Vertical Quilting Curve

Congratulations to IamSusie! You’ve won my copy of The Runaway Quilt in my first ever giveaway.

I know you are going to enjoy this book and I will be in contact with you soon.

BTW, IamSusie has a great little blog about crafts, family and collections. She loves Japanese craft books and has several items made from them shown on her blog. She does embroidery and quilting as well.

P.S. Okay, you all, I only had one comment, so giving away my book was very easy for me this time. I will be going through my quilt books soon and finding something there to give away. I want you to make it harder on me so that I actually have to find a great random way to choose a winner. BUT, if I only have one comment I will always give it away, no matter what.

quilting, contest, book giveaway

The other day I gave you a sneak peek of something I was working on for Craft Critique. I am happy to report that my finished item and article is published. As you can see in the picture it is a purse. The product that made the purse is called PURSuE Your Art. It was made for the scrapbooking and stamping industry but took it as a fiber challenge. I made my own fabric from fibers using Sulky Solvy. You can read the entire article about how I did it here.

quilting, quilt art, fiber art, PURSuE Your Art

I love to see what other bloggers/writers are putting on the web out there about quilts as an art form especially when they have just discovered them. MadSilence writes in his post “A crazy patchwork quilt of craft and art” about a recent visit to Vermont’s Shelburne Museum where he discovered a showing of contemporary Vermont quilts.

He is very thorough in his evaluation of the exhibit and seems to be quite impressed. I am impressed by his research of the history of the contemporary quilt and attention to the artists statements. It is fun to read and follow the links in the story.

quilting, quilt art, Shelburne Museum, quilts

Ok, I can’t tell you exactly what I’m working on yet but I had to let you see some of the fabric I made using Sulky Solvy for a project and article I’m writing for Craft Critique. The full article should be up Thursday. I will announce it then. But until then here are a couple of photos.

quilting, quilt art, Sulky Solvy

The Carnegie Center for Art and History in New Albany, Indiana is accepting submissions for its quilt art show. Deadline is October 20, 2007. The accepted entries will be shown January 12 through March 8. There will be $1000 for best in show as well as other awards. The prospectus is available in PDF format.

This would be an excellent challenge for yourself. The great thing is that there is not a minimum size for entry so it would be a nice opportunity to use some of your quilting or multimedia talents in an art quilt. If you create something, let me know and I will link to your blog entry or if you don’t have a blog send me a photo and I will post it.

Good luck to everyone who will enter and have fun!

quilting, quilt art, quilt contest, quilt show, Carnegie Center for Art and History, New Albany IN

I found this great tutorial about how to cover a donut bead over at Textiles in Time. Marty52 has great close ups of how to cover the bead. Although it shown on an evenweave fabric, you could put this on any quilt project you want to add dimensional embellishment. I’m going to have to go get some of these beads or see if I can do it over other donut shaped items.

quilting, beading, quilt embellishing, embroidery, tutorials

Below is the opening line of a critique by famous feminist Germain Greer in The Guardian regarding a quilt exhibition of Edrica Huws works.

Making pictures from strips of cloth isn’t art at all - but it mocks art’s pretentions to the core

Now, I do have to admit that not all quilters are artists nor do all quilters aspire to be such. For example, the Gees Bend quilters did not set out to make art but were discovered to be artists of objects they deemed only utilitarian and such can be said of the Amish who do not believe in ornamental objects for the mere goal of an ornament. But does creating something that is visually pleasing and creatively stimulating not art?

According to Germain Greer who is responsible for this critique, quilts cannot be considered art because they are constructed with “strips of cloth” that do not stand the test of time. That fabric fades and dissolves as time goes by. She goes on to say “women have frittered their lives away stitching things for which there is no demand ever since vicarious leisure was invented.” I don’t know about you but the term “frittered” just makes me steam a little. I think she sounds a little jealous. But I am only reading into that. I would hope that as a feminist she would allow someone to be free to do what makes them happy and if “painting” with fabric instead of oils is the artists medium then she should be praising the women who break barriers pressing into the art world instead of demoralizing them for their talents. The great thing about the world is it is diverse and allows opportunities aplenty for everyone.

Here is a You Tube video of some of the Edrica Huws exhibit:

quilting, Edrica Huws, Germain Greer, Gees Bend Quilts, quilts, art quilts, Amish quilts

Although I love having my books and I own more than I will ever use and there are many I will not part with, I thought it would be nice to pass some on. Therefore I am starting the Pass It On series for the blog. Once a month I will find something (or even a group of something) to pass on and share with my readers. I also encourage you to pass it on once you are through or maybe find something else you’ve had for awhile to pass on.

My first giveaway is the 4th book in the Elm Creek Quilters series by Jennifer Chiaverini, The Runaway Quilt. I’ve had this book sitting on my bookshelf for awhile and finally picked it up to read while my husband was in the hospital last week. I’ve only read the 1st book, The Quilter’s Apprentice, before this. Of course now I want to read all of them including the 10th one that will be out in November.

Although The Runaway Quilt has some reflections from the books preceding it, it stands alone in its storyline. The story centers around a journal and the quilts found with it from the ancestors of Elm Creek Farm unwinding a tale of suspense and hidden family secrets. It is based on the possible use of quilts as signals in the Underground Railroad. It also explores the role and strength of women during the era and the moral rights of all.

To win this copy all you need to do is leave a comment below and I will select a random winner. I would love to hear if you have read any of the other books or if you already practice the concept of Pass It On but you can say anything you want about yourself or quilting or to just say hi. You can leave a comment between now and August 28th. I will announce the winner by that Friday the 31st. Sorry but the contest will only be open to shipping addresses in the U.S.

Thanks for stopping by.

quilting, quilt fiction, quilts, Jennifer Chiaverini, Elm Creek Quilts

I found this great little tutorial on making circles for your quilting projects. Over at Stitch. Rip. Repeat (great name don’t you think?) Beth gives you some great step-by-step photos for easy to do circles using freezer paper. Make sure you click on the photos to enlarge for close details.

quilting, applique, quilts, tutorials

If you live in Georgia or plan to visit check this calendar for a quilt challenge tour presented by the Georgia Quilt Council. Members were challenged to come up with a modern crazy quilt to tour the state as a collection with the title “Crazy Is As Crazy Does:Crazy Quilts for Crazy Times“.

If you can’t make it to one of the stops on the tour, you can sit back with a cup of tea in front of your computer for your very own personal online tour.

To the right is a crazy quilt block I’ve started which will probably end up in a purse.

quilting, crazy quilting, quilts, Georgia Quilt Council