Innholdsfortegnelse for June - July 2018 i Quilting Arts Magazine

every home studio space has its own personality, and Deborah Boschert’s is no exception. Her space is located behind a pair of French doors right off the main entrance of her home. It used to be the home office, but Deborah has made it her own creative sanctuary. This is a studio that allows the maker’s creative voice to sing. Deborah creates art quilts with layers of fabric, paint, stitch, and meaning. Her artwork is peaceful, introspective, and orderly, just like her studio. Everything both creatively and physically is centered around the counter-height table in the middle of the room. Her design wall is eight feet wide and reaches almost to the ceiling. “In fact, it’s too tall to make use of the upper area, but sometimes I stand on…

not every surface designer has the opportunity to dye outside nearly every day of the year, but Candy Glendening’s dye studio, located in the backyard of her home in southern California, affords her that luxury. “We don’t get much rain and the temperature is never too cold to work outside, so this location is perfect for dyeing.” Candy’s husband hooked up an outdoor sink on their patio shortly after moving to Redlands, 14 years ago. Having her workspace outside allowed for multitasking when her boys were young: she could dye yardage and watch them swim at the same time. “I love working early in the morning when it is still shady; I’m surrounded by herbs, fruit trees, and flowering vines. It is the epitome of peacefulness and contentment.” “I’m surrounded…

“Although my studio can get pretty messy when I am in the middle of a project, I always take the time to do a studio cleanup before starting my next quilt.” the luxury of having enough space to compartmentalize all aspects of art making is fully appreciated by the talented fiber artist, author, and art curator, Sue Bleiweiss. Sue wears many hats as an artist, from dyeing all of the fabric used in her award-winning art quilts to consulting with other artists and even organizing quilt exhibitions. And in order to do all that—and do it well—she must stay organized. “I am, by nature, an organized person and I think my studio setup reflects that.” Her fabrics are sorted and stacked by color family, and her scraps are sorted into…

A SELECTION OF 2017 Winners the International Quilt Association’s annual Judged Show, ‘Quilts: A World of Beauty,’ is one of the most revered international quilt competitions. The quilts in the show, which premieres at International Quilt Festival, Houston, represent the finest examples of craftsmanship, artistry, and design. Winning a ribbon at Houston is every quilter’s dream. Every year, hundreds of entries pour in from around the world, but only a small percentage are selected for the exhibition. In 2017, 347 quilts were juried into 21 categories ranging from Traditional Appliqué to Art Abstract. The following pages feature a sampling of some of the exceptional winning quilts from the show. To learn more about IQA and to become a member, visit quilts.org. SUPERIOR THREADS MASTER AWARD FOR THREAD ARTISTRY Sponsored by…

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 and email it to qasubmissions@fwmedia.com. Your submission should give us an overview of what you are proposing to write with enough detail and supporting information for us to carefully consider your idea. • Attach up to three low-resolution jpg photos of…

tucked away in a quiet New England mill town, art quilter and longarmer Timna Tarr finally has the studio of her dreams. It is anchored with open shelves for storage at one end, and her longarm quilting machine at the other. Between are tables for cutting, ironing, and a couch for relaxing. And best of all, this open-concept space is bathed in lots of light. “Having lots of light and plenty of room to spread out are luxuries that I do not take for granted.” “I recently moved my studio into a new space about a mile from my house. It was a great move for me. This is a big change from when my home and work intermingled constantly.” Now, with her quilting business and family spaces clearly defined,…

I love combining commercial prints and fabrics with original surface designs and am always looking for new techniques to create specific patterns on fabric. The best techniques are sometimes the simplest and don’t require too many materials. After a bit of poking around on Pinterest, I came upon images of stencils made with hot glue. Seemed simple enough! I had a hot glue gun, paint, and fabric. On my first attempts I made stencils that were too small and simple: they were flimsy and didn’t maximize the interesting texture of the hot glue. Eventually I discovered that intricate designs with thicker lines work best. After creating the stencils I was surprised and delighted with the results when using more than one color of paint. By using diluted paint in a…

an artist’s workplace is often a revealing glimpse into the very heart of their work. Whatever is important to them—whether it is bright lighting, meticulous organization, or colorful displays of tools and materials—usually is what guests notice first. The home studio of mixed-media artist Lisa Chin is no exception to that rule. Right away, any visitor would be certain: Lisa loves color, convenience, cats, and carving! “I share my space—a small bedroom in my home—with two cats named Mister and Keiko. All artwork leaving my studio is ‘signed’ with a piece of their fur.” And it looks like her furry studio assistants have plenty to play with in this compact creative space. “I am grateful for the space—grateful for a place where I can work and leave things in process.”…

as an artist who works with fabric and other substrates, I know there is a limit to what I can sew through. Fabric is easy, but heavily rusted cloth—that’s a bit more difficult. I still wanted to get the effect of textured metal in my fiber art. Not to be discouraged, I developed this technique while searching for a way to create a permanently textured textile surface that I could paint to mimic a rusty metal surface that could then be sewn. It’s a simple technique that uses just a few supplies but results in an incredibly complex surface that is rich with texture, dimension, and color. DIRECTIONS Prepare the substrates 1. Fuse 2 layers of fusible web to 1 side of the cotton fabric. To do this, place 2…

i often tell people that purchasing a longarm is like buying a car. They are both large investments in money and space. If you are considering making the commitment to longarm ownership, these are my top tips. Test drive Test drive a few different brands of machines before you buy. Every brand feels different, and you will know if you really like (or don’t like) a machine after giving it a good test drive. Many companies set up booths at large quilt shows, which allows you to try out a few machines in one place. Buy from a dealer Buy your machine, even if it’s used, from a dealer. Dealers will help you learn the machine and are an invaluable resource when you have technical problems. You might find a…

Whether working indoors or out, this space is the ideal studio for artist Lisa Thorpe. Located in the Casita Art Center on the grounds of The Bishop’s Ranch in Sonoma County California, Lisa, the resident artist, has transformed one of the rooms in a repurposed staff housing building into her own personal studio. “Having things organized and categorized clears my mind for creative thoughts.” In keeping with the retreat center’s commitment to making space for their guests to create and learn about art, the center also provides a brightly lit classroom space, an office, and a patio area for outdoor art making. “My studio is located in one of the center’s old bedrooms. It has two big windows and a spacious closet,” says Lisa. Using a pair of repurposed sliding…

SHABON-DAMA Shabon-dama means soap bubble in Japanese and we can see why these threads earned that name as these iridescent, hand-sewing threads shimmer and sparkle in the light. Without being too glittery, this strong thread will add great dimension and interest to any piece. With the mix of colors to choose from—from baby pastels to deep green-browns—these threads span a range of uses. AN AMERICAN QUILT: UNFOLDING A STORY OF FAMILY AND SLAVERY RACHEL MAY Do you enjoy the rich tradition that surrounds quilting? Drift into early 1800s America as Rachel May paints the intriguing story of a housewife transplanted from New England to the South. Follow the story of her slaves, the merchant trade of her family, and—quilts. In this work of creative nonfiction the author connects forgotten textiles…

“My first experience with sewing occurred when I barely passed ‘gathered skirts’ in Home Economics in the eighth grade. For some reason, however, I persisted and begged my older sister, Sharlie, to teach me to sew. And get this, she taught me on her glorious Singer Featherweight machine—what more could a girl want? She was a taskmaster, though. If I screwed something up, out came the darn seam ripper. Mainly out of necessity but also because I just love fondling beautiful fabrics, I ended up making most of the outfits I wore in my 20s and early 30s. I even stitched the outfit I wore when my beloved husband, Donald, and I were married. My actual love of quilting began 40 years ago when we lived near Amish Country in…