Blog Hop Winners

Journi (New Journeys 2) is the winner of the DVD from my segment of the blog hop. wlstarn won the four fat quarters from her comment on Deborah Boschert's blog.

Congratulations to all the winners! And many thanks to everyone who participated. It meant so much to me to read all of your lovely comments. I hope that each of you takes some time to allow yourself to *play* and have fun with digital imagery. The more you experiment, the more you'll learn!

SAQA Trunk Show

I made a little quilt for the SAQA Trunk Show. It's called Magpie.

Now that it's finished I see that it has the same basic color story as both Stellar Jay and California Dreaming. Hmmm, maybe I need to shake things up a bit!

Blog Hop and Giveaway Finale

The blog hop is now closed. Journi (New Journeys 2) is the winner of the DVD from my segment of the blog hop. wlstarn won the four fat quarters from her comment on Deborah Boschert's blog. Thanks to everyone for participating!!!

Thanks to everyone for joining us on the blog hop, and special thanks to my four talented friends for helping out! Candy, Sarah, Deborah, and Susan will be forwarding the emails of the first four DVD winners to me, and I'll contact the winners and mail the DVD's out as soon as I've received their addresses.

But wait, there's still 2 more chances to win! Leave a comment on today's post before Friday, January 31, for a final opportunity to win a copy of my new DVD, Digital Surface Design: Simple Techniques for Hand-dyed Fabric Effects and More. Let me know what type of project you'd like to create using fabric you've designed yourself. Also, be sure and leave a way for me to contact you if you win.

I will also select a winner of the four fat quarters of fabric on January 31. The winner will be selected from all the commenters on the hop, with the exception of the 5 DVD winners.

In the meantime, here are a few more examples of fabrics I've designed using the techniques in the DVD:

See how different these two fabrics look when all I changed was the colors?

I hope you've been inspired as we've traveled to my friends' blogs - whether it's from a technique that one of them uses, or to try some experimentation of your own with digital design. Stay tuned to find out who our winners are ...

Blog Hop & Giveaway Part 4

Welcome back to day 4 of our Blog Hop and Giveaway! My friends and I are giving away copies of my new Quilting Arts Workshop,  Digital Surface Design: Simple Techniques for Hand-dyed Fabric Effects and More, to celebrate its release (plus some fabric). 

Today's talented hop hostess is Susan Brubaker Knapp.  To say Susan is a very accomplished quilter and quilt teacher is an understatement. If you browse through her website and blog for just a few moments, you'll see her wide range of expertise. She teaches internationally, has written books and patterns, been on QATV numerous times, and has filmed four Quilting Arts workshops. Plus, look at this gallery of quilts! Here are just a few examples of her beautiful artwork:

Bonnie & Clyde © Susan Brubaker Knapp

Psychedelic Peacock ©  Susan Brubaker Knapp

Fall Color © Susan Brubaker Knapp

I had the pleasure of hanging out with Susan twice this past fall. As soon as you meet her it's easy to understand her popularity as a teacher - her generosity and depth of knowledge make a great combination.

Susan's newest, just released Quilting Arts Workshop

So, be sure to stop by Susan's blog both for a chance to win a copy of my new DVD, as well as to get a peek at her lovely work. 

Many thanks to my four friends who have helped me celebrate!

As a reminder, here's the whole Blog Hop schedule:

January 14 – Candy Glendening - http://www.candiedfabrics.com/journal/ - entries close January 28

January 16 – Sarah Ann Smith - http://www.sarahannsmith.com/weblog/ - entries close January 28

January 21 – Deborah Boschert - http://deborahsjournal.blogspot.com/ - entries close January 28

January 24 – Susan Brubaker Knapp - http://wwwbluemoonriver.blogspot.com/

January 28 – Diane Rusin Doran - http://oohprettycolors.blogspot.com/

Blog Hop & Giveaway Part 3

Welcome back to day 3 of our Blog Hop and Giveaway! My friends and I are giving away copies of my new Quilting Arts Workshop,  Digital Surface Design: Simple Techniques for Hand-dyed Fabric Effects and More, to celebrate its release (plus some fabric). 

I'm delighted to introduce today's blog hostess, Deborah Boschert. I knew of Deborah for some time through her involvement with 12x12: The International Art Quilt Challenge. A few years ago I saw that she was moving to Maryland, and I eagerly emailed her to let her know about some of the art quilt groups here. Lucky for me, we ended up being in a critique group and SAQA together! I really miss her now that she's back in Texas.

It's been fascinating to see so many of Deborah's artworks in various stages of completion, from concept to finished quilt. She has a unique style, and is honestly quite fearless in her approach to using whatever will best produce her vision. Her technique of adding paint once a quilt is otherwise complete is particularly brave - and inspiring.

Tabletop Horizons © Deborah Boschert

Shelter and Stream © Deborah Boschert

In Light Of  © Deborah Boschert

Deborah also very effectively incorporates hand embroidery in her work, which can be seen in her three quilts above.  Be sure to look at more of her work on her website , and check out her online workshop as well as her Quilting Arts Workshop - Contemporary Fabric Collage: Design, Stitch, & Finish.

Don't forget to stop by her blog for a chance to win a copy of my new DVD!

And of course a *big* thank you to all the ladies who are joining me in the celebration.

As a reminder, here's the whole Blog Hop schedule:

January 14 – Candy Glendening - http://www.candiedfabrics.com/journal/ - entries close January 28

January 16 – Sarah Ann Smith - http://www.sarahannsmith.com/weblog/ - entries close January 28

January 21 – Deborah Boschert - http://deborahsjournal.blogspot.com/ - entries close January 28

January 24 – Susan Brubaker Knapp - http://wwwbluemoonriver.blogspot.com/

January 28 – Diane Rusin Doran - http://oohprettycolors.blogspot.com/

New Work - Sunrise Serenade

Somehow I finished this piece, sent it to a show, and never shared it with you all. So here it  is:

Sunrise Serenade © 2013 Diane Rusin Doran

Unsurprisingly, it's a digital collage printed on fabric. I believe I printed it in the spring of 2011. It took me a while to decide on how to quilt it, plus other deadlines loomed, so it patiently waited for my attention. All of the imagery except for perhaps one bird is from photos taken in my yard. 

The quilting was done using mostly Aurifil cotton threads, with a little bit of rayon and silk thrown in. Much of the background quilting is overlapping to echo the transparency of the various background elements. The locust leaves and maple branches/buds were outlined, and then additional quilting was added on top. I originally planned to quilt the birds quite ornately, but thought better of it and went with a simpler approach. It was fun to use so many of my favorite colors (blues and greens) and quilting motifs (leaves and ferns).

P.S. Don't forget the Blog Hop going on until January 28! Both Candy and Sarah are accepting entries now.

Blog Hop and Giveaway - Day 2!

Welcome back to day 2 of our Blog Hop and Giveaway! My friends and I are giving away copies of my new Quilting Arts Workshop,  Digital Surface Design: Simple Techniques for Hand-dyed Fabric Effects and More, to celebrate its release (plus some fabric). 

Today's hostess is Sarah Ann Smith. Though I feel like I've known Sarah forever, we've only met in person a very few times. This past November I had the pleasure of enjoying a lovely dinner with her (and Deborah Boschert) in Houston during the International Quilt Festival. I'm fairly certain that I first encountered Sarah on the quiltart mailing list, probably at least ten years ago.

What has always impressed me about Sarah is not only her generosity, but her thirst for knowledge. Her hard work has paid off, as she's an expert on a variety of quilting techniques. Particularly impressive is her mastery of threads and thread painting/machine quilting. In fact, she recently filmed her own Quilting Arts Workshop on just that subject - Art Quilt Design From Photo to Threadwork.

And here are a few photos of some of her beautiful artwork:

Fields of Gold - one of my favorites!

A lovely lily with loads of gorgeous thread work

Sarah in Houston by her latest Dinner at 8 quilt - Listen to the Song in the Night

Thank you so much, Sarah, for helping me celebrate! Readers, hop on over to Sarah's blog for a chance to win a copy of my DVD, or potentially four fat quarters of fabric I designed using techniques from my workshop.

As a reminder, here's the whole Blog Hop schedule:

January 14 – Candy Glendening - http://www.candiedfabrics.com/journal/ - entries close January 28

January 16 – Sarah Ann Smith - http://www.sarahannsmith.com/weblog/

January 21 – Deborah Boschert - http://deborahsjournal.blogspot.com/

January 24 – Susan Brubaker Knapp - http://wwwbluemoonriver.blogspot.com/

January 28 – Diane Rusin Doran - http://oohprettycolors.blogspot.com/

Arlington QU

The last few days have been very busy in a good way. On Saturday I had the privilege of teaching a workshop at the Arlington chapter of Quilters Unlimited. Here's a photo of the lovely ladies just as class was coming to a close.

Look at those great smiles! We had lots of fun with feathers, fronds, and ferns.

And then Monday I went back to give a lecture. Thanks so much for being such a welcoming group!

In other news, today is the big day for Fiber to 5K! Don't miss out on the fun, not to mention amazing prizes and all for a great cause - fighting cancer. Donation go directly to the American Cancer Society.

Last but not least the DVD of my Quilting Arts Workshop is available today! Be sure to stop by Candy Glendening's blog for the ongoing Blog Hop and Giveaway with a chance to win a copy of my new Quilting Arts Workshop, or some fabric. Here's a reminder of the schedule:

January 14 – Candy Glendening - http://www.candiedfabrics.com/journal/ - entries close January 28

January 16 – Sarah Ann Smith - http://www.sarahannsmith.com/weblog/

January 21 – Deborah Boschert - http://deborahsjournal.blogspot.com/

January 24 – Susan Brubaker Knapp - http://wwwbluemoonriver.blogspot.com/

January 28 – Diane Rusin Doran - http://oohprettycolors.blogspot.com/

Blog Hop and Giveaway

As you know, I'm very excited about the release of my new Quilting Arts TV Workshop - Digital Surface Design: Simple Techniques for Hand-dyedFabric Effects and More.

The digital download is already available, and the DVD will be released tomorrow, January 15. Lucky me, I have four talented friends who are helping me celebrate with a Blog Hop Giveaway! There will be 6 winners. Each blog hostess will randomly select a winner from the comments on her blog. That person wins a copy of my new DVD. One winner will be randomly selected from all the remaining entries to win four fat quarters of fabric that I designed using techniques from the workshop.

Does that sound like fun?

Let's get started with Candy Glendening.

Candy on the set at QATV filming a workshop

I first met Candy a few years back - coincidentally when we were on set for QATV and to film workshops. I was already familiar with her beautiful and fun designs.

A darling set of organizers that Candy designed

Candy is not only a frequent contributor to various Quilting Arts publications, but is also an expert dyer. Her enthusiasm for her work is contagious, and she is a great teacher - both through her own Quilting Arts Workshops, as well as her online classes (available on her web page). I love to visit her blog to see her colorful and clever ideas.

Samples from one of Candy's classes

More samples - love that texture!

So, stop by Candy's blog for the first chance at winning! Thank you so much Candy for helping me celebrate.

Here's the entire Blog Hop schedule:

January 14 – Candy Glendening - http://www.candiedfabrics.com/journal/

January 16 – Sarah Ann Smith - http://www.sarahannsmith.com/weblog/

January 21 – Deborah Boschert - http://deborahsjournal.blogspot.com/

January 24 – Susan Brubaker Knapp - http://wwwbluemoonriver.blogspot.com/

January 28 – Diane Rusin Doran - http://oohprettycolors.blogspot.com/

Fiber to 5K

I'm proud to be a sponsor of this year's Fiberart For a Cause campaign - Fiber to 5K

The very talented and generous Virginia Spiegel, who is the founder of this wonderful fundraiser to fight cancer, has written a lovely blog post about my donations this year - a copy of each of my Quilting Arts Workshops. Won't you 'run' along with us next week, January 15? Everyone who donates is entered to win a wide variety of really prizes. Donations go directly to the American Cancer Society.

Tips for Printing on Fabric

I've received quite a few emails in the last couple of weeks with questions related to printing on fabric. I realized that it might be helpful to create a document with some of my answers - so ** here it is **. I've also added it as a tab at the top of the blog.

No fancy pictures - just the facts ma'm.

OK, maybe just one.

Digital fabric design - the background was originally a photo of a plastic glass that "crazed"

More Fabric Designs & A Spoonflower Shop

I keep saying that digital fabric design is fun because for me it *really* is! I created a variety of fabric designs before filming my newest DVD, but since then I've created more just because I like doing it. (I think that's a good enough reason, don't you?) The designs are already in my Spoonflower design library, so I thought what the heck, maybe someone else might be interested in them. That said, I opened a Spoonflower shop today. Here's the link: http://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/dianedoran

And here area some of the designs in the shop:

I'm having lots of fun with Spoonflower's Performance Knit fabric. I've made 3 shirts from it, and they have a lovely drape and wash very well. The Performance Knit also has exceptionally vibrant colors.