Terry’s art is immediately recognizable whether she is depicting buildings, nature, people:  using black outlining, eclectic prints, plaids and stripes, skillful use of paints and thread, when you see “a Terry Grant”  you know it is her work.   We share a love of representational quilts, but Terry also ventures into some  geometrics and abstracts. I’m so happy that she agreed to be a part of this bloghop and giveaway!  Please visit her blog, here, to participate!

Red Domes is quintessentially Terry to me, the wonderful use of plaids in the sky, the crisp edges, the warm earthy reds and oranges, the bold, graphic quality to the shapes and lines.  Right click to see a bit larger.

Once again, we’re celebrating the release of my first video workshop, Art Quilt  Design from Photo to Threadwork, with Fabric Collage and Machine Quilting, by Quilting Arts/Interweave.

Enter the various giveaways by visiting the bloghoppers’ blogs!

(To order a DVD, visit my Store page here, or to order either the DVD or a digital download, visit Quilting Arts’ Interweave Store, here.  Now back to enjoying Terry’s art!)

Terry grew up in Idaho and has lived many years in Oregon, and many of her quilts feature scenes that could come from nowhere but the Pacific Northwest, such as this beautiful piece of Mount Hood (in Oregon).

The colors just make me sigh in Terry Grant’s portrait of Mount Hood.  Right Click to see larger.

You can tell from her style that she, like my friend Susan Brubaker Knapp (her website is here), has a background in graphic design.  Terry also studied art in college–I’m just a tad envious that she was able to find a way to incorporate art into her life from such a young age.  Do go read about her on her blog/website.  Most of all, take the time to visit her portfolio pages.

Like several of the other artists in this bloghop and the one that will happen in November, Terry is a member of the Twelve by Twelve international challenge group (website here) and the Sketchbook challenge.  I wonder if they have all discovered a way to add another ten hours to each day to get it all done!  Maybe I will, since next year is relatively easy work-wise, try to follow along with the Sketchbook Challenge!

A recent piece is Red Umbrellas:

Don’t you just love the lines? Those three red umbrellas, brighter than the rusty orange and ochre so that they pop above the purple patio.  And again, her skillful use of stripes and plaids!

Some of Terry’s family are from South America, where she has visited often.   The imagery from there also has worked its way into her art:

Banos by Terry Grant.  Notice how she has used paints to create the discolorations on the stuccoed wall.  And that climbing vine–be still my heart!

And no post about Terry would be complete without a crow or a heart!

And of course, Terry’s crows. Love this cheeky fellow!

Thank you Terry for sharing your art with all of us, and for agreeing to help me host this bloghop!

To all of you, remember to go visit Terry’s blog and, if you wish, leave a comment according to her instructions, if you’d like to win a DVD or digital download of Art Quilt Design From Photo to Threadwork.

Great news!   A number of wonderful artists and quilters have kindly agreed to review my new Art Quilt Design, From Photo to Threadwork DVD (or download) in a bloghop and giveaway!  The Quilting and art community has given me so much, that I wanted to do something in return and to celebrate my first DVD (and I’m still agog at how wonderfully well it turned out!).

Now available!!!!

Starting on Thursday, September 19th through Saturday, October 5th, you’ll have EIGHT chances to win a free copy of the DVD or a download, thanks to the generosity of Quilting Arts/Interweave!  Then, in November, I’ll be hosting another round, a second bloghop and giveaway!   And, for the final day of each bloghop, there will be additional prizes from Mistyfuse (thank you to Iris K and Mistyfuse!) and Havel’s Scissors (thank you Havel’s!)!  Here is the schedule for the first bloghop:

September 19:    Jamie Fingal     Twisted Sister Blog
September 21:    Deborah Boschert    Deborah’s Journal
September 24:    Vicki Welsh  Field Trips in Fiber
September 26:    Leslie Jenison  Leslie’s Blog
September 28:    Terry Grant   And Sew It Goes
October 1:          Gloria Hansen   Gloria’s Blog
October 3:          Diane Perin Hock   Going to Pieces
October 5:          Sarah Ann Smith  Right HERE!
I’ll post a reminder each day there is a blogpost and giveaway.   You get to surf over and visit their blog (and I hope explore their wonderful art and blogging) and, if you want to enter, leave a comment.   Each blogger will pick one person to win the prize, will notify me, and I’ll arrange for you to get a DVD or download.  Let the fun begin!

Lookit what popped up in my inbox this morning:

Today’s Quilting Daily was a decidedly pleasant surprise! My DVD!!! Right Click to view larger

You can pre-order the DVD from me, here, or purchase the download TODAY from Quilting Arts at the Interweave Store here, or pre-order from Interweave also.   If you do the download, spring for the extra $2 and get the High Def version–the photography and clarity is superb!

Thanks to Ann C. and Debby H.  for their early and wonderful praise for my DVD:

• From Ann on Facebook:

From master quilter Sarah Ann Smith! A must get!

• From Debby H. on Facebook:

I just downloaded this video and have only watched the introduction and first part on cutting the pieces. IT IS ONE OF THE BEST I’VE EVER SEEN! I know I may be partial since I’m your friend, but it really is very very good. I love the detailed information about the supplies. You tell us specifically what to get and why that name brand. You just have no idea how valuable that information is! That would have been worth the price of the download all by itself! Thanks for putting in the work to produce such a wonderful informational piece. I’ll watch it over and over and have to use it as a reward for getting my other household chores done. Really really good!

And a sneak announcement:   next week we’ll start a bloghop and giveaway!    Details on Tuesday the 17th!

Teeheee…can you tell I’m excited?  My Video workshop, Art Quilt Design from Photo to Threadwork (with Fabric Collage and Machine Quilting) is now available as a digital download on the Interweave Store here (both regular AND [!!!!] High def) and available for pre-order here on my website and on the interweave site.  If you pre-order your DVD from me, shipping is free from now through September 24th (and a modest $3 after that).

Now available!!!!

I haven’t downloaded the video here at home yet, but I think I am at least as excited about this as about the entire DVD:

The Closing Credits…son Joshua is there, too! I had so much fun playing his music on my iPhone to get psyched before and celebrate after taping, too!

Yep, JOSHUA’s MUSIC, written, performed and recorded by my firstborn son, runs during the closing credits!!!!   You can hear the entire song on SoundCloud, here.  (Note:  link coming soon…gotta listen to the video to hear which song they chose but too eager to get this posted to wait for the download to finish–will update on the 11th.)

And as always, THANK YOU to Janome America.  They have sponsored me with a sewing machine through their Artist and Teacher program for a VERY long time, and I am incredibly grateful for their generosity and support.  I’m also thrilled that the dealer in Colorado,  Quilter’s Stash of Windsor, Colorado, was able to arrange for me to sew on an 8900–as I do at home–on the DVD set.  It made taping so much easier to be sewing on a familiar machine!

To celebrate, I will be having a bloghop giveaway in about ten days (September 2013) and another one in November 2013, just in time for the holidays.   Stay tuned for more on the bloghop and giveaways!  Now I’m gonna go float up in the clouds somewhere!

Just for a giggle I thought I’d share some behind the scenes with you all.   I can say that the dress and make-up (or rather, total lack of make-up) is rather different than when I usually teach!   Here I am waiting for the web seminar on the Mechanics of Machine Quilting (at the interweavestore.com) to begin:

Sitting with my laptop, waiting for the web seminar to begin!

A web seminar is sort of like a live radio broadcast with some slides thrown in.   I prepared the slides and notes, then share them via the internet with Laura at Interweave.  She works magic on her end, and using the GoToMeeting process we have a broadcast.  Each person gets an invitation to join the meeting (or seminar) via the internet.  Just before the appointed hour, you click on the email link, and it opens up a viewer for each person:  the Presenters, hosts and viewers.

The other side of the laptop! (Think of the great and powerful Oz behind the curtain….)

The Welcome screen is what was being displayed at that particular moment.  On the left is a printout of the screens with my notes to myself in case I lost track of where I was.   I will admit, I was more nervous than I thought I’d be—hope it didn’t show!  at least not much.   On the right is the Go To Meeting control panel, which showed Laura and Cate and me online; at the moment, I had my microphone muted while Cate did the intro.   On the lower right is a section where Cate Laura and I could communicate by typing notes to each other without having to speak aloud for all to hear (like when I managed to not have the correct software open at the start…OOOOPS, Sarah!).

It went well, I had fun (even with the nerves), have now finally had lunch and am now ready for the rest of my day:  raking dirt behind the garage, grocery shopping, picking up Eli after sports, and the usual evening stuff.   I think I need a nap, chocolate, or both!