What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

In March 2023 I got COVID which kept me in bed for 6 weeks. The following month it kept me in bed every other day. After that I got back to normal, except my body temperature remained a degree-and-a-half higher than before and, unbeknownst to me at the time, I developed Crohn’s Disease. I was diagnosed by the end of that year, and the first few months of 2024 I spent with worsening symptoms while getting infusions of Skyrizi, a monoclonal antibody treatment. It kicked in after about 4 months and I stabilized by Summer 2024.

Skyrizi is an ...

In late 2024 I participated in a quilting event associated with the Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild. The ask was to create a house themed quilt that would be shown during a homes tour in Kansas City. One of those homes was of Mid-Century Modern design. When I was searching for inspiration, I came across a pattern called “Clerestory”, by textile artist Debbie Grifka. I found it in Fons and Porter’s Love of Quilting magazine in May/June 2016. She also published a book in 2016 called Lines By Design Quilts that contains this pattern. I knew instantly that ...

In late 2024 I participated in a quilting event associated with the Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild. The ask was to create a house themed quilt that would be shown during a homes tour in Kansas City. One of those homes was of Mid-Century Modern design. When I was searching for inspiration, I came across a pattern called “Clerestory”, by textile artist Debbie Grifka. I found it in Fons and Porter’s Love of Quilting magazine in May/June 2016. She also published a book in 2016 called Lines By Design Quilts that contains this pattern. I knew instantly that ...

I listened to a 2-hour video of this academic saying that Reality isn’t real, there is no reality without someone to perceive it, while I attempted to hand-animate a fat Earth goddess I called “Reality,” because that morning I had imagined praying to Reality, who doesn’t care about my feelings, and also to Mystery, who might. Reality and Mystery, sisters. Systery. My animation failed but I still wanted to draw Them. Is Mystery the snake that twines around the Goddess? Is Mystery Reality’s backside? Is Reality that which can be illuminated but seldom is, while Mystery cannot ...

In a heartfelt journey of transformation, we embraced change, moving closer to our grandchildren, and creating a new dream studio. Through meticulous design and cherished memories, I built a space brimming with intention, comfort, and inspiration. Blessed with love, light, and creativity, it reflects a life dedicated to passion and purpose. Continue reading →

Original Drawings are now available through my Store.

The post New Drawings for 2025 appeared first on Nina Paley.

This was a fun wall hanging to make. Reminds me of the Mobius strips we worked with in Geometry! Once you understood the inside out/upside down paper piecing technique, it was quick to put together. Click the video to see … Continue reading →

Despite my desire to have my art gloves “stolen,” it’s possible – actually it’s likely – they can’t be mass-produced. Conforming the stitching to the printed image isn’t the only technical challenge. Precisely matching up the 2 sides of each glove is even trickier, and maybe impossible to automate. Pattern-matching takes the most time in my own making, using a backlight to align the prints as accurately as I can and pinning them together.

I don’t know how that process would be automated, especially on a stretchy knit fabric which would distort further if stabilized in a ...

Copyright zealots insist every good idea will be “stolen” if not “protected”. If only that were true! In case it is, I’m putting this out there: PLEASE “STEAL” MY GLOVE DESIGNS AND MASS PRODUCE THEM MORE CHEAPLY AND EFFICIENTLY THAN I EVER COULD. I put the high-resolution artwork at archive.org. If you want me to modify it, just contact me (but only if you can actually mass produce them, don’t waste my time otherwise). I can make new designs too. Usually “knock-offs” are inferior imitations of the real thing, but I am offering you the real thing ...

People assure me AI art is “soulless,” that unlike human artists AI can’t be “original.” It can only copy. This reflects a widespread misunderstanding of how human artists work: we copy, and there’s no such thing as “original.” I understood this 16 years ago. 

We draw from more or less the same pool of culture that AI does, only our pools are necessarily smaller as humans simply don’t have the capacity for exposure to as much stuff. No matter, because all works carry the influences and language — be it verbal, visual, or musical — as the works around ...

I have no desire to animate. Add my work to a media stream already full of fascinating hallucinations? The creativity of AI exceeds my own, with its innumerable fingers and multiple arms and morphing cat heads. Things turning into other things used to be magic worthy of hard work and years of study. Now it’s a mere artifact, a waste product generated in pursuit of the more mundane.

All my work will be forgotten, because there is so much work. Art used to be diamonds the future could sift from the dust. Now the dust is made of diamonds ...

Last Christmas my oldest son asked me to make some fiber art quilts for his good friends. These are adults I have known since they were kids and I was excited to create some art for them. I thought this would be a good opportunity to review my process for those who would like to attempt it.

First, you need to pick a high-quality image—my son picked this one on the far left. Then, you run the image through an art filter in Adobe Photoshop and get it printed out at the store in the size you wish to ...

A little project I thought would take a few days ended up taking all Summer and into the Fall, but now it’s ready to go into the world.

Update 11-14-24: Limited quantities of finished gloves sewn by me now available at my store!

Here is my “Recovery Glovery”, art gloves for dermatillomaniacs, trichotillomaniacs, and everyone else. They’re lightweight stretchy cotton-spandex, designed for indoor use but can be used outdoors too; I’ve been wearing mine on bike rides.

It's that time of the year again! Dust off your broomsticks and polish your cauldrons, Halloween is just around the corner! Get into the spooky spirit with a quick and easy last-minute witch hat garland project with your little ones. These adorable hats are fun to make with fabric scraps or our Fabric Wonders: 10” Square Packs, and they’re perfect for decorating your Halloween festivities!

We’ve whipped up some spooky magic with our 'Spooky ‘n Witchy' premium quilting cotton collection for these adorable little witch hats! Watch our quick how-to-video and download the Little Witch Hats Garland ...

Calling all quilting enthusiasts! Have you ever wanted to showcase your quilting skills while diving into a fun and creative challenge? Our Astrodelic Quilt Challenge is here to offer you just that! 

The Astrodelic Challenge isn't just about making beautiful quilts; it's also about the excitement of competition and the joy of creativity. Our most popular beginner-friendly pattern uses the strip piecing technique, making it easy to create blocks as a canvas for your imagination. It's perfect for a relaxing weekend project or anytime you want to add your personal style to each stitch and seam. You ...

When I was younger, art skills were meaningful and important.  Filmmaking was too expensive for any but the elite; there was more demand than supply of “media.” Animation was drawn by hand, every frame. Even a short animated film required money in digits that blew my mind, and whole teams of “talent” and managers.

So when I figured out how to make animated movies on my own, I suddenly advanced to elite status. I could do for little money, by myself, what many huge overfunded studios couldn’t achieve. And before that, I drew. When my work made it to ...

Not quite a quarterly update, and I realized that I did not post about my goals here, on my blog. So, let’s start by sharing my goals and how they are going now that we are a third way through the year.

Solo Show Goals:

Overall, my solo show went really well. Two of my three events had great attendance and participation. I loved how all the ...

My time with the Durham Art Guild (DAG), as an artist in residence (AiR) has come to an end. It was bittersweet, excited about the new opportunities in front of me (more to come) but sad I won’t see everyone as often. I can highly recommend this 6-month (ish) artist in residence. I got so much out of it.

I learned a lot about myself through this residence, which could be in part due to the fact I had a lot to learn about being a full-time artist for the first time ...

What does one wear to a $20,000-a-dose drug infusion? At least one person suggested a tiara and evening gown.

One Skyrizi intravenous infusion dose is 600mg, or 2.1164 .21164 ounces. At $20,000 per dose that’s $9,450 $943,333 per ounce.

CORRECTION: my math was off by a factor of 10. Via JO 753 in a comment below:

“There are 28.3 gramz per ounse. 600 milligramz iz .6 gramz, so an ounse iz 47 dosez. Thats 943,333$ an ounse.

No ...

My artist in residence with the Durham Art Guild is nearing an end, and with that is my solo show. The artist in residence is approximately 6 months in length. The show should be new work that you’ve made during the show. There’s a lot to do to fill the space for the show, and a lot of background activities. So here’s my list below.

Space Planning

• Make sure with the event space what insurance is with the space and what additional insurance you may need.
• Think about a contract with the event space so it is ...