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I took a fabric dying class from Linda Waddle last year and ended up with a treasure trove of beautiful hand dyed fabrics. I am always jealous when I see “fabric hand dyed by artist” in the description of a beautiful art quilt. This class gave me the chance to say that-hah! Today I got out one of the pieces from the class, a bright pink wool, and started playing. I’ve had it in my mind to layer some pretty wool over a sheer, to free motion a motif atop the two layers, and then cut out the wool. So I layered…
I recently began to work a large whole cloth quilt. In my eternal search for The Most Difficult Thread Combinations, I have settled upon a doozie. I chose black Aurifil Mako for the top and gray Superior Kimono for the bobbin. This presents a challenge not only in the different thread weights, but also in the combination of a light thread color with a dark. And that requires dead. on. tension. I thoroughly tested this and many other thread combos before settling on this one. One of my missions for this piece is to actually be able to see the…
Honestly, I will get back to my “regularly scheduled programming” but just one more boast. I’ve been published for the first time; my “Mom’s Lily Bed” quilt was featured in the March/April, 2013 issue of Machine Quilting Unlimited. So get a copy and turn to page 79! I’m reveling in the joy of seeing that quilt in print. The timing seems especially appropriate since my Mom passed around this time last year. “Mom’s Lily Bed” is based on a strong childhood memory of a beautiful moment in time. A year ago I was lurching through the process of helping with all the arrangements with…
I’m excited to announce that I’ll be teaching in both Long Beach (July) and Houston (Oct/Nov) for the International Quilt Association! This is my dream, to teach in the larger venues to a diversified audience. They say be careful what you wish for…. They accepted all of my proposals so I’ll be busy and that’s what I wanted. Here’s what I’ll be doing at Long Beach: -You CAN Free-Motion Quilt-all-day Thursday Aug 1. -Friday Forum: Fabulous Free-Motion Feathers-The Easy Way!-Aug 2. -Lazy Daisy Reversible Table Topper-Saturday, Aug 3. And in Houston I’ll be teaching: -You CAN Free-Motion Quilt-all-day Tuesday Oct 29.…
Last Saturday I had the best class! One of the stores I teach at, Shared Stitches, is closing-sooo sad. I held my last “Fearless Curves ‘n Feathers” class with 4 students. Sometimes it’s really nice to have a small class. Saturday’s students were a gift. Everyone came prepared and jazzed-fearless and ready to tackle feathers! I just have to show off their work. Kim decided to try a wreath, experiment with filling some shapes and using stippling as a fill against the feathers. Karen used a variegated Superior Rainbow thread on her green fabric to make these fabulous feathers and…
This is the first thing you saw when you walked in the big room: The art quilt group of the guild, Quartz, had a Red Line Challenge and these 14 quilts are the result. A 1″ red line at the side edges connects all the quilts and each artist made the quilt of their choice. It was spectacular! All of my photos of the individual quilts or detail shots were miserable due to the location and lighting. The audience loved it and there was always someone examining the red line, looking for details, enjoying the beauty. We’re pretty proud of…
Wow what a weekend at my guild’s 28th annual show! The theme was “Generations of Stars” and we honored our founding members that are still active in the guild. Those founding members created something special and I get to enjoy the benefits from all their work and dedication. It was a spectacular show, by far our best and we had superb work from every genre. I was honored with a First Place and Best Machine Quilting Ribbon on “Emerge” as well as a Member’s Choice for “Mom’s Lily Bed” (unjudged) and I’m grateful for that. I think this will be a…
Since 2007 the NorCal/Nevada Region of Studio Art Quilt Associates has held a Whisper Challenge, based on the childhood game where you whisper a message in someone’s ear. That person repeats the message in the next person’s ear, and so on. The final message is usually quite different from the original. This meeting where the quilts are revealed is well attended because the outcomes are always entertaining, and sometimes funny, poignant or surprising. In our quilt version of the whisper game for 2012, the first person in each of 5 groups made a quilt inspired by the following photograph taken…
I’m excited-the Folsom Quilt and Fiber Guild Show is coming up this weekend, Feb 8-10 in the Folsom Community Center. It’s always a great show and this year has even more entries than last year. I’m especially excited to see a sizeable increase in Wearable Art entries with several new artists-yahoo! One significant way we raise money is with our Boutique. We will have over 150 baskets and items for raffle. I always have something to contribute and I also try to create some new item for raffle. This year’s raffle contribution item is directly tied to the Foothill Guild’s show.…