Innholdsfortegnelse for Spring 2025 i Quilting Arts Magazine

i love using words featured in my work for inspiration. It’s like a daily affirmation infused into your art, but also, it can serve as a way to work through something you are dealing with. We often hear artists and makers speak of healing through craft. But how do you choose a word? Here’s a fun and simple way to narrow it down: Search online for “words of the year” or “inspiring words to live by.” You will find dozens of one-pagers to choose from. Print off a page and take a few moments to read through the words, crossing off the ones that don’t speak to you and circling the ones that stand out. Go through the list over and over comparing the circled words to one another until…

in the middle of the Arts District of Atlanta, Georgia, sits the High Museum of Art, a cultural hub for the capital city’s vibrant, diverse community. Housing over 19,000 works of art, there are collections of photography, fine art, decorative works, and a large selection of self-taught or folk art from makers in the American South. The exhibition, “Patterns in Abstraction: Black Quilts from the High’s Collection,” is focused on showing a connection between the methods of abstract art and quilting. The quilts are examples of storytelling and emotion represented through textile art. One featured quilter, O.V. Brantley, found that having her quilt hanging in the High’s latest exhibition was almost surreal. “There are things you do and aspire to a certain end goal—like you go to law school, practice…

The mothers were wailing at the wind The fathers were pacing in the forest Small footprints were washed away in the rain The tiny voices roiled by sediment Hand clasping hand Young hearts buried in gravel Far from the breast of their home No salmon chanting their spirit song No beaded headdress caressing their brow Oh Children of the Shuswap and the Okanagan Seized as chattel Unwound from their cradleboard Moccasins tossed aside Snipped braids laying on the floor Minimal food Minimal care Disease and predators unchecked Washed with Hail Marys and Our Fathers Spoken by omnipotent celibates Consecrated by government seal Funded by hostile hypocrisy Small, shining eyes closed forever Yet their heart drum persisted Resonating with the coyote The hawk eagle and bear All became partners Leading the…

Dahlia ANNE WARDEN • NORTH VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA Many years ago, my very talented daughter, Kris Warden, painted a beautiful dahlia in acrylics. I’ve always kept that 15" × 20" image in my mind and it finally became my inspiration to create my own dahlia in my favorite medium—fabric! So, when this challenge was announced I had no more excuses, it was high time to show my love of flowers. To this story, I should also mention that Dahlia was my nickname; given and always used by my peers all through the years at boarding school. Silk and cotton fabrics, fusible web; free-motion machine quilted. there are few things as truly delightful—and a little frivolous—than a lush bouquet of flowers! Humans are captivated by the beauty of flowers and…

Our Readers Respond! We love to hear from you, dear readers, and welcome your letters about anything related to art quilting, surface design, working with mixed media—and whatever you are doing. Especially if it is inspired by QUILTING ARTS, too. Dear QUILTING ARTS, Just wanted to tell you that I have every issue of QUILTING ARTS MAGAZINE from the first and, to my mind, the [Winter 2025 issue] was the most varied and delightful one! I am not a traditional quilter, in fact, I call myself a stitcher, but I pal around with those ladies! Again, thanks for the delightful magazine. Phillippa Lack • Cheyenne, Wyoming Dear QUILTING ARTS, When I saw the quilt on your cover I had to do a double-take [QUILTING ARTS, Fall 2024, featuring “PeleFire” by…

“a decade ago, if you had told me that I would totally change my life by sitting down to stitch in meditation for 20–30 minutes at a time, I would have said no way! But here I am, ten years later, a very different person because of my Stitch Meditation practice. On the outside, I look much the same—except for a few more gray hairs and wrinkles—but my way of being in the world is totally changed. It didn’t happen in one session, there was not one specific moment of transformation, nor a before and an after. There were many micro moments of insight found in stitch, color, and texture that have flowed over to my creative practice. However, the greatest gift of this practice has been learning the ability to simply…

DISCOVER A TREASURE TROVE of fiber art inspiration and materials awaiting you at a creative reuse center near you. These organizations carry an amazing array of reclaimed fabrics, embellishments, tools, and other art-making supplies at bargain prices. There you can score sumptuous designer fabrics to stretch your imagination and elevate your fiber art without breaking your budget. Moreover, your purchase supports educational programming, while reducing landfill waste. An online search for “creative reuse” will likely yield a number of organizations near you. Materials to Inspire & Elevate Your Fiber Art Thanks to my local creative center, FabMo (short for Fabrics and More), my stash now includes luxurious dupioni silks, velvety-soft microsuedes, shimmering rayons, and delicate sheers, along with an array of dazzling embellishments. This past year, I challenged myself to incorporate…

when Cecilia Koppmann was diagnosed with breast cancer, her first appointment to learn about her treatment included a three-hour wait in the lobby before she even met with the doctor. This made her furious. She quickly realized that if she was going to get through this ordeal, she needed something to do to take her mind off of her anger and deal with the long waits, the treatments, and especially the uncertainty of it all. Fabric, needle, and thread became her savior. Cecilia decided that she would hand stitch one small block in the waiting room for each day of her radiation treatments. If the wait was long, the 8" square was filled with embroidery and embellishment. If the wait was short, the block was left in whatever state it…

With a background in mathematics and engineering, Lyn Brown has a unique window into fiber arts. After teaching quilting for years at her local college, she retired upon the birth of her first grandchild. Lyn now stitches up quilts and other goodies for her family, friends, and for publication. She lives in Yorba Linda, California, with her husband and three pugs. lynbrown.com Jane Dunnewold teaches and lectures internationally. She is a recipient of the Quilt Japan Prize, and Gold Prize at the Taegue (Korea) International Textile Exhibition. The San Antonio Art League named Dunnewold Artist of the Year for 2019. In 2020, her archives were acquired by the International Quilt Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska. janedunnewold.com Rebecca Cartwright is a disabled quilter, teacher, and activist. Since being diagnosed with a degenerative…

art quilters know that everything in life can inspire us. To manage these boundless options, we might choose to impose creative constraints, like restricting our palette. Sometimes life imposes its own constraints, like limited time or money. But what about the limitations of our own bodies? Can they be a source of creativity too? Most of us will experience physical limitations during our lifetime, whether from illness, injury, or simply by getting older. It can be frightening to cope with limitations we can’t control. Quilting is a physical activity; our bodies are an important part of our creative practice. When we lose ability, what happens? Do we have to stop quilting entirely? Living with disability for the past 10 years, I’ve found ways to continue doing what I love—even though…

we never know what joys or sorrows will inspire us to create. Sometimes inspiration comes when threads unravel, revealing historical truth. For me, this was the case in the Spring of 2021 with news of the discovery of 751 unmarked graves of First Nation children on the grounds of an Indigenous boarding school. The children died from varied causes, some from a lack of nutrition and medical care. Many parents were never told what happened to their children—they were secretly buried far from their homes. Children who survived were given “English” names, clothes, and haircuts, and were punished for speaking their language. The news shook my soul. Responding to Tragedy Distraught that children were so mistreated and ashamed of the subdued response from authorities, I wrote the poem “Buried” and…

ART IS OFTEN INSPIRED by the written word, especially poetry. Brilliant words inspire us every day. Many of us have a favorite quote, saying, or poem tucked away or, perhaps, on display in our homes, studios, and elsewhere. Show us how words are important to you by making a 6" × 8" (vertical) art quilt inspired by a phrase of words. It can be a line from a poem you love, an inspiring quote, wisdom from an elder or mentor, or any combination of words that are meaningful to you and spark your creativity. Rules 1. Create a 6" × 8" art quilt in portrait orientation based on the theme ‘Words to Live By.’ The quilt should capture your interpretation of the theme using your favorite techniques, materials, subject matter, and…

In 1996, my family was living in the heart of Africa in the country of Tanzania. We were missionaries teaching future pastors and happily raising our two young sons. I was days from delivering our third son when I suddenly felt no movement of my active unborn child. My sadness was palpable. Working through the grief was difficult, yet not without hope. I studied the book of Psalms and learned to lament like David did. I learned to give praise and thanksgiving in my circumstances. I learned that I wasn’t alone in my grief; Christ was with me giving me the strength I needed to keep going each day. A few years later, we found ourselves in the city of Nairobi, Kenya. I found that I needed a creative outlet,…