Innholdsfortegnelse for August/September 2020 i Quilting Arts Magazine

“It’s amazing what a little color can do to lift the spirit and feed the soul.” THE SPRING MONTHS THIS YEAR WERE HARD ON NEARLY EVERYONE I KNOW. Not only were we sheltering due to the pandemic, but the New England weather didn’t cooperate, and we were stuck inside with weeks of cold gray weather and lots of rain. Visiting friends, trips to the gym, and dinners out were replaced with virtual meet-ups, Zoom yoga, and sourdough pancake experiments. But despite the disruptions, there were a few bright spots. Family dinners, game nights, and political debates helped my family make it through those months of sheltering in place. I read a pile of books, cleaned closets, and caught up on podcasts (more on that later). And to top it off,…

“the color is the first step.” This statement from Cindy Grisdela is both illuminating and obvious. Cindy’s contemporary art quilts radiate with color, value, and balance. “Each decision about color and shape influences the next and complex blocks repeat like beats of a melody,” she says. Her intuitive and improvisational style creates luminous works that can be found in private collectives across the country … and they all get their start in her home studio. Lakeside retreat Cindy’s studio may be located in the daylight basement of her home, but it is well-lit and overlooks a lake. She’s worked in a variety of home studios over the course of her career, from a space on the dining room table to a corner of the guest bedroom to a small upstairs…

as a textile arts instructor, I think value is one of the trickier parts of the color puzzle for students. That eye-popping element that makes a quilt stop you in your tracks is sometimes hard to achieve. But a Tumbling Blocks quilt just wouldn’t tumble without a range of light, medium, and dark fabric in its construction. Imagine dyeing your own wide range of value all in the same piece of fabric! It’s a ‘work smarter, not harder’ approach, so no repeated bending and touching your toes. This method makes gravity your friend. om·bré (adjective) (am.-?bra) Definition: Literally “shaded” in French, the shading of color from light to dark, or blending of one color into another. Prep the fabric 1. Make the soda ash solution by mixing 1 gallon of…

KONA® COTTON 365 COLORS SWATCH CARD Take the guess work out of choosing fabrics! It’s nearly impossible to pick just the right hue from a sample on your computer screen—especially when Kona fabrics come in 365 different colors—but there’s a solution. The updated swatch card displays a square of every Kona solid. Colors are organized by hue and identified by both their unique number and color name for easy ordering. Want a square of every one of these fabrics? 5" charm packs are available, too. $39.50 • robertkaufman.com FOOLPROOF COLOR WHEEL SET CREATED BY KATIE FOWLER This issue of Quilting Arts Magazine is full of features and techniques that require a color wheel in order to explore them fully. This set includes die-cut ‘discs’ designed to help you isolate color…

What are we looking for? • Artists with inspiring portfolios of work to be featured in our In The Spotlight, Artist Profile, Open Studio, and Q&A articles. Show us your work and tell us your story. • Unique techniques, new ways to use existing tools and supplies, and ideas we’ve never featured before. • Projects and techniques featuring mixed-media, collage, and fabric book art. How to submit • Write a brief description of your idea and email it to qasubmissions@goldenpeakmedia.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 your art or process to your email, and don’t forget to include your name,…

Hi Quilting Arts, I grew up in a family of sewists and quilters—both of my grandmothers made beautiful quilts and my mom, a Home Ec teacher, was a fabulous seamstress and taught me how to sew at a young age. I have been a garment seamstress for many years and my first forays into quilting were just embroidered or fussy-cut blocks joined with sashing. However, as I did more reading, took quilting classes, and studiously absorbed magazine articles on this beautiful art (Quilting Arts has played a huge part in this—I am a subscriber), I became more adventurous and delved into piecing and intricate designs. When my granddaughter drew me a picture of their farm, I had the idea to make a small wall quilt from her drawing and a…

i met Dorte Bach about 20 years ago when I was working for a French magazine. I heard that she was organizing seminars in a beautiful abbey in Kloster, Bavaria, near Lake Irsee in Germany, and I decided to cover the event. When I contacted her, she very kindly invited me to stay at the abbey during the seminar. I discovered an artist but also a wonderful teacher who liked to share her passion with her students. Dorte’s work has, naturally, evolved since that time, and her talent, imagination, and skills are as great as ever. She currently lives in Munich, Germany. GÜL LAPORTE: When did your interest in textiles and art quilts begin? DÖRTE BACH: I studied Art, English, and German and for 15 years I was an enthusiastic…

A color vocabulary Three characteristics of color—value, temperature, and intensity—are the essence of color theory and play a part in almost every quilt design. Each characteristic has an advancing or receding quality; that is, colors seem to come forward or seem to be farther away. Value is about the lightness or darkness of color. Dark values advance, while light values recede. Of course, infinite values exist, from the lightest lights (which often read as white) to the darkest darks (which often read as black). (figure 1) Temperature is how warm a color appears. Warm colors (reds, yellows, oranges) advance, while cool colors (blues, greens, violets) recede. Yellow-green and red-violet can be either, depending on the colors nearby. Red-violet looks warmer next to blue-green, but cooler next to orange. (figure 2)…

a salvaged children’s book, with its sweet illustrations and charming tale, becomes inspiration for a brand new story. Paint a new chapter, stitch a fresh verse, embroider new lyrics. Combine fiber and paper. Make it your own. MATERIALS • Book for altering • Canvas (the size will depend on the book pages you will be altering. I use painters’ drop cloths from the hardware store as they tear nicely, leaving a wonderful frayed edge.) • Fabric-safe washable marker • Acrylic paints and paintbrushes • Old paintbrush • Thick craft glue (I use Aleene’s® Tacky Glue.) • Used papers (book pages, old maps, instructional manuals, interesting text or graphs) • Wax or freezer paper • Sewing machine with free-motion capability • Fluid matte medium (I use Liquitex® Fluid Matte Medium.) Cardboard…

“JUST OK IS NOT OK” IS MY NEW MANTRA. THIS PHRASE REFLECTS MY PHILOSOPHY PERFECTLY. Whether it’s from being the firstborn in my family with all its expectations, a quilt judge with decades of experience, a lifelong fierce competitor, or simply having a perfectionistic, never-satisfied nature, I continually pursue excellence in my quilt endeavors, but I’ve never reached perfection. The finish line keeps moving further into the future. My reach always exceeds my grasp. And I do have long arms. “Never settle!” is a message I repeat to myself, my students, and, in a very subtle way, to my quilting customers. For me, quilting is a learned skill. I discovered—almost a generation after the fact—that my paternal grandmother was in a neighborhood quilting bee and made a quilt for my…

Christine Barnes is contemporary quilter specializing in color theory for quilters―in particular the “lights effects” of transparency, luminosity, and luster―for the vitality they add to a quilt design. She has authored four books on quilt making. two on color alone, and her designs have appeared in MODERN PATCHWORK, AMERICAN PATCHWORK & QUILTING, McCALL'S QUILTING, and AMERICAN QUILTER magazines. christinebarnes.com Mel Beach is a San Jose, California. based quilt artist, teacher, and lecturer. She loves stretching her creativity through photography, comedy improv studies, and the completion of 80+ quilt challenges at the local and international level. Mel has appeared on “Quilting Arts TV.” melbeachquilts.com Cindy Grildela is an award-winning fiber artist with over 30 years of experience creating eye-catching quilts. She specializes in improvisational quilt designs and dense free-motion quilting. and…

you probably use social media for yourself daily, but how about for your quilt art and your business? Social media is an important tool for the quilt artist, and with so many choices for apps, programs, and platforms, it can be formidable, too. With Facebook—which is accessible from your phone, tablet, or computer—to Instagram, which can only be used via it’s app on the phone or tablet, to TikTok, Snapchat, Twitch.tv, and an infinite array of newcomers, it’s no wonder the social media space can be overwhelming. Pick your platform If you are just starting out, you’ll need to create a Facebook page for business, which acts differently than a personal profile on that platform. This free page then allows you to attract followers and you can exceed the personal…