Quilters by the Sea Guild in Wilmington

Spring was just arriving in beautiful Wilmington, NC, when I visited there on Monday and Tuesday to speak and do a workshop for the friendly Quilters by the Sea Guild.


I arrived in historic Wilmington a few hours before my presentation, so I strolled through a residential part of the older part of the city, which boasts spectacular turn-of-the-century (and older) houses.


Love those Christmas snowflake lights and the charming red door.


A beautiful door and transom. Check out the little metal Daschund to the left of the door ... perhaps a boot scraper?


Here’s part of the talented group that took my “Surface Design Madness” workshop on Tuesday. What a nice bunch.


We stamped and stenciled on fabric with Lumiere fabric paint.


We made beads from Tyvek and wrapped them in wire and beads.


We melted Tyvek to make embellishments.


This student really went to town with her Lumiere! Isn’t this gorgeous?


One student made this by stamping Lumiere with a regular kitchen sponge. Great texture!


More fun with Lumiere.


This is Lumiere sponged through sequin waste.


We also stamped and embossed Angelina.

It is always so interesting to me that each student finds something different that “floats her boat.” I try to offer many different techniques and materials in this class. We cover a lot of ground in six hours.

Many thanks to Mary Ann, and all the Quilters by the Sea!

Charlotte Quilters Guild 2009 show

The Charlotte Quilters Guild’s 2009 quilt show opened today. I am so proud of the Pandoras! We won a second place ribbon in the “Group” category for our quilt, “Motherhood” (above), and a Judge’s Choice ribbon from Joanne Arntsen! The panels are by (from left:) Grace K. Howes, Lushorn Millsaps, me, and DeLane Rosenau.


Nancy G. Cook won the Best of Show-Small for “Southern Hospitality,” which features a magnolia tree.


Cynthia Page’s “Illusion” won a Judge’s Choice award from Kathlyn Sulivan.


Christine Scholz won a Best Machine Quilting ribbon for “Oriental Dreams.”


Pattie Bethune’s “Fire Fern” won the Best Use of Color ribbon.


Joan Roeder’s charming “Joansborough” won the Best Hand Quilting ribbon. I love how she used textured fabrics and hand embroidery to create this lovely village scene. Here’s a detail shot:


Joan says, “My village was inspired by my love of the history of the Middle Ages, and my inability to pass by any fabric of architectural design.”


Kimberly Profitt’s “Sandhills Beauty” (above) won Best of Show-Large.


Kay Horn’s elegant “Garden Path.”


Elizabeth Miller dedicated “Room to Breathe” to her friend Joan Colvin (1933-2007), “a gentle and talented artist who only wanted ‘room to breathe.’”


Elizabeth’s “Linens and Things” features work by Elizabeth as well as various unknown quilters and embroiderers. She collects vintage linens (runners, doileys, quilts, tablecloths and hankies) and uses them in her quilts to preserve this wonderful “women’s work.”


My “Round Red Barn.”


Elinor Washington’s “Rose Appliqué” was so sweet, soft and feminine. She started it in 1940, and finished it in 2008!


P.J. Howard’s “Hands On!”


June Alston’s “Colonial Star” (based on a pattern by Jacquline de Jonge)


Cary Langhorne Caldwell ’s “Old Bay.” Cary is a very talented up-and-coming young art quilter, and I love her work.


“Under the Watchful Eye of Queen Charlotte II” by Deborah Langsam contains “people and places that have shaped Charlotte” in a mosaic of tiny photographs printed on fabric. Here’s a detail shot:



Cary Langhorne Caldwell’s “Cousin Fredrick.”


Melanie Paul won a first place ribbon for her “Well, Shut My Mouth,” which includes one of her mother’s favorite quotes by Abraham Lincoln.


One thing I always enjoy at the Charlotte quilt show is the exhibit of dolls by the Flights of Fantasy Doll Guild. “Aurora” by Lee Williams looks as though she is soaring!


Aren’t these chicken stitchers funny? They are by Cindy Page.


This lovely doll is by Margaret Williams (pattern by Christine Shiveley).


Nancy G. Cook’s “Winter Confection III.”


P.J. Howard’s “Dragon Bag.”


My “Home Planet.”


My “Purple Evening Bag.”

Nancy G. Cook’s “Crepe Myrtle: Homage to Klimt”

Linda Stegall’s “Losing Serengeti” points out that “the Serengeti plains are one of the world’s largest animial habitats, containing the greatest variety of animals in the world. They … are rapidly diminshing due to our indifference.”

Announcing the Fiber Art Options blog

I belong to a group of marvelously talented fiber artists from the Charlotte area. I was very honored to have been asked to join this group about two years ago. It includes Nancy G. Cook, P.J. Howard, Janet A. Lasher and Linda Stegall. Elizabeth Miller was an active member until recently (she is now an honorary member, too busy to attend most meetings, but welcome to come if she wants!).

One of our goals for the coming year is to create work individually that could be used in group exhibitions. We decided that it would be good to have a group portfolio, so that we could easily and professionally present ourselves to potential curators. This morning, we officially launched our blog, www.fiberartoptions.blogspot.com.

We have included posts from our members, as well as links to our current exhibitions, where we have been published, and a short bio and portfolio for each member. We’ll be sharing our works in progress, as well as our techniques and ideas. We invite you to view our blog, and to follow us (just go to the bottom of the sidebar on the right and click the “follow” button).

Lake Norman Quilters quilt show donation quilt

Lake Norman Quilters will hold its second quilt show, “Sailing Under the Harvest Moon,” on Oct. 30 and 31, 2009, at East Mooresville Intermediate School. Our first show was a great success. We were very proud to have more than 200 quilts, including traditional quilts, art quilts, and challenge quilts. Our guild was small then (about 30 members), but we have some excellent quilters in our group and we put on a show! You can see photos of us and some of the winning quilts on our web page here. We have now grown to about 50 members, and we are convinced that our 2009 show will be even bigger and better!

For our 2009 donation quilt, the group used my pattern “Three Cheers.”



A whole bunch of us met several times to piece it (it’s a big baby, king size, 105" square!), and then Judy Whitehead, one of our members who is an art quilter and runs a long-arm business called Goneaway Quilting, quilted it for us. She did a beautiful job! Check out these wonderful feathers in the border; they add another design element:




All the fabric in this quilt are from Minick & Simpson’s “Prairie Paisley” line, which is wonderfully nostalgic looking, I think. You can’t beat a red, white and blue quilt!

I tried to make the label look old-fashioned, too:

We are extremely fortunate to have two wonderful quilt shops in our small town, and both are very supportive of our guild. Many thanks to Quilters Loft Company for supplying the fabric at a discount, and to Rene’s Quilt Shop for supplying the batting at a discount.

I just love the fabric we used on the back:

If you live nearby, please mark your calendar now and plan to join us on Halloween weekend. It’s going to be great!

“Charlotte in Wonderland” quilt show this weekend

Charlotte Quilters’ Guild will hold its annual quilt show this weekend, March 20 - 22.

I’ll be there most of the day Friday with the Lake Norman Quilters donation quilt based on my “Three Cheers” pattern and beautifully quilted by Judy Whitehead. And on Sunday at 1 p.m. I’ll be doing a demonstration of machine quilting and thread painting.

Besides the quilts, there will be food, vendors and demonstrations. Make sure to buy a raffle ticket and try to win a Grand Quilter sewing machine, donated by the Quilters Loft Co. in Mooresville. All proceeds benefit the Charlotte guild, and help us with next year’s show.

Want to go?
The Fletcher School
8500 Sardis Road
Charlotte NC 28270
Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.

“Easy Appliqué Blocks” give-away coming March 28

My friend, Kay Mackenzie, has a great new book just out! And to help her spread the news, I’ll be participating in her “Book-a-Round,” where 10 different quilting bloggers will share something different about the book. To make this even more fun, Kay’s giving each of us a book to give away the day we post.

So mark your calendar, and check my blog on March 28. If you leave me a post that day, your name will go into the drawing for this great book, which features 50 darling applique designs to mix and match, each in 5 different sizes. I’ll tell you all about the book and share the block I’m making using one of her designs.

If you really want to win a book, you can go to each blogger’s post on their day and put your name in the hat for their book. Kay’s blog, All About Appliqué, has a list of the bloggers participating.

It’s gonna be fun!

Book Review: Art Quilts at Play

Art Quilts at Play: Ignite Your Inner Artist – Experiment with Surface Design Techniques by Jane Davila & Elin Waterston
C&T Publishing. 111 pages. $29.95

Mixed-media and fiber artists Jane Dávila and Elin Waterston, the team that brought us Art Quilt Workbook in 2007, have another hit on their hands, I think. This book encourages quilters to explore new techniques, materials and processes. It offers straightforward directions, concise supply lists, numerous illustrations and ample encouragement for beginners as well as those who already have their feet wet. It’s an excellent introduction for beginners, or a handy reference for the more experienced.

Section 1 includes chapters on:
1. fabric creation (mixing color, fabric dyeing, simple screen printing, nature printing, found object printing, stamp making, fabric painting with water-based resists, bleach discharging, and images on fabric)

2. special effects (paintstiks, fabric inks, water soluble pastels, painted fusible web, gel medium, expandable paint medium, shrink film, metalic foil and leafing, PearlEx powders, art glitter, and Angelina heat-bondable fiber)

3. a student gallery.

I had already played with most of these materials and techniques, so I didn't really need the first section. But as a teacher of surface design techniques for quilters, this is definitely a book I'll recommend, and refer to in class. Those without formal art training will also appreciate the glossary.

The second part of the book is what takes this beyond a mere how-to or reference book. Here are fun and interesting ways to push yourself out of your box, share your work, learn from others, and collaborate with other artists in a group.

Section 2 includes chapters on:
1. challenges (subject challenges, word challenges, process challenges)

2. collaborative projects (fabric art journals, surprise package, exquisite corpse, mixed media art)

3. art to trade (artist trading cards, fiber art postcards, small art swaps)

4. connections (online groups and the Internet, small in-person groups, critique groups)

5. collaborating artists gallery.

All in all, this is a great book with lots of practical exercises, as well as loads of inspiration, encouragement and energy.

You can order an autographed copy on Jane or Elin’s website.

The mermaid returns!

“Teach Me to Hear Mermaids Singing” is back home, safe and sound. She’s been traveling the world for the past 2-1/2 years. I made this quilt in 2006. It was the second art quilt I’d ever made. I started it after painting the face in a class taught by Bonnie McCaffery. The rest of the quilt is made up of tiny fabric pieces (some as small as 1/4") positioned under tulle, then heavily embellished with thread painting. You can see this in the detail shots below.

This quilt was selected as one of 50 finalists in the 2006 Husqvarna Viking competition “MasterPieces: Imagine That!” It was exhibited first at the 2006 International Quilt Market and Festival in Houston, and then toured to Sweden, Great Britain, Chicago, Finland, Australia and Denmark. I am happy to have her home!

Copyright craziness

I belong to several online groups of art quilters and pattern desginers who have been struggling with copyright issues. Most people just don't understand copyright law (and there is a LOT that is complex about it.) But this part is simple. If you photocopy a copyrighted quilt pattern (one that says “copyright” on it, or has the copyright symbol, the little circle with the c inside it), you are violating American copyright law. You are breaking the law. You are stealing someone else’s work. I know a lot of quilters who share patterns; after they've made the item, they give the pattern to someone else. (This is not illegal, but it is unethical, in my opinion, because it deprives the designer of any income.) Or they make photocopies of a pattern and give it to a friend. (This is illegal under copyright law.) Most of them are not bad people. They just don't think about what they are doing.

Most pattern designers don’t make much money. They are like the rest of us: just trying to pay their mortgages, pay their kids' dentist bills, and heat their homes. After making color copies, photocopies and/or paying a printer to print … and then calculating in the time for collating, stuffing and putting the patterns in polybags, the profit margin is not big. Believe me. And then … if you sell your patterns to a quilt shop directly, you get about half the retail price. If you sell your patterns to a distributor, they usually want an additional 30% knocked off the wholesale price.

I'm not outraged, I'm not angry. I don't think I can control the world, and I don't think the problem will ever go away. I just think that the quilting industry needs to educate consumers about copyright. With that goal, I'm going to start including this orange copyright logo on all my patterns. If you are a pattern designer, and would like to use this logo, contact me and I'll send you a copy. Or pull it off my blog and use it. It is NOT copyrighted. If we all start talking about the issues, maybe people will understand it better and start doing the right thing.