Quilting Daily

You’re Invited To A New Retreat for Artistic Expression

2010-03-18T12:13:00Z

Big news! We're starting a new retreat celebrating artistic expression through mixed media, and you're invited.

Join me and Cloth Paper Scissors Editor Jenn Mason for CREATE with Cloth Paper Scissors Mixed Media Retreat, August 25-29, 2010, in Rosemont, Illinois--just outside of bustling Chicago.

We'll have more than 60 workshops-from Fabric Fusion to Mixed-Media Jewelry, taught by some of the most sought-after artists and teachers in the country, plus a chance to meet and mingle, get inspiration, and shop for the coolest supplies and most current artwork.

We can't spill all the beans yet, but Jenn agreed to give you a sneak peek of what's in store for you at this exciting new experience through this little question-and-answer session.

Pokey: So, Jenn, tell us, what does CREATE stand for?
Jenn: Creative Retreat for Energy, Art, Transformation, and Excitement. I think that sums it up pretty well.

Pokey: What makes CREATE different from other retreats?
Jenn: Because Cloth Paper Scissors already has a great community filled with readers, artists, authors, and online members, CREATE is an opportunity to meet and/or reconnect with other like-minded people. We're all about spreading the mixed-media love. And because cloth is a big part of our magazine, there will be a focus on it that is sometimes missing at other mixed-media art retreats.

Pokey: Can you give everyone just a glimpse into the class offerings? For example, what are you teaching?
Jenn: We're still finalizing the schedule but I can tell you that we'll be offering both six-hour and three-hour workshops that cover collage, assemblage, art journaling, surface design, metal working, and a whole lot more. I'm looking forward to teaching both a Background Bonanza workshop where we'll take a look at all types of background techniques, as well as a gelatin printing workshop for creating wonderful pieces of art on both paper and fabric. And I heard someone is going to be teaching an all-day Printapalooza...someone who has a serious addiction to Thermofax screens.

Pokey: Hmmm...who could that be? Don't forget the Artist's Faire. Tell everyone what that's about.
Jenn: On Friday night we'll be opening the doors to an amazing night of shopping. There will be vendors selling all sorts of art supplies, tools, found objects, and unique finished artwork.

Pokey: It's going to be a creative, inspirational blast. Where should people go to sign up for event updates?
Jenn: They should visit the CREATE website at clothpaperscissorsretreat.com and sign up for email updates. As soon as we have more details, we'll post them there. But for right now, they should mark their calendars and start packing!

That's right, mark your calendar now for CREATE with Cloth Paper Scissors, August 25-29, 2010. And be sure to check the website for updates.

Spring Into a Fresh Batik Technique

2010-03-16T12:46:00Z

I saw the most beautiful thing when I came home from "Quilting Arts TV" taping last week. Not only had all of the snow melted while I was away, but a small patch of bright green moss shimmered among the dull brown weeds on the hill behind my home. This spot of emerald was the first sign of spring I'd seen this season.

Green is my absolute favorite color and I surround myself with it. The walls in my bedroom are painted avocado green, so it's the first color that greets me when I wake, and I've set my computer desktop to green so it's the color I stare at most throughout the day. In my studio at night I have a tendency to print and dye fabrics some shade of kiwi or apple, and my fattest stash of commercial fabrics? You guessed it: all shades of green.

No wonder St. Patrick's Day is one of my favorite holidays (and not just because I'm part Irish). It celebrates everything green represents: warmer and longer days ahead, the promise of a blossoming garden very soon, and an overall celebration of creativity.

A few days ago when I was in a particularly creative mood, I decided to batik fabrics using a flour paste resist process Jane Dunnewold demonstrated on the "QATV" set last week. It's also a process on her upcoming Quilting Arts Workshop DVD, Screen Printing Sampler: 4 Fun & Innovative Ways to Make Artful Cloth. Of course, I dyed mine in shades of green

This is a simple yet satisfying process. Here's an overview:

Mix 1 cup ordinary while flour with 1 cup cold water (not hot, or the paste will be gluey) and stir until the lumps are gone.
Pour the paste over the top of your fabric. Spread it over the fabric with a squeegee. Make sure you haven't missed any spots.
At this point, you can let the paste dry thoroughly, and it will form a simple crackle. Or, you can use a skewer to draw designs in the paste, then let dry.
When the paste has dried completely, gently scrunch the fabric up, crackling the hardened paste.
Apply a coat of thinned black (or other color--I used green here) textile or craft paint over the flour surface, working it into the cracks (or design) and let the paint dry completely.
Wait at least 24 hours for the paint to set, then soak the fabric in warm water until the paste dissolves. Wash in the washing machine to fully remove the paste (you don't need detergent).
Dry in the dryer and press with a hot iron. Use as is, add more paint, or over-dye.

For a more detailed description of the process, see the February/March 2008 issue of Quilting Arts Magazine, now available on CD as part of the 2008 Quilting Arts CD Collection, and look for Jane's Quilting Arts Workshop^TM video coming soon.

How To Make A Quilt Shine With Metal

2010-03-11T13:55:00Z

I'm pretty sure that when most people think about how to make a quilt, "metal" isn't the first thing that pops into their mind. But there are so many ways you can incorporate metal into your quilts and wall hangings, adding texture, dimension, shine, and that element of surprise.

Here are just a few ideas:

Wire:

Bend metal wire into shapes or images and couch or hand-stitch them onto your quilt to create a design.
Add jewels or found objects to your wire shapes to make unique embellishments.
Weave wires alone or with fibers and/or beads to create "cloth" that can be bent or shaped.

Foils:

Fabric foils come in a variety of colors and are easily applied with a specially formulated adhesive.
Apply adhesive to a rubber stamp with a clear, bold image (not finely etched). Press onto fabric, and apply the foil.
Create foil motifs by placing a stencil over the area you wish to foil, applying the adhesive to the fabric through the stencil, and rubbing the foil over the glued area.
Use paper-backed fusible webbing to apply foil fast. Cut or tear the web into the desired shape and iron onto the fabric, leaving the top protective paper in place. Remove the paper and press the foil to the fusible web with a hot, dry iron, burnishing with the edge of the iron.

Screens and mesh:

Metal mesh and screening can be printed on, stitched, and embellished to add texture to a quilt.
With patina solution, you can change the color of the mesh in interesting, unpredictable ways, adding yet another layer of dimension.

Metal sheeting (craft metal or shim):

Emboss metal with engraving tools, rubbing plates, or found textures.
Add paint or ink to embossed metal to create even more depth, color, and interest.
Stitch through metal to add texture and to apply the metal directly to your fiber art.

Found objects:
Everything from rusty roadside debris to gleaming hardware store finds can be attached to a quilt, providing a unique texture or focal point.

Incorporating metal into your quilting and fiber art is easy and the ideas are limitless. However, you do have to adhere to some guidelines to make it work. For example, you will need extra support on the back of your quilt if you want to attach heavy pieces of metal. And you should always wear protective glasses and gloves when cutting metal. If you machine stitch metal, use a heavy duty needle and go very slowly.

We've had several articles demonstrating how to meld metal with fiber in Quilting Arts. But I really learned a lot about working with metal while watching Mary Hettmansperger tape her hour-long Quilting Arts Workshop^TM video, Metal Embellishments: Incorporating Wire, Mesh, Metal Sheeting, & More into Fiber Art, for release this spring. Beryl Taylor demonstrates working metal into fiber art in her Layer By Layer Workshop video and Lyric Kinard shows how to design with foil in her QA Workshop, Surface Design Sampler Platter. But Mary's video is the first Workshop dedicated to metal work on art quilts.

We shot Mary's video (along with a Quilting Arts Workshop with Jane Dunnewold and a Cloth Paper Scissors Workshop with Susie Monday) while on set taping Season 6 of "Quilting Arts TV."

You can read all about this lively taping--with pictures--on my Editor's blog.

6 FREE Patchwork Quilt Projects for Contemporary Quilts

2010-03-09T13:26:00Z

Patchwork and quilting go hand in hand. But these days patchwork quilts, once the province of traditional quilters, have become a big piece of the contemporary art quilter's repertoire, too.

Today's quilters are applying their outside-the-square attitude to patchwork quilts and patchwork projects, turning patchwork quilting techniques literally inside-out, making quilt projects that involve fabric painting and create cutting-edge wearable art with patchwork and quilting techniques.

Knowing how popular patchwork is, we're offering you this FREE downloadable eBook, How to Make a Quilt: 6 FREE Patchwork Quilt Projects for Contemporary Quilts, that gives you six ways to use patchwork patterns.

In two projects Malka Dubrawsky shows you how to make a small patchwork quilt. In her "Inside-out Mini Quilt" project, she turns Log Cabin quilt patterns inside-out for a distinctive, contemporary look. In her "Hexagon Mini Quilt" project, Malka demonstrates how to make a quilt from hexagon-shaped patches, using bright, contemporary prints.

Two patchwork scarf techniques are included in this free book: You get Malka's directions for turning fabric scraps into a modern scarf using patchwork piecing and a free quilt pattern. And Vivika Hansen Denegre shows you how to make a contemporary scarf using Japanese fabrics.

Finally, combine recycling with patchwork and quilting with two projects. Jeannie Palmer Moore turns men's ties into patchwork quilts unlike any you've ever seen, and Annette Morgan teaches you how to revive a cast-off quilt by painting it, cutting it up, and reassembling it patchwork-style.

Each of these techniques is fun and easy to do--and they're all just a free download away. Start making contemporary patchwork projects today. Download your free eBook, How to Make a Quilt: 6 FREE Patchwork Quilt Projects for Contemporary Quilts now.

Our ‘Trade’ Secret Revealed

2010-03-04T11:18:00Z

Each time we gear up for another International Quilt Festival Make It University!^TM with Cloth Paper Scissors® event, we try to balance keeping popular components with adding new features. As our staff brainstormed ideas for IQF/Chicago April 16-18, one thing we made sure to include was an art trade-but with a twist.

For years we've had a popular artist trading card wall where you could trade as many ATCs as you brought to the show. This year, we're expanding the trade to any small art creations: ATCs, inchies, pendants, charms, postcards, and more.

Just bring your mini pieces of art to the Make It University!^TM with Cloth Paper Scissors® area at Festival, and you can trade them for an equal number of tiny treasures.

If you've never made an ATC before or would like some ideas, check out my tutorial on the Quilting Arts Community.

In addition to planning the art trade, we're finalizing the list of artists who'll be creating in our Open Studios section and teaching our one-hour workshops. There will be many familiar faces as well as some who are participating in our festivities for the first time.

So far, we have the following artists teaching workshops: Jane Dàvila, Kelli Nina Perkins, Belinda Spiwak, Leilani Pierson, Judy Coates Perez, Julaine Lofquist-Birch, Beth Wheeler, and Pokey Bolton. These artists will also create in Open Studios right on the show floor, and will be joined by Lynn Krawczyk, Kayla Fujimoto, Rebekah Meier, Tracie Lyn Huskamp, Marylin Nouvelle, Melanie Testa, and Lois Jarvis.

If you've ever wanted to see how these artists work or question them about their techniques, this is your chance.

So if you haven't already, make your plans to meet us in Chicago in April. You can register at quilts.com and keep checking the Events & News page at the Quilting Arts Community for updated information on the Make It University! workshop schedule and other events as we have them.

Hope to see you there!

Create Unique Embellishments with Felting

2010-03-02T13:03:00Z

Want to add interest and dimension to a quilted piece in no time? Try felting.

Whether you felt by hand (with water or needles) or by machine, it's an easy, fun, and fast way to make a piece pop. Plus, felting is a great way to use up little bits of fluff, fibers, and sparkly things you have on hand.

I've seen two examples of how a felted element packed some punch into an art piece recently.

In the current issue of Quilting Arts, Rose Hughes shows how to make beaded wool gems from wool roving, batting, and beads.

Rose just cuts layers of batting to the desired size, wraps layers of wool roving around the batting, then puts the bundle of fiber inside a knee-high stocking and ties a knot.

She continues the process until she has as many bundles as she desires, and then washes the knotted stockings in hot water with high agitation.

Rose removes the now felted bundles from the stockings, lets them dry, and adds beads, stitching, and other embellishments. Then she attaches the gems to a quilt. I love the way they add a sparkly, seashell-like element to her "Ebbing Eveningtide" landscape.

Natalya Aikens also recently experimented with felting. After painting a journal page and scanning it when it was dry, she printed a copy of the page onto sheer ExtravOrganza.

Then she hand needle-felted a mix of fibers (thread, color catcher sheets, dryer lint from, fabrics, netting) onto the printed image.

"This was the most fun part of the entire project!" says Natalya. "I have never needle felted by hand before, even though I had the supplies for a while. I figured this was the perfect opportunity to try it."

The needle-felted fibers add an interesting texture to the design, literally bringing it up off the page.

Wet felting and hand needle felting don't require a lot of supplies or time-though you may find you quickly become addicted to the techniques. It's fun to felt a lot of small pieces in one session or a little at a time, and then keep the samples for future use in a quilt, wall-hanging, or mixed-media piece.

If you've never tried felting before, we have plenty of supplies and books on the subject in the Interweave Store, so be sure to check it out.

A Sneak Peek at the Next 'QATV' Series

2010-02-25T17:07:00Z

I'm packing my suitcase again, getting ready to fly to Cleveland to tape the sixth season of "Quilting Arts TV."

As hectic as the shooting pace is, I always look forward to taping, because I get to learn new tricks and techniques in person from the guest artist. This season we'll visit with some old friends and meet some new ones. We have some surprises in store for "QATV" viewers that I can't reveal now, but I can give you a sneak peek of what's on the schedule.

Here's who--and what--I'm putting in my suitcase for the next 13 episodes:

Surface design guru Jane Dunnewold, who will be demonstrating some exciting screen-printing and soy wax techniques.

Susie Monday, who will show how water-soluble crayons can create eye-popping art quilts.

Liz Kettle and Karen Fricke, who will be sharing techniques for free-form embroidery and thread sketching.

Diane Nuñez, who will be creating three-dimensional floral appliqués for quilts and wearables.

Terry Grant, who will show us easy finishing techniques for small art quilts, plus making her fabric birds.

Carol Ingram, who will provide a fun demonstration on how to make a paw print fabric doggie treat bag.

The new "Save My UFO" segment, where more than 10 quilts from viewers will get some design assistance. Check out the UFO quilts submitted in the Quilting Arts Community Gallery.

Totes galore! Kathy Mack will be demonstrating her Winslow tote from Quilt Scene and I will be making a reversible patchwork tote.

Liz Berg, who will show how to find inspiration from a photo to create an abstract art quilt.

Wow, my suitcase is stuffed, and that's not even the whole schedule of guest artists and techniques! I'll be showing you behind-the-scenes photos when I get back, so be watching for them. I'll have more to share then.

A Peek Behind the Studio Door

2010-02-23T11:54:00Z

The Spring 2010 issue of Studios debuts on newsstands today, so I asked Studios Editor Cate Coulacos Prato to be the guest editor for today's Quilting Daily blog post. Take it away, Cate!

Whenever I travel, I'm always taking pictures of interesting doors, doorways, gates, and arches. I'm especially intrigued by doors that are decorated and ones that offer a glimpse of what's behind them.

In art and design, a door is an opportunity: It can be a surface to be embellished, a promise of what's to come, or a way to keep something hidden.

A door can also be a useful storage, organization, or utility device, when used creatively. In the new issue, we list 101 Organization and Storage Tips, including Seven Ways to Make a Door Work for You:

Hang an "over the door" shelving unit to add instant storage and keep supplies in order.
Clear plastic shoe bags that hang on the door can be installed in seconds and are perfect for stashing yarns and rubber stamps.
Tack ribbon or trim to the door in a crisscross pattern to make a bulletin/inspiration board.
A door makes a great ironing station, especially for a small space. Check online or at your local home store for fold-down boards that attach to a door.
Or, turn a door into a pressing table by covering it with muslin and batting.
Make a worktable or cutting area out of a hollow-core door placed on top of two sets of drawers.
Put a door on the entrance to your studio and close it when you leave the room: Bye-bye mess!

In the current issue of Studios, you'll find some intriguing artists' doors, and in most cases, get a chance to see what's behind them.

		A garden path leads to quilt artist Linda Kemshall's studio door where you can peek through a diamond-shaped window to see what's going on inside. (A lot of quilting in close quarters!)

Mixed-media artist Holly Berube beckons visitors to stop at her studio with this door. The bright color, handmade awning, and springy décor make her entry stand out from her artist neighbors on open studios weekends.

		Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson's garden studio is just steps away from her house. The glass door lets in light during the day and her family can come by and keep tabs on her, too!

Azaleas and bougainvillea welcome Josie Rodriguez as she steps from her mixed-media studio to the patio where she does her encaustic work. Josie lives in San Diego, so something's always blooming.

		Art quilter Kathy York's studio is very colorful and highly organized. She uses the hidden crawl space behind this door to store bulky items, and usually covers this "hidden" door with a quilt.

To see what's behind all these doors--except for Kathy's secret cupboard, of course--check out the new issue of Studios.

Thanks, Cate! Now tell us: What's does your studio door look like? What do you use it for? What's behind it?

Cate is soliciting for quilt and fiber art studios for the fall issue of Studios. So, if you'd like to share yours, send her three lo-res images and a brief description to studios@clothpaperscissors.com.

And be sure to check out the studio video tours on the Quilting Arts Community.

Create Unique Prints with this Easy Technique

2010-02-18T13:26:00Z

Last week the staff in our Stow offices got together for some after-hours creative play-time, making gelatin monoprints on fabric and paper.

I'd been cranking out monoprints for a segment I'll be shooting for the sixth season of "Quilting Arts TV" and everyone else wanted in on the fun.

At lunchtime we prepared the gelatin printing "plates" in baking pans and popped them in the fridge to set.

Here is the basic recipe:

2 pkgs. Knox gelatin (1 T per package)
1 cup water
Pyrex or non-stick baking pan (approx. 8" x 8")
Protected surface
Water-based paints or dyes
Brayer
Flat or shallow palette

Mix half the water (cold) with the gelatin and stir until dissolved.
Boil the remaining water and add it to the mixture. Stir slowly to avoid creating bubbles.
Pour the mixture into the baking pan and pull torn pieces of newsprint lightly across the surface to remove any bubbles.
Let the gelatin sit for 30 minutes, then place in the refrigerator until it is set. Remove the gelatin from the fridge about 30 minutes before you're going to use it to print.
Dip the bottom of the pan briefly into a hot water bath (you can use your sink) to help loosen it from the pan. Unmold the gelatin onto a flat surface (such as a protected cutting board or acrylic sheet).
Cut the gelatin to the desired printing size.

By the time we set out the crackers and crudités at 5:30 p.m., the plates were ready to go.

We threw a drop cloth over conference table and put out the gelatin plates, bins of acrylic paints, brayers, a basket of fat quarters, and some plain paper. We also had some painting tools (like a flexible comb) and found objects that might make interesting impressions: an ash tray with a cut glass bottom, a lacy plastic leaf, the back of a discarded tile, children's shape toys, and so on.

Most of the staff had never made monoprints before, so we quickly reviewed the basic directions:

Step 1. Pour or squeeze drops of paint onto a flat or shallow palette.

Step 2. Roll the brayer in the paint and then roll a thin layer over the gelatin plate.

Step 3. Make imprints in the paint by gently pressing found objects or a paper cutout onto it.

Step 4. Lay the fabric over the paint and smooth it down gently with your hands (trying not to move the fabric around).

Step 5. Gently lift the fabric off the plate and admire your results.

Step 6. Take another "ghost" print off the same plate or start over from Step 1.

At first, some people were hesitant about what colors to use or impressions to make. But pretty soon, the "hmmms" and "huhs" turned to "wows" and "ooohs." Time flew and the floor got covered with prints as everyone got into their creative zone. Some of the people who had the least experience with printing came up with the most interesting effects.

Monoprints, whether made on gelatin, glass, or Plexiglas plates, are an easy and fun way to add surface design to your fabrics. Monoprinting with paint can give new life to so-so fabrics (or dye "mistakes") or create a one-of-a-kind designs on plain fabric or paper.

It's no wonder one of our most popular FREE eBooks is Fabric Painting: 5 Surface Design, Paint, and Monoprint Techniques. This book includes two monoprinting techniques, one from Liz Berg on how to monoprint with paint and one from Fawn Mackey on monoprinting fabrics for textured backgrounds.

You'll also learn from expert artists about fabric painting with transparent paints, making sun and salt prints, creating patterned and painted cloth, and working with oil sticks.

Now that our staff has a bunch of monoprinted fabrics, our next step is to incorporate them into a project. I have a fun idea up my sleeve that's top secret for now. But I hope to reveal the results soon.

In the meantime, why not incorporate some monoprinting into your own quilting adventures?

For example, have you finished your "How Entertaining!" reader challenge entry yet? The deadline for entry is May 3, 2010, so if you haven't started, it's time to get busy. Get all the details on our reader challenge page.

Commit to a Weekly Art Routine

2010-02-16T13:02:00Z

In winter I crave creating with color--during the darker, bleaker months, my studio is completely taken over by paints and dyes (think periwinkles and lime greens, cerulean blues and bubble gum pinks).

Imagine my glee when I got the latest book offerings from surface design experts and Committed to Cloth founders Leslie Morgan and Claire Benn from the U.K. and their comrade Jane Dunnewold, the U.S. associate for Committed to Cloth.

In concise and clear language that is accompanied by images of supplies and fabrics in process, these four books (three of which include a bonus DVD) inspired me to develop a weekly regimen for creating colorful, original cloth every single day of the week.

As a screen- and dye-aholic who has a full-time job, here's how I set aside time every day (even if it's just ½ hour) to create colorful fabrics:

Sunday night: Mix the dyes and print paste and prepare the fabric in a soda-soak solution so it's receptive to the dyes.

Monday night: Prepare 2 - 3 silk screens for breakdown printing (also called deconstructed printing). (For quick and easy directions for breakdown printing, check out Rayna Gillman's article in the August/September 2008 issue of Quilting Arts.)

Tuesday night: Time to put the prepared silk screens to work! Deconstructed screen-printing is a lot of fun and will yield the most surprising results, so I make sure I set aside about an hour. When finished, I carefully roll the fabrics in plastic sheeting and batch for at least 24 hours, allowing the dyes to thoroughly saturate the fabric.

Wednesday night: Rinse and thoroughly wash the batched fabrics, then allow them to dry.

Thursday night: Time to apply more surface applications to these fabrics, including working with Thermofax screens, applying freezer paper resists, accenting with Shiva® Paintstiks®, or painting, stenciling, and stamping directly onto the fabrics with fabric paints or thickened dyes.

Friday: Date night with my spouse, which allows time for the fabrics to cure if I've used Paintstiks.

Saturday: Heat-set my fabrics if necessary and take them to my sewing machine!

With this time set aside for myself to experiment and immerse myself in color, I have certainly managed to stave off those winter blues and created yards of original fabrics to boot.

So how about you? Have you developed a weekly art routine or way to keep yourself color-filled during winter?

We Reveal Our Animal Alter Egos

2010-02-11T11:21:00Z

We received so many fun and interesting Let Out Your Inner Animal Challenge quilts from readers that the Quilting Arts editors decided we had to play, too.

You might recall my experiments in frog mutations (art quilt-style) on my editor's blog. I enjoyed reading all the feedback to my outlandish ideas. People really seemed to like that Thread-sketched Frog on Acid!

I find that it's helpful sometimes to go way out over the edge when you're in the designing-sketching stages, then pull it back a bit. I opted to go for a wholecloth quilt painted with water-based disperse dyes and thread sketched (left). I still need to put a few more thread, free-motion touches on him, but this is what I have so far.

Assistant Editor Pippa Eccles took her cue from our very tongue-in-cheek nickname for her, Pippapotomus. (It's a play on her name, only; Pippa actually looks more like a gazelle.) Pippa used appliqué and hand embroidery to create her animal alter ego (right).

Helen Gregory, our managing editor, sees herself as a free-spirited, fun-loving Labrador (below).

Helen says she was influenced by the fabric portrait techniques demonstrated by Maria Elkins in her Making Faces: Beginning & Advanced Portraits Quilting Arts Workshop and by Leni Levenson Wiener in the February/March issue of Quilting Arts Magazine.

Both artists use photos and tracing paper to break down an image into values so it can easily be made into a fabric portrait.

Helen added details with thread sketching and plans to add a few more touches, plus a binding.

You can see many of our reader entries to this Let Out Your Inner Animal challenge in the Reader Challenge Gallery on the Quilting Arts Community.

Be sure to leave your comments!

How to Turn A 'Mistake' Into Art

2010-02-09T12:43:00Z

When something goes awry in the creative process—the ink splatters, the dye color is murky, the stitches have minds of their own—you have two choices. You can toss it and start over, or you can, as my favorite fashion designer advisor Tim Gunn would say, make it work.

I think most artists would agree, so-called "mistakes" can be your best creative friend. You may be temporarily derailed when the project runs off the tracks. But while you may have "lost" the plan you had in your head when you started, you've gained a whole new opportunity to create something exciting and different.

Designer and art quilter Lyric Kinard loves the serendipity of the dyeing process. But while she used to bury disappointing pieces at the bottom of her stash, now she embraces dyeing "mistakes" and turns them into masterpieces with bleach, textile paints, Thermofax screens, and her imagination.

Lyric details her process in the February/March issue of Quilting Arts. If you've read the article--and even if you haven't—you hop on over to Assistant Editor Pippa Eccles's blog and take her Fabric Makeover Quiz, based on Lyric's article. It's fun to figure out which processes Lyric used to take her pieces from disaster to diva. (Note: One of the best ways to learn Lyric's surface design tricks is by watching her Quilting Arts Workshop video, Surface Design Sampler Platter.)

Now, how about your art "mistakes"?

Do you have an unfinished art quilt (otherwise known as a UFO for UnFinished Object) that’s got you stumped on how to complete? Have you stuffed it in the back of a dresser drawer in the desperate hope that if left in the dark long enough, it’ll magically transform into something akin to a fine wine.

I’m here to help you. We are introducing a new segment to "Quilting Arts TV":

“Save my UFO!”

Here’s your chance to have your unfinished art quilt featured on "Quilting Arts TV"—and to get advice from the pros on how turn your UFO into a masterpiece!

But don't wait! You need to upload the image of your UFO to the Quilting Arts Community photo gallery by February 16. Get all the details at my blog.

We hope you’ll hurry up and post your UFO!

A Unique Twist on a Patchwork Quilt

2010-02-04T13:02:00Z

Art quilters tend to stitch outside the box. Traditional squares and patches are not for them. But that doesn't mean that repetition and a sense of order isn't important. In fact, repetition is a key element in design. The concept of using a grid as a design element is classic--that's one of the reasons why patchwork appeals to so many people.

But art quilters are prone to turning "the classics" on their heads. That's what mixed-media artist Debbi Crane did when she created a nine-patch "quilt" of mixed-media collages. Debbi described her process in an article called "Get a Grid! Canvas Wall Art for Collectors of Odds & Ends" in the January/February 2010 issue of our sister publication, Cloth Paper Scissors®.

Debbi started this project as one 12" x 12" canvas, but soon discovered that if one piece looked good, a series looked even better. So she created a nine-patch wall "quilt" out of canvases, using paint, fabric, paper, and found objects. To make the piece cohesive, Debbi used the grid concept and repetition. Here are some of her tips for how to unify a piece like this:
Repeat a grid form within a larger grid form to help create a unified whole.
To keep the squares cohesive, use at least a smidgen of each of your main colors (in this case the deep red, brown, and latte of the painted frames) in each square.
Repeat design elements (such as circles and stripes) from square to square to make the individual pieces relate to each other. The viewer's eye can easily travel to each part of the work, resting on familiar colors or textures.

To add to the patchwork effect, Debbi incorporated some classic quilting elements, but gave them her own mixed-media twist. For example:

Debbi treated the entire piece as an enlarged nine-patch quilt block.
She painted the frame of the center canvas a deep red, as traditional quilters have used red in the center square of a quilt to represent hearth and home.
She tied the buttons on the lower left square in a similar way as hand-tied quilt patches.
The center "patch" is a stitched collage in the shape of an Ohio Star.
Aside from the canvases, all the other materials Debbi incorporated were those she had at hand, like quilters of old.

I think this is such a fun piece in that it not only marries traditional and contemporary quilting arts, but also combines mixed-media and quilting techniques--and helps find a place for all those fabulous found objects we like to collect.

Batik Made Easy: Hot Tips from Kathy York

2010-02-02T15:00:00Z

I like to think I'm always open to trying new things, especially when it comes to surface design methods. But there was one technique I shied away from: batik. I loved the effects, but doing it myself always seemed so complicated and time consuming.

That was until Kathy York was a guest on "Quilting Arts TV" in Season 3 and demonstrated her easy and fun technique for creating batik patterns with found objects.

I had thought you needed special printing tools or good freehand painting skills to make your wax designs, but Kathy showed up with cardboard tubes, cookie cutters, and plastic-coated electrical wires. What? I was intrigued.

Here are some of Kathy's tips for making batik patterns with found objects:

Anything that won't melt and has an intriguing edge shape can make a batik design. Consider cardboard tubes, hardware (like bolts), cookie cutters, and napkin rings.
If a found object is too short to dip into the wax without burning your fingers, use a pair of metal pliers or grips to act as a handle.
Peel the coating off the end of cast-off electrical wires and bend the wire into a shape (spiral, flower, etc.). Then bend the rest of the wire up 90 degrees to use as a handle. (Sort of like an Easter egg dipper. In fact, you could use an Easter egg dipper as a stamp!) Dip the shape in the wax and apply it to the fabric.
Have a piece of spare cardboard handy to catch drips between the wax bath and the fabric.
In order for the wax to penetrate the fabric without ruining your work surface, suspend the piece of fabric you're working with (or a portion of it) over the top of an open cardboard box, secured with thumbtacks.
If you prefer a smooth, rather than crackled, effect, use a 1:1 ratio of paraffin to beeswax.
Once you use an object or pot for the batik process, do not use it again for other purposes, such as food prep. Work in a well-ventilated area and take precautions to avoid being burned by the hot wax or tools.

It was so much fun stamping the fabric and looking at the dyed samples Kathy brought with her. It's hard to make a "mistake." If you get a result you don't like, just over-dye it! To get the full effect of the results and see all her of Kathy's tips, be sure to watch Season 3 of "QATV."

(By the way, if you want to explore stamping with found objects and paint, instead of wax, take Belinda Spiwak's Found Object Stamping/ Printing Challenge posted on the Quilting Arts Community.)

Kathy is known for her bold, bright quilts with complex designs. But when you break them down, you realize she just makes the most of simple techniques. It's an eye-opening discovery.

In the February/March issue of Quilting Arts Magazine, now available, Kathy shows how to enrich your quilts with simple satin stitching. She addresses how stabilizing, thread, needle size, and tension all play a role in achieving perfect satin stitching and explains how to stitch around curves and join blocks. If you've ignored your satin stitch lately, Kathy's tutorial will have you grabbing your threads and a quilt sandwich to give it a whirl again.

P.S. Want to add color to your quilts with thread? Download a FREE PATTERN for the Crayon Quilt Thread Sketching Design by Susan Brubaker Knapp, featured in the February/March issue of Quilting Arts.

Tips to Focus a Spotlight on Your Art

2010-01-28T12:42:00Z

It seems that by the time we actually put up our new calendars in January, they're already filled with quilt show dates, deadlines, goals, and to-do lists. In fact, it's not unusual for each person on our staff to have three Quilting Arts calendars open on the wall at a time, each turned to successive months, giving us a 90-day look at what's coming up. (As an added benefit, we get to look at three fabulous art quilts at once!)

Of course, in this day and age, many people keep track of their appointments and deadlines on their computers. If you enter a lot of quilt shows, you will want to read award-winning quilter and Quilting Arts columnist Robbi Joy Eklow's article in the February/March issue of Quilting Arts. In "Organized Entries," Robbi explains how she sets up her computer calendar program for submitting to upcoming shows.

The displays and reminders not only make it easy for her to meet deadlines but to also make sure that she hasn't promised the same quilt to two shows at the same time. She's even able to calculate whether she has time to get a quilt back from one show before sending it off to the next. Robbi's tips for organizing your quilt show entries can be adapted to different computer programs, so if you enter more than one quilt show in a year, you should take a look.

I bet you have some organizational tips and tricks for entering shows, too. Share them with other quilters in the Forums section of quiltingarts.com. Just click on Magazine Discussion under the Forums menu.

Speaking of submitting your quilts, is this the year you'll approach a gallery to show your work? in the current issue, Jane Dàvila explains how to find gallery representation for your artwork. Jane offers information and advice about the different kinds of galleries, how to find a good fit, dos and don'ts of the initial approach, how to put together a portfolio, and what to look for in a contract or agreement.

Here is her list of dos and don'ts of the initial approach:

Check to see when the gallery is reviewing new artists' work
Be polite and professional
Include a SASE with your submission if you'd like it returned
Be easy to work with and show that you would be a good team player
Point out why you'd be a great addition to their gallery (for example, because you have a large mailing list or contacts at the local paper)
Be patient; allow about six weeks before you follow up on your submission

Don't

Be discouraged if your work is not selected--competition is fierce!
Send information unsolicited or show up with your work in hand
Submit to a gallery without doing your homework first
Start with a gallery far away; start locally instead

Maybe you can adapt Robbi's calendar organization techniques to submitting to galleries!

Challenges and swaps are fun to participate in and they're a good way to get your artwork into the public eye. But entering them also involves planning and deadline tracking--especially if you're the one in charge. For those who don't like long-range planning, Leilani Pierson (who leads a lot of challenges in her online fiber group) describes this quick and fun idea in the latest issue of Quilting Arts: A 5-day Quilt Challenge. This spur of the moment, seat of your pants challenge forces participants to be spontaneous. If you're prepared to go out on a whim, Leilani has tips for leading your own blind challenge.

On the other hand, if you prefer to take a more long-range approach, read about our own "How Entertaining" Reader Challenge--it's not due until May!

Whew! That's a lot to keep track of. Guess I better grab my calendar and make sure everything's written down.