Open mesh screen printing workshop with Janet Lasher

I spent today at a workshop on open mesh screen printing, taught by my friend, Janet Lasher, in her Charlotte studio. What a fun day!

Janet and all of the students today (me, Linda Stegall and P.J. Howard) are members of the Charlotte group Fiber Art Options. Janet is a wonderful teacher. She taught five classes at International Quilt Festival in Houston last year, and has been invited back to teach this fall.

Here is a print on fabric by Janet:

and a detail of the same print:

Linda’s print featured an elegant swirl and a sophisticated color palette:

P.J. thought her design came out looking like birch bark …

… or birch trees, when turned the other direction:

Here’s mine:

Janet had done a photo-emulsion screen of a paper cut, then used Caran D'Ache Neocolor Artists’ Crayons to fill in areas before printing:

P.J.’s Caran D’Ache print was interesting on striped fabric:

Here’s my Caran D’Ache print (left) hanging up to dry with P.J.’s birch print:

Janet’s cat Apollo supervised the print-making:

Janet had the BIG set of Caran D’Ache:

This I like! Crop-a-Dile

I’ve been searching for something to punch holes through heavy plastic for a project I’m working on, and after trying a Japanese screw punch (which was a great hand tool for cutting through multiple layers of paper, but not heavy plastic) and considering the purchase of a drill press, I found it … The Crop-A-Dile! It is made by We R Memory Keepers, and it punches through plastic with ease.

The Crop-A-Dile claims to be able to punch through paper, fabric, leather, plastic, chipboard, wood, acrylic, poly and more. From what I’ve tested so far, I don’t doubt it. It’s a bit expensive (I got mine for about $35) but it is very solidly built, and it does what it says.

See the two wing-like things near the handles? That’s where you can punch two hole sizes – 1/8" and 3/16". You can set the depth of the holes using the depth gauges on either side.

It also sets eyelets and snaps using the part at the end. There are two cubes on each side, and you rotate them to get the right combination. On one cube, you can set 3/16" standard and oversized eyelets, 1/8" round standard snaps, and 1/8" standard and oversized eyelets. There’s also a flat setter “for all other oversize, miscellaneous and square-shaped metal embellishments and snaps.”

On the other cube, you do the flares for eyelets and snaps. There’s even a cone-shaped flare for odd shapes. The cushioned handles make punching and setting very easy on the hands.

It’s a keeper!

My Aurifil threads have arrived!

My much-awaited shipment of Aurifil threads (Cotton Mako 50 weight) arrived today … and they are absolutely luscious! I ordered these colors to use in “Lepidoptera.”

It’s funny how much I am crazy about thread these days. I must admit that when I just made traditional quilts, I barely thought about thread. Now that I am making art quilts, the threads I use are much more important, because they define and enrich the surface of my work. I am starting to have a thread stash, just as I have a fabric stash. When I go to quilt shows, the thread booths interest me now.



Aurifil threads are not carried by my local quilt shops, so I have not used them much until now. I got these threads to really test them out, and so far I am very impressed. I’m going to try to quilt all of “Lepidoptera” in the next few days, and then I'll post my opinions on the Aurifil threads with photos of the piece.

I have been busy with several other projects that I am not allowed to post yet (because I want to enter them in contests that make not publishing them beforehand a rule of the competition; and for other reasons I hope to be able to reveal soon!), and it’s driving me kind of crazy. Patience, patience …

The Raven Challenge

QuiltArt, an online art quilt group to which I belong, has unveiled the results of its “Raven Challenge,” designed to honor the 200th anniversary of Edgar Allen Poe’s birthday. They are very cool! Check them out; you won’t believe the diversity of styles, materials and techniques.

Many of the artists have donated their cards to the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative or to Fiberart For A Cause’s Collage Mania (which raises money for the American Cancer Society).

Virginia Spiegel is the woman behind Collage Mania, which will be held May 6-7. Hundreds of fiber artworks will be available for a minimum $40 donation, and Virginia aims to raise $20,000 in those three days. She’s already raised more than $165,000. WOW!

The Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative has raised $273,000 for Alzheimer’s research. Ami Simms, a fiber artist whose mother suffers from the Alzheimer’s started this initiative. “I think it is possible to make a difference, one quilt at a time,” she says.

Two women are behind the Raven Challenge: Lynda Thompson, online curator; and Linda T. Minton, group Collage Mania coordinator.

The Raven Challenge is named for “The Raven,” one of Poe’s most famous poems, with the well-known line, “Quoth the raven, ‘Nevermore.’”

Working with Aurifil thread

I finished the dark blue threadwork on “Lepidoptera” today and started working on the other colors. I am waiting on my shipment of varigated Aurifil thread, but I did have one spool of their Cotton Mako 28 in a varigated pink. It is a bit heavier than what I ordered, but I am so eager to dig in that I decided to use it on some of the pink areas.

This is the first time I’ve used Aurifil thread for machine quilting. The first thing I noticed is how beautifully shiny it is. I almost thought it was polyester, and checked the spool twice. Yep, it’s cotton!



The varigation is very nice on this thread, going from a very pale, almost white pink, to dark pink. In the photo below, you can see how shiny the Aurifil thread is in comparison to the blue thread, which is a Mettler solid blue.


I have heard that Aurifil thread is very strong, and that it leaves very little lint in (and on) your machine. I have not used it enough to know if this is true for me … but I have a long way to go on this quilt. I’ll watch for this, and post about it later. So far, so good!

“Lepidoptera” today

I did a demonstration today at Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden as part of their “Art at the Garden,” which includes an exhibition of nature-related works by some members of the Charlotte Quilters Guild. It was wonderful to talk with visitors to the garden, and to show them what we do and how we do it.

As my demo was on thread painting and machine quilting, I took my current work, “Lepidopera” and worked on it as I talked to people. Some of those who came through were traditional quilters, some were artists, and some had never quilted before. Many of them were surprised to see the art quilts, having never viewed quilts as art before. The men were surprisingly fascinated, especially when they realized that I was making the sewing machine stitch in different directions, and not just in a straight line.

I have just started outlining my pencil lines that define the color areas with dark blue thread. I can’t wait to get started on all the colored areas, but I need to stabilize the entire thing first by doing the outlines. I always love this stage, where the quilting turns the fabric into a quilt.

Quilters Club of America offering my “December’s Diet” pattern to members

I’m pleased to announce that I am collaborating with the Quilters Club of America and providing my block-of-the-month pattern called “December’s Diet” exclusively to QCA members.

Quilters Club of America is designed to help quilters learn new skills and enjoy quilting more. The benefits to joining include discounts and freebies, including:

– Lots of downloadable patterns from designers like me

– Discounts at places like Jo-Ann Fabrics, Keepsake Quilting and Connecting Threads

– On-demand episodes of Fons & Porter’s Love of Quilting TV show via the internet

– Membership to QNNtv.com, which offers many well-known quilting shows on demand via the internet

– Subscription to Fons & Porter’s Easy Quilts quarterly magazine

The cost to join is $39.95.

“Art at the Garden” begins this weekend

My quilt is featured in some of the advertisements for the exhibit!

I was at Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden this morning to help members of the Charlotte Quilters Guild hang an exhibition called “The Art of Quilting.” It will run Feb. 14 through March 16 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Some of us will be demonstrating techniques and talking to visitors on Saturday, Feb. 14 from noon to 2 p.m. in the Wren Rooms of the Visitor Pavilion:

Nancy Cook – Create your own fabric using inks and PaintStiks
K. Grace Howes – Easy art quilts
Susan Dunne-Lederhaas – Embroidery as embellishment
Susan Brubaker Knapp – Free motion quilting and thread painting
Elizabeth Miller – Hand quilting

My friend Michele Sheets did a great job organizing this exhibit, which we hope will pique visitors’s interest in quilting. The quilts include very traditional pieced quilts as well as contemporary art quilts.


Michele’s daughter, Natalie, had fun playing with my quilted butterfly while we set up “The Art of Quilting” exhibition. She is a smart little cutie-pie, and never stops talking.

Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden is a spectacular garden located just west of Charlotte at the North Carolina/South Carolina state line in Belmont.


Michele (far left) works out details with the DSBG staff
in the gorgeous entrance to DSBG's Robert Lee Stowe Visitor Pavillion.



The entrance to DSBG.


The Orchid Conservatory is spectacular inside and out.


Part of the “Art at the Garden” exhibition.


Nancy G. Cook’s Pelton’s Rose Gentian awaits hanging.


Guild members and other helpers position and hang the quilts.

If you are in the area, come and see me on Saturday!

How to make a quilt sleeve: PDF now available

Nearly all quilt shows require a 4" hanging sleeve for quilts exhibited, but a lot of beginning quilters struggle with this step. In July 2007, I posted directions for making a quilt sleeve on my blog, because my local guild was having its first quilt show, and many people asked me for directions.

I recently became aware that many quilters searching the internet for information on making a sleeve were coming to my blog. One woman even contacted me by phone today, asking if I had a printed version of my directions. So… I whipped up a PDF file with the directions, including photos. Feel free to print and distribute these directions, but leave my contact information on them, please!

To see my directions, click here and you will be directed to my blog post.

For a copy of my directions in a PDF format, click here.

Lepidoptera painting done

I have just finished the painting on “Lepidoptera.” It is pretty wild! Here are some shots of sections of the painted fabric. I do not think that I want to bind this in a traditional way. I think I am going to do a pillowcase turn, where I layer the top (the painted fabric), then batting, then the backing fabric, then sew the fabric layers together, and turn it right side out.

Then I'll start the quilting, first going along the blue lines to secure the areas to be more heavily quilted inside each band or section of color. I am going to use Aurifil thread, mostly varigated, on this piece. I love Aurifil thread for needleturn appliqué, but I’ve never used it for machine quilting.

I am very excited to begin!

Beginning “Lepidoptera”

Here’s a sketch of a new work in progress. I’m calling it “Lepidoptera,” and it is based on a drawing I made from my photo of a Painted Lady butterfly. (Lepidoptera is the scientific order of insects that includes butterflies and moths. ) After painting in the colors, I scanned my drawing and then copied and rotated the wings until I was pleased with the composition.

After blowing up my drawing to full size (40" square), I used it to trace all the lines onto white cotton fabric. Now I am painting in the colors, using fabric dyes and paints. This may take some time, because I don’t have space in my studio for “wet work,” so I am working on a kitchen counter in between meal preparations. Argh.

I’ve never done a whole cloth, painted piece before, so this is a big experiment. I am also using this piece to wander a bit into abstraction. Most of my work tends to be fairly realistic. I thought it would be a good exercise to start from a photo of a real subject, and then try to make it more abstract, so the focus would be on line and color instead.

I’m hoping to thread-paint and quilt this piece in the next month.

Celtic Knot #1

I made this last night, when I needed some studio time (it had been a long day of paperwork and computer stuff). I used a drawing from a Dover book on Celtic knotwork, traced it, and then stitched the lines with green thread. Then I used fabric dye to color the knot, and spritzed it with water to make it bleed a bit. After it was dry, I added the dots with a Pigma pen. I would love to design some of these knots myself.

I spent a year of college in Scotland, and was always fascinated with these designs, especially the ornate ones (and spooky skulls and such) on the ancient tombstones in the graveyards there, and in illuminated manuscripts from Scotland, Ireland and England.

Note: The design for this piece comes from Celtic Art: The Methods of Construction (Lavishly illustrated with line drawings & photographs) by George Bain.

Keepsake Quilting is offering “Round Red Barn”

The spring 2009 Keepsake Quilting catalog includes my “Round Red Barn” pattern! It’s on page 38. Unfortunately, they list the maker as “Susan Knapp,” without my maiden name in the middle; this is what I use professionally. This is partly because there is another Susan Knapp who designs quilt patterns through The Quilt Branch in Magnolia, Ill. I’m hoping to meet her at the Spring Quilt Market in Pittsburgh, Pa., this May.

Keepsake Quilting offered my “Heart’s Desire” block-of-the-month design a few years ago, and they are a fantastic company to work with. I’m thrilled that they are carrying “Round Red Barn.”

A little winter

No dream too big, no step too small

I created this little graphic to remind myself to dream big. For too long, I’ve been listening to that sour little voice whispering in my ear … don’t get your hopes up … it might not work out … you really think you can do that?

I don’t want to live like that.

Most of the time I can drown out the voice, be optimistic and forge ahead. The voice is only strong when I am weak, tired, worn down.

I belong to a group of artists in the Charlotte area concerned with improving our business and marketing skills. Last week at our meeting, my friend Nancy repeated this line, which she had heard at a conference, and its message really resonated with me: Think big, but work small. Begin. Take it step by step.

It is good to dream big.

Needleturn appliqué class scheduled

I haven’t been doing much teaching lately because I have some big things going on (that I can’t tell you about yet…), but I have just scheduled one beginners class in needleturn appliqué at the Quilters Loft Company in Mooresville. I’ve really missed teaching; it is rewarding to turn people on to a new technique.

Beginning Needleturn Appliqué
Friday, March 13 and Friday, March 27
10:30 a.m to 2:30 p.m.
$45
In this class, you’ll learn all you need to know to get started on needleturn appliqué –including making bias vines, reverse applique, and making templates and positioning overlays — while stitching my “Spring Valentine” pattern (above). You’ll be making perfect circles and sharp points in no time!

I designed this pattern specifically for teaching beginners. In the first class, we cover the organizational part of needleturn appliqué, where you make the templates and positioning overlays, and learn how to use pressing bars (also called bias bars). Then students go home and do everything to get ready for the next class two weeks later. At this class, we get down to the nitty-gritty and learn how to stitch.

To sign up or get more information, contact Quilters Loft Company at (704) 662-8660.

Come! – I’ll soon have you sharing one of my favorite addictions!

A historic day

We become what we are

I joined Facebook (a social networking site online) this weekend, and it has me strolling happily down memory lane. I got out my big musty envelope of report cards, and my photo albums, and my yearbooks and have been having lots of fun and laughing a lot. I even discovered that two of my high school friends, actors and musicians, are friends with fiber artist Elin Waterston because of their connection to The Affordable Floors. Weird! (Postnote: Make that three friends... she even knows the guy who played Rolf to my Liesl in our high school’s 1981 production of “The Sound of Music.”)

I grew up in Mt. Lebanon, a suburb of Pittsburgh, but left the area after I finished college. At the same time, my parents moved, and I did not go back to my hometown much after this. As a result, I lost touch with all but a few of my high school friends. Facebook is helping me reconnect, nearly 30 years later.

What is so amazing is to find people doing pretty much what you expected (with a few exceptions, of course). Which got me thinking... how much are we set/fixed/decided when we are 16? and how much changes after that?

One of the most intriguing things I dug out was this, my “Vocational Interest Inventory” from junior high school. (Thanks, Mom, for saving all this stuff.)


I ranked as high as you can get for “Aesthetic-Cultural” (which includes fields/professions such as crafts(wo)man, writer, communications, actor, dancer, interior decorator, painter, photographer, sculptor and architect), and next highest for “Service” (teaching, communications, medicine, nursing, psychology, counseling, clergy, law, social work, law enforcement).

Yep, it’s all there. I was never going to be an archeaologist (my career of choice in elementary school), or a vet (junior high), or a geologist (sophomore year in college). My lowest score was “Manual,” which confirms my belief that I was never meant to be a custodian, gas station attendant, or member of the armed forces.

I am what I am.

I am what I was (even if I didn't know it at the time).

Beading: A new obsession?

I was inspired recently by the work of some Fiber Art Options friends, Nancy G. Cook and Janet A. Lasher, who do gorgeous beading on their work. Fiber Art Options is a group of Charlotte area fiber artists. We all have different styles, and use different techniques and materials in our work, but have in common our love of fiber art.

I went home and pulled out my beads and started playing. The blue circle in the upper right corner is built around a metal washer. I can see why so many people love beading. It really is addictive. Probably a good thing that I am busy with all my other projects, or I’d be in deep.

Still, it made me want to try more, and maybe take a class in beading. I’ll put it on my “to do” list.

Thoughts on thimbles

I have a “thing” for thimbles, especially old, silver ones with intricately carved designs. And for thimble cases, and all the beautiful little “accessories” you use to quilt. I think I make more beautiful stitches when I use beautiful tools. I certainly feel happier when I use them and look at them. And if you are going to spend hundreds of hours hand quilting, why not use a lovely object to do it?


My mother gave me the antique thimble in the photo above, which was her grandmother’s, I think. See the wonderful silversmith’s markings just above the bottom rim? And those wonderful swirls like the stars in Vincent VanGogh’s painting? I adore it, but it is a little small for my finger, and it has a slightly domed top, which is not ideal for hand quilting.


I spurged a few years ago and purchased the silver thimble in the photo above. It is made by by T.J. Lane, a silversmith who works with her daughter and son-in-law (who are based in western North Carolina). The thimbles are made entirely in the United States, a rarity these days. Even though it was expensive (I think I paid about $60, and prices have gone up since), I have not for one minute regretted the decision to purchase it.

I adore this thimble. It fits perfectly, it is beautiful, and the flat top with the little rim holds the needle and pushes it in and out smoothly with every stitch I quilt. It looks old, and interesting, and it is hand made. (I am increasingly interested in purchasing hand-made items of quality, and not machine-made, mass-produced items that are often of inferior quality.) When I am not using it, it is still a thing of beauty.


A little while after I purchased my thimble, I bought this pretty silver thimble case to wear around my neck when I am quilting. This way, if the phone rings and I have to get up and leave my project, I can stick the thimble in the case and take it with me, so the cats don’t decide to play with it.


Here is Max, reclining in his bed (my younger daughter’s doll bed, purchased from a Tennessee artisan by my mother). He thinks it was made just for him.

Working by hand

I just finished about five days of heavy machine quilting, and boy, am I ready for some hand work! So I am working to finish up my knitted “Booga Bag,” which will be felted and probably given to my daughter, and on hand quilting “Bohemian Bouquet.”

Here are a few photos of the hand quilting in progress. I’d already quilted “in the ditch” around the motifs in several blocks, using black thread that barely shows up at all, but does make the appliquéd pieces puff out nicely. I was eager to start the background quilting, which will either be diagonal lines every 1/2" in one direction (if I’m lazy), or a grid of diagonal lines in both directions. I decided to use red thread, because I’d like the quilting to actually show here! What do you think about how it looks?



Next, about the Booga Bag: This is a knitted bag by Julie Anderson, and you can find her pattern at www.blacksheepbags.com.

My friend DeLane Rosenau, who is an excellent quilter, helped some of the Pandoras and friends who were not knitters get started on this project. DeLane posted about her Booga Bag on her blog and included before and after photos. I have finished the main part of the bag, and am casting off. I've started on the i-cord that will be the straps. I can't wait to felt it! It will go in the washing machine, perhaps through several cycles, and will come out much smaller and thicker. I may make a fabric lining with pockets for the inside.



I used Ironstone “Colorchanges” yarn that is 53% wool and 47% acrylic, but still felts beautifully. It has gorgeous blue/green/teal/purple variations.



My 8-year-old daughter has been watching me knit this and has gotten interested in knitting! I am thrilled. I got her started on some scrap yarn and she is doing beautifully with the basic knit stitch, and hardly dropping any stitches at all. So I bought her some pretty yarn and circular bamboo needles for Christmas. My mother’s mother, my “Nanny,” taught me to knit when I was in sixth grade and had broken my leg and had a cast from my toes to my thigh. I didn’t come back to it until I was spending my junior year of college at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, and was surrounded by more beautiful wool than I had ever seen in my life, and more knitters!

I bought some local wool and a pattern for an Aran sweater and started out, with the help of several helpful Scottish hallmates! I have not done much knitting since I started quilting, but I still love it. And today, there are more tempting yarns than ever.

My mom, Ellie Brubaker, made the Booga Bag below in 2007. Isn’t it darling? I hope mine comes out as cute.

Evil creatures

This is the sad tale of a quilter and three evil creatures determined to make her life a living hell. The first evil animal, below, goes by the innocent-sounding name of "Sophie." Looks sweet enough, right? Read on...


Today, as I was working away in my studio, I got a call from a large, well-known quilting catalog interested in carrying one of my patterns. Hurrah! I scurried from my studio to my office, which is at the other end of the house, switched phones, and answered questions from the very pleasant company representative.

We were just finishing up, and I was writing down the company address, when Sophie went nuts. "Woof! Woof! WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!" So loud that I could not hear the man speaking on the other end of the phone. "I'm so sorry!" I shouted into the phone, running away from Sophie and the window, out of which I could see a couple walking a sweet looking, obedient, quiet Labrador. Dangerous trespassers, Sophie thought, apparently. "Woof! Woof! WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!"

There was stunned silence on the other end of the phone. "Um... Wow, that's a really big dog," he said. No, actually she's a fairly small dog. She just has a really loud bark. Especially when the phone is a few feet from her mouth. We will see if the order actually comes through.

Here are the other two evil creatures, below. Awww, those darling kitties, all curled up together in the sun? What could they possibly do? Read on...



The black cat, aptly named "Trouble," has developed a habit of waking us up at about 4 or 5 in the morning because her kibbles are apparently stale. Never mind that my husband patiently fills up her bowl before bed, and makes sure that she is there to witness the event. Never mind that we are sound asleep, it is entirely dark outside, and her bowl is mounded high. The kibbles are stale, and new kibbles must be prepared. Immediately. Or else Trouble walks on our eye sockets.

The other cat, Max, is smart. Very, very smart. Too smart. And evil. He has decided that the important quilting project I am working on is actually a mat on which he must wipe his paws. Repeatedly. Especially after a trip to the litterbox, or outside in the mud after a rain. He is very sneaky, and can pounce up on my work space before I even hear or see him coming. He seems to think it is a wonderful game.

All evil creatures have been banished from the studio for the duration. I am engineering a soundproof studio with doors that lock.

My first quilt

This is the very first quilt I ever made. It is a one patch, made with scraps, mostly from clothing my mother made for me in the late ’60s and early ’70s. I made it with my mom when I was about 10, I think. It is not bound, just turned, pillowcase style, and then tied with yarn. It’s not bed sized, but it is perfect for snuggling under with the girls while I am reading to them at bedtime.

My mother gave it to me this Thanksgiving, on the condition that I not use it as bedding for the cats or the dog. She said I might need it one day if I become a famous quilter and a magazine wants to do one of those “first quilt/latest quilt” features on me. “Ha!" I told her, but I promised I wouldn't use it to line the dog’s crate. I came home and set it down, folded, on our bed. I left the room, came back in and found this:



Max is very photogenic, and he has a knack for finding just the right spot to sit or lie so that you absolutely must take his photograph. Sorry, Mom.