Pokey : Make It University!

Handmade Holidays Fabric Winner

Pokey — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:18:00 GMT

I randomly chose the winner for this latest MODA fabric giveaway and congrats go to... LemonTreeTami!

Tami, please email me your address by noon EST Tuesday, November 17, so that I can get these fabrics to you. Enjoy!

Thanks so much to everyone for your responses. I am amazed at the ambitious and heartfelt handmade plans all of you have for the holidays. There are going to be some very lucky recipients!

By the way, this is the second bag I made using Kathy Mack's Market Tote instructions from International Quilt Festival: Quilt Scene:

I will be holding another fabric giveaway by the end of this month, so stay tuned. In the meantime, I hope everyone has a beautiful, artful weekend. Me? I am gathering all of my screenprinting supplies and on Sunday I have nothing on the agenda but to spend the day in my studio doing some deconstructed screen printing. I can't imagine a better way to spend my day.

Have a great weekend,

Pokey

Let's Get This Party Started! Make It University! & QUILT SCENE

Pokey — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 19:24:00 GMT

Above: My copy of QUILT SCENE sits proudly on my hotel pillow.

As I'm writing this blog entry, I am in my hotel room getting myself all dolled up for tonight's IQA Award Ceremony in Houston, where...drum roll...International Quilt Festival: QUILT SCENE will finally be making its debut! I am really thrilled to have our newest magazine baby see the light of day. Thanks to the hard work and artful contributions of so, so many talented people, QUILT SCENE really does encompass all of the things that make our quilting community so special. It was such an honor for me to work on this publication!

Make It University!

Above: Open Studios artist Jamie Fingal created a logo for MIU commemorating 35 fabulous years of Festival. Thanks, Jamie!

Tomorrow is the Preview Night for International Quilt Festival, so if you're here in Houston, be sure to stop by Make It University! and the Quilting Arts Booth (#1244). During the entire time the show is open I will be conducting random drawings and giveaways such as FREE magazines, books, videos, and Moda fabrics (that are to die for). We start things with a bang with our mixed-media raffle Wednesday night, and the raffle fun continues through Saturday night for the frivolous (and hilarious) event, "Surviving the Runway." And don't forget to post why you are happy to be a quilter on the Quilt Scene to put your name in the raffle for a tremendous bag of goodies.

PHOTO OP!

Want to be seen on the Quilt Scene in Houston? Buy a copy at Quilt Festival and we'll give you a special slip of paper that will be your ticket to getting your beautiful face published in an upcoming publication. More details at the Make It University! area, so be sure to stop by.

Make It University! begins tomorrow night, and I am so eager to see old friends and make new ones. Let's get this party started!

I'll Show You Mine If You Show Me Yours... (ATCs for Houston!)

Pokey — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:07:00 GMT

Who's joining me in making 35 ATCs (artist trading cards) to celebrate the 35th anniversary of International Quilt Festival/ Houston next week?

Last night I packed all of my Open Studios supplies and discovered I had gotten just a tad carried away in making ATCs recently...

Don't they look like a fat stack of stitched pancakes?

Some of my collections:

Happy Birthday Houston!

My "Gobble Gobble" ATCs:

My "It's Still Rock 'n Roll To Me" ATCs:

My "Helloooo, Rat!" ATCs (These are little momentos of my "Sopranos" Quilt from Long Beach)

My "Arts 'n Crafts" ATCs (I made them using Beryl Taylor's Fabric Paper technique and then applied molding paste on top through a stencil.)

My "Everything But the Kitchen Sink" machine needle-felted, metal, and stitched ATCs:

I've shown you mine, now I hope you'll show me yours. If you are coming to Houston and visiting us in Make It University! and/or making ATCs and posting them to your blog, let us know in the comments area and leave us a link so we can see.

If you've never made ATCs before and want some simple directions, here's an ole' blog entry of mine that shows how to make some:

How to Make Fabric ATCs

A lot more to come over the next few days as we share more International Quilt Festival: Quilt Scene news and giveaways!

Make It University! at IQF/Houston and "Surviving the Runway" News

Pokey — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 17:32:00 GMT

The Make It University!(TM) workshop schedule and list of events have now been posted. Click the link below to get the dish on what we've got planned. (And I hope you'll join me in making 35 ATCs to celebrate 35 years of Festival!)

Make It University! at International Quilt Festival/Houston

"Surviving the Runway" News...

Don't miss our "Surviving the Runway" challenge on Saturday night where you can win some great prizes including DVDs, thread, magazines, books, paints, fabrics, and other fun treats. I am going to do something I have never done before and let you all know in advance what the challenge will be:

In honor of the 35th anniversary of International Quilt Festival, we will honor the 70s, 80, 90s, and today's fashion scene. "Designers" will be asked to make one couture item of choice (such as a tiara, a toga, a t-shirt) that has something symbolic from each of these eras. (Don't worry...we'll provide all of the necessary supplies for your creations.) In other words you will look really silly, but will be listening to great music (and probably a lot of heckling) during the 90-minute challenge. But it's worth it: you could win some serious quilting loot!

To get everyone excited for this upcoming edition of Make It University!(TM), below are some videos of the challenges over the last year:

60s Challenge in Long Beach (California girls strut their stuff)

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There was the unforgettable 80s prom night in Chicago. (My absolute favorite part of this video is when an innocent bystander watching the shenanigans gets asked to dance and he completely got into the spirit of the thing.)

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Houston (Who could forget the time that Kathy York nearly sacrificed her bangs by putting gel medium in her hair?)

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Raise your hand (or leave a comment in the comments area) if you are coming to Houston!

Recap of International Quilt Festival/ Long Beach

Pokey — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 18:34:00 GMT

Oh, I am so sad. Someone slip me a happy pill, please. It's actually over. 2009 International Quilt Festival/ Long Beach is now past, but what an indelible memory it left!

International Quilt Festival/Long Beach, second year in the running, is, well, perfect. It has a lot of things going for it. For starters, it takes place in California in July; it's easy to fly to (thank you JetBlue for that Boston/Long Beach leg); the ocean is close by and equipped with a running path (I ran every morning, sometimes all the way to the pier when I was feeling ambitious); there are great eats just steps from the convention center (might I recommend the Pacific Papaya Roll at Gladstones); it's a top notch quilt show with the most beautiful quilts; and with the beach, restaurants, and afterhours entertainment within a two-three-block radius, there was no need for a cab all week (which of course meant more money spent replenishing the fat quarter stash).

Let the pictures do the talking...

Above from left to right: Jamie Fingal, Judy Coates Perez, Leslie Jenison, me, Melanie "Melly Mells" Testa, and Jane LaFazio. A very special thanks to Jamie (and assistant Leslie) for buying, dyeing, and painting these super groovy flower power aprons!

A ton of fun was had in the Open Studios portion of Make It University!(TM)

Above: Artists Alisa Burke and Melly Mells. I don't think they had met in person before, but they quickly hammed it up like old chums.

Melly was a popular attraction at Open Studios (all the artists were). Here she is demonstrating how she machine stitches the layers of her collaged quilts together.

Artist Linda Blinn was on hand in Open Studios much of Friday showing people how they can apply mixed-media techniques to home decor. (Thanks, Linda!)

Prior to the show, Melly encouraged folks coming to Long Beach to arm themselves with ATCs inspired by techniques in her book, Inspired to Quilt. Above are some of JoJo's ATCs to trade on our ATC wall. Aren't they dee-lish?

Judy brought her 19-year-old daughter, Nina, who shared with me her felted and stitched treats: a cupcake and hostess. We have a budding fiber artist in the family!

My luncheon lecture on Thursday, "Surviving the Runway; The Stuff You're Not Supposed to Know" took place, and to entice people to stay awake in case I bored them to death was to periodically give stuff away, including a very generous prize of an entire suitcase of cotton threads from Aurifil. This budding quilter is set for life! (Thank you so much, Aurifil!)

Above David Charity shares his quilt, "Fossibilities" at Karey Bresenhan's Quilt Art/SAQA reception. This reception is always a fun time, which involves tasty food, wine, and Show & Tell (thank you, Karey!). David picked up quilting just a couple of years ago, and he and his wife now quilt together in their downtime (when they're not working long hours in the tech. industry). Nice going, David!

Above Maggie Winfield shares her latest wearable creation at the Quilt Art/ SAQA reception. Maggie is one of my all-time favorite, spirited people, and she shared with me the inspiration and development for this ensemble:

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Make It University!(TM)

Our Make It University! Workshops were again very popular with attendees. Above Laura West Kong with her daughter took one of Jamie Fingal's workshops.

A second mother-daughter set got into another of Jamie's workshops. I think Jamie's affiliation with Girl Scouts of America made her a real hit with little (and big) kids alike!

Above: My sister-in-law, Sally, and her daughter, Lindsey (both ran the Quilting Arts booth) were able to take Alisa Burke's graffiti painting workshop Sunday afternoon just before the show closed. They both swore they could never paint and were leery to take her Workshop, but once finished, they were preening with their success and eager to turn their pieces into purses. (They have been converted. Yes!)

Saturday Night: Surviving the Runway '60s Style

Once again, we took the house down with Surviving the Runway, a challenge I facilitate every Saturday night at the shows. This time we went back to the '60's and created flower power couture. I haven't laughed so hard all summer, and I think everyone had a total blast. We had excellent prizes for the top designers (a suitcase of Aurifil thread, Jacquard paints, magazines, etc.). People were equipped with a sheet of fun foam, pipe cleaners, plastic flowers, stencils, and other tacky bits to create their couture, and of course we played music from the '60s throughout.

The Playlist:

L.A. Woman ~ The Doors

With a Little Help From My Friends ~ The Beatles

Truckin' ~ Grateful Dead

I Got You Babe ~ Sonny and Cher... and two brave students who sang along in MIU

Mustang Sally ~ Wilson Pickett

Lola ~ The Kinks

Build Me Up Buttercup ~ The Foundations

California Girls ~ The Beach Boys

In true '60s fashion, people helped their brethren, but someone watching the festivities shook her head in chagrin and remarked, "These people are creating bras and panties. If they really wanted to be representing the 60's, they'd be burning them!"

This California Girl made sure the Finale Runway Strut had a Beach Boys' flair:

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Above I'm giving Trudy, our first place winner, her prize of Aurifil Threads. Her smile says it all...a joyous time.

My Own Quilt in a Show

For the first time I had a quilt exhibited at International Quilt Festival. I am a die-hard, dissect-every-episode-to-death "Sopranos" fan, and for the Silver Screen exhibit I had a quilt on display called "This Thing of Ours." Making this quilt was something rather personal, something important I needed to see through.

Above: My sister-in-law Sally and I pose alongside my quilt.

The accompanying narrative for my piece:

Those who’ve watched HBO’s “The Sopranos” know this isn’t just a television show about wise guys.

There’s a little bit of Tony in all of us: impulsive and selfish; concerned our friends will rat us out; living with the guilt of whacking others (so to speak); distrustful of those who are supposed to have our backs; and deep down, a little panicked that in the end––and despite our best efforts––the ones we love most will fly away.

Not only were such heavy issues and ensuing plot lines handled so masterfully by David Chase and his posse of writers and actors, but also the show was hands-down funny. It’s no wonder millions of people waiting patiently––sometimes for years––between seasons to find out what would happen to the Don and his crew next.

I can only hope that the intensely disappointing, anticlimactic last minute of the series finale was conceived for one reason, and that is…the movie’s getting made! Here’s to “The Sopranos” making it to the silver screen.

In Closing

I had a total blast at this show and admit at the close during breakdown I went into my usual teary funk, which I dub PPQSD (read this post to learn more about this yet-to-be recognized DSM IV disorder). My solace is that Houston is a mere 10 weeks away! It can't come soon enough.

A special thanks to my sister-in-law, Sally Murray, and my niece, Lindsey Murray, for helping me during this show, and for making sure that Sunday night after we broke the booth down my PPQSD didn't get the best of me!

And Lastly, My Quandary...

My 20th high school reunion is (finally) taking place Saturday, October 17 in San Francisco. I have yet to make a high school reunion of mine, and with the onset of Facebook, I have reconnected (and laughed) with old friends I've lost touch with over the last 20 years. I have spent the last few months waffling, seriously considering leaving Houston early during Festival to fly to my hometown to attend my reunion, but in the end...I think... Houston wins. I just can't imagine missing any part of it. I hope you'll join me in making it a really joyous time!

**** 7/31 UPDATE

Judy Coates Perez wrote a few blog entries on Long Beach and posted some videos too! Click here to read her blog!

Back and an update on MIU/Chicago

Pokey — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 00:11:00 GMT

Above: Cheryl Sleboda sporting her '80s tiara

We're back from Chicago and recovering from all of the beautiful art quilts we saw and the hilarity and fun we had in MIU. What a great time!

I am in the process of uploading videos and images onto our new Quiltingarts.com website that will launch May 1st. My blog will be moving over there as well, so things are about to change around here.

In the meantime, before the blog moves, I'll post a video I am compiling of the main Saturday night event at MIU--"Suriving the Runway '80s Style." It was the most memorable "Surviving the Runway" to date, and I honestly don't know how we'll ever replicate that kind of energy again!

I will post the video shortly, but here we are in all of our '80s prom dress glory...

Breaking news! Sneak peek for Saturday night at Make It University!(TM) next week...

Pokey — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 18:49:00 GMT

I don't mean to bury the latest QA blog giveaway post with the announcement of the 2010 Quilting Arts Calendar Finalists, but much of our editorial team is rather focused on getting ready for Chicago next week for the International Quilt Festival/Chicago.

To entice you to join us in Rosemont, I offer you this...

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International Quilt Festival/Chicago is next week!

Pokey — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 16:35:00 GMT

I love this time of year. When April comes around, it means one kind of sock season is officially over (bye bye boots, hellooooo sandals), and another type of sock season officially begins!

It also means it's time for the International Quilt Festival/ Chicago, and below are some of the highlights for Make It University:

Preview Night
We'll be hosting our own quilter's stimulus package as we raffle off fabric bundles, notions, and books. All you have to do is put your name in the cookie jar at MIU and be present if your name is called.

QA TV Taping on Saturday in Make It University!
Want to see what it takes to put these segments together? Come by and watch!

Workshops and Open Studios
From Preview night through Sunday afternoon, we'll be hosting mixed-media workshops and artists in Open Studios.

Voting for the Cloth Paper Scissors 2010 Calendar
We're leaving it up to you what appears in our 2010 Cloth Paper Scissors calendar. Come vote for your top three favorite entries!

Piece by Linda Trenholm

Take 'Em or Leave 'Em Artist Trading Card Exchange
Bring as many ATCs as you want to trade out. Trading hours open all day/ every day. Below are five I made late last night, and yes, they feature mice. I have a huge fear of them so I made these ATCs as a form of confrontational therapy!

All of the information for Make It University! can be found on this web page:

Make It University in Chicago

Information on International Quilt Festival/ Chicago:

International Quilt Festival/Chicago

Hope to see you,

Pokey

Houston: What A long, strange (and wonderful) trip it's been!

Pokey — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 18:31:38 GMT

What an amazing, beautiful, surreal, funny, busy time we had in Houston! Thanks so much to everyone who participated in Make It University!(TM)

I had every intention of blogging every day from the show floor. Ha ha, that's a good one. The laugh is on me. Simply put, we were too busy, and on top of that, Typepad did not want to play ball from the Hyatt hotel.

If you click on the left, you'll see a photo album where I will be putting LOADS of pictures over the next few days. (Some shots are there already, but I have tons more.) If you have some great photos, email them to me and I'll load them, too.

Open Studios at Make It University!(TM)

Above: Helen Godden's adorable daughter stitching in Open Studios. If she takes after her award-winning mother, we will all have to watch out for this one!

Jane Davila drew quite a crowd with her fish printing (rubber fish, that is).

We had the cutest couple from Belgium planted in the MIU area nearly the entire time. The wife took a number of workshops while her patient (and humorous) husband manned the ATC wall and helped us out (cutting velcro, pointing people to the lottery bowls for workshops, assisting artists in open studios). He's an honorary member of our team!

Katie Kendrick and Judy Coates Perez finally meet and chummed it up like old pals.

Lisa Engelbrecht was on hand and made beautiful name plates with her famous calligraphy. (Thank you, Lisa!)

Our very own bubbly Lesley Riley taught her surface design sampler workshop using Claudine Hellmuth's new paints from Ranger.

Halloween

Seeing this was my 9th year in Houston, I finally decided to dress up, and I wasn't alone...

Jane Davila was––and I don't know how to put this politely––a Renaissance wench, Barbara was Dorothy (pigtails and all), and I dressed up as a hostess from "Laugh In."

Leslie Jenison, Judy Perez, and Jamie Fingal.

Barbara and I with Helen Gregory who was "The Wind" for Halloween. We had a habit of walking to the show floor every morning from the Hyatt and on Halloween morning, someone stopped Helen and said, "Excuse me, Miss, but you have some things stuck to you." No kidding. Cracked us up.

Jamie, Susie Monday, and Leslie Jenison.

Judy Perez, Robbi Joy Eklow, Lesley Riley, and moi.

SAQA/ Quilt Art Reception and Tiara Parade
Once again, Karey Bresenhan generously hosted a beautiful reception for SAQA and Quilt Art, and it was especially lively this year. Thank you, Karey!

Above, Pamela Allen gives her best Queen's wave.

Our very own Holly Brackman, does too. (And used her book cover as the art for her tiara-–smart marketing!)

Surviving the Runway 80's Style with Cloth Paper Scissors

This is the silliest event at Make It University, but we have such a hilarious time doing it. On Saturday night we went back to the 80's, encouraging "designers" to fashion 80's garb for the runway finale. The stakes were very high for the winners as we had a lot of books, paints, and embellishments to award them.

Certain challenges took place along the way, including having to perform the Electric Slide (led by yours truly), dancing around the aisles to The Fixx, singing Tommy Tutone's "867-5309", among other humiliating tasks. Bottom line: we found out that most quilters have an inner-Madonna.

Deb Boschert brings back the head band. (I can't help but think of Olivia Newton John and Xanadu.)

Remember mall bangs from the 80s? Watch this YouTube:

Barbara Delaney getting her groove on as she passes out supplies. (No one is safe from me when I have a camera in hand.)

As Karey Bresenhan points out at the close of every show, all good things must come to an end. Bye, bye Houston. We had the best time!

Until we meet again...

** November 8 Update** Other Blog Posts on International Quilt Festival and Make It University(TM)! (If you blogged and you're missing from this list, let me know!)

Houston: International Quilt Festival Scrapbook Pt. 1

Pokey — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 05:59:14 GMT

Festival is proving to be incredible...and incredibly boisterous.

A blog entry sans words; I will add commentary to this post and previous posts as soon as I down a Zeus Juice and get more than four hours of sleep at night! (Check back soon if you can.)

IQA Winners Circle: Awards Night

Gail Thomas, Annette Hendricks, and Helen Godden A.K.A. The Three Sisters win "The World Of Beauty" award ($7500) for their "Seasonal Sisters" quilt. It was truly gorgeous!

Above, our very own Lyric Kinard demo'ing in Open Studios.

Houston Day 2 - 3

Pokey — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 15:27:03 GMT

The fun continues...

Caroline Devoy & Co. who have some scrumptious fabrics out with Michael Miller...
See what I mean?

I want to thank all of the companies in our industry for making yummy products that will attract the next generation of quilters and sewing enthusiasts. This Kangaroo sewing table brought out the kid in me!

And Babylock came out with an affordable line of sewing machines that are both fun and attractive. Each sewing machine has a name/ distinctive personality. (I think we're looking a Sofia.) It's like "Sex in the City" meets sewing--smart marketing!

Houston. And so it begins...

Pokey — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 13:05:10 GMT

Blog woes:
I apologize for not posting over the weekend. If anyone has a Typepad account, you may know they're having lots of technical problems this month as they switch to a new server. I'm praying to the blog gods that they get this fixed soon so I can post from the show floor this week. In the meantime, some pictures of set-up day and day 1. Do you recognize the guy in the last shot? I have some news about him I can share a bit later!

Talkin' Turkey (From Photo to Mini Quilt)

Pokey — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 20:42:38 GMT

The other morning while putting on a pot of jo', I spotted this surprising sight out of my kitchen window:

Twelve hours later, same skyline:

And the following morning when I tried to go to work:
A gaggle of wild turkeys on my street stopped me in my tracks.

They are so goth looking, don't you think? Like something straight out of Mordor.

I stopped the car of course, and watched as they ambled up the barn driveway. One even posed for me on a fence:

Later that evening I played with this image in Photoshop by converting it to a black and white sketch, and placed six turkeys up on a page:

I could then use the above images as a map for stencils, screens, hand-carved stamps, fabric images, even free-motion motifs––all of which I used to create these:

If you're coming to Houston next week, I'll be demonstrating the techniques I used to make the above pieces of fiber art during my Open Studios time slot in Make It University-- Thursday, October 30 from 2:30 - 4:30. Please stop by and see me!

And if you'd like to use my black and white gaggle of turkeys, feel free to right-click and download it. (And if you create something with them, please let me know!)

Tricks and Treats

Pokey — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 19:22:15 GMT

What's that saying: When the cat's away the mice will play? My husband's been out of town for the past week, and while he was gone, play I did…

A few things have been on my mind lately: my beautiful hometown of San Francisco, the Grateful Dead (who have a new CD set out), and of course Halloween so I had a lot fun combining imagery inspired by all three to create ATCs for the upcoming trade in Houston at Make It University!™.

ATCs with Freezer Paper Motifs
Freezer paper stencils have of course been around for a while, but I was truly captivated by Melanie Testa's snowflake freezer paper stencils in Quilting Arts. (In case you missed it, her article will also appear in the upcoming Quilting Arts Book, and Melanie will also have her own book published with us next spring!) I am a huge fan of Melanie Testa's work and ever since she shared her freezer paper process, I have been addicted to making motifs for stenciling and resists. Below I modified slightly to suit my Halloween ATC needs.

Materials
• Iron
•Freezer paper
•Scissors
•Marking pen
•Masking tape
•Fabric
•Fabric paint, thickened dyes, or coloring agent of choice
•Foam brush, sponge or dauber to apply paint

1. Draw or print a motif you'd like to stencil. You could choose simple geometric patterns such as circles, dots, squares, etc., or a motif like a spider or jack-o-lantern. Cut the stenc/ motifout. (I chose to use the freezer paper motif as a resist.)
2. Secure freezer paper to your work surface with masking tape. Make sure the wax side is facing down and the paper side is up.
3. Trace the motif onto freezer paper. Cut the motif out.
4. Place the fabric you want to stencil onto your work surface.
5. Place your freezer paper motif or stencil on top of your fabric and iron with the wax side down. Be careful ironing; you want to secure the stencil to the fabric with enough heat, while being careful not to scorch your fabric.

Motifs made of freezer paper. The reason they are colored is that I have used them as resists a few times already.

6. Now the fun begins--time to paint your fabric! I used fabric paints, Shiva Paintstiks, and thickened dyes. Be sure to paint right over your motifs, while being careful not to oversaturate the fabric. (You don't want the paint or dye to accidentally seep underneath the freezer paper.)
7. Allow the fabric to dry, then gently peel the freezer paper motifs off and save them for later to use again.

Voila: You have some beautiful fabric that you can layer with more imagery and use for quilts, totes, home dec, fabric postcards, or ATCs.

Make It University!™ in Houston

It's hard to believe Make It University!™ is just three short weeks away! I am really looking forward to seeing everyone again and we have a very exciting line up of artists who will be joining us in Open Studios. For more information on the International Quilt Festival/Houston, click here.