Woot! The January/February 2014 issue of Machine Quilting Unlimited is just out and includes my article on machine quilting feet.  Somehow the title (I submitted it without a title..ooops!) ended up being very similar to Barbara Hollinger’s article from last October, but we cover fairly different territory.  Anyway, I am THRILLED with how the article turned out.  The layout is superb!  MQU was great to begin with, but the formatting and layout is even better–if you haven’t picked up a copy, do!  And then subscribe!

Here’s the first two pages of my article, where I use one of my quilts as a teaching moment (that means I did something not so great, then explain how I could have done it differently and better since I didn’t actually rip out the stitches and do it over. Ahem.)

I haven’t read the whole issue yet, but I learn from each and every issue. And if you’re looking for a copy on the newsstands, here’s the cover:

Cover of the Jan/Feb 2014 MQU magazine.

Thank you to Kit Robinson (editor) and Vicki Anderson (publisher) for inviting me to do the article and for doing such a superb job presenting it.  This may be my best article yet!

We’re celebrating the release of my video workshop with one final GRAND finale including this DVD and the loot below!

WOW!  What a wonderful tour of art and the world we’ve been on with both the September/October and November/December bloghops and giveaways!  Thank you so much to Quilting Arts and Interweave for sponsoring this with DVDs and downloads, Mistyfuse for their wonderful products that I use to make my art, and Havel‘s for great scissors.  And ENORMOUS thank yous to my intrepid reviewers who helped make this bloghop possible:  Jamie, Deborah, Vicki, Leslie, Terry, Gloria, Diane, Marie, Brenda, Jaye, Susan, Daphne and Lisa:  THANK YOU!

The December Grand Prize Giveaway includes Two packages of Mistyfuse, a package of Transdoodle (all thanks to Mistyfuse), a Bag of scissors, snips and seam ripper from Havel’s PLUS non-stick scissors, the October issue of Quilting Arts with my article on What a Difference a Background Makes, and the 2010-11 Quilting Arts Gifts issue with my project and many other still wonderful gift ideas!

Yep–if you would like a chance to win

• A copy of the DVD!
• A selection of products from MistyFuse! I show you how I use these products in the Video workshop.
• A huge donation from Havel’s Scissors including a generous giftbag that includes long scissors, short scissors, snips, seam ripper, AND the non-stick scissors too!
• And a copy of Quilting Arts Gifts magazine from 2010-11, with a project by me! and a copy of the October Quilting Arts magazine with my article on what a difference the background Makes.

all in time for a nice long winter (or summer depending on your location in the world), here’s what you need to know and do:

• Leave me a comment and tell me something about the bloghopper-reviewer  whose work most influenced you in this bloghop–the work of one of the reviewers.  I’ll include links to all their blogs at the end of this post.
• On December 10th, I’ll select a winner. Please leave comments by 8 a.m. East Coast US time.
• I will pay flat rate shipping within the US.  If you live outside the US, you may enter IF you are willing to help me with the added cost of shipping outside the US. (Probably between $10-15)

So let the fun begin!   Comment away, and return to visit one of these fine artists (or ALL OF THEM!) and enjoy their art and thank them for participating.

And remember, you can always order the DVD from me (here) or a download or DVD directly from Quilting Arts/Interweave, here.

Jamie, Deborah, Vicki, Leslie, Terry, Gloria, Diane, Marie, Brenda, Jaye, Susan, Daphne and Lisa:  THANK YOU!

Jamie Fingal      http://jamiefingaldesigns.blogspot.com/
Deborah Boschert    http://deborahsjournal.blogspot.com/
Vicki Welsh    http://vickiwelsh.typepad.com/
Leslie Jenison  http://leslietuckerjenison.blogspot.com/
Terry Grant   http://andsewitgoes.blogspot.com/
Gloria Hansen    http://www.gloriahansen.com/weblog/
Diane Perin Hock    http://goingtopieces.blogspot.com/
Marie Johansen   http://www.musingcrowdesigns.com/
Brenda Gael Smith   http://serendipitypatchwork.com.au/blog/
Jaye Lapachet    http://artquiltmaker.com/blog/
Susan Brubaker Knapp   http://wwwbluemoonriver.blogspot.com/
Daphne Greig   http://daphnegreig.blogspot.com/
Lisa Walton    http://www.fibreinspirations.blogspot.com/

What a nice way to start the day!  Reading my morning email, sipping my cup, and there’s Quilting Daily from Quilting Arts editor Vivika DeNegre, so I click on it.  It’s about my forthcoming article on the difference a background makes!   You can see it here:

http://www.quiltingdaily.com/blogs/quilting-daily/archive/2013/06/13/choose-backgrounds-for-art-quilts.aspx

Thanks to my friend Pat D. (Waving across the US to Mill Valley, California!) who suggested I submit this article concept.  I’d been sharing with my small, wonderful, essential-to-life online sketching group, trying to decide which background to use for my Tea with Milk quiltlet,

Tea with Milk, published in the recent Quilting Arts Coffee or Tea? Challenge. Of course the answer is tea! From the time I was in grade school, my Irish-American papa fixed me tea for breakfast. Still have my cuppa daily!

which was included in Quilting Arts a couple of issues ago. Pat thought my decision process would make a good article, so I submitted it and …WOOT!… Quilting Arts accepted it.  I’ll share the whole little quilt once the magazine is published.  Until then, here is “Tea with Milk” and an option or two when I made it.

Dark is good for contrast, but this lovely deep blue just looks kinda dead here.

Love the contrast, like a table when you are snug indoors in winter, but that’s not the feel I wanted for this quiltlet.

Love the contrast, but don’t like the vertical: looks like the items are going to slide off a table that has been tilted up!

Love the feel of this breezy aqua, but the cup gets lost along the edges. One option would have been to use this, but then darken the left edge of the cup with thread.

The yellow is so cheerful and “morning”, but the top edge of the white pitcher gets lost, and I didn’t want to darken it with thread. An alternative would be to outline with an ochre just a tiny bit to create an edge.

Getting closer. Good contrast with all three elements, but the value-change in the print distracts from the items.

I am THRILLED to be able to share with you a snapshot of my article in the just-out Quilting Arts Gifts magazine!   Here’s “my” page / article:

And here is the cover of this year’s project-packed issue!

Since there are copyright issues, I won’t share more pics of the issue than that, but I can say you MUST check out Susan Brubaker Knapp’s mistletoe!  I think I shall make some for this  year!

A little background:  last year I was fortunate to win a second place ribbon at the IQA World of Beauty for my quilt of our  pug; the prizes in my category, Art Quilts-Miniature, were sponsored by none other than Quilting Arts!  So as a thank you for the sponsorship of the prize, I wanted to send publisher and editor John and Pokey Bolton a little something beyond the ordinary thank you note.  So I made them a frame (color coordinated with their pets hair colors {grin!}).  Pokey wrote to say thanks, and would I consider patterning it for the magazine?  YOU BET!

I have made two other frames using this technique of assembly, so I thought I’d share pictures with you to give you ideas for different “looks” if you decide to make one of these frames!

The first one I made as a holiday project, to go on the table or mantle over the fireplace/woodstove:

This shows the “photos” side of the accordion “book” with stencilled winter trees and stars.  The next photo is the reverse side of the “book.”  I traced each person’s hand, then reduced it to 75 percent on the copier to fit on each page, which is about 7 inches wide and 10 inches tall at the peak of the roof. I wanted to stick to the blue batiks, so I used an underlayer or “shadow” of white fabric to accentuate the shape of each hand.   I used freezer paper stencils to paint on the “paper snowflakes”:

And here are two close-ups:

The second was a gift for my friend Kate, and I blogged about it here:

There is a heart frame to hold pics of each of her children.  On the back, there are pockets to record their favorite clothes, teams, sports, books, songs, on a card.  Here is the back side:

As you can see, you can get a LOT of different looks…just go play! To order your copy of Quilting Arts Gifts, go here, or head to your nearest big box book store which will likely have it on the stands now!

WOWIE ZOWIE!  See these?

Those are probably my two favorite magazines in quilting, ever:  Quilter’s Newsletter and Quilting Arts. And they BOTH gave my book great reviews!

When I first found quilting in 1988, I found Quilters Newsletter Magazine shortly thereafter.  I promptly subscribed, and ordered every back issue I could get, and have read ever issue since cover to cover.  That is 1984 to 2010 and still going.

Back in 2001, I went into the grocery store in Friday Harbor (San Juan Island, Wash., where I used to live) and discovered the second issue of Quilting Arts magazine.  I went home, called the phone number, ended up speaking with the editor Pokey Bolton (and discovered we both went to San Domenico School, albeit about 14 years apart, when we were kids) and subscribed.  I have read every issue of that one cover to cover.

Whooda thunk it…. BOTH my favorite magazines have not only reviewed my book, ThreadWork Unraveled, but given it GREAT reviews.  THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

In Quilters’ Newsletter (April 2010 issue), there is a four-page article on Staff Picks…and guess what number ONE is?  MY BOOK!

Here’s a closer picture:

To say that I am dancing a major Snoopy Dance understates things in such a major way!

And here’s p. 82, the Book Review section in Quilting Arts magazine, April/May 2010 issue:

And again, a closer view:

It is so wonderful when you worked hard to do your best, and then have others think you’ve done well.  Thanks so much… and Pippa, the managing editor of Quilting Arts, said the nicest thing… that I am at my best when encouraging others:  “the book’s most inspirational sections encourage quilters to use a needle and thread as they would a paintbrush and paint, creating fine nuances of shading and detail that can’t be captured solely with cloth.  Her advice ranges from the technical to the theoretical as she guides the reader through design considerations such as light source and coloring.  Five stitching projects are included, but Smith encourages quilters to experiment,”  Wearing my teacher hat, it doesn’t get much better than that!
WOOOOHOOOOOO….that shaking in the upper Northeast is not an earthquake, that’s me Snoopy Dancing and being happy all over again!