2012 Quilting Arts Calendar

Today, I feel very honored. My work “Trouble in the Pumpkin Patch” (detail shot above) has been chosen for the 2012 Quilting Arts Calendar. This will be the fourth year in a row that my work will be included. The other pieces are:

“Candy Corn” (2011)

“Autumn’s Bounty” (2010)

“Citrus Slices” (2010)

“Home Planet” (2009)

I continue to struggle mightily to come to terms with my mother’s recent death. It is hard to be very happy about anything right now. But she was my biggest fan, and I know she would be proud to hear my good news. I just wish I could pick up the phone and tell her about it.

Happy Valentine’s Day

It is only with the heart that one can see rightly,
what is essential is invisible to the eye.
– Antoine de Saint-Exupery

The Pandoras play with gelatin plate printing

At this month’s meeting of The Pandoras, my local fiber arts group, we did gelatin plate printing. This is a process I won’t describe in detail here (a great source for information is Rayna Gillman’s excellent book Create Your Own Handprinted Cloth). Basically you make up unflavored, non-sweetened gellatin, and allow it to firm up in a shallow pan. Then you dump it out, roll paint onto it, place found objects on top to act as a resist, and press fabric or cloth on top. 


Here are some of my results. This was a very fun, serendipitous process; I'll definitely try it again.
 

I'm teaching at International Quilt Festival in Houston

I am pleased to announce that I will be teaching three classes this year at International Quilt Festival in Houston: 

Wholecloth Painting – Botanicals
Thursday, November 3, all day

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 Start With a Photo
Friday, November 4, all day

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 Thread Sketching – Dragonfly Wallhanging

Saturday, November 5, all day 

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For details on the classes, please click here.

Aurifil’s free projects for February

Linda’s “Love Pillow”

Aurifil's Designer of the Month for February is Linda lum deBono. Linda has two fun and quick projects to share with you, the Love Pillow (above) and Love Card Holder (below).

Linda’s “Love Card Holder”

Linda’s “Love Card Holder” (detail)

Click over to Aurifil news page and read the interview with Linda, and download the free project she designed for this special month of love.

You can check out Pat Sloan’s interview with Linda on January 3 2011. Scroll down and listen on your computer or download.

Starting in March, Aurifil will pick one random winner each month who has made one of the designer projects; she or he will receive a special Aurifil thread prize. You can make any of the designer projects (and we hope you make them all!) To participate, simply share your photos at our Flickr Folder... we can't WAIT to see what you do.

Visit Linda all around the internet:
Website: http://www.lindalumdebono.com/
FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/lindalumdebono
Blog: http://www.lindalumdebono.blogspot.com/

GIVEAWAY!

Each month this year, I’m going to be giving away a pack of Aurifil minispools (like the one shown above) when the new project is announced. Just leave me a comment here to tell me what you think of Linda’s projects. I'll pull a name at random next Friday, Feb. 11 at noon. The sampler pack includes great colors in different weights. Congratulations to Kathleen in Montana; she won this giveaway. 

An amethyst remembrance

Me with my mom, Eleanor Carter Brubaker,
1936-2011

I held a jewel in my fingers

And went to sleep. 

The day was warm, the winds were prosy

I said: “’Twill keep.”

I woke and chid my honest fingers—

The gem was gone; 

And now an amethyst remembrance

Is all I own. 

– Emily Dickinson

2012 Quilting Arts Calendar competition

Detail from my submission for the 2012 Quilting Arts Calendar.

On Friday, I learned that the piece I submitted for consideration in the 2012 Quilting Arts Calendar has made the list of finalists! There are 21 artists and 22 pieces on the list on editor Pokey Bolton’s blog. And I know a bunch of them; all are wonderful artists. One, Faith Cleary, is a woman I met at International Quilt Festival last year while taking one of Judy Coates Perez’s classes. 

Faith Cleary with one of her pet portraits on a Christmas stocking.

Faith and I struck up a conversation, decided to have lunch together, and had the most wonderful time. Then this year, when I was back in Houston for Quilt Market, she showed up in a class I took with Bonnie McCaffery! It just seems like fate that we know each other. It was my birthday, and she offered to take me out for lunch at an authentic Mexican restaurant she knew, and then she drove me all over Houston to see points of interest, and took me to her house to see her darling studio. After seeing her wonderful work, I encouraged her to talk to Quilting Arts, and to enter the calendar competition, because it is right up her alley this year. 

Detail of Faith's work

Faith specializes in pet portraits sketched in thread, and this year, the theme of the competition is “Getting Pet-ty.” Take a look at Faith’s amazing work on her website. She creates very realistic thread-sketched portraits, then frames them or places them on pet carriers, handbags, chairs, pillows, stockings, you name it.

So imagine my excitement when I saw that both of Faith’s entries were on the list of finalists, too! I am so thrilled for her, because she is simply a sweetheart, and because she is an amazing artist.

This is part of what I love so much about being part of the quilting community. There are all these warm, wonderful people who share a passion for quilts, fabric and threads, and every time you turn around, you meet and make another fabulous friend.

I don't think there is any rule about showing the piece you have submitted, but I prefer to wait until the calendar comes out, or the pieces are shown for the first time (this year, at International Quilt Festival in Cincinnati). So the little photo at the top of this post is all I’m revealing for now. The final list of 13 pieces (one for each month and one for the cover) will be announced on Pokey’s blog on Feb. 11. I have my fingers crossed for both Faith and me.

The Sketchbook Challenge: Sketch #11

This is my latest sketch for The Sketchbook Challenge. While teaching this weekend in Georgia, I stayed with Mary and Dan Colley of Athens. I had stayed with them last fall when I was in town to speak and teach at the Cotton Patch Quilters. They are really kind and wonderful people. Dan is a professor of microbiology at the University of Georgia, and is doing ground-breaking research on schistosomiasis, a horrible parasitic disease that affects many people in developing countries. 

Mary kindly agreed to host me, even though they were in the middle of a major kitchen renovation. She warned me beforehand that things were kind of crazy at her house, but it didn’t scare me. It’s crazy all the time at my house!

While I stayed with them, I sketched this beautiful antique dresser in my room. I find dressers very appealing somehow. They all have very distinct personalities, and it is interesting to see how different the styles can be. I sketched a previous host’s dresser last week. I like the clean, spare lines in this drawing.

Teaching at Dragonfly Quilt Shop

I have just returned from teaching two classes at the Dragonfly Quilt Shop in Watkinsville, Georgia. (Watkinsville is just outside of Athens.) I taught two classes, Thread Sketching, in which students make a small piece with a thread-sketched dragonfly, and Start With a Photo, where students create my Round Red Barn design. (For details on these classes, click here.)

I had wonderful students of all levels – some were completely new to free-motion stitching, and some were already experts. I hope each one went home having learned something new. Some of my students had taken my Wholecloth Painting workshop from me when I visited the Cotton Patch Quilters in September. Here are some photos of my students and their work. It is always interesting to see how different each project turns out because of the fabric and thread choices of the students.

Dragonfly Quilt Shop is a gem of a quilt store, with a wonderful owner (Debora Exum) a very helpful and friendly staff, and a great selection of fabrics. The emphasis is on bright contemporary fabrics, including many by Kaffe Fassett & Brandon Mably, and Amy Butler. There are lots of small projects like purses, bags and aprons, great books, and patterns for children’s clothing. The classroom space was also great.

I get to come back to the beautiful Athens area this fall: I’m speaking and teaching at the Hall County Quilt Guild in Chestnut Mountain this October!

The Sketchbook Challenge: Sketch #10

Okay, I've now completed ten sketches for The Sketchbook Challenge so far this year. Ten sketches, 18 days. Not too bad. Today I sketched my reading glasses. “Highly prized” (this month’s theme) because it is getting to the point that I can’t do much of anything without them. Sigh. It makes me really mad, really crazy. Can you tell? 

I think the glasses look pretty good, pretty realistic. But perhaps I should have done the lenses with some of the color showing through? At least they stand out from the background this way. I am loving working with type in my sketches. It makes me wonder if I should do some fiber pieces using type. With my graphic design background, it makes sense. 

This is the kind of visual brainstorming I was hoping would take place by sketching regularly. It will be very interesting to see where this takes me this year, and how much the sketches affect my fiber art. 

Note: This is black ink on white paper, with water color and pencil (the words in the background). The size is about 8.5" x 11".

Martin Luther King, Jr., and creativity

Today, I am celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. While reading quotes by him this morning, I was interested to discover several that dealt with creativity:

“Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better.”

“Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted.”

“We must use time creatively.”

This made me think about how much King must have valued creativity. Perhaps not in the sense of the arts, but as a form of critical problem solving, a way of finding new solutions. (Which is also what artists do when they are being creative.)

Certainly King showed creativity in his push for civil rights. You can see it in his choice of protests and approaches, and in his glorious use of language in his sermons and speeches. 

I will finish this brief post with one of my favorite King quotes:

“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.” 

Today, let us all make that same decision: let’s stick with love.

The Sketchbook Challenge: Sketches #7, 8, 9

 

I did the pencil sketches in this post for The Sketchbook Challenge during my trip to Maryland last week. I took along a little Moleskine sketchbook, and drew this one (of my Dansko clog, above) at the gate in the airport, without taking my foot out of the shoe. I highly prize comfortable shoes, especially after my 18-month bout of plantar fasciitis, a very painful foot condition, several years ago. (If you are wondering about the scribbles all over the shoes, these clogs have French writing all over them.)

 

 This is a sketch of my host Coralyn’s lovely antique dresser, which was in the room where I stayed at her house. 

When I joined the Sketchbook Challenge, I vowed to take on faces and bodies, my greatest fears. This is a drawing of a young woman seated across from me at the airport waiting area. The proportions of her body to her face are not quite right, but it is not too bad, considering that I never draw people. Maybe I can do this after all! 

I am considering getting a book on drawing faces and figures, and working my way through it. Any suggestions on books you like?

New Zealand, here I come!

I got a fabulous invitation last week! I’ve been asked to teach at Taupo Symposium 2013 Fabric Art Festival in Taupo, New Zealand. This symposium in New Zealand is held every two years, and typically draws 1,500 participants to its quilt show, special exhibitions, and a broad range of classes.

The 2011 event is called Remarkable Symposium 2011, and it is being held in Queenstown, NZ, April 18-23.  If you click on the “Timetable, Classes and Tutors,” you can see all the instructors and classes they are offering this year. 

Taupo (population 21,000)  is known for its beautiful lake, trout fishing, skiing, geothermal phenomena, waterfalls, and rock carvings at Mine Bay. I can’t wait!

Visit to the Needlechasers in Chevy Chase, MD

Debbie with her dragonfly, at the end of the Thread Sketching class.

I just got back from a visit to the fabulous Needlechasers of Chevy Chase in Maryland. What a great group they are! I gave a presentation and taught two classes, Machine Quilting 101 and Thread Sketching. I really enjoyed my time with this group. I especially appreciated their flexibility in dealing with my travel delays caused by a big snow/ice storm that hit Charlotte last Sunday night. I was supposed to fly out on Tuesday, and almost all the flights out of Charlotte’s airport were canceled that day. (It figures that this would happen the first time I flew to a presentation!) I ended up going one day late, and the program coordinators were able to jiggle my classes around with minimal disruption.

Debbie added wonderful details like the curlicues on her dragonfly’s legs.

Jan with her dragonfly.

Coralyn Colladay, my marvelous host!

Many thanks to Marina Baudoin, Debbie Lamb-Mechanick, and my host, Coralyn Colladay (shown with her dragonfly, above) for making this a great experience!

Get ready to register for 2011 NC Quilt Symposium!

It’s time to get ready to register for the 2011 North Carolina Quilt Symposium! You can get the forms online, and then mail your registration form (postmarked on or after Jan. 20). I’m teaching at this great event; look at all the fabulous teachers: 

Frieda Anderson: friestyle.com

Esterita Austin: esteritaaustin.com

Joyce Becker: home.comcast.net/~jbecker300

Karen Kay Buckley: karenkaybuckley.com/index.php

Susan Cleveland: piecesbewithyou.com

Sally Collins: sallycollins.org/gallery.html

Karen Comstock: quiltricks.com

Pepper Cory: peppercory.com/classes.html

Nancy Eha: beadcreative.com

Ann Fahl:  annfahl.com

Rayna Gillman: studio78.net

Susan Brubaker Knapp: bluemoonriver.com

Mary Ellen Kranz: quiltingimages.com/About_Us.html

Jan Krentz: jankrentz.com/index.php

Suzanne Marshall: suzannequilts.com

Laura Martell: thecreativethimble.com

Margaret Miller: millerquilts.com/home.html

Jan Myers-Newbury: nancycrow.com/HTML/barnnewbury.html

Janice Pope: janicepope.com

Leslie Riley: lesleyriley.com

Sharon Schamber: sharonschamber.com

Eileen Sullivan: thedesignersworkshop.com

Patsy Thompson: patsythompsondesigns.com

Mary Lou Weidman: marylouquiltdesigns.com

You can view all the teachers’ information, as well as their projects for Symposium, here. I’m teaching Thread Sketching, Machine Quilting 101, and Surface Design Madness.

This year’s Symposium is hosted by the Capital Quilters of Raleigh, and will take place on the campus of Peace College June 2-5. Remember, you don’t have to live in North Carolina to come; it’s easy to fly into Raleigh if you live out of state.

Art from the Heart

Linda Moran is a teacher and mixed media artist I know. She lives in Tuscon, Arizona.

On Saturday, Jan. 8, Linda considered going over to talk with Gabrielle Giffords at her “Congress in Your Corner” meeting at a Safeway grocery store in Tuscon. She wanted to tell Giffords that she supported many of her policies, but was disappointed with some of her political ads. But everyday affairs intervened, and she didn’t get there. She heard about the tragedy in the same ways that most Americans did: television, Facebook and Twitter.

And then, Linda did something that most of us didn’t. She decided to do something with her pain. She started a website called  Art from the Heart: Healing Hatred in America. It is going to be an online gallery in memory of lives lost and changed in the Tuscon tragedy. Artists who wish to make a statement about the problems of hatred, hate speech, discrimination, prejudice and political vitriol in the U.S. are invited to submit an image of a small piece. If accepted, the piece will be displayed on the website, with the artist’s statement.

Linda writes eloquently of her yearning for “reaching middle ground:”

Let ART be our clarion call; to wake long quieted voices, to recognize those who have paid prices far too high for simply being a citizen of this nation, to begin a dialogue of hope. Let ART be a neutral medium wherein we may express feelings that we dare not put to words, sadness that we no longer can contain within the depths of our souls, and above all else, the genuine desire that is in most people for a brighter future. Let ART be an avenue toward healing.

For all of us.

There is a point at which we have to forget on which side of the aisle we normally reside and gravitate back toward center. Where we can meet. Where we can see into each others eyes. Where we can, sometime in the near future, embrace. Where we can find one common vision and focus.

Step up with me. Put forth your ART. Let it speak. Let us hope that someone listens. And then another. And another.

May it be so; for you, and for me.

In grace and peace ~~ Anne

Linda believes “each one of us can be an instrument of change, regardless of how small.” Her blog is called Marbled Musings: Thoughts on Life, Art, Marbling and Creativity.

I am hoping to submit a piece to Art from the Heart: Healing Hatred in America; if you have strong feelings on this issue, I hope you will consider doing so, too.