Pokey : Upcoming Events

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.

I’ve been tagged, News for ATC Trade at International Quilt Festival/Long Beach, and a Fat Quarter Giveaway!

Pokey — Tue, 27 May 2008 16:56:36 GMT

Art quilter Mary Stori tagged me earlier this spring and as I just enjoyed a three-day weekend, I had a little time on my hands to finally put to paper a few bits about me. (And if you want to skip all that and jump to Quilt/ Collage news and the Fat Quarter Giveaway, move along to #7!)

7 Tidbits:

1. An embarrassing fact: Most women love chocolate, but for me––and please, let’s not explore this too deeply, people––it’s Fluff. Given a full jar of the gooey, marshmellow-y stuff, I will scrape it clean.

2. I am capable of spending money before I even get out of bed in the morning. This is because while I slowly wake, my favorite thing to do is browse iTunes and download music. I love classic rock, alternative, indie, and I also (coincidentally) recommend Mad Pokey Radio on Live 365, Internet radio---––a lead from my super hip photographer, Larry Stein who always has the coolest music playing while he shoots the art for Quilting Arts and Cloth Paper Scissors.

I listen to music all day at work and change my playlists frequently, combining old and new tunes. My current playlist on my iPod:

“Supernatural Superserious”-R.E.M.
“Do Do”- Big Spaceship (This has got to be one of the silliest songs around, but it’s got such a chipper tune, it makes me smile!)
“I Love to Move in Here”- Moby
“Fool’s Gold” - The Stone Roses
“Do You See My Love”- The Dirtbombs
“Young Folks” Peter, Bjorn, & John
“Weird Fishes/Arpeggi”- Radiohead
“If It’s In My Mind, It’s On My Face”- Seal
“Radio Nowhere”- Bruce Springsteen
“Don’t You Evah”- Spoon
“(This is for the) Better Days” - The Bees

3. I often watch movies while simultaneously reading a book. I read a lot of fiction, and in case the movie is bad, I always like to have a book to fall back on.

4. We have an adopted rescue cat we named Dickens who weighs nearly as much as our adopted Golden Retriever mix, Sophie. The vet from Tufts University Animal Hospital thinks Dickens has got some kind of wild cat in him, but he’s the gentlest of creatures:

A shot with Dickens and Louie (who thought my bin of Westminster fabrics would make for a comfy bed):

5. I have a tendency to re-watch and dissect movies and HBO series over and over again while I'm in my studio. (Some may call this obsessive behavior!) Favorite flicks and series I watch include The Sopranos, American Beauty, The Departed, Little Miss Sunshine, The Office, Fargo, Goodfellas, Sideways, the Godfather trilogy, Best In Show, Bridget Jones, Pride and Prejudice (the BBC/A&E version, thank you very much), Calendar Girls, and of course, Sex in the City. (Is anybody else besides me counting down the days until the movie is out?)

6. I recently returned from Quilt Market, and here's a snap of Susan Brubaker Knapp and myself in the Quilting Arts booth.

Susan's beautiful calendar quilt will grace the month of April in our 2009 Quilting Arts Calendar. For more Quilt Market news, check the blog of up-and-coming fabric artist Melissa Avarinos from Cape Cod, or the read the story of Kathy Mack seeing Eddie Vedder outside her hotel in Portland. (Lucky girl!)

7. Speaking of movies and music, the International Quilt Festival/Long Beach show in July will be featuring an exhibit entitled, "The Silver Screen." For those who missed out on entering a quilt, here's an opportunity to celebrate your love of movies and all things entertaining. We will be featuring the ultimate ATC trade in the Make It University!™ section and strongly encourage you to bring ATCs with any kind of entertainment theme: movies, music, TV shows, favorite quotes or lyrics. For this particular ATC trade, there is no limit to the number of ATCs you can bring/ trade. You are invited to make these ATCs from paper, fabric, both, or of other media. If you have 50 ATCs, you can trade all of them, so I hope you get busy over the next couple of months and plan to come to the show!

Fat Quarter Giveaway

Being an 80s movie junkie, the first five people to correctly tell me the names of the movies that correspond to the following quotes will win a stack of fat quarters that I will ship to you. (Be sure to leave your email in the comments area and I’ll email you for your address.)

Ready?

1. “Nobody puts Baby in the corner.” (I’m starting off easy.)

2. “I want my two dollars!”

3. “Life goes by pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” (Another easy one.)

4. “It is so nice when you can sit with someone and not have to talk.”

And from one of my absolute favorite flicks…

5. “They're kissing again. Do we have to read the kissing parts?"

Or another line from the same movie:

“Since the invention of the kiss there have been five kisses that were rated the most passionate, the most pure. This one left them all behind. The End.”

Pokey — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 22:16:37 GMT

Go Green Quilt by Frances Holliday Alford

Opportunities Knock

Wanted! We have some very exciting publicity and publishing opportunities that I wanted you, dear blog reader, to find out about first. (Many of these aren’t even on the submissions pages yet on our website.)

1. Quilting Arts is actively seeking submissions for embellishment, mixed-media quilting, stitching, and anything related to art quilts “going green.” These could be quilts made of recycled materials, quilts related to preserving our environment, or quilts made of eco-friendly materials. If you have a submission idea and have pictures of your work, please email low-resolution GIF or JPEGs along with a query letter to us ASAP. If you are an art quilter who would like to be profiled, if you have surface design, embellishment ideas, stitching (machine, hand, long arm) to share, we also want to hear from you ASAP.

2. Have you had a chance to get your hands on the Cloth Paper Scissors Studios issue yet? (Probably not as it’s not supposed to be available on the stands until April 1st, but some stores are putting it out early.) We want to hear your thoughts on this issue—and being the nosey bunch we are—also take a peek into your studio space. If you want us to see your space, have a studio storage tip to share, ideas for studio articles, or have an extreme studio makeover story, by all means spill to us.

3. We will soon begin working on our Quilting Arts GIFTS issue available in September. We are actively seeking submissions that relate to the following: fabric art for home décor, quilted items that celebrate the season, art quilts with patterns, ideas for fabric stash and parties and quilt gatherings among friends, stitched or quilted gift ideas, stitched journals, holiday cards, needle-felted gifts, wearable art with a seasonal twist…you get the idea. If you would like to be published in our GIFTS issue, send us your ideas and pictures.

4. Watch out soon for our Cloth Paper Scissors Tea Party challenge. Okay, that was a teaser. There’s no link. I’m just checking to see if you’re still paying attention.

5. Cloth Paper Scissors is currently looking for the following: techniques for sketchbook keeping, ideas for handmade books, working with texture gels, recycling clothing and everyday items into art, thoughts on art and business, and mixed-media jewelry.

6. If you are an artist that has been published in Cloth Paper Scissors and would be interested in being a part of our Open Studios at Make It University! at the International Quilt Festival in Long Beach, please email Barbara Delaney. If you are a mixed-media business that wants to apply for a vendor booth at Make It University!(TM), please let Quilts Inc. know.

7. Lastly, don’t forget about our Go Green Quilt Challenge, deadline May 1st. Above is a Go Green entry we received from Frances Holliday Alford. Who knew dryer lint, candy wrappers, and Tyvek envelopes could be transformed into something so beautiful? (Frances has a knack for making beautiful things. Be sure to see her article in the June/July issue of Quilting Arts.)

If you plan on coming to Chicago for Make It University, please let me know in the comments area. You're hearing it here first, but we'll be taping segments for Quilting Arts TV on Saturday at the show. It will certainly be an exciting time, and we have some wonderful segments with guest artists planned. See you soon…

True Colors Mixed-Media Quilt Exhibit

Pokey — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 17:02:27 GMT

"Illustrated Document No. 1" by Judy Coates Perez

Last year we issued a challenge to readers of Cloth Paper Scissors®, asking them to make a mixed-media paper quilt that incorporates a color or colors that reveal the true you. It's always a difficult process to select pieces for an exhibit, and with more than 200 vibrant quilts, choosing approximately 30 was very tough going. However, we're confident we've chosen a beautiful, diverse collection of dazzling quilts for display. The following artists will have their mixed-media quilts featured in the â€œTrue Colorsâ€ exhibit at Make It University! in Chicago, Long Beach, and Houston:

Frances Holliday Alford
Flicsha Allen
Lynn Bland
Kathryn Botsford
Barb Brown
Sandra Champion
Debbi Crane
Elizabeth Dawson
Michelle Doucette
Kayla Fujimoto
Brittany Heskett
Patty Kehoe
Marcia Kerbl
Jane LaFazio
Kate Madeloso
Barb Mallon
Susan Mayfield
Jeannie Moore
Sylvia Naylor
Eva Nelander-Juntunen
Patti Pasteur
Judy Coates Perez
Gail Pierce
Ruth Rae
Suanne Reed
Christy Renken
Sarah Louise Ricketts
Deb Silva
Edie Simons
Sandra Spagnuolo
Barbara Sundeen
Terri Stegmiller
Bonnie Wedge
Beverley Wood

Congratulations to all!

Make It University!™ with Cloth Paper Scissors is one month away!

Pokey — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 22:30:09 GMT

Just think: This could be you...

On November 1, 2007 from 12:00-2:00 PM, I'll be holding a luncheon lecture entitled Surviving the Runway: The Ultimate Challenge with Cloth Paper Scissors at International Quilt Festival. It's not a lecture, exactly, but an interactive creative challenge that I promise will leave you in stitches. There will be fantastic door prizes for those who survive the runway. No previous sewing or mixed media experience necessary, just a willingness to laugh at one self and learn a few things about mixed media along the way. There is a lot at stake: The winner will get a brand new Huskystar ER-10 needle-felting machine, courtesy of Husqvarna Viking, and there will be other fabulous prizes awarded to the runner-ups.

If you want to join us, I'm afraid the deadline is now, and here's what to do: Send a check for $29 made out to QUILT FESTIVAL, specify this is for Event # 465/Surviving the Runway luncheon and mail to:

Kim DeCoste
Education Manager
Quilts, Inc.
7660 Woodway, Ste. #550
Houston, TX 77063 USA

In other Festival news, the Make It University!(TM) webpage is up and running. We're just a month away! If you are a mixed-media artist and will be attending Quilt Festival, please let me know. I'm very excited for what we have planned this year.

Call for Art--Two Special Exhibits

Pokey — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 22:00:29 GMT

I wish I could explain my absence by saying I've been tossing back pomegranate margaritas on a Fiji beach, but alas, that remains a fantasy.

Quick blog post to let all of you clever, creative people know that we're coordinating two additional special exhibits for Make It University!™ with Cloth Paper Scissors® this April in Chicago and we want your art! You heard it here first: These two special exhibit opportunities have not been mentioned in the magazines, so please check out what we're planning and spread the news. If your artwork is chosen, it will be prominently displayed on the show floor at the International Quilt Festival/Spring where more than 23,000 people will stop to oooh and aaaaah. It's also very likely that we'll be publishing some of the featured artwork in the July/August issue of Cloth Paper Scissors®.

The preliminary list of events at Make It University!™ can be found on this page, which will be updated with photos and more classes over the next couple of weeks.

Are you planning to come to Chicago? Post here and let us know! Cloth Paper Scissors® will be doing something new this year by hosting a virtual studios section for mixed-media artists. Virginia Spiegel will be screen printing, dyeing, stamping, stenciling, and painting fabric, and will be joined by our latest two cover artists, Debbi Crane and Cheryl Prater. More artists will be added to the line-up in the virtual studios section so I sure hope you can join us!

Countdown to MIU--Houston!

Pokey — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 23:55:54 GMT

Make It University/Make It U! will be making its debut in Houston this fall November 2 - 5 at the International Quilt Festival, and I just launched the webpage with the schedule of workshops and events. I'll be updating it weekly (at the very minimum) with more information on vendors, descriptions of the workshops, and other news.

You'll see a workshop called "Surviving the Runway: The Ultimate Creative Challenge with Cloth Paper Scissors." You can probably guess where we're going with this, and it will be a lot of fun for both those who get in the workshop and those who can watch on the sidelines! (We're howling around the conference table as we plan this.) Be sure to bring your sense of humor!

I'll also be on hand every day in the Quilting Arts/ Cloth Paper Scissors booth to answer questions, give demos, and help demystify articles and techniques that may still be a bit mysterious.

I really can't wait for Houston to surround myself with all those beautiful quilts; I look forward to this every year.

Hope you'll join us! Be sure to tell your friends, and I'll pass along more information as soon as I have it...

Surfacing

Pokey — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 15:29:16 GMT

We returned from Chicago late Sunday night/ Monday morning, and three days later we’ve finally chiseled our tired, groggy selves off the floor.

Thanks so much to everybody who joined us in Chicago last week. We were stunned by the sheer number of people interested in taking the workshops, and we’re eager to continue this learning opportunity and expand all aspects for Make it U! with Cloth Paper Scissors in Houston. People often waited in long lines to get the opportunity to take these workshops, and given the level of enthusiasm and eagerness to learn new mixed-media techniques, we’re planning on making the workshops in Houston even more accessible for everyone. If you either took a workshop or two, have feedback, or ideas on what you’d like to see more of, please email us at editorial@quiltingarts.com.

Everyone who participated or observed this unique area of the show was mezmerized by the beautiful work that you, our readers, created for the "Do With Me What You Will," ATC, and Creative Self-portrait Exhibits. Thanks again for sharing your artistic talents with the greater world!

I wish I had the opportunity to take more photographs but unfortunately I was tied up the entire time. Sally and I did, however, sneak out of the booth to take a few of these Saturday afternoon.

ATCs submitted for the Chicago show. I have some extras that I made so if you missed out and you'd like to trade with me (two ATC limit per person please), send your ATC(s) to QUILTING ARTS LLC attn: Patricia Bolton, PO Box 685, Stow, MA, 01775, and I'll send up to two ATC's back to you. (Trade Deadline is May 15th.)

Before the show opened on Saturday morning.The crowds were mind boggling.

No quilt show is complete without Marie Osmond! Ms. Osmond is collaborating with both OESD and Bernina, and on Saturday afternoon she was signing autographs and taking pictures in the OESD booth. Security was very tight and the lines were rather long.

Shelley Stokes, author of Paintstiks on Fabric, teaching one of her Make It U! workshops. Here, students got a sample of hand-dyed fabric, a rubbing plate, and a Shiva Paintstik.

Four-year-old Emma McCoy proudly displays her ATCs she made in Jill Haglund's of Tweety Jill Publications ATC class.

Here I am teaching the brag book class with Peltex Saturday night. I was surprised the class filled; I thought on a Saturday night after walking the show all day, most everybody would be heading out for a much-needed margarita!

And lastly, my TV appearance on local ABC news to promote the show. Here I brought a lot of art work, including several of Beryl Taylor's mixed-media pieces from the Make It U! section. The anchor was blown away by all of the intricate embellishments.

Tomorrow we’ll be posting the 2007 Quilting Arts Calendar Contest finalists both on the web site and on this blog, so stay tuned.

Setting a Shipping Record

Pokey — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 19:36:59 GMT

More than 2000 pounds and 80 boxes later, we’re on our way to Chicago for the International Quilt Festival/Spring. I don't know who's more shocked by this record-setting shipment––the dog or the UPS guy.

I will try (key word being "try") to upload pictures of Chicago while we're there, and when we return, we'll post the finalists for the "How Does Your Garden Grow?" 2007 Calendar Contest on our website (we received more than 100 beautiful entries.)

For what it's worth, I'll be making a small TV appearance on the local ABC News in Chicago, this Thursday at 11:00 AM to promote the Quilt Festival, so if you are local, tune in (and wish me luck).

Hope to see many of you in Chicago and that you'll sign up for one of our Make It U! with Cloth Paper Scissors Workshops!

Patricia

Countdown to Chicago and news on ATCs

Pokey — Fri, 17 Mar 2006 16:31:44 GMT

I'm so thrilled––International Quilt Festival/Spring and Make It U! with Cloth Paper Scissors® is just three short weeks away. I recently received the floor map of where the Make It U! section will be, and it's smack in the middle of the quilt show—wonderful as it will certainly draw the crowds. If you are thinking of signing up for a Make It U! workshop, I recommend signing up promptly when you arrive at the show, as the workshops are sure to fill up quickly. If you have absolutely no idea what the heck I'm talking about, click here.

And I have news—most of the ATCs that were sent to Cloth Paper Scissors® for the Chicago trade will be published! (I'll spill more on that very soon.) And if you missed the March 6th deadline, and still want to participate in the trade and possibly have your ATCs published, here's some information that we posted on the Make It U! web page:

ATC TRADE UPDATE! 3/15/06
In case you missed the March 6th deadline to submit ATCs for our ATC Exhibit, there will still be a chance to trade your ATCs at the show if you bring them to Chicago. Please note this is a separate trade from the ATC exhibit, and your ATCs will be traded with the editors of Quilting Arts, LLC. It's quite possible your ATCs will be published (hence why we want to keep them), so be sure to include your name, address, and email on the back of each ATC.
Rules for this CPS Editorial ATC Trade in Chicago:

- You must bring your ATCs to the show and be present in order to trade. Do not mail them to our offices in Stow, MA.
- 5 ATC limit per person.
- Trading will take place during designated trading hours (to be announced soon).
- This ATC trade will only be open to the first 200 ATCs received.
- ATCs must be traded at the quilt show.

Now for some art…

ATC by Jill Lundstrom submitted for the ATC Trade in Chicago.

Here, it looks as though Jill took a vintage photograph, and added bits of torn papers and antique buttons. Very fun!

I dug through my stash of ATCs I've made, and found this:

I can't remember exactly how I made it, but my best guess is I began with a piece of hand-dyed fabric that I stamped with gold Lumiere paint and an Indian print block. I then outlined the stamped image with free-motion quilting. For the Fleur-de-lis image, I impressed one of Dale Rollerson's Illumination stamps into Model Magic (a trick I learned from Beryl Taylor), then after I let the Model Magic dry overnight, colored it with acrylic paints and finally gilded with Treasure Gold. I then glued the Fleur-de-lis image and four fragments for the corners to the ATC background.

I will be posting more ATCs and other artwork in the near future and invite you to guess as to how they were constructed (I find this to be a fun learning exercise.)

Welcome!

Pokey — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 20:55:33 GMT

I’ve always been slow to catch onto anything hip (proven by the fact that I’ve yet to watch a single episode of “Project Runway”). Yet I’d get email after email from friends and colleagues who’d apprise me that they were journaling on the Net, and for me to come visit. Finally, I gave into curiosity when Lesley Riley told me that I absolutely must read Loretta Marvel’s expressive and inspiring tidbits of wisdom or she’d smack me with one of her fabric books. From then on, my morning ritual was forever altered as I now wake up thirty minutes earlier, sip coffee in bed, and slowly wake to the musings of others.

Hoards of artists are putting out wonderful, insightful, inspiring blogs reminiscent of “morning pages,” or warm–ups––ways for artists to work out their artistic fears and discover their dreams as they slowly, word after word, psyche themselves into a creative place. I discovered that blogs were a way to stay connected with the larger artistic community, to share works in progress (one of my favorite aspects of blogging), and to get feedback from friends.

In this blog I’ll be sharing a little bit about myself as an editor/quilter and using this informal, relaxed venue to ask you questions and share with you what we’re up to at Quilting Arts, LLC. I’ll share sneak peaks on reader challenges and updates on submissions. I’ll also post some reviews on the latest books and products that we weren’t able to fit into our magazines. Lastly, I promise to impart the latest information on calls for entries and upcoming events.

Speaking of events, I hope many of you are making your hotel reservations for the International Quilt Festival-Spring in Chicago, April 7-9. Make It U! with Cloth Paper Scissors is shaping up to be an exhilarating event at this spectacular quilt festival. If you’ve never been to this quilt show, you’re missing out. The quilts are mind-blowing in their creativity and sheer number—everything from traditional to art quilts with all kinds of media, and aisle after aisle of vendors, selling a myriad of fabrics and embellishments. (I spend ALL my hard-earned money at these shows.) And you’re hearing it on this blog first: If you send in up to five ATCS for the ATC Trade that will be taking place right on the show floor, whether or not you can come to Chicago to get your trades, there is a very, very high probability that your ATCs will be published––in a book, no less. So I hope that you can sneak some time in this week to make up to five mixed-media ATCs and mail them to us to make the March 6th deadline.

Happy creating,

Patricia