Redux – Sew a Christmas Apron

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 apron pattern to wear for Christmas cooking and entertaining. Designed for an earlier post here on my blog, I wanted to share the apron pattern  again. Its so easy to make, even for a beginner, and can be made in a couple of hours from your fabric stash.

Free Christmas Apron Pattern

This apron pattern and others are available in Etsy WhimsyColor.

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

Business Seminar – The New Dynamics of Art Licenisng

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.

New Dynamics of Art Licensing SeminarThe 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

A New Look for my Blog!

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

More from Houston Quilt Market – Quilt Works of Art

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 Quilt by Louisa L. Smith at Houston Quilt Market

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 Quilt by Charlotte Noll at Houston Quilt Market

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 Quilt by Laura Steiniger at Houston Quilt Market

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 Quilt by Ellen Yamaguchi at Houston Quilt Market

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.

 

Twelve by Twelve Pink Colorplay Quilt at Houston Quilt Market

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 Quilt by Bonnie Ouellette at Houston Quilt Market

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

 

Garden Pool Quilt by Sandra Marietta at Houston Quilt Market

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 quilt by Barb Forrister at Houston Quilt Market

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

 

Saturday Market Delectables quilt at Houston Quilt Market

 

Saturday Market Delectables quilt closeup

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 Quilt by Soon-Joong Kim at Houston Quilt Market

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 Quilt by Linda R Guild at Houston Quilt Market

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 Quilt at Houston Quilt Market

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.

Quilt exhibits at Houston Quilt Market

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

Phyllis

Happy “Thanks-giving”!

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

Quilt Works of Art – Exhibits at Houston Quilt Market

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 Quilt from Houston Quilt Market

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 quilt at Houston Quilt Market

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 quilt at Houston Quilt Market

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 quilt at Houston Quilt Market

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).

 

Quilt based on pastoral settings at Houston Quilt Market

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.

 

Quilt on exhibit at Internation Quilt Market, Organic is good for you

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 Quilt by Ann Pigneri at Houston Quilt Market

 

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.

 

Quilt Black-Eyed Susans & Yellow Mexican Hats at Houston Quilt Market

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 Quilt on exhibit at Houston Quilt Market

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 Theory Quilt at Houston Quilt Market

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 quilt at Houston Quilt Market

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 quilt at Houston Quilt Market

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 Quilt by Frances Holliday Alford at Houston Quilt Market

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 quilt at Houston Quilt Market

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

Studio Make-over, One Piece at a Time

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.

Turquoise painted chair

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.

Unfinish chair for Phyllis Dobbs studio

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

International Quilt Market, More Products and Beautiful Colors (Part 2)

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.

Dress embroidered by Pfaff sewing machine at Houston Quilt Market

 

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.

Fimo Polymer Clay vases at Quilt Market

and these fabulous teapots…

Fimo Polymer clay teapots at Quilt Market in Houston

 

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.

Simon Kabuki fabric line In the Meadow at Quilt Market

 

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).

Studio 8 fabric by Quilting Treasures at Quilt Market

 

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

Phantom fabric by Quilting Treasures based on Phantom of the Opera

 

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.

Give thanks fabric by Angela Anderson for Quilting Treasures

 

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!

Expo Internation colorful trims at Quilt Market

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

Feather trim by Expo International at Quilt Market

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

Halloween applique trim by Expo International at Quilt Market

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.

Debi Schmitz at Quilt Market

 

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.

Red MG car in Michael Miller Booth at Quilt Market

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

Michael Miller Sandi Henderson booth at Quilt Market

 

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.

 

Kaleidoscope Kreator Software at Quilt Market

 

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

Sue Zipkin new fabric at Quilt Market

 

 

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.

 

June Tailor quilting tools booth at Quilt Market

A closeup of the fleece  flowers….

June Tailor fleece flowers at Quilt Market

 

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.

 

Tina Givens booth at Quilt Market

Tina Givens booth at Houston Quilt Market

 

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.

Kunin Felt new patterns at Quilt Market

You can create such cute critters with felt.

Kunin Felt display at Quilt Market

 

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!!

Prym Dritz booth at Quilt Market

 

 

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.

La Todera sewing patterns at Quilt Market

and aren’t these trees adorable for sewing!

LaTodera sewing and craft patterns at Houston Quilt Market

 

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.

View of downtown Houston from the Hilton

 

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

International Quilt Market – Wonderful Products, Beautiful Colors (Part 1)

The International Quilt Market is the most beautiful trade show I attend. It is so visually stimulating with all the wonderful colors of fabrics, quilts and all the related products. I just returned from the fall trade show in Houston and want to share my thoughts, experiences and photos with you. I must warn you, I used my new iPhone  camera and loved it so much, I kept snapping away so I have tons of photos to share with you and will divide them into multi posts.

After arriving on Friday, the first event I attended was a mixer that night, Fabric 2.0, organized by Caroline Devoy of J. Caroline Creative (and sponsored by CHA, Stashbooks, Michael Miller Fabrics, Modkid, JCaroline Creative, and Andover Fabrics). As you can see, it was well attended (and fun).

 

Fabric 2.0 for Houston Quilt Market by J Caroline Creative
I just love colorful furniture and fell in love with this sewing machine cabinet in bright green by Arrow Sewing Cabinets. This will really brighten a sewing room or studio and make sewing and quilting even more fun. The chair cushion raises up for a storage area underneath it. And we all know that there’s no such thing as too much storage. This one also comes in white and the chair comes in bright pink and oak.

Arrow bright green sewing cabinet

Wooly Lady has the most gorgeous artisan wool fabrics, dyed one yard at a time with painterly colors.  They also carry fabulous kits for wool applique and rug hooking with contemporary to classic and elegant to whimsical designs.

Wooly Lady wool fabricsPlease check out Wooly Lady’s website for their line of kits, they are just beautiful to look through.

Wooly Lady booth at Houston Quilt Market

Quilting Treasures‘ booth was filled with new wonderful fabrics.  J Wecker Frisch, a very talented artist, has both a Halloween and a Christmas collection.  I love her snowmen chefs below in her Baker’s Dozen collection. They are so warm and inviting with Christmas cheer!J Wecker Frisch Christmas Fabrics for Quilting Treasures

Her Halloween fabric collection, Creepers Peepers is beautiful and has a wonderful vintage appeal.

J Wecker Frisch Halloween fabrics for Quilting Treasures

Debra Jordan Bryan has a new Christmas fabric for Quilting Treasures as well, Let It Snow, created in her wonderful whimsy style. The blue color really pops with this fabric. All of these holiday fabrics will be out next year in plenty of time for sewing and quilting.

Debra Jordan Bryan new Christmas fabrics for Quilting Treasures

 

Clover Needlecraft, Inc. had a demo in their booth of their needle felting tools using wool roving. This is one technique I haven’t tried yet, due only to my time constraints.  I love wool felting and have it high on my to do list.  Look at the felted items behind the demo on the booth wall – bags, butterfly and hats! They were gorgeous! Clover also had some new Wonder Clips to clip and hold or clip and sew that you can see on their website.

Clover Needlecraft needle felting tools

I  have been a Kaffe Fassett fan for years and have a collection of his books. I started with his beauitful needlepoint books and have continued with his quilt books. His booth is an explosion of the beautiful, wonderful colors of his fabrics for Westminster Fabrics.  Check out the chair!

Kaffe Fassett booth at Houston Quilt Market

Below, Kaffe is sewing on a quilt with his new book on the table in front of him.

Kaffe Fassett at Houston Quilt Market

I love buttons and know a lot of you do too. I don’t know what it is about buttons, but you can’t have too many!  I have big jars, small jars, tins, and drawers of buttons, some vintage and some new, and keep buying more. And I bought more at Market. So you can see why I visited Dusty’s Vintage booth. There were sooooooo many buttons, and these pictures just show a small part of the buttons they have.

Dusty's Vintage buttons at Houston Quilt Market

The Ogier Trading Company booth was beautiful with all the hand-dyed yarns for needle arts, embellishments and doll hair.  The yarn assortments consists of wool, alpaca, cotton, mohair and silk fibers.

Hand Dyed yarns at Houston Quilt Market

Pearl Louise, of Pearl Louise Designs, is a delightful person as well as talented designer of patterns and fabrics (Troy fabrics). I always enjoy visiting with her at Market and seeing her latest designs. Below, Pearl is standing in front of her newest Block of the Month Quilt featuring her fabrics. Pearl is known for her delightful block of the month quilt patterns.

Pearl Louise at Houston Quilt Market

Leilani Arts, has exotic yarns, fibers, textiles and beads. You can see how luscious their silks are.  I love the vest of woven silk strips and can visualize the strips used for quilts as well.

Leilani Arts silk yarns at quilt market
Luscious, luscious………

Leilani Arts silk vest at Quilt Market

Suzanne McNeill of Design Originals (Fox Chapel Publishing) was showing how easy it is to sew Zentangle type designs for quilts with the new book “Zen-Sational, Stitches for Quilting”. Although it looks like it would be hard to sew Zentangles, Suzanne showed how easy it really is. Really easy! I love drawing with the Zentangle technique and can’t wait to try it for sewing.

Suzanne McNeill of Design Originals at Quilt Market in Houston

Meg Hannan’s Fabric Jewels creates the most amazing and beautiful fabric jewelry in her Rag Sky Art Studio.  Yes, the jewelry is really made from fabric with beads and other embellishments.  She uses a special technique to make this unique jewelry.  You can see more of her jewelry as well as galleries that carry her art jewelry on her website – its a beautiful site so check it out. And congratulations on Meg for celebrating 25 years of Fabric Jewels!

Meg Hannan fabric jewelry at Quilt Market

I hope you’ve enjoyed my view of Quilt Market so far.  I still have lots more to show you from market as well as photos from the quilt exhibits. Walking the quilt exhibits is like walking an art museum as they are really works of art. Please check back.

Phyllis

Interview by BluPenny for Sketchbook Story

One of the best things about traveling to trade shows and events is meeting people who I’ve talked with via social media and forums.  At the Surtex show last year, I met Cindy Ann Ganaden in person. She is a fellow artist and author of the BluPenny blog. She publishes a Sketchbook Story series in which she interviews artists on their inspiration, how they use it to create sketches and finalize into art.  The art is then licensed for various products.BluPenny Blog
Cindy Ann just interviewed me and posted the interview for the Sketchbook Story in which I show my inspiration and results. I used my cat for inspiration to create an art collection which was then turned into a fabric collection for Quilting Treasures. Everyone has different techniques and ways they use to create their art.  I hope you will check out mine.

The apron shown in the interview can be downloaded – free half apron pattern.

I’m off to Houston for Quilt Market.  Please check back as I will post pictures of Market next week.

Phyllis