Happy Things

A couple of fun and exciting things have happened recently.

- I went to the AQS show in Lancaster. It was wonderful to see so many lovely quilts.

- I won a Judge's Choice award at the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival for California Dreaming. Yeah!

California Dreaming copyright Diane Rusin Doran

- I'm so pleased to have two of my quilts (Winter's Tarnish and Return of the Grackle) featured in the April/May issue of Quilting Arts in Jane Davila's article on filler stitching, plus a full page ad for Craft Daily featuring Sunrise Serenade as the backdrop. (All these quilts are on my "Recent Quilts" page.)

- I finished a small quilt! When I find out if it was accepted to the exhibit I entered it in I'll share all the details.

I was so wishing spring would have arrived by now, but alas, this is how it looks in my neck of the woods today:

Here's hoping spring has already sprung for you.

Sue Reno's Printing Expertise

The first time I saw Sue Reno's work in person was in 2006 (see this blog post). I was struck by the graphic impact of her work, along with the skillful design of the piece. I was later lucky enough to meet Sue at the big quilt show in Houston (maybe in 2007?) and spend a little time with her, as well as at a show in Lancaster shortly after that.

"Fireball" copyright Sue Reno

You don't have to know Sue long to realize what an intelligent and thoughtful person she is, and these qualities are clearly reflected in her work. When I found out she was making an instructional DVD for Interweave I was very excited for her, and I couldn't wait to see it!

Well, the wait is over, and it's worth it. “Surface Design Essentials for the Printed Quilt”  is now available as both a DVD ($24.99) or a digital download ($19.99) from the Quilting Daily Shop. Sue covers four printing techniques as well as strategies for using the prints in compositions and quilting them to best advantage.

I love printing fabric using a variety of techniques, and have tried cyanotype, heliograph, collagraph and Thermofax printing with varying levels of success in the past. What I admire about Sue's presentation of these techniques is that she has perfected a process for each one that works for her. She demonstrates these four methods of printing in a straight forward, approachable, and yet very thorough manner. Following her instructions, I feel that most artists could create successful prints of their own in no time.

In addition to demonstrating these techniques, Sue discusses options for combining prints in a variety of different ways. I particularly appreciate the way she uses more than one variety of printing technique in a single art quilt and is able to create a cohesive composition.

Finally, Sue pulls her pieces together with well planned quilting. Her tips for ways to quilt the prints are great. In my experience I usually feel that my prints are "precious" and difficult to showcase, but Sue manages to do so with ease.

Bottom line, I love it! If you are ready to try your hand at printing I think this DVD would serve you well.

Several other friends of Sue's are also participating in this blog tour. Here's a schedule so you can stop by and see what they have to say:

11/5/14: Sue Reno http://suereno.blogspot.com/ 
11/6/14: Susan Brubaker Knapp http://wwwbluemoonriver.blogspot.com/ 
11/7/14: Allie Aller http://alliesinstitches.blogspot.com/ 
11/8/14: Diane Doran http://www.oohprettycolors.blogspot.com/ 
11/9/14: Vivien Zepf http://sevenpinesdesigns.blogspot.com/ 
11/10/14: Virginia Spiegel http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/blog/ 
11/11/14: Cynthia St. Charles http://cynthia-stcharles.blogspot.com/ 
11/12/14: Natalya Aikens http://artbynatalya.blogspot.com/ 
11/13/14: Lyric Kinard http://lyrickinard.com/blog/

Sew Much Fun

I'm so excited for my lovely friend Candy Glendening and pleased to be part of a blog hop to celebrate her latest achievement. She's a prolific designer and I'm sure you've seen her many clever projects in various Quilting Arts publications. Now 18 of them are available in an e-book: Create Handmade Gifts for All: 18 projects for everyone on your list.

Candy is a natural teacher, and I've always appreciated her clear and complete instructions. 

She has a knack for color and design that gives her projects a contemporary flair. I love that her mini bird quilts, pictured below, could be used in so many ways - as gift tags, Christmas ornaments, or wall decorations.

Ever since I saw these jester stockings they've been calling my name. I think this is the year to make them.

So if you're looking for quick and stylish projects for the holidays and beyond this e-book is just the ticket. 

To celebrate the release of her e-book Candy is having a lovely giveaway:

Leave a comment on this post. The drawing will close Wednesday, September 24 and I'll announce 2 winners Thursday morning. The first person will receive a hard copy of last year’s “Quilting Arts Gifts” magazine. The second person’s name goes into a drawing for the Grand Prize, the messenger bag Candy made that is featured on the cover of the e-book. Candy will announce the Grand Prize winner the following Monday on her blog. Make sure your comment is connected to an email so I can contact you. And check back on September 25 to see if you’ve won. Be sure to visit all the blogs below for more chances to win.

• Monday, 9/8 – Susan Brubaker Knapp of Blue Moon River
• Tuesday, 9/9 –  Vicki Welsh of  Field Trips in Fiber
• Wednesday, 9/10 - Deborah Boschert of Deborah's Journal
• Thursday, 9/11 – Amy Ellis of Amy’s Creative Side
• Monday, 9/15 – Sue Bleiweiss of Sue Bleiweiss
• Tuesday, 9/16 – Natalia Bonner of Piece N Quilt
• Wednesday, 9/17  – Diane Doran of Ooh! Pretty Colors
• Thursday, 9/18 – Vicki Christensen of Sew Inspired
• Friday, 9/19 - Candy of Candied Fabrics

New Quilting Arts Workshop!

I'm *so* excited that the Quilting Arts Workshop that I filmed in September is here! The digital download is available now, and the DVD is available for preorder (it will be available in January). It's called Digital Surface Design: Simple Techniques for Hand-dyed Fabric Effects and More.

In the next few weeks I'll be sharing a variety of designs I've created using the techniques in the workshop. 

All of these fabrics were created using the techniques in my new Quilting Arts Workshop

This workshop focuses on fast and fun ways to digitally design fabrics (as opposed to compositions, as in my first Quilting Arts Workshop.) Using simple techniques in Photoshop Elements I show you how to create a range of  beautiful artistic effects from crisp and graphic to soft and hand-dyed looking. You can even create designs that look like they've been discharged! I think you'll really enjoy the ease and flexibility of these techniques. Check out a preview here.

Folio Sighting!

Back in December I posted links to tutorials I've written or various projects. My lovely sister, Karin, then emailed me photos of *11* teacher gifts she made from the junior legal pad folio project I designed for Quilting Arts! Here they are -

She personalized this one with machine embroidered monograms

I love how she used a variety of commercial fabrics to make each one unique, and tailored to the giftee. A special touch (not pictured here) is that she wrote a note to each teacher on the top most sheet of paper. Thank you, Karin, for sharing these!

Featured Artist

The concert at St. John's church was excellent, and here's a photo of me with my quilts.

Can you tell the photographer is taller than me ;) ?

I really enjoyed discussing my work with a variety of concert goers. Many thanks to my friend Debra for lending me the grid system and lights to hang my quilts.

In other news, check out Pokey's blog today!

DVD Blog Hop - On to Deborah Boschert

Can you believe it - we're already on Day 5 of my blog hop to celebrate the release of my DVD, Digital Collage for Quilt Design!

Today's hostess is someone whose blog I've followed for years. First she lived in Maine, then Texas. When I learned she was moving to Maryland I immediately contacted her to let her know about some local art quilt groups with the hopes that she'd join them. And she did! I'm so happy today to include my friend Deborah Boschert in our celebration.

Deborah's work has a unique and instantly recognizable style that I love. She is well known for the many articles she's written and publications her work has appeared in, and also for being a part of the 12 By 12 International Art Quilt Challenge. Here's her work "In Light Of"  from their colorplay challenge.

 

 

 

 

"In Light Of" by Deborah Boschert

The 12x12 Collection will be in a special exhibit at the Houston International Quilt Festival, November 3-6. Most of the members of the 12x12 group will be there too, so be sure to check out their exhibit, and say hi to them if you see them.

So know that you know a little more about Deborah, hop on over to her blog for a chance to win!

Some of the other ladies are still accepting comments for chances to win on their blogs:

 Debra Gabel  is picking a winner on or before Oct. 31 (post date Oct. 13)

 Candy Glendening is picking a winner Oct. 21 (post dated Oct 17)

Be sure to hop back here on October 21 for a chance to win a DVD from me.

Next Stop - Vivika Denegre

Wow! The response to the blog hop giveaway of my DVD over at Gerrie's blog was amazing, and I really appreciate the many kind comments!

If Gerrie didn't draw your name, today you have another chance to win a copy of my new workshop DVD, Digital Collage for Quilt Design, over at Vivika DeNegre's blog.

I met Vivika this February when we were both filming segments for Quilting Arts TV Series 800. She is such a warm person, I immediately felt I'd found a new friend. She makes lovely quilts, is a frequently published designer, and creates wonderful collages using stitching, fabric, and paper. You may also know her from her Prayer Flag Project. Many thanks, Vivika, for helping me celebrate!

As a reminder, after Vivika we still have several chances for you to win the DVD:

October 14 Debra Gabel  

October 17 Candy Glendening 

October 19 Deborah Boschert  

October 21 Diane Doran

DVD Giveaway!!

I'm having a blog hop and DVD giveaway to celebrate the release of my DVD, Digital Collage for Quilt Design.

Five of my friends are helping me, for a total of 6 chances to win!

Gerrie Congdon kicks off the celebration today. Gerrie is a prolific and well known quilter. Her lovely work includes lots of surface design, and she is part of the Twelve by Twelve group of international quilters. Hop on over to Gerrie's blog for today's chance to win. Many thanks, Gerrie!

In this DVD I show how to 

- Combine a variety of image types to create imaginative collages to print on fabric

- Use Photoshop Elements 9 for basic digital enhancement and layering techniques

- Consider color, value, and contrast while designing

- Explain printing, basting, and finishing options for your collage, and demonstrate ways to enhance your design with quilting, markers, and pencils.

And much more!

The DVD is available for pre-order on my website or at the Quilting Arts/Interweave website.

A digital download is available now at Interweave.

Here's a preview:

The complete Blog Hop schedule is as follows:

October 10 Gerrie Congdon 

October 12 Vivika DeNegre 

October 14 Debra Gabel  l

October 17 Candy Glendening 

October 19 Deborah Boschert  

October 21 Diane Doran 

DVD News!

I'm so excited! Earlier today Helen Gregory of Interweave sent me a copy of my instructional DVD cover - check it out!

It will be released sooner than I anticipated - by late October, and a digital download will be available even earlier than that. I will be sure to keep you posted.

For some reason I've been doing lots of experimenting lately. I've always loved experimenting with surface design, and boy have I gone at the last few days. One experiment was an unmitigated failure, but I have high hopes for some of the marbling I've been doing - hopefully I'll have photos tomorrow.

New Work & Quilting Arts TV Series 800

Good morning!

I'd like to share a little piece I finished last week. I belong to a local group of quilt artists called Metro Threads. We're putting together a trunk show with similar parameters to those for SAQA's This is a Quilt - small quilts that will fit in a 12"x12" mat with an 8" opening. Here's a quilt that I'm going to submit.


I alluded to the year starting off with a bang in my last post. I'm *very* excited that in February I'll be headed to Cleveland to film three segments for Quilting Arts TV Series 800! Two of the segments are based on articles that have been in Quilting Arts and Quilting Arts Gifts. The third segment is a new project that's been very fun to design. I've been busy behind the scenes here trying to prepare for them all, and getting more excited by the minute!

Quilting Arts at 10

Can you believe that Quilting Arts is celebrating their 10th birthday?! I remember how exciting it was to have a new kid on the quilting block, and to this day look forward to every issue.

I'm happy to have an article called "Serendipitous Screen Printing" in the 10th Anniversary Issue. The article details a fun and easy technique for you to add to your screen printing bag of tricks. Here are two examples (that aren't in the magazine) I made with this technique:

My obsession with locust leaves continues ;)

This reminds me of the woods in springtime, when the maples are starting to bloom.

The contributing artists were asked to make commemorative postcards, and here's mine.

This was fun to make, as I combined a variety of techniques - digital imagery, screen printing, and sponge painting.

So what else is new? I'm honored to have won 3rd place at the Houston IQA show with my grackle. So many people who saw this quilt in Houston have reached out to me with many kind words, and I really appreciate it - thank you all!

November was just a mess. My mother in law has been quite ill, so my husband was gone most of the time starting October 29, including four weekends in a row. Thankfully she is doing much better now!

I've been working on several more articles. I'm really excited about a series of six articles I'm writing for Machine Quilting Unlimited on fill designs. The first one will debut in the January issue. And right now I better dash back to the studio to finish working on a project for Quilting Arts' 101 Patchwork Projects - hmmm, I wonder what the other 100 are?

New Quilting Arts eBook!

Have you seen the new Quilting Arts free eBook, Fabric Art Techniques for Beautiful Quick Gifts: 5 Free Quilting, Fabric, and Fiber Art Projects? I'm delighted that one of my projects from last year's Quilting Arts Gifts issue, quilted bookmarks, is included. Here are pictures of the samples I made last year.

They're a great way to use up those scraps that are just too pretty to throw away.

There are also four other great, quick projects that would make wonderful gifts. I'm planning on trying out Lyric Kinard's pretty gadget case with some fabric I've screen printed. The ebook is free, and super simple to download, so why not give it a look?

Must. Stop. Screen Printing.

I don't know what it is about screen printing, but it seems that once I start I just can't stop.

I've been writing a little article involving screen printing for an upcoming edition of Quilting Arts. Perhaps the hardest part of writing an article, for me, is being satisfied with my samples and examples. Two things got me to stop (or at least slow down) the sample making this time: the deadline, and I ran out of screens to burn.

Here's a print that is not in the article:


Trust me when I say that this is much better in real life. The leaves are various metallic colors, as is the leopard moth. However, I really feel that the moth needs more oomph. Perhaps that can be added with an outline of the moth by either more screen printing or some quilting. The dots need something too. It's a work in progress and I do have plans for it.

In the meantime I started playing with the image in Photoshop. Here's what I've got so far.

I really get a kick out of both techniques - playing with paint and playing with pixels. What do you think?

Quilting Arts Free Image Transfer eBook

Would you like to learn six ways to use image transfers for quilting? Check out Quilting Arts new eBook, 6 Image Transfer Techniques for Your Art Quilts. I'm delighted that an article that I wrote is included in this free book. There are also articles by Leslie Riley, Marie Roper, Mary Ann Tipple, Pamela Price Klebaum and and Ginny Eckley . If you're interested in using image transfers in your work you'll find lots of food for thought, so head on over and download it today.

Quilting Arts Gifts 2009-2010

On Friday I received my preview copies of Quilting Arts Gifts Holiday 2009-2010, and it's packed with great projects. It was really wonderful to see the wide variety of techniques this year.

Here's a sneak peak at the some of the samples I made for my two articles:

These are bookmarks that wrap around the book. They're really fast and easy, especially if you've made fiber postcards or ATCs before. Both of my samples were made from odds and ends I had in my studio.



These are the samples I made for a junior legal pad folio. There are pockets inside - one to hold the legal pad in, the other for receipts etc. The red one is my favorite. I was really tickled that in the photo in the magazine they included an open shot of the peach folio, and it had my handwritten mockup menu in it - actually a good representation of what we often have for holiday dinners.

Quilting Arts Article

I'm delighted to have an article in the latest (June/July 2009) issue of Quilting Arts. It's called "Digital Playtime" and discusses some of the steps I use to create the fabric for my quilts. I hope you like it!

I'm also looking forward to the next issue of Quilting Arts Gifts, where I'll have two projects.