Innholdsfortegnelse for February/March 2020 i Quilting Arts Magazine

i have been experimenting with translucent overlays lately. My goal was to find a way to add color, texture, and depth without hiding the background of my quilt art. After testing different materials, I found that cheesecloth was the perfect woven base for this task. MATERIALS • Freezer paper, 24" x 24" • Single-layer cheesecloth, 12" x 12" • Plastic sheeting • Fluid acrylic matte medium (I used LiquitexR.) • Plastic containers • Foam brushes • Liquid acrylic paint • Stamps and ink pads • Silkscreens and silkscreen paint Cheesecloth is a cotton fabric that is loosely woven, lint-free, and absorbent. It is translucent in nature with a soft and supple drape. Cheesecloth is readily available and can be found in fabric, grocery, hardware, and department stores, often prepackaged in…

i am continuously inspired by nature and the cycle of the seasons. As a textile artist, I am always looking for things I can create in non-traditional fabrics and I am intrigued by the way leaves begin to dry and curl up during the autumn. I experimented with different materials and finally settled on a spun polyester interfacing that I manipulated with stitch and a heat gun to create my own super-sized leaves. MATERIALS • ½ yard spun polyester interfacing (I use lightweight PellonR LutradurR.) • Plastic sheeting • Acrylic paint • Disposable cup • Foam brush • Leaf pattern or draw your own • 24g wire (I buy this from the jewelry section of a craft store.) • Craft heat gun • Thread for leaf veins (50wt cotton or…

We introduced the challenge of ‘Hindsight is 20/20’ in our 100th issue of QUILTING ARTS, an issue that was quite a milestone. Creating that issue included much reflection—from our staff, our contributors, and our readers. Looking back on past work and endeavors is a great way to choose which direction to go next. Each interaction we have with our quilt making and our art informs the next—we learn from our successes and our mistakes. When we make art we experiment with materials, techniques, color schemes, and more. We challenged readers to make an 8" x 8" art quilt that explored the theme of looking back in order to leap forward and asked them to consider the question, ‘What will the next 10 years bring in your art?’ We are pleased…

elaborate decorative borders may be admired in traditional quilting but in the art quilt world, those pretty borders can be a distraction. Oftentimes, an art quilt needs to have an edge treatment that does not play any decorative role in the design. For that reason, I finish many of my quilts with a professional edge that will almost disappear when the quilt is displayed or photographed on a black background. When displayed on a lighter background, the edge always appears clean and crisp. Try this technique on your next art quilt! MATERIALS • Black fabric (I use KonaR cotton from Robert Kaufman Fabrics.) • Quilt to bind • Fusible web (I use Lite Steam-A-Seam 2R.) Optional • Spray starch DIRECTIONS 1. Measure the width of the quilt. Cut2 (1 ½…

Hello, I loved the use of doilies in the “Beauty Revisited” article by Susan Brubaker Knapp from the October/November issue of Quilting Arts Magazine. I want to share with you what I recently completed. I had to collect doilies with a solid center for years before having enough to go ahead with my vision. I painted thickened dye on each and then embroidered them while I traveled with my husband. Once home, I assembled them into an art quilt. It measures approximately 54" x 26". Thank you! Marie Shirley-Jones • Red Lodge, Montana Dear QA, Ever since I bought my very first copy of Quilting Arts Magazine, I have wanted to be in it. It was my dream to grace its pages as a writer and have my art included.…

Meet Jill Kerttula, whose sensitive and exquisitely textured art quilts fall squarely in the realm of fine art, all rendered in fabric and thread. Jill has a rich and varied background. She studied painting and printmaking in art school, and then worked in banking and as a graphic designer. Later she returned to college to teach art and graphic design, and also ran her own small business. All through her corporate work experience, she notes that both her camera and her sewing machine were never far from her hands. “As an art director I worked with professional photographers and watched that industry go from film to digital as I participated in the graphic design world while it made that same leap of technology.” Eventually Jill retired, set up her studio…

if you’ve only worked with synthetic felt in the past—remember all those kid crafts?—then you may not have discovered the wonderful characteristics of 100% wool felt for surface design. It is easily dyed with commercially available liquid dyes and can be ‘paint dyed’ with an acrylic paint that acts like a dye. I spent a few days playing and experimenting and found lots of ways to create fascinating textures—bumps, bubbles, craters, and folds. I dye both wool felt and wool batting and use them in different ways. The wool felt works best as a base. The wool batting is much looser, so it’s harder to stitch without catching the sewing machine’s presser foot in it. But it works great to create poufy bubbles or as a film/scrim that you can…

Most art quilters love color. Some of us need color, especially during cold winter months and rainy seasons. And who hasn’t used color is some form to cover up a mistake in a project or create a new opportunity? Sometimes we use an infusion of color to shake us out of a rut or established routine. This issue of QUILTING ARTS has been about making a fresh start, quilting like a magpie, and looking at your artwork and process in new ways. Here’s something that will have you using your refreshed art brain: A Before and After Surface Design challenge with color as the springboard. Working with a recycled or commercially printed fabric, we challenge you to alter it in new, inventive, and surprising ways and share your creation with…

this project was originally inspired by a small book of Japanese fabric swatches given as a gift by a friend living in Tokyo. In addition to the beautiful selection of fabrics, two things caught my eye; one was that the fabric swatches were different sizes so that you could see more than one fabric as you flipped through the book. This made for interesting combinations of pattern and color. The other was the binding—a simple stab stitch. This book format is a great way to display those favorite fabric scraps that you just can’t seem to part with! MATERIALS • 2 (4 ½ " x 7") pieces of wool felt, wool fabric, or acrylic felt as bases for the front and back covers • 2 (4 ½" x 7") pieces…

my photography is the basis—and base layer—for my art quilts. After addressing the issues of composition, color, and subject matter with the photo, I print it, with very little editing, onto fabric. I then add layers of fabric, other fibers, and stitching over and under the printed image. These layers create both ‘edits’ to the photo and textures as only fiber and stitch can. Layering is the key to adding texture. If this is your first time playing with layering and texture, a photo quilt is the perfect medium to experiment. The consistency of working with the ‘same’ quilt using different techniques will highlight the results well. MATERIALS • 3 pieces of fabric with a photo printed on it (Use your own photo or a copyright-free image. I recommend you…

i collect ‘stuff’—if something catches my eye, I pick it up! My philosophy is: I never know when I may need that ‘special something’ for inspiration or to add to my work. Sometimes I plan out a piece based on an object I’ve found but other times as I’m working, memories of the objects I’ve collected begin to pop into my head. I then stop to look for those treasures and, once found, audition them to see which ones fit my vision of the final piece. My work is often based on nature, especially trees and water. MATERIALS Makes a 7 ½ " x 9 ½ " quilt • Fat quarter* hand-dyed or solid color fabric for background (I use hand-dyed osnaburg.) • 8 ½ " x 10 ½ "…