Best of Quilting Arts: Your Ultimate Resource for Art Quilt Techniques & Inspiration

161 Pages·2012·61.416 MB·English

by  Bolton, Pokey

Crafts/Quilting
Discover the best techniques from
a decade of magazine t h e
b e s t
Quilting Arts magazine has been exploring the basics You’ll also fi nd tips and encouragement from top of
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and beyond of art quilting for a decade, covering artists in the fi eld, including Connie Rose, Carol
h
machine and handstitching, embellishment, surface Watkins, Melanie Testa, Jane Dunnewold, Judy e
design, and more. Celebrate the tenth anniversary Coates Perez, and many more. Whether you’re
b
of this groundbreaking magazine with this new making your fi rst art quilt or are a seasoned quilt
e
collection of the very best articles. You’ll fi nd: artist eager to enhance your designs, you’ll fi nd s Your Ultimate Resource for POK E Y BOLTON
t
endless instruction and inspiration in The Best of

• art quilt techniques, from fabric collage and o
Quilting Arts. Art Quilt Techniques & Inspiration
appliqué to resist dyeing, stamping, and foiling; f

• machine-stitching and thread-painting tips and
POKEY BOLTON founded Quilting Arts and Cloth
tutorials from award-winning art quilters;
Paper Scissors magazines. Pokey is now the editorial
• an array of binding and stitching techniques to director of Interweave’s Quilt and Paper Division. She
make your art quilt stand out;
is the author of The Quilting Arts Book: Techniques and
• methods for making realistic representational art Inspiration for Creating One-of-a-Kind Quilts and 1,000
quilts, including portraits of pets and people; Artist Trading Cards: Innovative and Inspired Mixed-
• ideas and advice for the professional quilt artist. Media ATCs. Pokey is also the host of Quilting Arts TV.
B
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$24.95 / 11QM07 L
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t he
best
of
POKE Y BOLTON
Your Ultimate Resource for
Art Quilt Techniques and Inspiration
Editor Elaine Lipson
Art Director Liz Quan
Designer Margaret McCullough
Photography Larry Stein and Korday Studios (except where noted)
Production Katherine Jackson
© 2011 Interweave Press LLC
All rights reserved.
Front cover, top: Melody Johnson, Leaf Light (detail). Front cover, bottom: Frieda Anderson, Dancing Trees
(detail). Back cover, top: Jane Dunnewold, Breath (detail). Back cover, bottom: Judy Coates Perez, Untitled
(detail).
Interweave Press LLC
201 East Fourth Street
Loveland, CO 80537
interweave.com
Printed in China by C&C Offset
All of the articles in this collection were previously published in Quilting Arts magazine, © Interweave Press.
Some have been altered to update information or conform to space limitations.
Except as otherwise noted, artwork is by the article’s author.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bolton, Patricia.
The best of Quilting arts : your ultimate resource for art quilt techniques & inspiration / Pokey Bolton.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-59668-399-0 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-1-59668-971-8 (eBook)
1. Quilting. 2. Art quilts--Design. I. Quilting arts. II. Title.
TT835.B51435 2011
746.46--dc23
2011021179
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Acknowledgments
Quilting Arts magazine would not have come to be if it weren’t for
the passion and dedication of so many people who believed in this
publication.
First and foremost, I’d like to extend my heartfelt thanks to my in-law
family, the Boltons. Without all of their help and support over the years,
Quilting Arts would never have gotten off its feet.
I would also like to thank my Quilting Arts family of co-workers and
talented and giving artists who have contributed over the last ten years.
What a fantastic, colorful, and fun journey. Here’s to ten more!
Contents

introduction Pokey Bolton 6
1

starting and finishing: Art Quilt Basics 8

rELEasiNg crEaTivE BLOcKs Melody Johnson 10

aLL ThE righT MOvEs: successful free-Motion Quilting Frieda Anderson 14

ON ThE EdgE: Beautiful Binding Methods Sarah Ann Smith 22

a Big fiNish fOr sMaLL QuiLTs Terry Grant 30

cOLOr PLaY Anne Lullie 34

Professional Advice: Art Resolutions and Goals Jane Dávila 40
2
Trends in surface design:

Stamping, Dyeing, Printing, and More 42

cOLLagraPhs: Monoprinting with Texture Plates Heidi Miracle-McMahill 44

fLighT Of faNTasY: a gelatin Monoprint Process Frances Holliday Alford 48

EXTrEME shiBOri: Taking stitch-resist shibori Beyond the Norm Sue Cavanaugh 52

carvuM sTaMPuM: Marks of distinction Laura Wasilowski 56

crEaTE wiTh dischargE PasTE Ana Buzzalino 60

aBsTracT digiTaL iMagErY Connie Rose 64
EXPEriMENTs wiTh ThErMOfaX PriNTiNg: Easy Methods for unconventional

surface design Lynn Krawczyk 68

Professional Advice: The Effective Artist Statement Jane Dávila 72
3

People, Pets, and More: Representation in Art Quilting 74

MaKiNg facEs Bonnie McCaffery 76

crEaTiNg figurEs iN faBric Leni Levenson Wiener 82
Contents

PET-TY JOurNaL POrTraiTs Pokey Bolton 88

introduction Pokey Bolton 6

1 TEXT MEssagiNg: sticker-resist fabric Painting Enid Gjelten Weichselbaum 92

starting and finishing: Art Quilt Basics 8 ThrEad PaiNTiNg: from Photo to stitched art Carol Watkins 96

rELEasiNg crEaTivE BLOcKs Melody Johnson 10 ThrEad sKETchiNg ON sTaBiLiZEr Karen Fricke 100

aLL ThE righT MOvEs: successful free-Motion Quilting Frieda Anderson 14 Professional Advice: Mount a Group Exhibition Jane Dávila 104

ON ThE EdgE: Beautiful Binding Methods Sarah Ann Smith 22 4

Make it green: Recycled and Natural Materials 106
a Big fiNish fOr sMaLL QuiLTs Terry Grant 30

gOiNg grEEN! recycled wall hangings Belinda Spiwak 108
cOLOr PLaY Anne Lullie 34

BaTiK wiTh sOY waX Melanie Testa 112
Professional Advice: Art Resolutions and Goals Jane Dávila 40

2 gOiNg grEEN TO dYE BLuE: dyeing cottons with indigo Daren Pitts Redman 116

Trends in surface design: iT’s irrEsisTiBLE! flour Paste resist Jane Dunnewold 120

Stamping, Dyeing, Printing, and More 42

Professional Advice: Time Management for Artists Jane Dávila 124

cOLLagraPhs: Monoprinting with Texture Plates Heidi Miracle-McMahill 44
5

fLighT Of faNTasY: a gelatin Monoprint Process Frances Holliday Alford 48
embellishment and Mixed Media:

EXTrEME shiBOri: Taking stitch-resist shibori Beyond the Norm Sue Cavanaugh 52 Too Much Is Never Enough 126

carvuM sTaMPuM: Marks of distinction Laura Wasilowski 56 OuTragEOus EMBELLishMENT Frances Holliday Alford 128

crEaTE wiTh dischargE PasTE Ana Buzzalino 60 fOiLiNg arOuNd Jane Dunnewold 134

aBsTracT digiTaL iMagErY Connie Rose 64 cOLLagEd faBric PaNELs Mary Hettmansperger 138

EXPEriMENTs wiTh ThErMOfaX PriNTiNg: Easy Methods for unconventional fLOraBuNdaNcE: Embellished Patchwork Paper collage Jill A. Kennedy 142

surface design Lynn Krawczyk 68 TEa aNd ENTOMOLOgY Judy Coates Perez 148

Professional Advice: The Effective Artist Statement Jane Dávila 72 Professional Advice: Branding for Artists Jane Dávila 152
3

People, Pets, and More: Representation in Art Quilting 74 About the Contributors 154

MaKiNg facEs Bonnie McCaffery 76 resources 158

crEaTiNg figurEs iN faBric Leni Levenson Wiener 82 index 159
Celebrate Ten Years of Quilting Arts
To knit or to quilt? That was the question I asked thread. That’s when I started to research crazy
myself when I walked into a craft store ten years quilts, embellishments, hand embroidery, surface
ago, looking for a much-needed break from my design techniques, and eventually, art quilts.
doctoral studies.
I looked for a magazine on the newsstands that
I perused the shelves of the store, walking briskly was dedicated to art quilting and couldn’t find
past the palettes of watercolor paints, bins of one. I decided to put my doctoral degree on hold
cake decorating tools, and aisle upon aisle of and start my own magazine. I named it Quilting
scrapbooking gadgetry, and I ultimately paused Arts because I wanted it to celebrate all kinds of
in the section that focused on fiber. As beckon- artistic styles in quilting—abstract, portraiture,
ing as those luscious piled skeins of yarns were, landscapes and nature scenes, and the like—and
it was the colorful patterned bolts of fabric lined I wanted to go into detail about design, art quilt
up like cheerful little soldiers along the wall that construction, tips and tutorials for machine and
lured me. Quilting won over knitting, and dur- handstitching, embellishment techniques, and
ing a holiday break from school, I converted my quilting with mixed media.
dining room into a temporary quilt studio and
made my first quilt. As first efforts go, I realized I can’t believe it’s been ten years since I founded
I had quite a lot to learn. My machine stitching Quilting Arts magazine. As the cliché goes, time
was wonky, my piecing was terribly uneven, my has flown. I remember sitting by myself all those
binding was pathetic, and my sense of color? We years ago in my in-laws’ sheep barn with a laptop
won’t go there. and a folding table and just the seed of an idea
for a magazine in my head. I asked a handful of
Having made this first quilt, though, I realized dedicated friends and people I’d met on quilting
two things: I had a passion for textiles and a message boards online—who thankfully under-
desire to create something unique with fabric and stood the vision—to pitch in and write articles,
6 The BesT of QuilTing ArTs
though I couldn’t afford to pay them at the time. It is my hope that this book will provide you with
I consulted with a publishing guru to help form plenty of inspiration and further you on your
a business plan, find a printer, and learn all of creative journey.
the ins and outs of magazine publishing to get
Quilting Arts on its feet.
Pokey Bolton
Since then, I’ve been fortunate to interview and
work with some of the world’s most talented con- Founder and Editorial Director
temporary quilters and fiber artists. With this Quilting Arts
book you’ll find the best of the best from the last
ten years of our cherished publication—every-
thing from quilt design, fabric collage, and con-
struction to unique surface design application and
embellishment techniques. If you want to learn
or improve your machine stitching, talented and
award-winning quilters offer their advice and tips
to make free-motion stitching and thread painting
easy, fun, and beautiful. If you are at all like me
and thoroughly enjoy painting, dyeing, and screen
printing your fabrics (or if you’re ready to try your
hand at these things), there are plenty of inspiring
ideas in the pages ahead. And if you want to spice
up your quilts with mixed-media techniques and
applications, there are plenty of out-of-the-box
ideas for you, too.
inTroduCTion 7

S t a r t i n g a n d
Fi n i s h i n g
art quilt basics
wE chOOsE TO MaKE arT QuiLTs (rather than traditional
quilts) because we want to express our point of view with fabric and
thread. With so many methods, tools, and techniques at our disposal,
sometimes it’s diffi cult to choose the best approach, let alone get
started. This chapter will help you transform the quilts that you
imagine into real art quilts, with ideas for getting past creative blocks,
playing with color, and learning the fundamentals of machine quilting.
And what about unique fi nishing methods? Do you have to apply a
traditional binding? Of course not! It all begins right here.
Frieda Anderson, Dancing Trees 31" × 27" (79 × 68.5 cm)
sTArTing And finishing 99