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!

Tape/ribbon bound quilted sketchbook, button closure and sketch paper signatures.

I just thought some images of some handmade books I’ve made recently were in order. The bookmaking class that I am teaching at both the Long Beach and Houston quilt festivals this year (titled “Quilted Journal”) will feature techniques to make medieval long stitch bound books. Sign up for classes through www.quilts.com  - Enjoy!

Medieval long stitch quilted book, overdyed fabric, dyed batting, ribbon tie, watercolor paper signatures, button gifted to me by artist Margaret Ball.

Medieval long stitch bound journals, pleather and felt covers, ribbon closures with button and bottle cap,  sketchbook paper signatures.

Medieval long stitch bound quilted journal, commercial fabrics, buttonhole closure with handmade button gifted to me by artist Margaret Ball, watercolor paper signatures.

I realized I haven’t posted about the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative in a while, so here’s a quick reminder about a fantastic organization! Right now, quilts are up for auction right here. You can bid right from the comfort of your own home and all of the proceeds go to Alzheimer’s research.

This month, the awesome quilt shown above by the talented Kathy Kennedy-Dennis is being auctioned, and as a bonus, it has my signature on it. :)  The names of 59 quilting luminaries are featured in the center block. Last year at the festival, Kathy carefully collected our autographs. She is wonderful, a talented quilter, and a tireless volunteer to boot!

Every month, I get to assist with some AAQI auction preparations, and it’s hard not to fall in love with a quilt while I am uploading and editing things. This month, I love this quilt featuring a whimsical dragonfly by Didi Salvatierra. I think it’s the eyes. Too cool.

If you’re a quilter, the AAQI is still hoarding quilts to sell at the International Quilt Festival in Houston, TX in November. So, use your Labor Day holiday and make a few Priority: Alzheimer’s quilts to send their way. Check out the guidelines here. I just send a batch before school started, and here is a preview of one of my favorites, Love Skulls. Look for it to be sold or auctioned soon! It is Quilt #7924 if you want to search the AAQI site for it’s status.

Check out the newest issue of Quilting Arts Gifts! I am delighted to have a project included in this year’s issue. This special edition of the magazine is chock full of dozens of patterns and tutorials for fantastic quilted gifts, ornaments, and holiday projects.

This is a sneak peek of my project, a quilted journal, sketchbook or planner cover. It has fantastic pockets for pens and notes.  I use this quilted cover for my planner and simply can’t live without it. Now you can make one for yourself and a friend in no time at all!

New this year is the inclusion of special recipes from the contributors, a delicious bonus. So, go ahead, head to the Interweave store and buy one today so you can start quilting those projects right away!

I had a lovely time at the Surface Design Association Conference this month! I traveled to the lovely city of Minneapolis, Minnesota.  I saw so many lovely images and met lots of interesting artists.  As the SDA Creative Promise Award for Student Excellence Graduate Recipient for 2010, I also have a lovely spread in the current issue of the Surface Design Journal.

My work is still on display through August in the fair city of St. Paul in the Currents show at the Larson Gallery on the University of Minnesota Campus. I was pleased to be able to see the Surface Design Association Student Show in person.  Envy was awarded Second Place in this show!

I thought I’d share a few links of the lovely things you will want to purchase or investigate that I garnered during the conference. Enjoy!

Books and Resources:

India Flint, Natural Plant Dyes and Techniques
http://www.indiaflint.com/index.htm
Book: Eco Colour: Botanical Dyes for Beautiful Textiles
http://www.amazon.com/Eco-Colour-Botanical-Beautiful-Textiles/dp/1596683309/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1308693416&sr=8-1

Chunghie Lee, Korean Wrapping Bundles
New Book: Bojagi and Beyond
Order through bojagiandbeyond@gmail.com

Carolyn Kallenborn, Woven Lives DVD about Oaxacan Weaving Traditions.
http://www.vidasentretejidas.com/
http://www.amazon.com/Woven-Lives-Entretejidas-Carolyn-Kallenborn/dp/B0051UHDCC

Natalie Alabama Chanin, USA Cottage Hand Sewn Sustainable Clothing
http://alabamachanin.com/
Books: Alabama Stitch Book
http://www.amazon.com/Alabama-Stitch-Book-Celebrating-Contemporary/dp/B004KAB3FC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1308693608&sr=8-2

Alabama Studio Style
http://www.amazon.com/Alabama-Studio-Style-Celebrating-Sustainable/dp/B00509CRDY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1308693608&sr=8-1

Cave Paper: Handmade Papers by Amanda Degener and Bridget O’Malley
www.cavepaper.com

Spoonflower, Custom Printed Fabrics
www.spoonflower.com

Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Book Arts Residencies/Fellowships
http://www.mnbookarts.org/index.html

LFN Textiles: Artist’s Ribbons by Laura Foster Nicholson
http://www.lfntextiles.com/servlet/StoreFront

Jiyoung Chung: Joomchi, traditional Korean Papermaking process
Book: Joomchi and Beyond
http://www.jiyoungchung.com/

I just finished casing in my edition of 6 artist books, Pairings. Since the illustrations are hand drawn, it is an edition variee. While they are extremely similar, the illustrations make it impossible for each book to be exactly the same. I think it adds charm.

The letterpress type in this book was created on a Vandercook Print Press at Texas Woman’s University.  I used some fabulous big metal type to create impressions on watercolor paper with hand torn edges.

There are seven pairings in the book.  Each book is 9 1/2″ H x 6″ W. Each book has 20 pages and 14 hand drawn illustrations. Each pair is a wine and cheese that I love best together. I had to do some serious research. In this case, a lot of wine and cheese had to be consumed. It’s a hard job, but someone has to do it.

The binding is a sewn retchoso binding that allows the book to lay flat when the viewer reads it. I remembered to take a photo before they got cased in. Lovely. The cover title is also letterpressed onto a lovely textured green paper.

Although lighthearted in many ways, the book also poses my thoughts about pairings and how I feel our culture presents that we are better or more whole if we are coupled up with that special someone. Each pairing has their own phrase associated with this idea, such as “two peas in a pod” or “coupling”.

You see the wine and cheese together, overlaid through a window that showcases the matched set and both of their best qualities. When you turn the page, the cheese stands alone and the wine is left incomplete, with a hole in the bottle.

To purchase a book, please visit my etsy store here or contact me. I worked on this edition with Mary Kathryn Wimberly at Texas Woman’s University. Thank you, Mary Kathryn!

Greek: 72″H x 54″W x 2″D

Greetings! I have just returned from the great adventure of the opening of Quilt National 2011. This is my piece, Greek, that you can view at the Dairy Barn in Athens, Ohio until September 5, 2011.  It is such an honor to be a part of this amazing exhibition. I was a first time exhibitor, as were about half of the exhibitors for this biennial. The quality and breadth makes for a really engaging exhibit. While the book/catalog is wonderful, it is so much more amazing to see the pieces in person.

Greek was awarded the “Most Innovative Use of the Medium”, which is generously sponsored by the Friends of FiberArt International. What a pleasure.

I met the most wonderful art quilters and friends of textile art!  People streamed in from all over the globe for the event. We had pieces from 13 countries and 22 states in the exhibit. 88 quilts are exhibited (85 are juried in), chosen by 3 wonderful jurors, from a sea of over 1000 entries.

Lastly, here is my piece and my very own sold sticker! I was delighted to meet the curator and collectors that purchased Greek for their collection.  What a wonderful experience. I can’t wait to get to my studio tomorrow and start on a new piece!

The delightful Judy Kirpich, fellow fiber artist that I met at a Nancy Crow workshop, has the honor of having her piece, Circles No. 4, grace the cover of the book.  Order your catalog of the exhibit here.

A lovely group of fiber artists, led and curated by the fabulous Kathy York, have created a group fiber exhibit: “It takes a village”. I hope you get to see it in person soon at a venue near you! We were each invited to make a unique house for the village. I was truly delighted to make something really fun and whimsical!  As I searched for an idea, I knew I had found it when I decided to make a tree house.

My tree house is nestled into two trees, structurally created with Peltex interfacing. I used my own hand dyed fabrics, as well as some commercial batiks that I over painted to get them to the color and surface texture that I wanted. The tree leaves were created with my dyed cotton batting and commercial black and white print fabrics, backed with interfacing.

Any house of mine needs a skull banner to be inhabitable. However, my favorite part is the rope ladder! I hope you enjoy your studio tour of our village.

Check out all of the contributing artists and their lovely work. Join us for the rest of our blog tour!

Susan Else (website) May 2 http://www.susanelse.com/

Frances Holliday Alford May 3 http://www.franceshollidayalford.com/weblog/

Pamela Allen (website) May 4 http://pamelart.homestead.com/titlepage.html

Frieda Anderson May 5 http://friestyle.blogspot.com/

Lisa Call May 6 http://blog.lisacall.com/

Jane Davila May 9 http://janedavila.blogspot.com/

Naomi Adams May 10 http://killerbeedesigns.com/blog1/

Jamie Fingal May 11 http://jamiefingaldesigns.blogspot.com/

Barb Forrister May 12 http://www.freespiritartstudio.blogspot.com/

Vickie Hallmark May 13 http://fiberartglass.blogspot.com/

Connie Hudson May 16 http://beyondtherail2010.blogspot.com/

Leslie Jenison May 17 http://leslietuckerjenison.blogspot.com/

Sherri McCauley May 18 http://sherrilipmanmccauley.blogspot.com/

Judy Perez May 19 http://judyperez.blogspot.com/

Melanie Testa May 20 http://www.melanietesta.com/mtype/

Laura Wasilowski May 23 http://artfabrik.blogspot.com/

Kathy York May 24 http://aquamoonartquilts.blogspot.com/

Fluvial, 2010, 32″ x 48″ x 2″

I just thought I’d post some recent sculptural fiber work that I have created. I’ll be working on getting all of my new work on the regular part of my website soon!

This piece was created as I was thinking about water, rivers and different views of landscapes. This piece references an aerial view of a meandering river. The lovely turquoise color that you see is my hand dyed cotton batting, which is exposed to your view when I cut up my quilts and reassemble them into these quilted collages.

Fluvial was exhibited at the Waterways: Rivers on the Edge exhibition in 2010, where it received a juror’s award.

Maybe this will help keep your thoughts warm thinking of lovely summer river adventures during these days of winter!

Greetings from the Houston International Quilt Festival! I’m here standing by my quilt, Diamonds, that was awarded “The Future of Quilting” prize this Festival. Thank you, IQA, and sponsor, Tin Lizzie.

Come stop by and chat. I’ve already met hoards of fabulous and pleasant quilters and can’t wait to meet more. I’d love to explain the 3-D nature of the piece and how I accomplished it. Or just come by to see the fresh flowers that coordinate with my quilt’s colors. I’ll be here through Sunday!