Quilt Published!

It's official! I've been published internationally in Magnet! Might sound a bit more important than it is, but I see it as a milestone anyway. Two complimentary copies arrived today from over the pond.

The artworks used in this magazine are absolutely amazing! And the articles are powerful, touching, and thought-provoking. It's a Christian magazine originally by the Women's Network of the Methodist Church, but is now a collaborative effort spanning many different Christian backgrounds. A British publication, it has a global focus.

After an initial snag with getting magazine quality photos of my Poured Out 2 quilt, I sent my huge graphic file off and this is what they did with it. I think it turned out well. In case you wondered, I did not write the article.

In the article, Amy Boucher Pye writes, "When we pray, we might sense something from God through an imagine in our minds. I once pictured a gorgeous crystal vase, filled with a sludgy, murky water. I saw God pouring in living water, displacing what was unclean. This showed me that I was created to be beautiful, reflecting God's light and life when the spirit cleansed me."

The following is my 'Artist's Statement' submitted with my entry of the quilt into the upcoming Sacred Threads Exhibit: "Second in a series inspired by my church's logo, this quilt represents the feelings, good and bad, that I experienced during my husband's battle with cancer. Time and time again, negative feelings threatened to choke my spirit only to be conquered by a pouring out of love and grace that washed away the scary thoughts. At the same time, I was pouring myself out for my husband and children, one still an infant and I was desperate to fill myself with the Living Water of God's love."

I am so happy to see my quilt used this way. When I made the original Poured Out and then this version, I had no idea what to do with them, other than to present the first to my church and to enter the second into Sacred Threads. It is hard to even think about what I poured into these quilts without tearing up and yet I can look at each of them and feel almost like I am looking at the work of someone else and be awed. It is clear to me that I did not make these by myself.

Artspeak mumbo jumbo perhaps, but that's how it is. And looking at the other artworks they use in this magazine, I can see that I am not alone.

You can also find Magnet on Facebook. And have I mentioned, you can find a Facebook page for Amy's Free Motion Quilting Adventures also?

Road Trip! With an Artistic Rest Stop

I apologize for A Pause in Quilting, possibly my worst post ever. I was in the woods of Indiana and the internet connection was horrible!


I drove off with my three kids, ages 3, 6 and 8, to our annual family reunion. That's 640 miles in the car with no other adult. I was afraid it was going to be a horrible time, but it worked out pretty well! My kids really enjoyed the audio books I had brought along. There were three major down times, two involving vomit and the other a really tired and cranky mommy. But I did get a nap before anyone was driven completely crazy,  hotel rugs are amazingly resilient (and the housekeeper was so kind) and rural highways have great spots to pull over in a hurry. Ugh.

We've done portions of this route several times over the years so we have certain places we stop whenever we go that way. One of them is Tamarack, the "Best of West Virginia" where all sorts of arts and crafts are displayed, sold, and even, in the case of their artists in residence, made. The kids were pleased that the textile artists in residence weren't present as they know I would stall out at their studio. Seems I've heard of Elaine Bliss, I checked out her site, but I can't quite figure out where I've come across either her or her work before.

Look at all the space! But no privacy. Quilter in a fishbowl!

I spy a Janome, but couldn't make out the model.

There was a quilter selling table runners and fabrics in the hall too, but I didn't get a chance to chat. The little guy needed to keep moving right through. Besides playing on the modern art sculpture inspired play ground, the only places that caught their attention for long were the glass blowers in their studio and (be still my homeschooling heart!) the gallery exhibit!

There were some beautiful pieces, some strange pieces, some mind-blowing works and even a few textile pieces. It was a great variety that led to discussion on what art is, might be, and what it might be telling us. There was also a lot of "Don't touch! Keep back! They want how much?! and "The artist was expressing a thought or feeling and we might never know exactly what he or she was saying".

Look at the detail on those gourds! At least I think they were gourds. It's hard to tell after seeing these:

 

Dinosaur balloons? As art, thought I? These are actually ceramic! All the way down to the little brass "valve stem" for inflation. Fooled me. Really thrilled the kids.

Stegosaurus by Brett Kern

 I'm not up on rug terminology, but this locker hooked (maybe?) rug/runner by Susan Feller of Hampshire WV sure makes me want to start some applique designs. Beautiful!

 This piece spoke to me, not surprisingly with its water and hands. It's called Healing Waters by Jean Gilbert Kellogg, an acrylic painting on canvas.

 

 This oil painting by Linda Stonestreet had what seem to be my favorite colors lately! I find myself being inspired by so many watery images and their colors.

Now after multiple loads of laundry, I just need to finish unpacking and catch up on a few things so I can take the inspiration and get back to quilting!

A Pause in Quilting

Sitting around a bonfire in a park in Indiana! Is it wrong to want to ditch the family reunion and find some fabric shops?

Finshing Quilt Binding by Machine

I've got another set of videos for you! This time I'm sharing a great method for finishing quilt binding by machine that works so well, it takes a close look to see that it wasn't done by hand.

 

The above video shows the technique with a few adjustments so that you can actually see it. Instead of my walking foot, I'm using an open toe embroidery foot and more importantly, I'm using black thread so you can see the stitching.

The basics of the technique is that the binding is first stitched to the back of the quilt and then it is stitched down on the front with a very small blanket stitch with a mono-filament thread or a very fine matching thread.

For my Janome 6600P, I am using Mode 2, stitch 38 with a width of .5 or 1 and a length of 2-3. The stitch must be mirrored in order to have the stitch land properly on the binding. This technique can also work with a blind hem stitch, but I am unable to adjust that stitch to fall as I need it on my Janome, so I stick to the blanket stitch.

The second video is shot as I actually finish stitching the binding as I would normally finish it, using the walking foot and mono filament thread. At the end, I show you a very close up view of the binding to show how well the machine stitching hides.

I challenge you to give this technique a try! It's pretty straight forward and yield very good results.