Fanciful Stitches, Colorful Quilts

My new book, Fanciful Stitches, Colorful Quilts, is in line for printing with a due date of February, 2011. I can hardly wait to show you the projects inside! If the proofs are any indicator, C&T Publishing has done another bang up job. (They always make me look good.)

Beginning next week, Tuesday, December 7, I'd like to give you a special treat. Each week I'll post a project from the book and talk a little about the design, construction, and stitching of the project. These are all house quilts or at least abode related. And although I wanted to call the book "Stitch the House Down", I'm pretty sure Fanciful Stitches, Colorful Quilts is a worthy title. So please return next week for our first episode of Fanciful Stitches, Colorful Quilts, the story of a young quilter with a needle and a dream!

Back in the Studio Again!

For the past week I've actually been working on a large quilt! (By large I mean over 40" square.) It seems the more I travel and teach the fewer big quilts I have time to make. But my goal this winter is to produce something large. When I'm working large, the studio becomes piles of stuff piled upon piles of stuff.

Meanwhile, I still need some small pieces to hand embroidery on in the evenings. Here we have another in the Weezie's Wildflowers series (#11). It measures about 8" x 8" and was delight to make. We should all be embroiderers. The world would be a better place.

Gone to a Good Home

Sometimes you meet people that are just good people. And so you are happy that they want to take your artwork home with them. I want to thank Cara Gulati (author of Curves for Cowards) for adding  my Small World quilts to her collection. (Small World #10, above and Small World #9 below.)

Her art work is bright and refreshing. And Cara gives workshops, has a pattern line, and self-publishes books on how to create her curvy kinda quilts. She also has great taste.

Dyeing for Winners

This beautiful quilt is by Sue Gilgen. Sue's "Autumn Birches" recently won first place in the Art-Naturescape category at the International Quilt Festival in Houston, TX (November 2010). Please note the hand dyed fabric in the lower right that makes up the golden water. That's a piece of my Chocolate Squash fabric! I just love how she uses the gradation of color. Thank you Sue for making a wonderful piece of art and for using my fabric!

Back in the Studio!

It's so good to be back in my studio making more art work! To warm up, I always start with an improvisational piece from my pile of fused fabrics scraps left over from other projects. Ah! Memories! Working with these fused confetti scraps makes the quilt designing fast, easy, and gets my imagination churning.

Here we have Small World #13 made with those tasty left overs. In the evenings I work on the hand stitching. Not only is it relaxing, but it's like extending my creative time a few more hours each day. Can't get enough creative time!

Free E-Book from Quilting Arts

You have to check out the free E-books from Quilting Arts Magazine available on their web site. I can't believe they just give this stuff away!  You'll find my article complete with images called Transforming a Quilt with Hand Stitching in their E-book, 4 Fine Sewing Techniques from Quilting Arts: Sewing Ideas to Expand your Stitchery and Sewing Machine Techniques for Quilting. 

I bet you'll enjoy the other articles by Terry White, Carol Redlich, and Jacki Cardy too. You can download the PDF and print it out or read it on the screen. Another great way to keep us all up to date on the wonderful world of quilting!

Round the Planet

Here is another lovely quilt inspired by my article in Quilting Arts on making circular quilts. This is by Ellen from San Diego and depicts her friends house in Hawaii. Don't tell anyone, but Ellen is making more for gifts. Thanks Ellen for sharing it with us.
If you have a quilt made in one of my classes or from one of my magazine articles and would like to share it on this blog, please send me a photo. It's always fun to see what people are making out there.

Thread-u-cation Thursdays: ACES Again!

In my never ending quest to bring embroidery stitches to the masses, I present to you another episode of ACES. ACES (the Association for Combining Embroidery Stitches) is dedicated to uniting stitches and stitchers around the world.

In this week's episode, we take a simple shape (not unlike that of a light bulb) and quickly converted into a one of our feathered friends through the miracle of stitch combinations. Note the Fern Stitch tail feathers, Couched legs and toes, and Buttonhole Stitching around the body. Add a few Straight Stitches, Scattered Seed Stitches, and the odd French Knot and suddenly it's a bird on a mission.

Check out my tutorials for creating all these stitches on the Thread-u-cation page. And then join ACES and get your stitches together!

Art Quilt Collection Book

There's a new book out that I'm happy to be a part of called the Art Quilt Collection: Designs and Inspiration from Around the World.  It shows work by over 100 contemporary quilt artists.

You can see my quilt, Housing Department #7, inside and also on the back fly leaf. The colors are spot on. I think you'll enjoy viewing all the wonderful art inside. It's a beautiful book.

Audubon's Fabulous Fibers Exhibit

If you are in the Henderson, KY area, please check out the Fabulous Fibers Exhibit on display until February 13, 2011 at the John James Audubon Museum. My quilt Orchards, Fields, and Streams (above) will appear along with art by Becky Fuller, Halene Davis, Lily Liu, Caryl Bryer-Fallert, Cathy Vigor, Frieda Anderson, Sharon Malec, Judy Zoelzer Levine, and organizer, Karen Hampton. With artists like this, it's sure to be a great show!

Thread-u-cation Thursday: Tulip Stitch

It's that time of year; time to plant tulip bulbs in the garden. But for those of us without a bulb to our name, there is always the Tulip Stitch. Here we have this cute little stitch creating a border of flowers lining the driveway to your home. Akin to the Lazy Daisy stitch, the Tulip Stitch, creates a looped shape perfect for decorating edges without getting dirt under your fingernails.

Here's how I make my Tulip Stitches: bring the needle and thread up at point A and reinsert the needle just next to point A. Now bring the needle up at point B which is about 1/4" down from A. Make sure the thread is looped under the needle. Draw the needle and thread through the fabric at B. Keep the loop plump.

Insert the needle on the other side of the plump loop of thread at point C (about 1/16" below point B). Exit the fabric at point D. Point D is to the left and angled up from C about 1/4". Draw the needle and thread through the fabric at D.

 Slip the needle under the thread loop created by the B-C stitch and pull the thread through the loop.

Now insert the needle at point E which is even with D and about 1/4" from point C. Draw the needle and thread through the fabric at E. Repeat your Tulip Stitches and make row after row of Spring blooms.

Flowers Book

Click here to view this photo book larger

I love Shutterfly! This is one of my latest books I've made using their easy photo book program. Flowers is now available for sale on the Artfabrik web site. Enjoy the preview!

Textile Arts Resource Guide

There is a very interesting blog hosted by Gwendolyn Magee called Textile Arts Resource Guide that you might want to check out. Her mission is to collect online resources that are helpful for artists. You can find information on the business of art as well as tutorials on creating art.
Gwendolyn also makes this nice comment about my Thread-u-cation pages on this blog: Laura Wasilowski is providing excellent and detailed instructions with pictures for a series of embroidery stitches. Thanks Gwendolyn, happy to be of service!

How to Make a Little Dot in 3 Easy Steps

I shall now reveal the secret to making a little dot to decorate your fused quilt top. Step 1: begin with a long rectangular shaped piece of fused fabric and really sharp scissors.

Step 2: use the fabric rectangle as a handle and rotate the fabric as you cut with the scissors. Practice by making big dots then work your way down to smaller dots. These flower dots for my quilt in process are about 1/4" across.

To prevent craziness, place the dots on your quilt top with a pair of tweezers. And don't forget to use the cut-away or left over dot fabric as a design element. Happy dot cutting!

Thread-u-cation Thursdays: Combining Stitches

Here we see the fly stitch. It is sad. So very alone and plain. But wait! What if we combine it with another stitch?

Yes, that's the ticket! Combine the Fly Stitch with the French Knot and (as they say in French) viola! We have a joyful combination of stitches fit for the tail feathers of a very happy bird.

This Thread-u-cation Thursday was brought to you by the  Association for Combining Embroidery Stitches (ACES) uniting stitches and stitchers around the world. Like an online dating service, ACES pairs stitches together to make stitch combinations that live happily ever after. Join ACES today and get your stitches together.

(Sorry, I've been at the Houston quilt show too long!)

Fanciful Stitches, Colorful Quilts

Big Announcement!!!!!

Dear Friends,
I am thrilled to announce the publication of my new book, Fanciful Stitches, Colorful Quilts! Printed by C&T Publishing, it is available in February 2011 (click here to pre-order). The book features 11 fused art quilts with lots of hand stitchery for embellishment. All the projects in the book are based on house designs (think cottage, houseboat, lighthouse, etc).  You are given the patterns, construction plans, stitch plans, and wrapped binding directions for each little quilt.

And starting in December, I promise to show you a project a week just to wet you appetite. If you are at the International Quilt Festival in Houston, please visit me in the Artfabrik booth (#434) to see the Gardener's Cottage quilt featured on the cover above.

I have to tell you, I really like this book and really enjoyed making the quilts in the book. I'm so happy to share it with you!