North Carolina Quilt Symposium

I'm thrilled to be teaching in Charlotte, NC this June! Registration has just opened and its sure to be an exciting event. You can visit http://www.charlottequiltsymposium.org/

There is a top notch selection of teachers and workshops that offer everything from traditional piecing and applique to surface design techniques, thread painting, dyeing, and mixed media:
Charlotte Angotti
Cynthia Corbin
Melody Crust
Patti Culea
Kim Diehl
Karen Eckmeier
Ellen Anne Eddy
Robbi Joy Eklow
Flavin Glover
Bonnie Hunter
Janet Lasher
Velda Newman
Jenny Raymond
Paula Scaffidi
Pat Sloan
Karen Stone
Carol Taylor
David Taylor
Laura Wasilowski
Elin Waterson
Terry White

and me......

I'll be teaching Surface Matters-Stamp it Up! an exciting array of different stamping methods and materials. If you've been following my Stamping Monday posts on the blog, you'll know how much fun it can be to play with stamps to create pattern and imagery of fabric.

My other class is Photo Illusion and we'll be exploring images and transparency of fabric with photos and a variety of fabric types. I'll bring a couple of printers for the students and we can play with image transfer methods as well!

Keep checking back and I'll have some more pictures to post! Sign up and you'll get regular information about the Symposium! 

One Word Wednesday

Tangle

Celtic Twist Pattern

Last year I had an article appearing in the McCall's Quick Quilts magazine. It was a variation of my Give and Take Applique technique and I received lots of rave reviews for the design.

The pattern is available here http://www.quickquilts.com/pdf/Celtic_WB_layout.pdf as a generous lap size quilt. The celtic motif can be arranged in a variety of different layouts, its fun to try several and see what might happen.

If you happen to make any quilts, table runners or wall hangings, please send me apicture, I'd love to post them!

One Word Wednesday

Tumble

New Pattern Released!

Northcott Fabrics has just introduced a new line of fabric called Little Darlings http://tinyurl.com/ycupo3r . It is a wonderful black and white line that has fabulous companion fabrics.  Although the fabric will not be in the stores until February, the patterns are available now.

I designed Softly Dreaming for this fabric collection. The pattern includes instructions for a quilt, 67" x 93" , a genrerous double size. Here is a sneak preview of this new pattern. It can be ordered from my pattern company: http://www.patchworkstudio.com/ I found it a lot of fun to design in just black and white...value and scale become so important!

If you'd like like to try further ideas in black and white, my friend Kay Capps Cross has patterns and books that are a great use of value. Have a look at: http://www.crosscutsquilting.com/

Canadian Quilting Magazine

Last week I had the priviledge of meeting Heather McArthur of Quilters Connection  http://www.quiltersconnection.ca/ Canada's only quilting magazine. she has recently begun a top quality quaterly magazine devoted to quilting in Canada. Heather came to our Victoria Quilters Guild http://www.victoriaquiltersguild.org/ to make a short presentation about her magazine and then we met for lunch. The picture elow is myself on the left, Daphne Greig my business partner and Heather. Have alook at the Quilter Connection blog at http://quiltersconnection.wordpress.com/ sign up for the newsletter as well.

LaConner Quilt Museum

I drove down to La Conner today on my way to my Art and Design class http://www.gailcreativestudies.com/ in Oak Harbor. I stopped at the Quilt Museum http://www.laconnerquilts.com/ in La Connor and was treated to two very different shows that opened earlier this week. If you live anywhere in the area don't miss them!
Imagery and Imagination shows the work of Lura Schwarz Smith. Lura has used photographic images to many of her quilts along with fabric pastels, inks and markers. There is a wonderful cross section of subject matter including “Seams a Lot Like Degas.” In this quilt Lura used traditional blocks in an unconventional manner, redrafting the blocks to fit the dresses of the ballerinas. This piece has the honor of being included in “100 Best American Quilts of the 20th Century”.
Lura is giving an artist tour tomorrow at 1pm.
The Whidbey Island Surface Design Group has a concurrent show entitled On the Surface which aptly describes the work of members of the Surface Design Association. Their work encompasses a wide variety of media: basketry, weaving, wall art, 3-D art, quilting, and wearables and the techniques used are as varied as the individual artist’s pieces. You will find felting, weaving, embroidery, dyeing, painting, garments and more....
Do check out the Museum whenever you are in the area!

Design Notes Newsletter

The latest issue of Design Notes is now ready! Follow this link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/25224936/Volum-3-Issue-1

If you would like a subscription, then email me info@susanpm.com and I'll add you to my list.
Cheers!

Reflect

Stamping Monday

As Bob Cratchit said "we were making rather merry" and I found we had a couple of lovely corks left from the New Year's celebration. I thought they were quite the perfect shape with an almost built-in handle, they just had to be made into stamps!

I carved some simple designs into the base of the cork, I found a sharp art knife worked far better than my lino cutter. But the uneven surface of the cork gave the designs a more interesting texture.

I think the designs would be great as a border, especially if I alternate the designs. Remember to keep the designs simple, the cork just won't take complex motifs.

Perhaps I could use it on a T shirt or cushions? Any other thoughts.......

I could develop champagne tastes but I only have a beer budget!


PS. Can you name the source of the quote at the top of my post?

One Word Wednesday

Dripping!

BOGO Sale!!

My pattern company, Patchworks Studio, is having a special sale for our retail customers. Only until the end of January (January 31, 2010), if you buy one pattern, you get the second one free. Or, buy 2, get 2 free; buy 3, get 3 free - you get the idea!

The sale applies to our Stained Glass, Give & Take Applique and our Classic patterns (Block of the Month patterns are excluded).Quantities of some patterns are limited so don't wait too long to place your order.

A note about our shopping cart system - it is a superb system but it's not a 'mind reader' so it can't remove the cost of your free patterns automatically. Since we process credit card orders ourselves and not through a third party this isn't a problem. We will deduct the price of the free patterns and recalculate your order (and the shipping charges) and only charge for the 'buy one, two, three, etc.'

This is a great way to start 2010 and get those sewing machines humming! See us at: http://www.patchworkstudio.com/