Posted 2/24/13

The International Surface Design Association presents: Interface 2013

Post Conference 3-Day Workshop with Naomi S. Adams

San Antonio, Texas - June 10-12, 2013

Textile Bookmaking

Dive into the world of creating your own unique textile artists’ books and sketchbooks. The class will cover the foundations of bookmaking, with opportunities for advanced exploration of new techniques for more experienced students. Special emphasis will be placed on special methods and ideas for using textiles to create unique handmade books. Learn the technical skills through the creation of blank sample books. Investigate the use of sewn bindings, including the Coptic Stitch, Medieval Long Stitch, and a tape binding.

Level: All Levels—Workshop Tuition: $390—Supply Fee: $37

Register for the Workshop only or the Surface Design Conference / Workshop online at:  http://www.surfacedesign.org/

There are still spots left in the workshop, so sign up and tell your friends today!

textile-bookmaking-workshop.pdf

Posted 1/12/13

I worked on a few books this weekend and thought I’d post some images. The book above has a quilted cover that uses a scrap of some great mixed media fabric I made several years ago in a workshop with Judy Coates Perez. She’s amazing. I layered some batiks on top and included some watercolor paper for the interior pages.

To make these 4 miniature books (4 1/2″ x 3 1/2″), I use some of my dyed batting and black and white cotton scraps for the covers. I used interfacing in the middle to increase the stability. For the book construction, I just used a stitch length of 5 and sewed right down the signature with my machine!

This last book is for my upcoming niece’s birthday. She’s still a kindergartener, so I hope I can post without her finding the images. She is such a great kid. I always go home finding little piece of art or secrets tucked in my bag somewhere. I thought I’d make her a sketchbook/journal with lots of hiding places.

I had to include a little bit of skull fabric so she’d know it was made by me! My sister found this fun skull fabric for me. The signatures are stitched in with a medieval long stitch binding using some hand dyed perle cotton thread from Laura Wasilowski.

This last image shows a detail of some of the pages. I sewed in some envelopes and library book pockets so that she will have more places to hide her treasures.

I will be teaching a textile bookmaking class for the 2013 Surface Design Association in San Antonio, Texas. Registration opens this week. See you there!

Posted 05/07/12

I’ll  be teaching some fun new classes for Quilts, Inc. this year. I thought a sneak peek would be in order. These will be fun, action packed classes. I hope to see you there! Here are images and descriptions of the 3 classes that I am teaching for the International Quilt Festivals at Long Beach and Houston 2012. If you have any questions about the supply lists in the catalogs at quilts.com , please feel free to email me.

1) Quilted Sketchbook - This class is a hybrid: you get both book arts and quilting. Design a book full of creative possibilities enclosed in your own unique quilted cover. Learn how to use book arts techniques and a medieval binding stitch to wrap it up. These books make great journals or sketchbooks, and are excellent gifts for special people in your life. This is a full day class, we will design and quilt the cover in the morning and then comeback to use the book binding techniques to stitch in the pages in the afternoon.

2) Stamps, Stencils and Image Inspiration - This is an exciting mixed media class for art quilters. Alter your textile surfaces with simple techniques, handmade tools, textile paints and found objects. Explore creative exercises to generate your own unique imagery for mixed media compositions. This is a half day class full of great techniques.

3) Fused Fabric Postcards -  Discover techniques for unique mailable gifts and art quilts. Explore journal quilting to chronicle experiences and investigate larger quilt ideas. Delve into inspiration tools to create imaginative compositions. This is a half day class full of fusing fun.

I look forward to seeing you at the quilt festivals this year for some quilting fun!

Posted 10/15/10

We had a great time at my Surface Design Exploration workshop last Saturday for the Quilter’s Guild of Dallas! We painted, stamped, transferred, carved and glued all day. We made a lot of white fabric a lot more interesting! Just sharing a few photos of our great group of students.

I full expect to see fabric created in this workshop as ACEO’s, Priority: Alzheimer’s Quilts, or Mini quilts for the Quilter’s Guild of Dallas auction!

I’ll leave you with a tiny self portrait of myself as Dr. Horrible, ala Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long-blog. It is almost Halloween, you know.

My sister of Puking Pastilles, has a free Dr. Horrible embroidery pattern sheet! I transferred her “goggles” image onto my digital print of a self portrait in fuschia. I used the CitraSOLV transfer technique that we did in class last Saturday. Super easy and fun! Even long distance we can collaborate.

Posted 9/21/10

 Don’t miss out! We have 9 spots left in the workshop I am providing for the Quilter’s Guild of Dallas on 10/9/10. We will be exploring all sorts of surface design techniques.

Here’s what we’ll be doing:

Explore textiles and printmaking in this exciting and dynamic class. Explore many avenues including purchased stamps and stencils, found objects, transfers, and hand-created tools to alter the textile surface. You will learn how to add pattern to cloth with resists, rust, dye, and textile paints. We will have a good combination of your own explorations of techniques and some things that I will demo only due to chemicals/messes/time constraints in a workshop environment.  

Contace the guild at workshops@quiltersguildofdallas.org or myself at killerbeedesigns@gmail.com for more information.

See you there!

Posted 3/3/09

Sake barrels, courtesy wikipedia and Dan Smith, photographer. First, aren’t these sake barrels beautiful?   Just amazing inspiration.

Second, have you heard of findaquiltteacher.com ? Go and check it out! If you are a quilt guild or a quilt teacher, you’ll want to see what’s going on. It is Ami Simms’ new project to link quilting teachers with quilt shops, guilds and others wanting to employ a quilt teacher.  I happen to have acquired a last name beginning with “A”, so you’ll see me listed at the very top! Teachers, if you are one of the first 100 to sign up, your annual subscription is only $15 for the first year. What’s not to love?
Would you like to make it easier for your guild to bring in speakers? Tell your program chair about FindAQuiltTeacher.com. They can find information about local, regional, national, and international teachers all in one place. Each teacher has her/his own web page with a photo, home town, a list of their specialties, the types of presentations they offer, a biography, and sometimes even testimonials from students and others.

For just $15 a year (that’s only $1.25 a month) your program chair can download a Teacher Fact Sheet for every teacher on the web site and save hours and hours of time searching on the Internet for the information they need to bring teachers to your guild for exciting and informative programs. These Teacher Fact Sheets have expanded contact information, fees and expenses, lodging requirements, contract preferences, experience, and more. It’s all in a standardized format and all on ONE PAGE for easy comparisons. Your program chair can create a reference book that will help your guild now and all year long.

With your guild’s subscription your guild will also be listed on FindAQuiltTeacher.com so that people who move to (or travel to) your community can find YOU! It’s a great resource you can be a part of right now.

What a great resource, Ami. Thanks!

Posted 5/14/08

Sign up for some summer creative fun at the Dougherty Arts School in Austin, TX!

Principles of Color and Design for Art Quilting
Instructor: Naomi S. Adams

Explore the principles of color theory and design (balance, proportion, contrast, rhythm, emphasis and unity) and how to use them in art quilt compositions. Using creative design exercises, investigate how colors interact with each other and how to make color work for your artwork. Basic sewing skills needed. Sewing machine needed for selected sessions.

Session 1: Saturday 6/7 and 6/14, 10 am-1 pm OR
Session 2: Saturday 7/19 and 7/26 10 am-1 pm

$45

To register, please call the Dougherty Arts School at 974-4040. For questions, please email Naomi at killerbeedesigns@gmail.com