Great news…. the Lark book with 8 projects by the Frayed Edges is now available!!!!

I’ve ordered copies, and as soon as they arrive you’ll be able to order up an autographed copy (or unmarked if you prefer… either way is great!) here. I have also obtained a supply of the drop beads I used, so if folks want, let me know and I can add a baggie of enough beads to make one journal cover to the store site if there is any demand for them.

I am so proud of ALL of the Frayed Edges! Four of the five of us submitted proposals, we were all accepted and we are either

• on the cover (my pomegranate notebook cover, which you can see here)
• on the table of contents (Deborah)
• on the Introduction pages (Deborah and Kate)
• or the FIRST project in the book (Kathy!)

WOW! Here are some pictures and a bit of a review of the book:

After the elation of learning a while ago that my project was on the cover, it only got better as soon as I opened the book. Here is the table of contents, with part of Deborah‘s Cobblestones piece on the lower right:

Then I turned the page to the Introduction, which repeats Cobblestones and has BOTH of Kate Cutko’s pieces (Broken Dishes and Petroglyph):

Then I turned to the projects, and it begins with Kathy Daniels‘ sea piece:

Kate’s Petroglyph panel (one day at one of our regular Frayed Edges meetings, we decided the beads were too bright and shiny, so we sandpapered them and stained them with leftover coffee!):

Deborah’s landscape triptych with her signature writing on her fabrics (one of her THREE projects!):

The layout of the book is good–nice and clean, clear instructions, concise (I tend to go into LOTS of detail!). The projects look as though they could all be fairly easily and quickly accomplished (once you get the “stuff” you need for them anyway!). A basics and tips/ideas section starts the book, then it progresses to the projects, which are nicely illustrated and beautifully photographed! I hope the photography in my book turns out as well as this! Apart from the Frayed Edges projects, there were a couple I loved, and I could see doing a riff on this bag in an art quilt:

The projects shown could easily be adapted to use in your own art work or done as is… way cool.

At the end of the book is a gallery of inspiring pieces. These are much more in-depth, complicated works of art from some of the top art quilters today. It would probably be impossible to pattern these works of art (if the artists would even be willing), but they show what you can do with the techniques learned in the book. Just let yourself loose and PLAY! Which is what I hope to do when I get back from teaching in Paducah.

I should be home on April 27th, and the books for sale should be here that week. I’ll start shipping as soon as I’m unpacked!

WOOT!

My copy of the May/June issue of Quilter’s Home Magazine arrived, and I’m IN it! Page 41, to be precise! Back in January, I received an e-mail from editor Mark Lipinski saying “YOU CALL ME tomorrow for an article on you. xoxom” Ya think I called? I sure did! I am totally and completely thrilled with the article, and still amazed that he asked *me* to be in the magazine! Here’s the cover of “my” issue:

And… lookit the table of contents…. who ever woulda thought that I’d be in a national quilting mag’s table of contents, but there I am (if you click on the photo, they’ll pop up a bit larger, but you’ll need a real copy to be able to read it)!

Originally, I think the article was going to be one of his intermittent series of articles on things like the contents’ of famous (definitely not me) and not so (still probably not me, unless you drop the “so”) famous quilters purses, refrigerators and the like. This set was to be “Hometown Favorites.” Mark e-mailed a long list of questions, to which I replied by e-mail, and then helped him out by sending a CD of photos of various of these places. At least half of my (lengthy…sigh) replies made it into the article.

THEN, while I’m out in California in February, I’m standing in the grocery store with my frail, wobbly 89-year old mom, when my cell phone rings. It’s MARK! He had been trying to reach me by e-mail, but I’d been off helping my sick mom get a root canal (we had just come from having it done no less), so hubby gave him my cell number. SO, with mom propped up on the grocery cart and the Novocaine wearing off, I’m doing an interview with Mark on my cell in the middle of Scottie’s Market in Terra Linda, California! Here’s the result:

I couldn’t be more thrilled and honored. And he used my photos! I’m still amazed that he asked me, and grateful that he did. One step at a time, I’m getting to pursue doing what I love for a career (tho it’s a long way from a full-time wage!), and I so appreciate the exposure for both me and my wonderful home town of Camden.

Quilter’s Home has been out for about two years now, and they began subscription service (at long last!) at the end of last year— the magazine is truly a breath of fresh, sassy, quirky air in the world of quilting mags. So, this issue will be on newstands soon… go see what’s fun and new in quilting mags and see what a nice job Mark did… especially on page 41! And thanks again, Sarah

Wowie zowie…. OK… I am so excited that I can’t believe it and had to share before I explode…….Art quilter makes good! I have two projects in Lark Books’ forthcoming book “Creative Quilting with Beads.” I was trying to track down how Quilt Divas, the local quilt shop in Rockland, Maine, can order it at wholesale (we’ll do a book signing and class), so I was on the phone with Lark’s customer service. While speaking to the rep, I remembered Amazon has had a lot of other list-members’ books online before publication date / available for pre-order, so I looked up this book……

MY PROJECT IS ON THE COVER!!!!! At least, the cover that is on the Amazon listing. We’ll hope that it stays the same… I can’t BELIEVE IT……. Me?????!!!!!!! I know that sometimes covers change, but still…… I’ll have to wait until publication to share my own pics of the notebooks and other projects from the Frayed Edges that are included (Lark has first publication rights, including even little old blogdom.)

Anyway, yes, I will have the book available for sale on my website when it is out mid-May-ish (release date is nominally May 6th, but we know those dates slide in both directions). I won’t be able to come close to offering the price Amazon can (it’ll be list price), but I can offer signatures! Eight of the 25 projects are by my mini-group the Frayed Edges, so thought I’d ask them to sign a bunch of copies so folks can have signatures from Kate Cutko, Kathy Daniels and me. (Of the five of us, 4 have projects in the book…3 of the 4 of us with projects in this book; Hannah was right in the middle of selling her house, moving and traveling to adopt a daughter in China at submission deadline, so obviously she was a bit too busy for book projects!) WOOOOHOOOO!

This project is a notebook cover…. I did two versions. This one fits a composition notebook, so it is vertical orientation. The other one is also pomegranates but with lime green and yellow for the table and wall and fits a 6×9 ish (whatever the standard size is) sketchbook / journal with a horizontal format. I chose those two items since they are standard size here in the US and readily available, but it would be easy-peasy to adapt the pattern to other shapes/sizes.

Anyway, I just HAD to share….now I can’t wait more than ever to see the finished book!

BOOK REVIEWS:

Karey Bresenhan’s book Creative Quilting: the Journal Quilt Project, (available here) came out about this time last year, and I intended to blog about it then, but life got away from me (what a surprise). Even if I didn’t have five (!!!) journals–small art quilts– in this book, I would recommend this 272-page tome heartily. I think this book will become a benchmark publication of where art quilting is in the earliest years of the 21st century. It is truly a remarkable, inspiring, and educational book that belongs on the shelf of every person who loves art quilts, whether they make art quilts or not.

So what is a journal quilt? The idea was to explore something each month–instead of writing in a paper journal, to document the month in cloth and thread and fiber and whatever, while also keeping a brief written narrative. The finished pieces were to be the size of a U.S. piece of copy paper: 8 1/2 x 11 inches, vertical orientation. I joined the QuiltArt list in late 2002 just as the first year’s journals were being sent in to hang in Houston. I signed up in early 2003 as soon as possible to participate the coming year, in part because I figured (happily I was wrong) it would be the only way I would ever have a quilt in Houston. For my January quilt, I wanted to involve my son, then in 3rd grade, since he was sometimes jealous of my quilting time. I asked and received the OK from both Joshua and Karey to use a piece of his second grade artwork as my very first journal:

I cannot believe, now, how many firsts were in that quilt: first time using metallic thread, first time painting on fabric, first time fusing sheers and beading on a quilt! Now, those techniques are standard fodder for me. It is simply not possible to over-state how much doing the journal quilts has contributed to my development as an art quilter. This is the quilt and the project that launched a career! Best of all, it not only made it into the book, but is also included at thumbnail size in the introduction. You should have seen 13-year old Joshua’s eyes grow wide and fill with pride when I got the book and promptly opened it to show him HIS artwork (as interpreted by me)! That look is a gift from him to me that I will treasure forever.

The book is divided into seven chapters:

1. Series
2. Stories
3. Flowers, Plants and Trees
4. Animals and Insects
5. L andscapes and Special Places
6. Faces and Figures
7. Abstract

Some of the most amazing works are those where the artist worked in a series in a given year’s journals. Maria Elkins and Rachelly Roggel’s are the ones that first spring to mind. I don’t think ANYone, in the six year run of this project has better utilized the potential for stretching and development through these quiltlets than Maria. By clicking on her name you can get to her gallery page, and from there view each year of her journals…prepared to be inspired and exhilarated!

The stories are equally amazing, from inspiring to heartbreaking. Some are humorous, like the woman undergoing chemo who left her hair on the sofa, literally (and used a tuft of fake fur on her pictorial version). Others are heartbreaking, documenting loss of loved ones and tragedies both personal and national.

The book is not a project book, but each entry shares the materials and techniques used by the artists. If it can be done to, with or on fabric, I think it was done in one of the journals! If you want to learn how to do a technique, you can go search out classes, technique books or magazines, such as Quilting Arts, that will teach you the how-tos. Creative Quilting is a book to savor and dip into at random, enjoying the journey.

I was honored when Karey opened the section on Plants, Flowers and Trees with three of my journal quilts, including a full page (nearly life-sized) reproduction, above, of this quilt which features one of my photos printed onto cloth and quilted intensively. Also included are my January and February 2006 journals:

2007 is the final year of the Journal Quilt Project. This year, instead of making a different journal each month, Karey asked us to make a single piece 17″ wide by 22″ long (or four pieces of paper together) that used at least three techniques that were featured in journals included in the book. When the International Quilt Festival in Houston opens to the public on November 1, I will be able to share my journal for this year.

Even better, nearly ALL of the 400+ journal quilts in the book will be on display in Houston, in the order in which they appear in the book. I wish I could be there to see them, but will be content that I have had the unbelievable opportunity to learn and grow through this remarkable project.

Today’s tutorial will add a bit more depth to the section of the Quilting Arts article on edge-finishes published in their August/September 2007 issue. Please order a copy here so you can have the whole article, then feel free to refer to this blogpost for more in-depth explanations! I hope someday to convince a publisher to let me do a book!!!!

To “cut” your strips, place your synthetic sheer fabric on top of an old storm window or a piece of glass from a photo frame (tape the edges of the glass to avoid cuts). A cutting mat under the glass gives you lines to follow. Secure the fabric with tape at each end.

On a corner, test your heat tool to make sure it is hot enough to cut / sear the edges.

Cut your binding at least 1½ inches wider than the desired width. For a ½” edge, cut your strip 2 ½ to 3 inches.

Hints: if you sear too close to the stitching, your sheer may pull loose. Also, you might melt your threads–eeek! Practice on a scrap and on the back side of the quilt before working on the front. Keep the heat tool somewhat vertical or you may accidentally melt the binding with the hot shaft of the tool. This polka-dot look could be really fun (what if?!) on the right quilt. Here’s what not to do:

I hope these extra photos help explain how to have fun playing with sheers as a binding! If you have any questions, just ask.

Cheers, Sarah