I've always found quilters to be a generous bunch, always ready to share a technique or some fabric from their stash.
Last year about this time, I was inspired by a group dyeing adventure at the Interweave offices to host my own dyeing party at home.
I'm an equal-opportunity fabric monger: I drool just as much over hand surface-designed fabrics. I gobble up every new technique and have even tried some fabric stamping, ice dyeing, resist dyeing, and fabric painting. I love it.
Last year when Pantone announced its Color of the Year—Tangerine Tango—I was a fan. I like cheerful, sunny colors, and this one hit the spot for me. I could see using it in different modes, from fabric to embroidery, to surface design techniques.
Usually when we hear the word shibori, we think of dyeing. Shibori dyeing come from the Japanese term for several methods of resist dyeing using binding or tying, stitching, folding, twisting, compressing it, or capping to create patterns.
Where I live in New England, it gets dark at about 4:30 p.m. in the depths of winter. So when Daylight Savings Time kicks in and the snow banks start to melt, I'm itching to get outside and do some fabric painting and dyeing.
When I returned to New England from QuiltCon in Austin, Texas, this week, I couldn't help but notice: it snowed again while I was gone. Yes, while I was in the climate-controlled comfort of the exhibit halls surrounded by colorful quilts--and quilters--Mother Nature had thrown another heavy blanket of snow over my region.
I've been playing with screen printing for fiber art a lot lately, in preparation for a surprise the Quilting Arts team has in store for you. (Trust me, you will love it.)
Last week I shared a pillow project by Candy Glendening, noting how the simplicity of the design allowed her hand-dyed fabrics to take center stage. Today I thought give you some insight into Candy's fabric dyeing process.
Our foremothers knew how to make a quilt using only what they had, from scraps of fabric to natural dyes. But, quilt making the frugal and eco-friendly way was easier for them:
Recently, I shared Marcia Derse's tips for making your own fabric stamps for resist dyeing. The way that Marcia came to surface design and incorporates fabric painting and dyeing techniques into her quilt art fascinates me so much, I thought I'd give you some insight into her thought process.
Art quilting can be an expensive hobby. A good-quality sewing machine, specialty threads, and stacks and stacks of fat quarters, are just the beginning. It always seems like there's some new gadget, tool, or surface-design supply I absolutely must have.
On this Cyber Monday, I thought I would share with you some of my favorite digital products from the Quilting Daily Shop. If I didn't already have these inspirational and educational sources of quilting and surface design techniques, they would be tops on my wish list.
Two of the most creative words in the English language—and least when it comes to fiber art—have to be, "What if?"
Did you ever have one of those quilts that was almost finished, but just needed a little something? A little sparkle, a little more texture, a little oomph to catch the eye? Chances are, what the quilt needed was some embellishment.
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