-
Batik is one of the oldest methods of dyeing fabrics for surface design. Using hot liquid wax as a resist for dye, batik yields beautiful patterns and rich colors. But traditional batik is time-consuming and labor intensive. But what if you could learn how to batik without the hassles? In this free eBook...
-
Fabric designed with baby rice cereal, by Lisa Kerpoe. Now that I'm all moved in down here in Houston, I'm ready to get cooking on some fabric dyeing and other surface design techniques. Although the weather here is relatively warm and sunny, it's too cold for outdoor dyeing (for me, anyway...
-
The Quilting Arts/Cloth Paper Scissors crew and my quilt full of surface-design love. On this Thanksgiving Day I am in transition. I'm settling into my new Houston digs in preparation for my fresh adventure with Quilts Inc. while still consulting for Quilting Arts and preparing for the next season...
-
From inspiration, to design, to finished piece, there are certainly times when working on an art quilt can be a challenge. Luckily the kind of challenge I'm referring to today is the fun kind: a Quilting Arts Reader Challenge. There have been quite a few reader challenges this year at Quilting Arts...
-
I think I've amassed about 10,000 miles in my frequent flyer program within the last month. Or at least it feels like 10,000 miles. I have been away more than I've been home the past four weeks, and have hightailed it all over the continent. My journey began with our CREATE retreat outside of...
-
Sunning and printing at CREATE in Chicago. After a whirlwind couple of weeks that involved traveling to Chicago for the CREATE mixed-media retreat, Cleveland to tape Season 9 of "Quilting Arts TV" (and to visit my favorite museum), and a quick trip to California to help a friend celebrate a...
-
A sampling of prints made with DIY mark-making tools. I'm going to ask you a question and I want you to give me an honest answer. When choosing among items at a grocery store, have you ever selected one over the other based solely on how you could use the packaging to create surface design ? You...
-
Fabric designed with baby rice cereal, by Lisa Kerpoe. I just love to design my own fabric. Sometimes, I love it so much, I get all mushy. That's when you'll find me whipping up resists in the kitchen using mashed potato flakes, oatmeal, or even rice cereal for babies. I learned these resist...
-
Detail of a quilt by Jo Fitsell using her layered marbling surface design technique. Reports from Fashion Week earlier this year (how many of us knew the term "fashion week" before "Project Runway" came on the scene?) showed that color, graphic design, spots, and fabric that seems...
-
I confess, if I didn't love Quilting Arts so much, I'd throw in the towel and spend all of my time painting and dyeing fabric . You see, some day when I finally grow up, I want to be Jane Dunnewold (or Kerr Grabowski). I save any kind of surface design work for the summer when I can work outside...
-
I was pulling laundry out of the dryer the other day when I spied something among the folds that looked black, fuzzy, and about the size of a quarter. I dropped the laundry basket and jumped back, convinced I had just seen a giant spider. Then I noticed the fuzzy blob wasn't moving. Gingerly, I stepped...
-
Finally, we've had a stretch of warm, sunny days and my spring flowers are starting to bloom. Local garden centers are awash with marigolds, pansies, geraniums, and herbs. All of which has made me think about gardening and dyeing. Sunny, windless days are perfect for dyeing. But while I usually use...
-
Every time I come back to our editorial offices back east I'm greeting with more Quilting Arts @10 anniversary postcards. I love it! We'll be featuring some in the next issue of the magazine, so watch for them. Each postcard reminds me of the techniques we've shared with you over the years...
-
There's an old joke, from well before my time, that is still around because it's a classic. An elderly gentleman is walking down the street in New York City. A younger man steps up to him and asks, "Excuse me, sir, but how do I get to Carnegie Hall?" To which the older man replies:...
-
Last week we asked our Facebook fans to share with us one of their blog entries in hopes of becoming the first Quilting Arts Facebook blogger of the week. There were so many great blogs that were posted it was nearly impossible to choose one! in the end, however, Pippa Eccles and I decided to pick Susan...