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Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Get your Symposium registration forms now!


North Carolina Quilt Symposium 2013 is May 23-26 in Fayetteville, NC. Brochures and registration forms are now available on the Symposium website here. Some classes fill up fast, so if there’s a class you really want, make sure to put your registration form in the mail on Jan. 22 (registration forms are not accepted if postmarked before this date).
Here are the fabulous teachers who are offering classes this year:

Susan Edmonson http://susanedmonsondesigns.com 
Nancy Eha http://www.beadcreative.com/ 
Kaye England  http://www.kayeengland.com/ 
Sandy Fitzpatrick http://www.hissyfitzdesigns.com/ 
Harriet Hargrave http://www.harriethargrave.com/index.html 
Susan Brubaker Knapp http://www.bluemoonriver.com/ 
Mary Lou McDonald http://www.baltimorequiltlady.com/ 
Judith Baker Montano http://www.judithbakermontano.com/ 
Sue Nickels http://www.sue-nickels.com/ 
Annette Ornelas   http://southwindquilts.com/ 
Linda Pool http://www.lindaslace.com/ 
Sharon Schamber http://www.sharonschamber.com/ 
Anita Grossman Solomon http://makeitsimpler.blogspot.com/ 
Jane Townswick  http://www.martingale-pub.com/store 
(Jane does not have a website, but this link brings you to her book publisher.)
Janice Vaine http://www.grahamcrackercollection.com/ 
Leni Levenson Wiener  http://www.leniwiener.com/ 
Amy Stewart Winsor http://winsorartquilts.com/

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Don’t forget to register!


Register early to reserve your spot! You can get all the details on my website here.

Monday, January 7, 2013

Sketching with a friend

Sketching in Starbucks. (Photo by DeLane Rosenau)
NOTE: This is a recap of my post yesterday on The Sketchbook Challenge. Make a resolution to boost your creativity this year, and join us!

This month’s theme of Artist Dates meshes well with one of my New Year’s resolutions: getting together with friends more. (My other resolutions are sleeping more, drinking more wine, and making more art.) A few days ago, I e-mailed my good friend and fellow fiber artist DeLane Rosenau, and asked if she’d like to share a cup of tea with me while I sketched. I just love multi-tasking! We met up at a local Starbucks, and while DeLane sipped her tea, and we chatted, I sketched her cup:

 

It was very crowded in Starbucks, and I don’t think anyone (but DeLane) noticed me working away. I don't sketch in public very often, but it’s been my experience that people either ignore you, or they watch and are extremely interested, and usually impressed. There’s nothing much to fear, because you don’t know these people, and you probably will never see them again. 


This is DeLane with her tea and my sketchbook. One advantage to taking a friend on your Artist Date is that she or he is usually supportive about your work (as long as she/he is truly a friend!) and this can be very helpful if you are feeling at all shy or out of place sketching in public. 

Once DeLane was properly caffeinated, we decided to move our Date to a local antiques mall; I pulled up a comfy chair and my sketchbook, and DeLane went shopping, swinging by every 20 minutes or so to see how the sketch was coming along.



As a former journalist, I have a definite attraction to old typewriters.  I love the sinuous lines of this Remington Quiet Riter.



Here I am working away amidst the antiques. Every so often someone would wander by and ask what I was doing, but mostly things were peaceful.


(Photo by DeLane Rosenau)

(Photo by DeLane Rosenau)
And here’s the finished sketch. If you count the keys, you’ll find there are way too many; chalk it up to a lack of planning or to artistic license.


I have been trying to keep my small Moleskine sketchbook and my Lamy Safari fountain pen (my latest love) in my purse all the time. That way, I can sketch whenever I have a few minutes to kill. In this sketchbook, I am also trying to force myself to always work in black permanent ink, instead of pencil. The sketches are not as perfect as I usually demand of myself when working with pencil and eraser, but I think they have a lot of charm because of their imperfections.

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Please bid on “First Green”

“First Green” (detail)
My quilt "First Green" is being auctioned to benefit Alzheimer's research through Ami Simms’ Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative. As of 9 a.m. today, it was only bid up to $80; can you do better that that to help find treatments … or a cure? This quilt is about 24" x 41", and is made with batiks and is covered with wonderful free-motion quilting. You have until 10 p.m. Central Standard Time Thursday, Jan. 10. Bid here: http://www.benefitbidding.com/listings/categories/index.cfm?category=965774286

“First Green” (detail)
“First Green” (detail)

Saturday, January 5, 2013

I’m on the cover of “Genetics in Medicine”!


“Uncle Albert’s Reverie” is on the cover of the January 2013 issue of Genetics in Medicine, “the official journal of  the American College of Genetics and Genomics.” I gave them permission to rotate and crop the image of the piece as needed to work with their cover design. Here is the entire piece, which I started in a class with Judy Coates Perez several years ago.


“How did this happen?” you might ask. Well, an old friend of mine, Karyn Hede, from journalism graduate school (at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) is News Editor for the publication. We’ve stayed in touch, and a few months ago she wrote to ask if I’d submit some photos of my work for consideration for use on the cover of the publication. It usually features abstract art, but she said she didn’t think they had ever featured a fiber artist before.

Karyn is a biology/chemistry major who studied genetics at the graduate level and earned a M.S. before getting her M.A. in journalism.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Christmas 2012 all around the house



A belated Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!  I love to decorate my house at Christmas; this year, I used a lot of beautiful things that belonged to my mother.





















“And now we welcome the new year,
full of things that have never been.”
– RAINER MARIA RILKE –

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Bonnie & Clyde

“Bonnie & Clyde” by Susan Brubaker Knapp (2012)
After International Quilt Festival in Houston this fall, Alex Anderson (of TheQuiltShow.com) contacted me to ask if I'd consider doing a commission piece for her. She’d seen my piece, “Maximum Cat Nap,” and wanted a portrait of her son-in-law’s cats, Bonnie and Clyde) to give him for Christmas. I said yes, and she sent me this photo of them. It was perfect; well lit, with lots of detail.


But the background was a bit dull, with a few distracting elements. Alex said she thought that one of her quilts would make a better background, and I agreed. This is her quilt, Chopsticks:


I started by painting in the black:


And then the eyes and some of the rusty brown, and the pink noses:

 Then the tan:

And then the background, Alex’s quilt. Here is the piece with the painting finished, before thread sketching. It is a bit light compared to the photo of the cats; I knew I had to leave it this way, since the thread would add a lot of texture and color:


Here are some detail shots of the thread sketched and quilted finished piece. Some of these photos were taken under different light sources, which is why some look cool and some warm.




I hope he likes it. I managed to get it to Alex by Christmas Eve, but just barely!

Here are questions to commonly asked questions about my wholecloth painted pieces:

What fabric do you use? Either Pimatex PFD (prepared for dyeing) by Robert Kaufman, or Dyer’s Muslin (MDYE) by P&B Fabrics.

How do you transfer the design? I start by tracing the main lines in the image from an 8x10" photo on tracing paper. I enlarge this traced drawing to the size I want in PhotoShop, import it into InDesign, then print it out in tiles on my computer and tape them together to get a full-sized pattern. (You can also take your traced drawing to an office supply place and have them blow it up.) I position this under the fabric and start painting. I can see the lines through the fabric, so they provide rough guidelines for me. 

What paints do you use? I like PROChemical & Dye’s ProFab Transparent Paint. If you  are interested in trying them out, you could start with this set. I will be offering kits of these paints on my website starting next year. 

What brushes do you use? I use brushes with very stiff, short bristles by Lowe-Cornell.  I will also be offering these brushes on my website starting next year. 


What thread do you use? For thread sketching, I always use Aurifil Cotton Mako 50 weight, which is a very fine cotton thread with a lot of sheen. I also used the 50 weight to quilt this piece; sometimes I use 40 weight or heavier.

Can you teach this to my quilting group? Yes! I have several wholecloth painting and thread sketching classes. You can read more about them here. I am booked up for 2013, and starting to book 2014 and 2015. 

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Snowflake #3


Here is Snowflake #3!  The basic tutorial, which shows you how to fold the paper into sixths, is here.

Friday, December 7, 2012

2013 Once In a Blue Moon Fiber Art Retreat



Drumroll, please! I am pleased to announce that my 2013 retreat will be held at an exciting new location in Blowing Rock, NC. And Ive asked a friend and truly fabulous teacher, Lyric Kinard, to join me! Lyric Kinard was named the 2011 Teacher of the Year by the International Association of Professional Quilters (IAPQ). She is author of Art+Quilt: Design Principles and Creativity Exercises, and has created two DVDs (on beading and surface design).

The retreat will be held Nov. 13-16 at Meadowbrook Inn & Suites on Main Street in Blowing Rock. This is a wonderful town, full of fun shops and wonderful restaurants, and surrounded by natural beauty of North Carolinas Blue Ridge Mountains.


Susan and Lyric

Lyric and I will be offering two full days of classes, plus a half day on Nov. 13 for early arrivals. Subjects include wholecloth painting, surface design, elements of art for quilters, thread sketching, funky embroidery, and beading. You can sign up to take both of your classes with me, both with Lyric, or one day with each of us. Each class is limited to 25 students to ensure that everyone gets enough individual instruction. 

The base fee for the two full-day classes is $240. There are kit fees for some classes. Registrants choose their own accommodations and meals. We have reserved a block of rooms at Meadowbrook at a reduced rate (see retreat flier for details). And there are many wonderful restaurants within walking distance of the conference site.
 
Meadowbrook Inn & Suites in Blowing Rock, NC
My friend and conference facilitator extraordinaire, Joyce Mullis, is handling registrations and most of the organizational details. 

 You can download the flier – which contains detailed information and pricing — and the registration form by clicking here. We hope we will mark your calendar and make plans to join us!  

WEDNESDAY’S CLASSES (Nov. 13)

Choose one three-hour class (these are optional add-on classes are not included in the base fee):
 
Free-style Embroidery Apron (with Susan)
Stitch up a funky art apron using Susan’s designs and colorful perle cotton. You’ll start with a flirty hand-painted canvas apron, and embellish it, using simple embroidery stitches. A relaxing, no-stress class.  Class price: $55 (includes kit fee)

– OR –

Bead It Like You Mean It (with Lyric)
Come learn the basics of beading and create a fun little art quilt. You will learn techniques for adding beads of all shapes and sizes to your quilts and wearable art, easily and after you are done quilting. Here’s the prize: no knots or mess on the back! Learn to embellish in a way that adds to the overall design instead of looking like an afterthought. Class price: $55 (includes kit fee)

THURSDAY’S CLASSES (Nov. 14)
Choose one six-hour class: 
Wholecloth Painting: Botanicals (with Susan)
Learn the basics of creating wholecloth painted quilts based on photos. Choose from the four projects shown above, and work from line drawings and photos to recreate the image using acrylic textile paints. You’ll learn how to: select the right photos for great results; choose paints and fabrics to use; transfer your design to fabric; mix and blend paints for a range of values. We will also discuss how to thread sketch, quilt and finish your piece. Supply fee includes paints, brushes and fabric. $25 supply fee

– OR


Surface Design Sampler Platter (with Lyric)
Can’t choose which surface design technique you want most to learn? Try a taste of each! Make a small art quilt or bookcover while playing with paint, foil, photo transfer, screen printing and stamp carving, and beading. Techniques include printing and stenciling, stamp carving, screen printing, foiling, photo transfer. The supply fee includes everything you’ll need except scissors and an X-Acto knife. Lyric will have extra supplies available for purchase in class. $35 supply fee

FRIDAY’S CLASSES (Nov. 15)
Choose one six-hour class: 


Elements of Art for Quilters (with Lyric)
Kick-start your creativity and learn about the basic elements of good design. Learn why some colors fizz while others explode, why some quilts calm and some excite. A few simple tools from the artist’s kit will help you take your work, whether traditional or contemporary, to the next level. Students will discuss some of the basic principles of design, including focal point, line, texture, color, shape and motion. Quick, hands-on exercises will help you understand and implement these principles in your own artwork. No supply fee.


– OR

Threadsketching: Snowflakes (with Susan)
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! Whip up your very own flurry in this class, using thread, fabric and a tiny bit of paint. You’ll learn the basics of how to thread sketch, using Susan’s patterns for gorgeous, realistic looking snowflakes. Learn how to trace the design onto your background fabric, stabilize your piece to avoid draw-up, regulate your stitch for perfect tension, and improve your control while stitching. We will also cover free-motion quilting ideas for this piece, and discuss finishing techniques. $3 supply fee.


Detailed supply lists will be available in summer 2013. You can download the retreat flier and registration form
by clicking here.