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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 ...

This past fall I lectured to a quilter’s group in Northern Virginia. My quilt talks consist of a PowerPoint supported lecture where I go through my history of quilting. I then discuss the quilted homes process I developed. And finally I talk about my fiber-art pieces; reviewing my techniques, showing samples, and doing a demonstration. It is always so much fun! As someone who would never voluntarily speak before a group of people, I am remarkably calm during these lectures. Probably because I’m talking to “my people.” THEY get me, these ladies who quilt.

At the end of ...

It seems that I haven't posted any creative hand work in a while.  But on March 3rd, I ordered a frame loom with a heddle bar to try a different type of weaving. This was shipped from Belgium and arrived on March 12th. (pretty fast I think.)   

(picture borrowed from Funem Studio)

This week’s challenge for Project Quilting (Season 15.5) is “wearables”. You can turn clothing into something else or “quilt-ify” something you wear or make a clothing-themed item.

Here are the normal rules, and you have one week from start to finish to meet the challenge.

• Every challenge piece must be a FINISHED project seen through from INCEPTION to COMPLETION during the challenge timeline.
• Each piece must stand alone as DONE to count toward prizes.
• Your project does not need to be a traditional quilt, but must meet at least one of these requirements: include patchwork, include appliqué, have ...

The Project Quilting challenge for this week (Season 14, #3) is “54/40 or Fight”. It’s the name for a traditional quilt block. If you’re interested to find out more about the block, it’s history, or the Project Quilting challenge, click here: Project Quilting

The challenge has to be done from beginning to end in one week. I was thinking about using the 54/40 or fight block as the center of a square table topper, making pieces wonky to make it more modern. But my heart wasn’t in it. Nothing seemed to come together.

I ...

So I haven’t painted or drawn on fabric for quite awhile now. And with the snow falling outside, I declare an official “Snow Day” … a day to relax, stay cozy indoors, and “play”.

I’ve got my Derwent Inktense 24 box of pencils, a few stiff brushes, some plain white fabric (PTD prepared for dying), freezer paper, and water/aloe vera gel/textile medium and I’m ready to play.

For those of you not familiar with these color pencils, once they’re activated with liquid and dry they become permanent. Unlike watercolor or regular color pencils, these pencils ...

When you have an idea in mind for your art quilt, often combining techniques you’ve learned along the way and a little experimentation will help you reach your goal.

My goal for this small landscape art quilt was to recreate a scene of our Capitol shown in the distance through the autumn leaves. The fall season is my favorite, and so beautiful at the UW-Madison with the variety of trees and colors. Having worked in the heart of this beautiful campus for many years, I’ve had many opportunities to view it.

So how do I begin to reach ...

Ever since I first saw her art work on Quilting Arts TV, and her articles in Quilting Arts Magazine, I’ve dreamed of taking a workshop from Ann Loveless.

Well last Saturday that dream came true — thanks to a workshop given by our very own Wisconsin Museum of Quilts and Fiber Art. So Off I went on a road-trip to historic Cedarburg WI.

The workshop was given in their historic barn. A beautiful space below the museum and gift shop with ...

In 2015 or was it 2016(?) things were in flux. I was re-evaluating what I was doing, where I was headed, what I wanted…  There were a number of things going on that led to this, but it was one of those moments that didn’t seem particularly extraordinary or even interesting, but in hindsight I […]

As this post’s title suggests, there’s a little something for everyone, but let’s start things off with Fiber Talk! In December I was interviewed by Gary Parr and Beth Ellicott for their podcast Fiber Talk, also available on their Youtube channel, Flosstalk. We had such a great time covering a whole variety of different topics… Continue reading Fiber Talk, Music, German Humor & Ice Sculptures

I think of color as having personality. I get a sense of colors much the way I get a sense of people at a dinner party. There are those who dominate the conversation, others who are quiet, yet have really interesting things to say once encouraged. Some people light up when seated next to someone… Continue reading The Personality of Color

 Here's another piece I recently finished.

8"X10"

From this picture ...

... I made a line drawing.

Detail of the stitching and couched thread I used for the arch.

This piece went to a friend, Marilyn who is part of the Southern Fiber Artist group.

Friendship Oak -- 8"X10"

This live oak tree continues to stand in Long Beach, MS. It has a long interesting history that is recorded HERE.

This is for my friend Rena.

There’s something lovely about all the restaurants who are taking outdoor seating to a whole new level. While indoor dining is prohibited, New York City is allowing restaurants to take over the sidewalks and even spill out into the streets, many are taking advantage of this by decorating huge planters with flowering vines, stringing up… Continue reading Pandemic & Creativity in NYC