Susan Brubaker Knapp is quite the stitcher! Check out this piece she is free-stitching on fabric that was clamped and dyed with black to form geometric shapes. I love the freedom of the stitching and the heavy textures too. The parallel running stitches contain the wild organic shapes and carry the color around the piece.
Susan is part of the Fiber Art Options group. They recently open the “Orchids: Sensuality Stitched” exhibit at the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden in Belmont, NC.

 

Sprouts from the SAQA Transformations exhibit

During the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, UK this past August, I was asked to film a tour of the SAQA exhibit, Transformations and Reflections for Just Hands On TV. This is an on-line TV website devoted to the world of textiles and quilt making. Founders, Jennie Rayment and Valerie Nesbitt, asked that I provide some information about SAQA and about the traveling exhibit. Jette Clover was also part of the film and talks about her beautiful piece in the exhibit too.
Just Hands on TV reviews books and shows, has demos by various artists, studio tours, and much much more. You have to be a member to view the SAQA film, but check out their site for free video clips and patterns. It's a great resource and introduces you to many UK quilt artists.

Gossip and Acorns
Have you heard of Craft Gossip? Recently they asked permission to post links to 2 of my free chicken patterns. Check out the site. The Quilting Page is a great resource for information on new patterns, fabrics, and free stuff. They also have knitting, scrap booking, and needlework pages.

This isn't related but, I came across this image of Acorn on the Stream recently and just had to share it with you. It is gone now to a buyer somewhere in California. I hope she is enjoying it.

Thread-u-cation Thursdays - Straight Stitch
Hand embroiderers who work on art quilts are constantly inventing stitchery to accommodate the images they are embellishing. Need window panes? Tree bark? Grass? The Straight Stitch covers a lot of these bases and acts as a stroke mark to help define the shapes. Here you can see the stitch as branches on the tree, window panes, and roof tiles.

Directions for making a Straight Stitch are simple: with the thread on top of the quilt, point the needle in the right direction and stick it down drawing the thread along with it. Straight Stitches can be in any direction and evenly spaced (or not). Just don't make them too long or the thread may bag and snag.
Nothing worse than bagging and snagging.

Questions, You Have Questions
A few people have asked me questions recently about items on this blog. So in the spirit of full disclosure here are some salient answers.
"Laura, what is the largest size of quilt you can stitch by machine with Timtex inside like Betty's Bloomers #2 above?" Why thank you for asking! The distance of my machine bed from the needle to the arm of my machine is about 8". So if I want to stitch in the center of a quilt with Timtex, the quilt can only measure 16" across max. Otherwise the quilt curls and like so many things in my life, I lose control.

"Laura, where did you get that really big piece of white Teflon that covers your fusing table?"  Why thank you for asking! This sheet of Teflon was custom cut for me by Bear Thread Designs. I was able to pick it up in Houston last year from my friend Victoria. The table looks really neat right now but soon I'll have something stuck to it.

Artfabrik Artists
It's always great to see how artists have used my hand-dyed fabrics or thread in their projects. Above is good example. This quilt by Susan Cleveland uses both my fabrics and size 12 thread (through the needle of the machine for decorative stitches). I suppose I could take a picture just of the quilt. But you should know that it has a place of honor right over my fusing table so I can be inspired by how beautifully she makes her art work.

Another artist combines my fabric with Cherrywood Fabrics. Ruth Ann incorporated bright fabrics from Artfabrik in this beautiful stole. Again more meticulous workmanship. Something I can only dream of.
If you are using Artfabrik threads or fabrics in your art work, please send me a photo. I'd love to see it!

Have Web, Will Travel
Soon I shall be on the road spreading the word that you too can make lots of fun art quilts! My first stop in early February is at the Quilters Guild of Charlotte, NC, a refined group of people with excellent taste. Then I'm off to the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival where I frantically leap from class to class (must bring a leotard).
At the end of March I'll be back hanging around several guilds in the Columbia, SC area whether they want me or not.

If you still haven't had enough of me, then try Charlotte, NC in June. Registration for the North Carolina Quilt Symposium.has already begun. I'll be packing my hand-dyed fabrics and threads with me every time I travel along with my current stitching project (no leotard required).