I love crafting and always have. I started crafting as a kid. Before I became a professional designer, I took every craft class and tried every type of craft that came along. I still take classes whenever possible and love trying new (to me) types of crafts. I’m a huge fan of glass and when a fused glass class became available recently, I jumped at it, signing up immediately.  We made 2 projects during the evening classes. I really enjoyed playing with the glass in arranging colors and pieces to make my first project, a shallow dish. I wanted it to look abstract and while it won’t win an award, I love the way it turned out. It was very informative and interesting in seeing how different colors of glass and opaque and transparent glasses work together.

The class included a second project which was a pendent. Somehow I thought the pendent would be much easier – wrong!  I tried arranging several small pieces to create a design. But because everything was so small, I kept bumping the pieces after I arranged some, messing up my design. A large pair of tweezers would have helped. It was getting late so I took the easy way out after many attempts with the small pieces and used 2 large pieces.

I plan to go back and create some more fused glass pieces as well as take other classes on different mediums. Even though my days and business are based on creating, I still find it relaxing and inspiring to craft and love working with my hands to make something.

I hope you are having a crafty day! (And if you have children, introduce them to crafting if you haven’t already – it will start a life long love of creating something!)

Phyllis

The holidays are rapidly approaching but there’s still time to create some great craft projects to help with decorating and entertaining. I want to share one of my earlier Christmas craft projects that is so quick and easy to make and has so many uses – the versatile terra cotta flower pot painted in holiday colors.

This painted flower pot can be used to hold food like cookies and candy (line the pot with a napkin first so that the food doesn’t touch the paint). For decorating use, it can hold ornaments or a plant. The size of pot that you use can also determine the use. A small 3 or 4 inch pot can be filled with food or small gift and given as a gift, or placed by the plates at a dinner party as a favor. Simply line with cellophane, tissue paper or fabric, add a food item or other small gift, bunch at the top and tie with a ribbon. Let your imagination come up with many more uses.

I used red and white for Christmas (which can also double as my school colors), but you can use other colors for different holidays – red, white and blue for the 4th of July, shades of green for St. Patrick’s Day, bright fun colors for a birthday, pastels for Easter, and so on. I also painted a flower pot for Halloween.

Easy peasy! I used a very simple design that is very easy to draw.

Wash the flower pot and go over it with alcohol to disinfect it.  With a pencil draw the lines for the stripes around the rim and draw 1/2″ circles randomly below the rim (or create your own design). Paint as shown in the photo.  I recommend painting one color at a time, allowing it to dry before painting with the second color. The white dots on the stripe were added last, after all drying. When all the paint is dry, seal with a coat of clear satin acrylic.

Enjoy!

Phyllis

Sew a quick Christmas apron in just a couple of hours and wear it tonight! Aprons are fun and trendy to both sew and wear! I designed this free apron pattern to wear for Christmas cooking and enertaining. Designed for an earlier post here on my blog, I wanted to share the apron pattern  again. Its so easy to make.

To start sewing, download your free Christmas apron pattern here!

Thinking of Christmas aprons brings thoughts of all the wonderful smells of food cooking, cinnamon, and other spices. I also think of the citrus smell of oranges.

Enjoy both sewing and wearing it!

Phyllis

If you are planing to take the next important step to expand your creative endeavors into licensing of your art, design or products, then this seminar is not to be missed! “The New Dynamics of Art Licensing” seminar will deliver  straight forward, honest advise, insight and tips for succeeding in licensing. The playing field for licensing has changed drastically over the past few years and this seminar will give you the information you need to overcome these challenges that will save you time and money.

“The New Dynamics of Art Licensing“, presented by Brenda Pinnick, Karen Embry and myself, encompassess the extensive knowledge from over 50 cumulative years of experience in art licensing, product design and licensing and exhibiting in major trade shows. The wealth of information that we will share will prove invaluable for your career.

In addition, we will be offering an optional “add-on” for a consult, a review of your portfolio and a look at our own portfolios that we show our clients, tailored to YOUR needs.

WHEN – Saturday, January 28, 6:30 – 8:30, portfolio review/consult scheduled individually.

WHERE – Anaheim, CA,  Annabella Hotel, Azalea Room (next to the Hilton)

Seats are limited, so book early!  We want to see you there.  For more information and details of all that we will be covering in this information packed seminar, follow the link – The New Dynamics of Art Licensing.

Invest in your business! And if you have any questions, please contact me.

Phyllis

I finally got around to it!  I’ve been wanting to change my blog for forever, but just finding the extra time to just sit down and do it was a deterrent. So today was the day – I started tweaking and finished it. That’s not to say I won’t tweak it some more. To me, the hardest part of any job, no matter how small, is getting started. The rest is easier.

I hope you like my new look!

Phyllis

I have more photos to share with you of the beautiful and amazing quilts at the Houston International Quilt Market. I showed half of my photos of these fabulous quilts from the exhibits in my prior post. The quilts are fun, imaginative, colorful and unique in their original designs.

Word Gets Around was created by Louisa L. Smith, Loveland, Colorado. She had collected fabrics with text and manipulated all the fabrics by hand painting, dying and over dying to obtain the color she wanted. She created the curved movement of the quilt which is a play of “words” to create the title.

Memories Stick, created by Charlotte Noll, Lauderhill, Florida, is created using the quilt pins she collected. She wanted a quilt design that can be rearranged and appended as she continues to collect pins. Each pin has an embellished pillow and is connected to the others with safey pins. Each pin reminds her of the wonderful times when she collected them. Techniques used were fused and raw edge machine applique, machine quilted, digitally machine embroidered and hand beaded.

Fantasy in Paradise was created by Laura Steiniger, Tucson, Arizona to depict fantastical birds-of-paradise flowers. I love birds-of-paradise. The techniques used were machine applique, machine decorative stitches, machine quilted and hand embellished. The black background really makes the flowers pop.

New York City Lights, created by Ellen Yamaguchi, New York, NY, is heavily embellished with beads and charms. The beads were used to emphasize the swirls. She also added old New York City subway and bridge tokens and landmark charms to add interest. Techniques used include cut and assembled blocks using One-Block Wonder technique.

Colorplay 1: Pink, created by Twelve by Twelve. This was one of the quilts in an exhibit showcasing quilts by Twelve by Twelve, a group of 12 quilt artists who embarked on an art challenge together. For 4 years, each made 12 x 12 inch quilted art pieces on a particular theme. Each of the quilts displayed featered the 12 art quilts on that theme. Check out their website to see all of the collections they created as well as learn more about their challenges.

Woody by Bonnie Ouellette, Seneca, South Carolina, is embellished with glass beads. The tecnhiques inclue hand quilting and hand beading.

Garden Pool was created by Sandra Marietta, Palmetto Bay, Florida and is inspred by her Friday trips to Fairchild Tropical Garden. Techniques include fused and machine applique, fabric painting and machine quilting. Materials include various threads, batik and other fabrics, tetile paints, and was crayons.

“Austin tatious” by Barb Forrister of Austin, Texas features beautiful dimensional flowers. Techniques include dyed, painted and applique.

Saturday Market Delectables by Tina McCann, Depoe Bay, Oregan, was inspired by a trip to the farmers’ market and watching people carry various bags and baskets stuffed with food. The techniques include Nuno, needle and wet felted, machine pieced, free motion quilted, hand stitched and beaded.  This quilt is very dimensional so I wanted to show a closeup of one section to show all the detail.

A Starlit Night was created by Soon-Joong Kim, Seoul, South Korea, using the compass and kaleidoscope techniques. The quilt  was inspired by the earch and the rest of the planets.

In an Orderly World was created by Linda R. Syverson Guild, Bethesda, Maryland, and was inspired by an Art Deco design.  The techniques used were pieced, needle punched, hand and machine appliqued, machine quilted and hand beaded.

Ancient Weaver was created by Ann Horton, Redwood Valley, California. The inspiration was the Mayan weaving traditions that are honored with Spider, the industrious weaver as the center of the wheel of life. Techniques are machine piecing and quilting, and commercial and original digitized machine embroidery.

I hope that you enjoyed seeing a few of the many quilts on exhibit. You can see part of the exhibit hall below, and this picture was taken less than halfway down the main hall of the exhibit.

I am already looking forward to my next trip to Quilt Market.

Phyllis

I wish each of you a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. In remembering the true meaning of the words “thanks giving”, I think of all the things in my life that I give thanks for. Remembering the positive will suppress any negatives we might have. You can have only one thought at a time so concentrating on the positive will brighten our days.

At the top of my list, I am thankful for all the love and joy given to me by family and friends. The people we are in contact with, whether on a daily basis or much more infrequently, shape just about every aspect of our lives. For those who have passed from my life, I am ever thankful for their love and the cherished memories that will never fade.

I am thankful for all of you who read my blog and again wish you a wonderful and safe holiday!

Phyllis

I wanted to end my review ot the Houston International Quilt Market, held in October, with photos I took of some of the most amazing and beautiful quilts on exhibit. Each quilt was a work of art and produced an “ahhhh”.  I loved reading the inspiration for the quilts and love the wonderful imagination of the creators in designing their quilts.

Eat Your Vegies was created by Judith Roderick of Placitas, New Mexico.  The techniques were hand-painted, machine quilted, pieced, fused and embellished. Judith firmly believes the Beatles’ lyrics from the 60′s – “you are what you eat you know”.

An Autumn Breeze, created by Akiko Kawata, OIsake, Japan, features machine and hand piecing and is machine quilted. The quilt expresses the scene of an autumn mountain path in Japan.

Leaves of Costa Rica was created by Pam Berry of Lincoln, California.  The techniques include free-motion quilting, hand applique, with bead and yard embellishment. The leaves are two-sided with wire inserted to give form, and produced a beautiful dimension.

Serengeti At Twilight by Leona Harden, New Tazewell, Tennessee, used the techniques of raw edge applique, no piecing, and free motion quilting.  This quilt was featured on the cover of AQS’s American Quilter magazine, November 2010 issue. I wrote about this award winning quilt and Leona in a prior blog post. (Leona used a block that I designed in an earlier quilt that was her first awarding quilt).

Oh Deer, Look What’s Become of Me! was created by Judy Coates Perez, Chicago, Illinois. The technique is whole cloth painted with textile paints and machine quilted. This quilt was inspired by the Medieval hunting paintings of deer in pastoral settings. This also reminds me of the beautiful Medieval tapestries.

Organic is Good for You! Bodil Gardner of Lystrup, Denmark, was inspired by growing her own organic vegetables in creating this quilt. The techniques include applique and machine quilting.

Hope was created by Ann Pigneri of Louisville, KY. The techniques are paper piecing, machine quilt and bobbin stitching. This quilt is adorned by over 2500 crystals in 6 colors which, unfortunately, do not show up in the photo.

Black-Eyed Susans & Yellow Mexican Hats was created by Mary Ann Vaca-Lambert, Austin, Texas. The techniques used were raw edge applique, thread painted, fused, beaded, and faced. Mary Ann was inspired to create this quilt from the flowers she sees on the way to work. The flower centers were very thick and dimensional and covered with beads.

In Bloom was created by Teresa Shippy, Santa Ana, California, based on the Cherry Blossom Festival of her dreams. Techniques used were hand-painting, stitching and painting. Sweet dreams!

Big Bang(s) Theory was created by Teresa Sherling, Denton, Texas and is a tribute to the bliss women feel on a good hair day. The techniques include turned-edge and raw-edge applique, hand painted and thread-painted faces, hand-crocheted human hair and free-motion machine quilting. Ah, I love those good-hair days!  Too bad they are matched by bad-hair days.

Sea Witch was created by Christine Alexiou, Unionville, Ontario, Canada. Techniques include fabric painting, applique, hand sewing, thread painting and beading and uses cotton, silk, organza, cheese cloth, glass beads, shell beads and fabric paint. Christine was inspired by The Little Mermaid to portray a physical beauty while hinting at her deranged creepiness.

Really “Wild” Flowers! Second Season was created by Sharon L. Schlotzhauer, Colorado Springs, Colorado. The techniques include machine piecing, paper piecing, hand applique, machine applique and machine quilting. This whimsical quilt features 7 colorful, dimensional “wild” flowers with Swarovski crystals in the centers.

Capital Hardware, by Frances Holliday Alford, Grafton, Vermont, is based on the beautiful Art Nouveau hinges and hardware of the Texas State Capital. She used the hardware details to print on Spoonflower fabrics for the blocks. Techniques include patching, free-motion quilting and decorative stitches.

Vortex in Variation was created by Nora Ronningen, La Harbra, California. Nora was inspired by the Vortex Quilt exhibited in the American Folk Art Museum. She used Art Nouveau designs to draft her own applique pattern. Techniques include paper piecing, hand applique and hand quilting.

I’m about half way through my pictures and  have some work to finish so I will post the remaining photos shortly. Please check back as they are just as spectacular as the quilts posted here.

Phyllis

Making over my studio is progressing, but one piece at a time as I can work it in. After painting the file cabinets in my earlier post, I decided to use this poor lonely chair that had been hiding in a corner of my studio. I bought it stripped and unfinished years ago at an auction. I had intentions of doing something with it but had not. So it sat in a corner of my studio, lonely, unloved, unused, and neglected. After a re-do, this chair now shines brightly and sits prominently in front of a desk.

Hancock Fabrics had a sale on upholstery fabric so I got the amount I needed at 50% off the $17.99 price for around $6. I loved the print and colors, especially the turquoise. Actually, this fabric is an outdoor fabric, which is even better for studio use. I then went to Lowes with fabric in hand and found a great shade of turquoise spray paint. Its a few shades darker than my filing cabinets.

This project was pretty quick and easy. I just sprayed the chair with a few light coats of paint, then wrapped the seat with the fabric, tucked it under the bottom and stapled. And the total cost of the re-do was around $10. Not bad! I think it looks much better than the “before” version below.

I’m so glad I bought this chair all those years ago. And since I also have a boring wing back chair that I use in my studio, also bought at an auction, I went back and bought more fabric for another makeover.  I just have to jump in and try my hand at upholstery which will be much more work than the chair seat. I’m mentally working it out with the help of a couple of books.

Here’s to success with all our little (and big) projects.

Phyllis

I’m still in awe of all that I saw at the International Quilt Market in Houston and want to share more of the photos I took of products and colors from Market in a continuation from Part 1 of my prior post on Quilt Market.

This gorgeous dress in the Pfaff booth stopped me in my walks. This fuchsia dress has beautiful machine embroidery embellishment by Pfaff sewing machines. It was simply stunning and fit for Cinderella to wear to the ball! And look at the embroidery on the black coat next to the dress.

Not all products at Quilt Market are sewing and quilt related. Karyn Kozak exhibits with her beautiful FIMO polymer clay products.  Created with different colored pieces of clay in the millefiori technique, Karyn created the beautiful vases and leaves below as well as jewelry, barrettes, and other items. Visit her website to see the ladybug pins and jewelry she created.

and these fabulous teapots…

I showed you some of the new fabric collections by Quilting Treasures in my prior post. Below are more of their fabrics that debuted at market. Simon-Kabuki has a new line out, In the Meadow, in these great, warm colors. I also love the design and applique flowers in this quilt using their fabrics.

And I also loved this new collection by Studio 8, Fantasia (click to see the individual fabrics) and especially love the color combination of black and white with a lime green.  (See my prior post for free quilt and apron patterns I designed for Quilting Treasures with Studio 8′s Monaco fabric collection).

I love the play The Phantom of the Opera and this new fabric collection is wonderful. Can’t you hear the music?

Angela Anderson’s Give Thanks, can be used to create a beautiful quilt or kitchen accessories such as a table runner or place mats next fall.

With quilting and sewing, you need trim. Expo International has all kinds of trim for your every need including home decor. I love the colorful displays of these trims and cords. The center row is button trims, which is fabulous since we all love buttons! I look at this and remember several years ago when I shopped trim, all I could find was dull colors. Its so much more fun sewing with these colors!

And, there’s these fun feather trims…..

Quilt Market occurred over Halloween so I thought I would also show you Expo’s cute sequin appliques for Halloween.

And the Expo International folks dressed up for Halloween. Debi Schmitz dressed as a witch, but I have to tell you that she’s a sweet  and lovely witch, not at all wicked! I need to find where she got the silver hair.

Walking by Michael Miller Fabric’s booth created a “wow” moment when I spotted this 1950 red MG convertible used in their vintage picnic display. I also like the turquoise cooler. I’ve always thought MG’s were the coolest cars. By the way, this MG was local from Houston and is for sale. It doesn’t run though, but it has a great body and I would just love to have it to look at and sit in (and watch Audrey Hepburn in Two for the Road although her MG was green). Pretend driving would be ok as I would not want to risk getting any kind of ding in it.

I thought the Sandi Henderson booth (Michael Miller Fabrics) was beautiful and great merchandizing.

The Kaleidoscope Kreator Software booth was beautiful and dramatic with kaldeiscope designs. This software lets you use your own photos and artwork to create kaleidoscope images for quilting, scrapbooking, card making and more. I’ve been eyeing this software and plan to purchase it. Actually, I don’t know why I haven’t already done so, except that when I get home, I get caught up with ongoing work. The software looks easy to use from their booth demo (and the price is great). If you go to their website, check out the paper crafting projects. The quilts are beautiful of course, but the paper stars would be really fun to make.

I stopped in Clothworks booth to see my friend Sue Zipkins new fabric collection, Suzette. I love the soft colors of the fabrics.

June Tailor, Inc always has a pretty booth. They have great quilting tools (I use them regularly)!  They have a new program for fleece, Fleece with Flair. The program includes tools for working with fleece, including fringe cutters and various rulers as well as fleece precut flowers. The right half of the booth below shows the new tools and samples made using the tools.

A closeup of the fleece  flowers….

Tina Givens (Free Spirit Fabrics) won the booth award for best Merchandising.  As you can see from the photos below, it was a beautiful booth in oranges, tans and browns.

I love felt and stopped by Kunin Group’s booth. They have felt in patterns now which makes a wonderful addition to all the solid colors. The patterns below were gorgeous. Kunin’s felt is made from eco-fil which is created with platic water bottles. The felt is so soft, its hard to imagine that it started life as a water bottle.

You can create such cute critters with felt.

Prym has a new line of sewing products for baby along with a book of patterns for making baby clothing and cloth diapers. In addition, as you can see on the wall to the right below, they have a full line of accessory products and trims, buttons and applique to use with sewing for baby. Really, really cute!!

La Todera had a pretty and colorful booth to showcase their sewing and soft craft patterns. The buttons and flowers below are just a few of their patterns. And the buttons can be customized with your own saying or art.

and aren’t these trees adorable for sewing!

Downtown Houston has changed over the years since I first started attending Quilt Market. Below is a view from my hotel (Hilton) showing the George Brown convention center on the right (designed to resemble a ship) and the Minute Maid Park (aqua building) in the distance, home of the Astros. Discovery Green Park is just a few years old and is a great improvement on the parking lots that were there previously. Its nice to walk through the park for a few outside minutes during the show.

I hope you enjoyed my take on Quilt Market. But there’s more to come – pictures of beautiful, unbelievable quilts from the quilt exhibits. The quilts are works of art!  So please check back!

Phyllis