  What are yours?

"The Sketchbook Challenge" Book Blog Hop giveaway

 

I was thrilled to be asked to participate in Sue Bleiweiss’ new book, The Sketchbook Challenge: Techniques, Prompts and Inspiration for Achieving Your Creative Goals. She’s asked the artists featured in the book (including me!) to help celebrate by giving away stuff from generous sponsors in a Book Blog Hop. More on that later in this post. First, I want to tell you about this great book. 

You may know that I am one of the artist hosts for the 2012 Sketchbook Challenge. (If you don't, run on over to The Sketchbook Challenge blog and join the fun!) I joined up to participate in January 2011, when the whole phenomenon began. Later that year, Sue contacted me and asked if I'd like to be included in her book by the same name.

The Sketchbook Challenge (Potter Craft, $21.99 U.S.; also available as an e-book) is more than a book filled with pretty art work. It is truly inspirational. And it contains solid information about materials and techniques, too. I love the format and the size (7.5" x 9"). There are themes to help motivate you to start – or keep – a sketchbook, tutorials for mixed-media techniques, strategies to take your sketch off the page and into a piece of art, and in-depth profiles of artists who have used The Sketchbook Challenge as a launch pad for their own artwork. This is a great book to curl up with and read cover to cover, or to take with you and read small sections as you have time.

Here’s my sketch, done in February 2011, of my bedroom window, with the bare winter trees outside:

And here is the artwork I created based on that sketch:

It is a small art quilt. You can see that I toned down the colors somewhat to make them more somber and wintery. I love how the stitching makes the glass look wavy. My house was built in 1916, and it has several wonderful windows like this.

 

And now, about the give-away!

In honor of the release of the boo, I am giving away a generous prize from Mistyfuse: A 10-yard combination package of Mistyfuse that includes 6 yards of White and 2 yards each of Black and Ultraviolet and a Goddess Sheet. Total retail value: $48! Wow, thanks, Mistyfuse!

Leave a comment after this post for a chance to win! I will pick a random winner on Monday, July 9 at 7 a.m. EST. Please note that it may take a while for your comment to appear. I have to moderate/approve all the comments, because I got hit with Japanese porn spammers when I wasn’t doing this! 

We have a winner: RoseOfSharonStudio won the Mistyfuse. Thanks, everyone!

The Sketchbook Challenge Book blog hop is sponsored by:
Mistyfuse
My Creative Classroom
ArtPlantae Today
Gelli Arts
Joggles
Sue Pelland Designs
ProChemical and Dye
The Thread Studio
Blue Twig Studio
ArtistCellar

There are still for more chance to win goodies; make sure you check out the blogs listed below on the dates listed:

July 6: 

Diana Trout –  dianatrout.typepad.com

July 9:
Tracie Lyn Huskamp –  www.thereddoor-studio.blogspot.com/
Judi Hurwitt –  www.approachable-art.blogspot.com

July 10:
Jane LaFazio –  http://janeville.blogspot.com/
Kelli Nina Perkins –  http://ephemeralalchemy.blogspot.com/

Want the book? It is available for purchase through:

Amazon.com

Barnes & Noble.com

ArtPlantae

Jane Sassaman book blog give-away

If you are a fan of Jane Sassaman, don’t forget that there is a great blog tour going on right now, and each participant is giving away a copy of her new book. Dragon Threads publisher Linda Teufel will be giving away some of Jane’s fabric and patterns, as well. This giveaway is limited to U.S. residents only; sorry! Come visit me on July 10, and leave a comment on my July 10 post (not this one!). In the meantime, remember to visit the blogs giving away books on the dates below:

July 2: artfabrik.blogspot.com
July 3: remnantsfiberculture.blogspot.com
July 5: judyperez.blogspot.com
July 6: sassaman.blogspot.com
July 7: Dragonthreadsopenbook.blogspot.com
July 8: gloriahansen.com/weblog
July 9: 100billionstars.com/blog
July 10: wwwbluemoonriver.blogspot.com
July 11: tallgrassprairiestudio.blogspot.com
July 12: www.craftnectar.com
July 13: sewcalgal.blogspot.com

July 14: twinfibers.blogspot.com 

July 15: www.delrayfabrics.com/blog
July 16: http://www.friestyle.blogspot.com
July 17: patsloan.typepad.com
July 18: jankrentz.com/weblog
July 19: makeitsimpler.blogspot.com
July 20: http://lyrickinard.com/blog/
July 21: www.thequiltshow.com/os/blog.php

July 22: janeville.blogspot.com
July 23: freespiritfabric.blogspot.com

July 24: nancyzieman.com/blog

Happy Fourth of July

We hold these truths to be self-evident:
that all men are created equal;
that they are endowed by their Creator
with certain unalienable rights;
that among these are life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness.

– THOMAS JEFFERSON –

Today at Vermont Quilt Festival

I am teaching this weekend at Vermont Quilt Festival in lovely Essex Junction and Colchester, Vermont. We are housed at St. Michael's College. These are photos of the campus.











Here is one of my roommates, Pat Pauly, with one of her quilts:


Me with my "Rusty Chevys":


My other roommate, Linda Visnaw, with her quilt:


Pat was thrilled to see her friend Christine Wickert win Best of Show for her quilt "Sampling the Silk Road." they are in the same guild in New York.

Painting "Friso"

This is “Friso,” painted on fabric and ready for stitching at Friday’s Artists’ Reception for the Animal House exhibition at Cabarrus Arts Council Galleries. (See my previous post for details.) It felt so good to work and be creative this afternoon after so many days away from it. I am quite pleased with how he is looking, and hope Lya and Wil will think it is a good resemblance, too. He is going to get a lot more textural with the thread sketching. Right now, his whiskers are just penciled in.

Here is the original photo by Lya or Wil (they are both great photographers):

And here are a few shots to show how I worked:

For readers who are new to my work: I paint on PDF (prepared for dyeing) cotton fabric, using acryilic textile paints from ProChemical & Dye. After I’m done, I add interfacing to the back (to provide stability while I stitch; my favorite is Pellon 910) and then heavily free-motion thread sketch the piece using my sewing machine, to add texture and detail. Then I add batting and free-motion quilt.
 

Perhaps my cat, Wicked!, thought I was painting her, because she jumped up to take a closer look! Luckily, the paint was already dry. Wicked! has half a mustache and half a goatee, but they could be cousins, at least.

Finally… new work begun

It has been almost two months since I’ve done any substantial work on my art. I’ve been consumed with helping my father transition into a retirement center. But on Friday, I’ll be demonstrating how I use thread sketching to bring my painted fabric pieces to life at the opening of the “Animal House” exhibition at Cabarrus Arts Council Galleries. I have seven pieces in this exhibition.

I needed to have a piece to stitch on for the demo, so I got started tonight on a piece I’ve been wanting to do since I got home from teaching in the Netherlands in April. I was seeking some way to thank my fabulous host, Lya Geven, and her husband. They were so wonderful to me. Lya set up all of my teaching, drove me all over the country for sight-seeing, and helped in every conceivable way. Since they are cat lovers with four feline companions, I thought it would be perfect to make small pieces of each of their four cats. First up is Friso, a very affectionate black-and-white male cat they sometimes call “Mr. Love Machine.”

Lya and Wil’s cat, Friso

I did the line drawing (at the top of this post) tonight, and tomorrow, I hope to find time to start painting him onto fabric. The line drawing is not a sketch; it merely captures the important details and broad areas of color and shading. I will put it behind my PFD (prepared for dyeing) cotton fabric and use these guides – and the color photograph – when I paint. It will be fairly small, since I want to do their three other cats, too, and I’d like to finish them sometime this year! I’ll post photos of this project as I work. 

If you live in the Charlotte area, come and see me stitch on this piece this Friday evening during the Artists’ Reception. The event takes place from 6 to 9 p.m.; my demonstration starts at 7 p.m. You can read more about this Art Walk event, and the exhibition, on my post here.

WANT TO GO?

65 Union Street South, Concord, NC

Cabarrus Arts Council

704-920-2787

www.CabarrusArtsCouncil.org

Win a copy of Kay Mackenzie’s new book

Hey! Love appliqué and want to win a great book? Today is your day! I have a copy of Kay Mackenzie’s new book, Scrap-Appliqué Playground: Turn Quilting Scraps into Fun Appliqué Fabrics to give away, courtesy of Martingale and That Patchwork Place.  

Kay has published numerous books and patterns, and you can see them all here. She started out as a hand appliquér, but now embraces machine appliqué methods, too. Kay blogs about applique at www.allaboutapplique.net. Her website is www.kaymackenzie.com.

If you’re like me, you have a big basket of scraps you can’t bear to throw away. In this book, Kay teaches you how to piece or fuse those treasured scraps together to make “fabric compositions” for applique pieces. Her methods, clearly explained and accompanied by color diagrams, include methods for fabric strips, for bits and pieces, crazy patch, and others. Then she shows you how to prepare your applique pieces, using “turn and press,” freezer paper templates, fusible interfacing, fusible-web templates, and bias-covered edges methods.

“Thank You, Teacher”

After that, Kay gives several methods for stitching the appliqué down using edge stitch or blanket stitch. All of the stitching in the book is done by machine, but if you prefer hand appliqué (like me) there’s no reason you can’t do it that way, too.

“Flower Patch”

You can practice all of Kay’s techniques by making one of eight sweet projects. Each includes step-by-step instructions, complete materials lists, and color diagrams.  

If you would like to win a copy of this book, please leave a comment after this post by 6 p.m. EST on Wednesday, June 13. Make sure to leave an e-mail address or other way for me to reach you if you win. I’ll pull one name at random. Martingale is generously providing the book, and they will ship it to you. Sorry, this give-away is only for readers in the U.S. or Canada. 

Please note that your comment might not appear right away; I had to start moderating/approving comments after I got hit with a lot of Japanese porn spam!


Don’t forget that you have four more chances to win this book later this week:

Wednesday, June 13 • Erin Russek’s One Piece at a Time
Thursday, June 14 • Holly Mabutas’ Sprinkles of Thought
Friday, June 15 • SewCalGal
Saturday, June 16 • Kay Mackenzie, All About Appliqué

WE HAVE A WINNER! Joanna from New England has won the book. Thanks, everyone!