Pie Talk

Here in the US it's our annual celebration of Thanksgiving also known at our house as the Day of the Pies. Each year we make pies, eat pies, and generally celebrate our favorite pies like apple, pumpkin, and cherry.

Alright, you caught me. The above quilt, Prelude to Pie, is the only pie I've made in the last 20 years. All those other imaginary pies I made came from the local grocery store. I was just talking pie talk.

May you and yours have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Studio Time

It's so good to be home and back in my studio. Although it has been declared a disaster area
 by the EPA (Enthusiastic Producers of Art), I'm happy to be there. There is nothing like your own disaster to make you feel at home and creative. My task this week is to un-clutter, unearth, and rediscover treasured items left in stacks of junk. Should be fun!

A Versatile and Complementary Thread

One of the more versatile threads I hand-dye is, 6 Stranded Cotton. This embroidery floss can be separated to stitch with 1 to 6 strands. Or you can combine colorways for that Monet look we're all after. In my quilt, Escapelands #3, I've used the Aquamarine colorway around the border. Can you see the difference in character of the stitch mark if using 2 or 6 strands?

This month I'm giving away a free skein of 6 stranded cotton thread (my choice of color) with any order from the Artfabrik web site. It's my way of saying, "Thread will always be there to cheer you when your turkey leftovers are just memories."

Transformations 09: Reflections

If you are in the CT area, please stop in and see the SAQA exhibit, Transformations 09: Reflections at the Guilford Arts Center, Guildford, CT. My quilt, Sprouts, is part of this traveling show.

This is what I like about being a member of SAQA, your art work travels the world while you get to stay in the studio and make more art. Or, in my case, you get to visit the friendly members of the  Kaw Valley Quilt Guild in beautiful Lawrence, KS. I'm teaching for 2 days and giving 2 lectures. Come see us!

Stitching Buddies

Some of my favorite people are stitchers too. Please check out Karen Musgrave's blog where she is using my size 8 thread in the Burnt Marshmallows colorway for her stitchery. Karen does wonderful work and is a prolific artist!
And you must see Jane Moxey's stitching and check out her blog as well. She and her writing are a delight! (Jane was also the producer of my DVD and knows my basement intimately.)
Hand stitchers are the best!

Object Lesson

Today I am teaching a class called Object Lesson. Students learn to make several collages with fused fabrics like those above in Betty's Bloomers #5.  Woven and bias fused collages are some of the basic collages we cover plus other exotic collages like lace, fractured, and patterned.

The collages are cut into the shapes of our "object" and then we free-cut all those details that make the composition work. By the end of the day the happy students have a quilt top of their own composition full of texture and pattern. And I have seen lots of beautiful work made right before my eyes!

Heading for a Round Up!

Being a cowgirl at heart, I'm really looking forward to my trip to Payson, AZ for the Rim County Quilters Round Up. This week I'll be teaching several workshops at the Round UP and giving my famous Chicago School of Fusing Guided Tour presentation. I'm really looking forward to meeting a new set of quilters. Maybe we'll sit around a campfire and eating beans. Maybe we'll sing tunes from the Chicago School of Fusing Bond Fire Song Book!

Blue Rake

Woodcut Quilts
Like Farm (the quilt in my previous post) Blue Rake is made in a woodcut style. I begin with a large piece of black fabric and add fused fabric elements to the surface. By leaving a small gap between the fabric elements a black line will outline each element. It gives the illusion of a woodcut or cartoon-like feel.

I love the graphic quality of woodcuts and have quite a collection of books illustrated in that style. You can also build your fused quilt on another color than black. So far I've used yellow, blue and red. Yellow is my favorite. It has a certain glow about it and makes me feel sunny all over.

Farm

Minnesotan
If you are attending the Sewing and Quilting Expo in Minneapolis and need a Minnesotan translator, please let me know. It is my second language having learned it as a young thing.
You can also pick up some nice hand-dyed fabric dyed by a nice former Minnesotan girl, me. So stop in at Booth #119 and sooner than you can say "ya, sure ya betcha" I'll find you a nice yard of fabric.

Thread Heads

Sometimes things get kinda goofy in the Artfabrik / Friestyle booth. Here we are celebrating Halloween and another giddy moment of merriment in Des Moines.

A good humored customer snapped this photo. After seeing the threads on our heads, she realized the great potential of using our hand dyed threads and purchased a lovely Size 8 in the Pumpkin Patch colorway for stitching.

You can see more frivolity by visiting us in booth #119 at the Original Sewing and Quilt Expo in Minneapolis November 5 - 7. I'm also teaching classes and giving a lecture. I shall try to appear serious.