Innholdsfortegnelse for August - September 2016 i Quilting Arts Magazine

PERCEPTION IS EVERYTHING WHEN IT COMES TO ART, AND HOW AN ARTIST SEES THE WORLD AROUND THEM IS A FASCINATING TOPIC. Artists have the unique opportunity of sharing their view and perspective with the world. However, an artist can’t always control what the viewer sees. See more quilts from Dawn Allen and learn about her fascinating story on page 10. I remember standing beneath the dome at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome for the first time and looking up. The ceiling is high and curves elegantly into a cupola. Encircling the dome and extending heavenward is an incredibly ornate scene, including beautiful cherubs with rosy cheeks and golden curls. At least that is what I thought I saw. On closer inspection—and after climbing hundreds of stairs for a better view—I…

WESTFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS “When I was a child I always wondered whether other people saw colors the same way I did. What if my yellow was their blue? Just two years ago, when I was 39, and after going to many doctors for debilitating headaches, dizziness, and body aches, I was diagnosed with a vision issue, which, it turns out, I have had my entire life. I see double (vertically), but my brain suppressed the double vision. As a result, I always had very little depth perception and a sense that everything I looked at was ‘swimming.’ Because I had seen that way since I was a child and didn’t know otherwise, I thought my sight was normal. I had always scored 20/20 on eye exams, so no one questioned my…

QUILT DOTS Quilt Dots are little magnets decorated with quilt images. Designed with artwork by today’s most talented quilters, fiber artists, and fabric designers, these versatile magnets would be lovely on your fridge, but are so much more. Snap the small magnets onto interchangeable bases to wear as jewelry, keychains, and bookmarks, to name a few. Shown is a new collection featuring the artwork of Susan Brubaker Knapp. Prices vary • quiltdots.com TENTAKULUM FIBERS Germany’s Tentakulum Manufaktur is famous for beautiful hand- and space-dyed Painter’s Threads named for famous painters such as Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo, and Grandma Moses. These luscious thread collections also include perle cotton, rickrack, ribbon floss, trims (pictured), gimp, and more in cotton, silk, and rayon. Prices vary • available online or at your local quilt…

Our focus on facial features now turns to the nose. This feature is challenging for two reasons. First, it actually pops off the surface of the face, and, more than other facial features, has three dimensions. Second, because it includes a number of shapes coming together with no clear lines of separation, we face the challenge of defining the nose without over defining it. As we have done before, let’s begin with a discussion of placement on the head, and in relationship to other features. The top of the nose is generally the very center of the head, occurring at the midpoint from top to bottom and side to side. At this point, the brow bones come together and form a low, narrow depression of bone between the eyes, called…

I love the new obsession with adult coloring books—they are one of my must-pack items for every flight. My other travel must-have is my iPad—which I use as a sketchbook—for planning out future pet portraits inspired by photos. Most of my work comes to life after many hours of tracing and trimming small bits of fabric for my large portraits. These pieces are incredibly rewarding but not exactly portable. MATERIALS • Ready-to-print fabric or your own fabric stabilized with a removable sheet such as freezer paper, 8." x 11" • Fabric markers • Background, 10" x 12" • Backing, 10" x 12" • Batting, 10" x 12" • Lightweight fusible web, . yd. • Threads, colors to match subject and background fabric • Topstitch needle (I usually use size 90…

DEAR QUILTING ARTS, I spin, knit, and weave. I don’t quilt, but I watch “Quilting Arts TV” every week and I’m a new subscriber to your magazine. You make me want to quilt! So I tried making an art quilt inspired by a photo of my miniature dachshund Lena wearing her colorful raincoat. I used machine embroidery and added hand-stitched details with yarn. I’m more proud of this first art quilt than anything I’ve ever designed. I hope this will be the first of many more quilts, created because of YOU! Thank you for giving me the opportunity to stretch outside of my comfort zone and try something new. Marcia McCormack Lake Forest, California DEAR QUILTING ARTS, I have been a faithful reader since your first issue and value every…

Sometimes, a piece of art can stop you in your tracks because of its size. It happens frequently when crowds gather around the enormous quilt “Crocodylus Smylus.” Artist Susan Carlson created this quilt, a life-sized rendition of a saltwater crocodile she calls “Stevie,” and the sheer size— 22' x 6', that’s feet, not inches!—is something to behold. I had the pleasure of seeing Stevie in person on the set of “Quilting Arts TV” and speaking with Susan about the challenges of creating a piece so large. Her work is fascinating from any distance. It incorporates a multitude of fabrics not often used in quilts, while creating life-like images of people and animals, all made from commercial cloth. Vivika: The quilting world cannot stop talking about this amazing quilt. We were…

Sonnets have been written, songs crafted, artwork of all media created—all about the love that fills our hearts and souls and makes us human. As quilters, we are inspired by so many things—nature, current events, technology, music—but what is more inspiring than the special people in our lives? For this challenge, we want you to think of a special someone in your life, someone who makes a difference and for whom your heart beats faster. Show us that person in a quilt. Valentine’s Day is right around the corner—honor someone! Here’s how to enter • Create an art quilt based on the theme “Who Do You Love?” The entire quilt must measure 10" × 10" including the binding. Embellishments or three-dimensional elements must not protrude more than ." from the…

On a trip to Israel in 2012, I fell in love with mosaics—both ancient and modern. I spent two years experimenting to develop a technique to reproduce the look of ancient stone mosaics using fabric. Small pieces of fabric are placed on a fusible web using a line drawing as a pattern. Using a variety of fabrics yields a rich and varied texture that makes these mosaics interesting. You won’t need a sewing machine until the final finishing steps. MATERIALS Finished quilt 13" x 16" • Assorted batiks (see Note) • Background fabric to simulate grout, 11" x 14" • Tulle, 10" x 13" • Backing, 14" x17" • Inner border, fat quarter • Outer border, fat quarter • Low-loft batting, 14" x 17" • Pomegranate template, downloadable at quiltingdaily.com,…

What if Henri Matisse’s wife had great fabric and fusible web to play with? Perhaps Amélie actually wanted to be a quilter but Henri was only cutting up paper instead of cottons? Many art quilting techniques—such as raw edge appliqué and fabric collage, just to name a few— can be linked to the fine art world and vice versa. If you check out art and design textbooks, you’ll see many images that could readily translate from canvas to cloth. Why not create a fabric collage, Matisse style? Amélie (and Henri) would love you for it! MATERIALS • Fabric, white cotton, 12" x 18" • Accent fabrics, 6–12 large scraps or 5" squares • Background fabrics: – ‘Wall’ fabric, 12" x 12" – ‘Table’ fabric, 12" x 12" • Black-and-white fabric,…

At QUILTING ARTS, we celebrate contemporary art quilting, surface design, mixed media, fiber art trends, and more. We are always looking for new techniques, innovative processes, and unique approaches to the art of quilting. We’d love to hear from you! What are we looking for? • Artists with inspiring portfolios of work to be featured in our In The Spotlight, Artist Profile, and Q&A articles. Show us your work and tell us your story. • Essays for “the last word” (up to 800 words). • Unique techniques, new ways to use existing tools and supplies, and ideas we’ve never featured before. • If you are teaching, blogging, or exhibiting your art quilts, you probably have great ideas to share! How to submit • Write a brief description of your idea…

IT’S DAY SIX IN BIG BEND COUNTRY, THE FIRST DAY I’VE NOT BEEN OUT SKETCHING AND PAINTING WITH FRIENDS WHO ARE PLEIN AIRE ARTISTS. WHICH I, MOST DEFINITELY, AM NOT. Or, at least, I wasn’t until this week. How else, asked my friend Nancy Fly, “Can you go out, park by the road, look and paint, and not say a word for three hours, even though you’re easel-to-easel with others occupied in the very same way?” I’ve had a tough schedule teaching lately, and fighting a change-of-season cold. This was the last thing I expected to put on the calendar. But Nancy convinced me and here I am almost a week into it, gloriously scruffy with dust, alternatively hot and cold in the transitional desert clime, with pencils, sketchpad, and…

Susie Monday’s work and life are informed and inspired by the Texas Borderlands where she works and teaches in person and online. She tells tall tales, uncovers dreams, and explores myths with her recycled, hand-printed, and artist-designed fabrics and narrative compositions. susiemonday.com Susan Purney Mark is a surface-design artist living and working in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Her recent work uses fabric that she has created by dyeing, painting, and printing as well as using soy wax resists. She is most often inspired by her travels, and a recent solo show focused on abstracted structures seen on a tour of Italy. She has a Quilting Arts Workshop™ video “Fabric Embellishments with Color, Surface Design and More,” has appeared on “Quilting Arts TV,” and has written several articles for Quilting Arts.…

“Korean Dreams” 19" × 23" “After serving in the Peace Corps to South Korea, I have taken many trips back to visit. I made ‘Korean Dreams’ while traveling there with my sister. I packed quilt sandwiches in several sizes and collected objects during the trip, planning to work on one square a day. A traffic accident cut short our trip but I had warm memories of the kindness of friends, hospital staff, and even strangers who helped us. After the trip, I worked on the pieces and completed the quilt, feeling additional healing as I worked.” recently, two of my friends came for an afternoon visit. We made tea and they brought their hand work. Embroidery, needlepoint, and knitting merged in a friendly way while we discussed many topics. The…

I started my artist’s way as a painter. Well, to be quite honest, I started as a collage artist, cutting up old Christmas and birthday cards to glue onto pieces of cardboard. I suppose that was a big clue that throughout my life—as an art student and as a professional artist—I would always be looking for and finding ways to recycle materials and use my hands to make things. My first foray into the quilting world was innocent enough—I decided to make my newborn son a baby quilt. I had a garment sewing background and could read a pattern so I bought a commercial pattern and made my son a quilt. Even at that nascent stage, I wished to infuse that handmade object with my personal touch. I hand embroidered…