Dragon Threads Open Book

More Colors of Guatemala

noreply@blogger.com (Dragon Threads Open Book) — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 18:12:00 +0000

On the bus ride we saw a hospital on the right and directly across the street was a funeral home and behind it in the distance was this colorful cemetery! That would be disturbing to see from the hospital room I thought and I wonder what the hospital survival rate is! Here is where zoning matters!

Besides weaving another important craft in Guatemala is woodworking. We bought small trays in a little town called Panajachel and also some bird candlesticks. Just loved the primitive style and the bright colors. All of this was $60 U.S.!

These boats were wood and very simple also. We watched them take seaweed out of the lake to use for fertilizer, we were told.

There were many masks and other carved and painted wood items at the markets. All very colorful!

But the best example of their woodworking skills were the doors in the city of Antigua! I wish we could have one of them. Some were like the gates in Europe…they are large and the entire thing can open so your car can drive into the courtyard or just a door can open for a pedestrian to enter as in the photo below.

And my favorite door was in Santiago de Atitlan:

It’s a bit too elaborate for a house in Ohio though!

Guatemalan crafts

noreply@blogger.com (Dragon Threads Open Book) — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 00:14:00 +0000

Textiles in Guatemala are probably the most important craft for their economy and their cultural heritage. The weavings are basically two types. One is ikat or just weaving that is done by machine and is a medium-weight cotton, such as the back of these pillows that I bought.

They use this for many souvenir items.

The other type of weaving is the traditional back strap loom as shown in the last blog. Women tie the loom to a tree, or some anchor, and then the other end is tied around their waist. They move back until there is tension on the warp and then weave with a shuttle and a wooden tamper. What I find most amazing is that I didn’t see any paper patterns near by any of the weavers so I think they are doing all this from memory or just by what is pleasing to their eye.( It cost me $1.25 to take this photo of her.)

If you are a weaver you can notice that the sticks on the right are the treadles to create the pattern. Primitive but effective. These weavings are much thicker and when they change colors, sometimes they don’t carry the thread across on the back but instead, cut it and leave a thready mess on the back as shown below. Sometimes it is lined but I think that most of them are not lined to show the tourists that they are HAND made and not machine. Many cannot tell the difference.

Here are the two pillows that I bought made of this backstrap weaving:

This bottom one was originally woven to be a shirt/huipile as you can see by the circle and slit for the neck opening. Or perhaps it was a worn shirt that they made into a pillow cover?

I saw lots of machine embroidery on weavings and souvenir items. It looked more crude than the embroidery we do with our home machines. It seemed to have longer stitches, maybe to give the appearance of hand embroidery.

I told myself that I wouldn’t buy machine embroidery because, theoretically, I could do it myself on my machine at home!! So here is what I bought:

It is a Quetzal bird in the center, which is the national bird and the name of the currency. It is very rough crewel which is what they sell there but still, you know it took hours of work and probably cost me around $25!

Prices are very inexpensive in Guatemala for all that hand labor. Weavers know that an 8 foot table runner like the ones I bought above would take days or weeks…I don’t weave but I know it is a long time and they don’t charge enough. I think we paid $23 for each of those and if I were weaving it, you’d never get it for less than a few hundred dollars! Bartering is expected everywhere but we had a hard time doing that when an embroidered blouse I wanted started at $11.

More on the country sights and treasures in the next installment. This is making me want to go back soon!

Colorful Guatemala

noreply@blogger.com (Dragon Threads Open Book) — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 16:46:00 +0000

My husband and I spent ten days in February touring Guatemala. We were all over, starting in Guatemala City, then Tikal, Antigua, Lake Atitlan and surrounding areas. This is a land of color. Color in the fruit, the flowers, the garments, the crafts, the busses and even the buildings!

Of course I was most interested in the textiles and native crafts there and it was paradise! The first photo is folded blouses called huipiles which are woven fabric with embroidery around the neckline by hand or machine. I really loved that most of the Mayan women were wearing their native dress and tried to take photos of many of them. We learned at the Ixchel costume museum that the patterns, colors and styles are native to their areas.

They were shy so many are of their backs but here is a variety…

Many of you know that I am a great fan of the fashion of NYC designer Koos van den Akker, who mixes colors and patterns in a sophisticated and rich manner and the Mayan dress reminded me of this so much. They have a patterned shirt with embroidery around the neck, a patterned belt and a different patterned skirt, then with a striped apron over all with embroidery on that…and a piece of folded fabric on their heads! And they look so pretty and fashionable!

But let’s not forget my main objective was to shop and shop I did. The marketplaces were so full of color and crafts and so many different appealing items that I was on overload! There are ‘markets’ all over every town and vendors that approach all the tourists constantly so when we came to a quiet courtyard in Antigua with quality wares just sitting in the center, I signaled my husband that this is where I was shopping. On some of the walls were the only patchwork quilts that I saw the entire trip.

Here I bought some yardage that perhaps will one day be a jacket or a skirt or a suit when the inspiration hits.

I was bargaining with one woman for this black table runner when my husband saw the woman next to her taking this yellow weaving off her loom and just about to tie off the fringe ends.

He literally bought it HOT off the Loom! He is a good shopper too! Guess who finished knotting the fringe?! I really wanted a blouse that was not too ethnic so I could wear it here but never could decide on one.

The other thing that I wanted here were ‘belts’? It was yards of narrow embroidered pieces that I think they tied on as belts but looked like trim to me…widths varied to about 4” maximum and some were machine embroidered so I didn’t buy them.

I only saw a few women actually using a backstrap loom which is what I wanted to see. I wish that I spoke Spanish so I could ask more detailed questions. Virtually nobody spoke English that wasn’t in the travel industry.

We stayed at the most beautiful hotel ever called Hotel Atitlan on Lake Atitlan with 3 volcanoes in the distant view. They own a twin hull boat and we took a 25 minute cruise across one morning to the town of Santiago de Atitlan to tour and I found two exciting things…

This is a tiny store stocked with DMC threads that they use for embroidery. None of the others in the group were as excited to see this store as I was. I think that this means that the weavings and things that I bought are colorfast if they use these quality threads, unlike the weavings we got from Chile where the dye crocked profusely!

Then next door was this tiny shop with a treadle sewing machine and MEN working. If I spoke Spanish, I would have asked what he was making. My table runners have serged seams and machine binding etc.

I took 1100 photos and could write about the hotels, TIkal ruins, more on cities, more on shopping markets…what would you like to hear about? comment below.

And the winner is…

noreply@blogger.com (Dragon Threads Open Book) — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 17:10:00 +0000

The winner of the Patchwork Sassaman Style Ocean Waves challenge is

Rhonda Pearce from Oregon! Congratulations to her and hope you love the big bundle of vintage Sassaman fabric from Jane’s collection, made by Free Spirit.

This week Jane will select a winner from the remaining quilts and award a prize so watch this blog or Jane’s new blog.

I’ve just come back from a wonderful trip to Guatemala which is paradise for textile lovers and will get my thousands of photos in order and post some reports for you soon. The people were very friendly and the food was too good! Weather was lovely summer and a great break from snow in Ohio.

The visit to TIkal ruins were a highlight and once in a lifetime experience!

Future blogs will also have more about the soon to open, Quilt National show! The books are almost in the warehouse but we’ll let you know when they are ready for pre-orders!

Quilt National Cover Revealed

noreply@blogger.com (Dragon Threads Open Book) — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 00:51:00 +0000

I’m pleased to show you the cover for Quilt National ‘13!

The detail is from the quilt Through the Lens by Marianne Burr.

Size: 46 inches H x 39 inches W

Materials: silk, wool felt batting, hand dyed cotton back band stitched separately to felt.

Techniques: hand stitched, resist painted with silk dyes, and appliquéd with silk organza, back band stitched separately to felt.

Isn’t it so intriguing? The many layers and the hand stitching make you just want to reach out and touch it. It is even more interesting in person as are all the quilts.

If you are a lover of art quilts, this show is really a pilgrimage that must be taken at least once in your lifetime! Fortunately, I live only a few hours away, but there were years when I didn’t make the time to drive down there with two young kids. The show is on from Memorial Day to Labor Day so if you are near Ohio this summer, it is well worth your while to take a detour just to see these marvelous quilts.

Right now we are not revealing the other quilts that are in the show but in June, I will have many posts on the other quilts and the dozen covers that we tried so you can see what we go through to decide on a beautiful and saleable cover. Because you really do judge a book by its cover!

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This month I’m taking a trip to Guatemala where the weavings and other crafts are abundant, colorful and waiting to be added to our collections! Watch the blog for some beautiful posts in March on their textiles and more about the Patchwork Sassaman Style challenge which is very exciting! Don’t forget to vote for your favorite quilt on Jane’s blog from Feb. 25-28!

Challenge 2 begins! Great prize!

noreply@blogger.com (Dragon Threads Open Book) — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 13:36:00 +0000

For February, we continue our challenge from Jane’s book, Patchwork Sassaman Style with a new recipe…Ocean Waves! Here is a sample of Jane’s version.

Rules: Stitch a quilt top and submit a photo by February 24 to Jane’s blog this time, JaSassaman@earthlink.net.

You may use ANY FABRIC YOU LIKE and it can be any size and no quilting required! Look through your stash.

We want to prove that Jane's recipes work with "Personality Prints" of all kinds.

As you work, try to apply some of Jane's principles, such as color blending, cropping, scale of pattern, etc.

Jane will post the quilt photos on her blog on Feb.25 and all the viewers can vote for their favorite to win the beautiful prize of EIGHT 1/2 yard cuts of Vintage Sassaman fabric (total of 4 yards) by Free Spirit below:

Then on March 1, 2013 we will announce the winner!

All other quilt tops will be entered for the final Grand Prize to be selected by Jane Sassaman. She will be looking for the quilts that best express the "Principles for using Personality Prints" as described in Patchwork Sassaman Style. GOOD LUCK! We can’t wait to see what you come up with!

And the winner is…

noreply@blogger.com (Dragon Threads Open Book) — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:59:00 +0000

Bonnie Butler from Canada is our first winner of the Patchwork Sassaman Style Challenge Recipe Four + One Patch!

Her lovely prize of eight half-yard cuts of Jane’s Early Birds fabric will keep her busy through the long winter!

On Feb. 1, we will announce the next recipe challenge on the blog and show you the beautiful prize! Just enter a photo of the quilt top by Feb. 24 to Jane’s blog this time and voters will select the winner again! More details on Feb. 1st so be sure to come back here then!

Thanks to all for their beautiful entries and they will be entered for the final prize at the end of the challenge.

One + Four-Patch Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Dragon Threads Open Book) — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 13:37:00 +0000

Here are the entries for the Patchwork Sassaman Style January One + Four-Patch challenge.

You could use any fabrics that you liked and just make a quilt top to enter.

Please VOTE for your favorite quilt in the comment box below. We will tabulate and the winner will be announced Feb. 1! Then the next challenge prize and pattern will be revealed.

GHIJ

PATCHWORK SASSAMAN STYLE CHALLENGE!

noreply@blogger.com (Dragon Threads Open Book) — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 05:01:00 +0000

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

Today we start the new year with a fun design challenge to get your creative juices flowing for 2013!

Here is the prize! Eight half-yard cuts of the latest Sassaman fabric for Free Spirit Early Birds!

For January's contest you are invited to design and stitch a quilt top using the One + Four Patch recipe in the book, Patchwork Sassaman Style by Jane Sassaman.

One + Four Patch from Patchwork Sassaman Style

But you can use any fabric that you like... Kaffe, Amy, Lonnie?... to create a quilt top only and send us a photo. No size restrictions and no quilting required!

We want to prove that Jane's recipes work with "Personality Prints" of all kinds.

As you work, try to apply some of Jane's principles, such as color blending, cropping, scale of pattern, etc.

So put on your designing caps and submit the photo of your top by January 25, 2013 to info@dragonthreads.com.

We will put the photos on this blog and let readers vote for their favorite. The winner will be announced on January 30, 2012.

The Prize: Eight half-yard cuts of Jane's Early Birds fabric in the Plum colorway, for a total of 4 yards of beautiful fabric!

Then on February 1, 2013 we will announce the next recipe contest and the prize.

Be creative and have fun!

Christmas Sewing and Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Dragon Threads Open Book) — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 22:01:00 +0000

So, if you have followed this blog for a few years, you’ve seen the massive quantities of gifts that I have made in the previous years…bags, mittens, notepad covers. But this year I think I bought too many items and only made a few aprons and really don’t need to give that many. I don’t know why.

Of course they are made from only fabrics that I had in my stash. And as you can see, I have a lot of Jane Sassaman fabric! I was a fan from the very first collection, way before we published her book!

I got the apron pattern on the web as a free tutorial here.

I think the right one looks very Christmas colors and pattern but you can wear it year round. I hope my friends like these.

GIVEAWAY…There is a new magazine called FiberArt Now which is very high quality in images and content and my new favorite textile arts magazine and I have one to give away. It would also make a great gift for your favorite quilter/sewer!! Comment below on what you think I should make in mass quantities for next year’s gifts. I could use the suggestions!

If I don’t post soon….HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR! LOOK FOR THE START OF OUR EXCITING CONTEST ON JAN. 2!!

EXCITING CONTEST NEWS & PRIZES!!

noreply@blogger.com (Dragon Threads Open Book) — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 15:33:00 +0000

Would you like to win these 8 half-yard cuts of Early Birds by Jane Sassaman?

Starting Jan. 2, Dragon Threads will be running a monthly contest open to quilters around the world!

For January’s contest you are invited to design and stitch a quilt top using a recipe in Patchwork Sassaman Style by Jane Sassaman. But you can use ANY FABRIC that you like... Kaffe, Amy, Lonnie?... to create a quilt TOP only and send us a photo. No size restrictions and no quilting required.

The particular recipe to use for January will be announced on our blogs…dragonthreadsopenbook.blogspot.com and sassaman.blogspot.com.

We want to prove that Jane’s recipes work with ‘Personality Prints’ of all kinds.

As you work, try to apply some of Jane’s principles, such as color blending, cropping, scale of pattern etc.

So put on your designing caps and submit the photo of your top by Jan. 25 to Info@dragonthreads.com.

We will put the photos on the blog and let readers vote for their favorite. The winner will be announced on Jan. 30.

THE PRIZE- Eight half yard cuts of Jane’s Early Birds fabric in the Plum colorway, for a total of 4 yards of beautiful fabric!

Then on Feb. 1, we will announce the next recipe contest and the exciting prize.

All other quilt tops will be entered for the final Grand Prize to be selected by Jane Sassaman. She will be looking for the quilts that best express the “Principles for using Personality Prints” as described in Patchwork Sassaman Style.

Exciting Events

noreply@blogger.com (Dragon Threads Open Book) — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 18:03:00 +0000

Philippa Naylor, author of Quilting in the Limelight, was here for a week after Quilt Market. We played, we shopped, we saw the Annie Liebovitz show, we ate and saw Skyfall and had a fun, fun time! The reason she was in town was to lecture and teach two classes for a local guild.

Her lecture was the Life of a Quilter and it was so very interesting and very humorous! It took you through her entire life and showed all the other creative aspects such as cake decorating, casket decorating and her fancy costumes for herself, husband and two sons. Everyone enjoyed hearing all the stories of her life!

Here are the two quilts that she brought to show. In the Tumbling Blocks quilt on the right, there are dozens of custom 3-D blocks protruding from the quilt…all of them are free-motion quilted and all are different sizes and irregular shapes.

Isn’t this amazing!? But it didn’t win anything in Houston this year and that’s wild to me!

Philippa taught Precision Piecing and then Finishing Techniques which I took.

The classes were full and everyone felt that they learned a lot and they had a great time! I learned something very useful in turning points and making them very sharp, as in collars of shirts and know I’ll be adding that to my repertoire for years. I’ve said it many times and I’ll say it here again, if you ever have a chance to take a class from Philippa or go to her lecture, you will LOVE her!

Incidentally, I just put her book on sale this week so take advantage of that!

EVENT#2 I lectured for our local SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) group this weekend. They asked me to talk about my observations of the judging for the Quilt National show and I thought they would like to hear about it.

Well, it was held at Nancy Crow’s barn in Baltimore, OH which was an exciting location! Nancy and her husband John, took this beautiful timber frame barn and made it a retreat center for Nancy and other guests to teach classes and it is phenomenal!

Downstairs there is an area with this huge sink for wet work and dyeing with huge tables to lay out your fabric. Then next to that is an area for dry work, printmaking and such with huge working area.

Upstairs is usually where the sewing happens with large tables for each student and high ceilings with pinboards all around. We used one area for our lecture and discussions and sharing.

The kitchen area is filled with light and a great meeting area with everything you need for a party with indoor and outdoor seating. We had a potluck lunch and Nancy made apple dumplings. The kitchen is decorated with baskets and spoons that she collected from Africa and even some mobiles of baskets from the ceiling! All this handcrafted cabinetry and beautiful sycamore floors!

I basically talked about watching the judges select the 85 quilts for the Quilt National 2013 show as in two previous blogs but also tried to give them some more info and make it a conversation. They stopped me at parts and asked questions and that is what I like. There were some heated parts when others disagreed with the policies but I don’t make policy at QN, just an observer.

The funny part was at the sharing when many showed their beautiful quilts and said it was a QN reject. I showed them photos of other works of art that were rejected also. It doesn’t mean that the work is not world class…it just means that there is a finite number of quilts selected to fit into the barn space and that they should keep on trying!

QUILTS IN HOUSTON

noreply@blogger.com (Dragon Threads Open Book) — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 21:13:00 +0000

This is Jane Sassaman with her “Willow” quilt. Fairfield Batting owns it and they brought it back ‘home’ this year to Quilt Market! This quilt is significant in many ways…it won Best of Show, it is one of the top 100 quilts of the 20th century… but it is also the quilt I saw the first time I attended Market and fell in love with it, and Jane was from that point on, my favorite quilter! We were happy to see it up close and see that it is still a remarkable piece!

Sorry for the blurry photo. This is Before Dark by Noriko Endo and consists of many small pieces of silk under layers of tulle. This is a bit different for Noriko who usually does landscapes. She is the author of Confetti Naturescapes.

It was good to see my Noriko Endo piece hanging and can’t wait until it comes back to my living room! This quilt with the hundreds of cherry blossoms was done with the new Cherry Blossom die from Accuquilt that Noriko designed. She used it to make this top below. It was in a special Japanese silk exhibit.

This quilt was done in the same Confetti style as Noriko even with cherry blossoms!

Last year at Festival, I bought a small Pat Holly and have been looking at it for hours trying to figure out how she does it! I’m a big fan so I was looking for this year’s entry. This is a large size but with tiny pieces in all the detail. The silk really makes the colors pop! Her workmanship is outstanding!

So, here is a photo of Jane Sassaman and Philippa Naylor at dinner.

Here are the two quilts that Philippa entered this year. The yellow, blues, Tumbling Blocks quilt is in the Quilt Festival Scene magazine.

It’s hard to see in this photo but there are 3-D blocks stuffed and attached to the surface of this quilt to give it even more dimension. Each block was hand shaped to fit the irregular rectangle shapes and is heavily free-motion quilted.

Here is another group quilt. I love these. If you want to know how to make one, check out my book, Quilting Party!

I leave you with this gorgeous dragon and phoenix quilt, one of my favorites. Next week, more quilts from Houston!

Quilt Market report & Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Dragon Threads Open Book) — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 17:45:00 +0000

Last week was the annual Quilt Market in Houston, Texas. I think it was my 19th time going…? We had a booth to showcase quilts from Jane Sassaman’s new book, Patchwork Sassaman Style and it was next to Free Spirit/Westminster Fabric’s booth which produces Jane’s fabric line.

It couldn’t get more bright and colorful! We were there for three days welcoming buyers and old friends and showing them the book. It does get tiring but there are exciting times too.

This year we went to several parties that were lots of fun.

First, Quilt Market sponsored a party, Fabric 2.0, in the hallway of the hotel with nibbles and cash bar so we could meet and greet. It was very busy and I recognized many friends from their facebook photos! We got to talk in person and swap cards.

After an hour or so there, we rushed to a party thrown by Westminster Fabrics for their designers and I was Jane’s date! It was at the Hard Rock Café in a private room and EVERYONE was there…Amy & David Butler, Ty Pennington, Tula Pink, Brandon Mably… Food was great/ turkey, mashed potato bar, beans, cheese platter and dessert (cheesecake balls that looked like wrapped lollipops)! Sorry, it seemed too private and dark to snap photos.

The next morning at sunrise, Jane and I were invited to a Bernina party at the top floor of the Hilton. We are both Bernina artisans and they were launching their new 700 series machines. It was a glorious sunrise over downtown Houston!

We met the new president of Bernina and our old friends from the education staff. The breakfast buffet was great and the new machines looked fantastic! I just got a new 830 last month and now I’m drooling over the 780 model. The video presentation showed the new Bernina DesignWorks software package that will actually draw on fabric with markers and can then embroider over it and make a stencil for placement of iron-on crystals! It was so exciting and you could see the potential for all sorts of custom designs. They already have a cutwork package so combining them all would make some incredible pieces! Hmmm…I wonder how I can get a package……Actually this would be perfect for Jane since she is an artist and could easily draw a design with embroidery highlights.

Add all that to dinners with Noriko Endo, Philippa Naylor, Jane Garrison from ThreadNuts and it was a pretty full four days! Philippa is in Ohio with me for a week to teach at my former guild so more on that later. I hope to be an expert free-motion quilter by the end of the week!! Yeah, right!

GIVEAWAY- The latest copy of Generation Q magazine. Please comment below and leave your email address so I can contact you for your address! USA only please!

Quilt National Photography

noreply@blogger.com (Dragon Threads Open Book) — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 18:40:00 +0000

Last week I went to the Dairy Barn to see the actual quilts that were selected for the 2013 show. Lucky me! All had arrived except for one. My graphic designer, Kim, was with me and our agenda was to select quilts for possible detail shots and for cover shots. We needed to tell the photographers which ones we liked and which area of the quilt needed a high resolution shot.

Unfortunately I can’t post any photos of this day! Not even snapshots of us in the room. All the quilts were laid out on tables or hanging over tall racks. Of course we were surprised at how some quilts looked more amazing than their submitted image and some looked different. We couldn’t tell the size from the images we had so each quilt was surprising in some aspect. But, one thing was clear…it will be a phenomenal show and I think everyone will love seeing this collection and come away with much inspiration and just amazement!

It was very difficult to select potential cover quilts. We first looked at all the past year’s books. This year’s can’t look the same as previous ones. The last cover was predominantly turquoise so that color was banished. Also distinctive recent artists were avoided. The questions became…what would appeal to the buyer? Should it be a ‘pretty’ cover or should it convey what Quilt National stands for…more avant garde? We balanced that and selected about 7 possibilities.

While there, we also had to identify which quilts needed detail shots and what parts to shoot. We had all the quilts printed on a contact sheet and circled the area for the photographers. Normally, I am at all the photo shoots for my books but this time they could only do it while I had to be in Houston for Quilt Market so they worked with the guidance of Kathleen, director of Quilt National. These photographers have experience with the show so I wasn’t worried.

But before they could shoot, Kim had to go back to her studio and work up some possible covers using the images of the quilts that we had to ‘test’ what would look good. She quickly mocked them up overnight and we could see which ones were strong and which were not so good. Kathleen had these so she could direct the photographers to what we liked for the covers. This way some quilts were eliminated as covers before the photo shoot and others were added.

All I can say here is that Kim liked one quilt for the cover and I didn’t think it would be good because of the subject matter but she mocked up a cover anyway. Well, it was a surprise to me but I loved it and it is both of our favorites so now we’ll see if Quilt National thinks it makes a good cover or not! You will know next Spring!

Next week is news on my trip to Quilt Market with LOTS of images!

Quilt National Judging Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Dragon Threads Open Book) — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 14:57:00 +0000

THINGS TO CONSIDER

Judges think about the space they will be filling. The Dairy Barn is one large room with high ceilings therefore not the best space for small quilts. If the gallery was a cluster of small rooms with regular ceiling heights then it would be more conducive to smaller quilts rather than floor to ceiling ones. That doesn’t mean that they won’t accept a smaller quilt because they do but as you can see from the photos above, there is a need for many large quilts to fill the space. They only select 85 and there is limited wall space. It’s just my observation of a factor to consider when entering any competition.

Other thoughts were whether people would stand and stare at the quilt for long periods of time. This is a goal with the total exhibition, some ‘sticking’ power so the viewer will spend more time and find many interesting aspects of each quilt. Also the judges consider if the quilts would be too similar to another quilt coming later that they really like. Would you want to see five quilts on the same theme? There is no yes or no answer, it all depends on the panel.

There is also the ‘derivative’ question. Judges don’t want ‘copied’ work. If it looks like ‘Famous Quilter’s’ style, they wanted to know if it was actually by her because if it was from Student of Famous Quilter, should it be allowed in? Should the pioneer of the technique be the only one to show at that level of quality? Perhaps Student of Famous Quilter has improved on this style and made it her own or better in some way? But it comes down to the question…if it looks like Famous Quilter’s style then it isn’t really expressing your own style is it?

Round 3 was down to 183 quilts. Same procedure, silence, scoring sheets and 15 seconds per image.

This all ran so smoothly because of the ‘Behind the Scenes’ crew. Behind the monitors were 1 or 2 people making sure the images came up together or pausing as needed.

Jane ran the score sheets to another room for tabulation and two or more staff were deleting the images and then making a new score sheet of the remainders in the same order. It went quite quickly.

Round 4 consisted of 132 quilts and they needed to eliminate 37 to get the final 85 to hang in the show with 10 alternates. The alternates were ranked also and were to be used to replace any quilt that was found to be all over the internet, or has already been in a show, or has violated the rules of the show. The objective is to keep this show fresh and new for the attendees.

In this round they could discuss and it went fairly quickly. Each judge verbally voted either ‘IN’ or ‘OUT’ . The majority ruled so 2 or 3 ‘INS’ were in for the next round and 2 or 3 ‘OUTS’ were eliminated.

They discussed and wanted to make sure each other were in agreement with what was selected and to see if another judge felt strongly about a particular quilt that they wanted in. They were all very agreeable, diplomatic and considerate of each other, recognizing each of their strengths in surface design, etc. All very amenable and civilized.

Here they asked for the artist’s statement to be read for some of the quilts and they used their past history of what they know of the artist’s work. The descriptions helped in most cases especially describing the techniques used so be sure to include details in your statement.

At the end of that round, 97 quilts were left and we called it a night and went to dinner at the home of a Board member.

Day 2- First the judges wanted to run through all 97 quilts, in about 3 seconds a piece, to refresh their memories. Then they asked for thumbnails to be put up on the screen to see how the entire show looked.

Next they had to weed out 12 quilts and rank 10 alternates.

The questions now become: If this is a progressive, avant garde show then should they take a piece that looks the same as Quilter X has been doing every year for 20 years with no progress? Do they take a piece that they personally know doesn’t represent the best of Quilter X’s body of work?

The judges come with their own set of knowledge about the quilts and the quilters and know lots of background which they use in this process.

And finally the judges select the quilts for the 7 awards plus their one favorite each. The top award is Best of Show but the prestigious Quilts Japan prize is a full expense-paid trip to Japan to teach for a week.

The award not chosen by the judges is the Hilary Fletcher Persistence Award, named after the late director and founder of Quilt National. It is given to the artist that sent in the most entries until she was finally juried into this show.

The CREAM award is for a first-time exhibitor and is to encourage emerging artists.

At the end, they were all happy with the show that they had selected. There were 35 first-time quilters juried in while the norm is about 40.

With the list of winning quilts, Kathleen and her staff now check on the internet to see whether the quilt is shown any place other than the artist’s website. If so, then the quilt is eliminated and the top alternate goes into the group. If all goes well then Kathleen emails a notification letter to the quilter that their entry was accepted into Quilt National 13 and they have two weeks to ship it there. Unfortunately there are always some that have posted their entry quilt on other internet sites or have used it for promotional purposes and then are disqualified, never knowing that they were originally chosen. This year there seemed to be many that violated the rules and that is a pity.

If you get a rejection letter, you shouldn’t be discouraged. Unfortunately you will never know if your quilt was in the last round, or on the alternate list,or #86 so just missed being in. There is a finite number of quilts accepted and you should just continue working and enter again.

During the third week of October, hopefully all the quilts will have arrived and I will return to the Dairy Barn with my graphic designer, Kim, to see all the quilts. We will try to decide on the order of the quilts, select the ones that need detail shots and focus on a handful as potential covers of the catalog. Then the photographers will know what we need and give us the finished shots in November.

More on the rest of the process in weeks to come.

Quilt National Judging Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Dragon Threads Open Book) — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 20:25:00 +0000

This year the three judges are Linda Colsh, Judith Content and Penny Mc Morris. Below are short bios on each of them, taken from their websites or online.

Jurors:

Judith Content- is a fiber artist in Palo Alto, California, who utilizes a contemporary interpretation of the Japanese dye technique, Arashi Shibori. Her hand-dyed, quilted, and pieced silk wall pieces often depict elaborate landscapes that are inspired by the mystery and majesty of the Pacific coastline.

Linda Colsh- builds her pieced, layered and stitched artworks from the images and ideas that she collects as photographs, drawings and writings. She is known for her images of elderly women and men. Anonymous and invisible to most others, her subjects come from the streets where she finds them. She strips away their context, and reworks them with new narratives and imagined scenarios. Each work begins with blank white or black cloth, which Linda alters with dye, discharge and paint. She works with design software to develop her images for printing by digital or traditional methods.

Penny McMorris-has been involved in the field of quilt studies for several decades, working as a dealer and quilt scholar. She hosted three quilting shows in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including Quilting, Quilting II, and The Great American Quilt, all of which were shown on PBS. She has also authored several books on both historic and contemporary quilts including Crazy Quilts. She is the co-founder of The Electric Quilt Company, which produces software for quilters. McMorris worked as a dealer in the quilt field for a number of years, especially focusing in the area of contemporary art quilts. Along with Michael Kile, she curated the exhibition The Art Quilt held in the 1980s.

The three judges are chosen by the Quilt National director, Kathleen Dawson. There are always two that are quilt artists and one that is in a quilt-related field such as museum curator, art historian or author. Kathleen reviews the resumes of different people that are recommended to her or that she hears would be potentially good judges. Judges are paid a fee, airfare, hotel and meals in return for two days of judging and writing a statement for the book.

Sept 28, 2012

Friday, 9am. Jurors sitting at table in front of two large monitors. One monitor had full quilt on it and the other displayed the detail shot. Also Jane Forrest Redfern- Director of Dairy Barn Arts Center and Kathleen Dawson were directing the events plus staff to aid with the computers and scoring. I was the only outsider observing.

(Linda Colsh, Judith Content and Penny Mc Morris)

They had score sheets in front of them with names and numbers of each quilt in order.

Instructions to the judges: If you have personal knowledge of the quilt, have seen it, then you should recuse yourself and not vote. Then the other two will decide. There is no bargaining…I’ll put this one in if you put that one in.

This year there were 851 entries but the judges had the images to review at home and spent many hours viewing and scoring them on their timetable. Their scores were sent in and tabulated and hundreds were eliminated.

The importance of professional photography here cannot be emphasized enough as the quilts are judged purely on image quality. The first quilts to be eliminated were the poor photos, such as quilts pinned to siding, hung over railing, bad lighting etc. These images in round 2 all looked professional to me.

So, they started with Round 2 of about 380 quilts.

This is how the Scoring worked:

1- out

2- want to look again

3- like

4- definitely want in show.

The judges had 15 seconds to view each image and score. Total silence and semi-darkness. Judging sheets were whisked away to the back room where they were totaled and the next round of images were prepared.

The quality of the art quilts was phenomenal and I couldn’t eliminate any of them at this point. Also I couldn’t guess the artists on most of them except about four that had very distinct styles: Susan Shie, Pam RuBert, etc. The judges aren’t allowed to discuss or know who the artist is until the end.

The next round was to decide on multiple entries from one artist since there can only be one quilt from each artist in the show. Judges spent a good amount of time viewing the multiples and deciding on the one they would keep, if any. The advantage to entering two or three is that they may get more screen time if they make it to the third round.

…to be continued next week!

An Insider’s View of Quilt National

noreply@blogger.com (Dragon Threads Open Book) — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 17:31:00 +0000

I am happy to announce that we are publishing the next catalog for the Quilt National 13 competition and exhibition. For us, this is more of an event than just publishing another book. We plan to tell you everything about this process on this blog, from the jurying to the Winners’ Party and Awards in May. It’s going to be very exciting!

The photo above is the Dairy Barn Arts Center in Athens, OH where the show is held biennially on the odd-numbered years. I’ve been going to this show for 17 years or more and the work always takes my breath away! The building has gone from a real cow barn to a beautiful arts center. But the exhibition has never been anything less than amazing with the quality of the art quilts.

One year I saw this exquisite quilt on the wall and just stared at the details! It was “The Midden” by Joan Lintault who was a juror that year.

I couldn’t figure out whether Joan bought fabric of dishes and then chopped them up or what? It turns out that she silk screens all the patterns of dishes and flatware! Those black spaces in the detail shot above are all negative space-holes! Each piece of flatware is finished and overlapped to create the spaces. Around the edge of the quilt are cut out letters or words for a poem. Well, I had never seen anything as unusual and beautiful as this quilt so I wrote down her name to research later. I wanted to know if she had a body of work and I found that she did indeed and I called her to write a book for us. She had just retired so it was an opportune time!

We are very proud of this book, it turned out to be a masterpiece with her insights into design.

Another personal connection is Noriko Endo. When she was writing her book for us, we needed a large photo of one of her quilts so we could enlarge it for a cover shot. She suggested to ask Kathleen Dawson, the director of Quilt National, since she owned the Best of Show quilt for 2007.

Kathleen generously took it to a local photographer and sent me the image. Then I brought her a copy of the book and that is how we met.

During the next year, I will write about working with the team on Quilt National. I just observed the judging process and have lots to tell so be sure to come back weekly to this blog.

Here is a little bit of the history of Quilt National from their website. www.Dairybarn.org.

In the late 1970s Athens, Ohio, was home to numerous talented artists. Included among this group were Nancy Crow, Francoise Barnes and Virginia Randles. These and other area artists were using fabric to create works that were pieced, layered, stitched and stuffed. These works were "quilts" by virtue of their structure, although they were intended to be viewed on a vertical plane. The original designs and use of innovative techniques and color combinations made them unacceptable to the organizers of traditional quilt shows who were most interested in beautifully crafted bedcovers with recognizable patterns. The only exhibit opportunities for these artists were in mixed media fiber shows alongside baskets and weavings.

Crow and Barnes recognized the need for an appropriate showcase for what are now known as "art quilts." They were just two of a dedicated corps of volunteers who decided to organize an exhibit devoted entirely to this relatively new breed of contemporary quilt.

Fortunately, this need coincided with the efforts of area artists and art lovers to preserve an abandoned dairy barn. Built in 1914 as part of a farm complex situated on grounds belonging to the state-owned mental health facility, the barn had served as part of the activities therapy program. Artists and others in the Athens community felt that the barn had the potential for a second life.

They didn't see a dilapidated building with trenches in the floor and rows of cattle stanchions. Rather, they saw a lovely example of early 20th century architecture sitting quietly on the crest of a gently sloping hill. The natural amphitheater formed by the hills and trees behind the barn created a backdrop of serenity and beauty.

In 1978 the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and The Dairy Barn Southeastern Ohio Cultural Arts Center was born. In 1979 the first Quilt National was established. It is a biennial show offered in the odd numbered years. The opening of the exhibition is late May and runs through first weekend of September.

The show is juried by three judges and they received close to a thousand entries from around the world which has to be culled down to 85. Typically 6,000 to 9,000 visitors come to the Dairy Barn over the summer.

Go to facebook and ‘friend’ Quilt National for more info and photos.

Quick Stuff to Sew magazine & win one!

noreply@blogger.com (Dragon Threads Open Book) — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 14:12:00 +0000

Just a ‘quick’ post while I write a more thorough one on my weekend watching the judging at Quilt National.

As you may have seen in last Christmas’ post, I made dozens of mittens from recycled sweaters that I felted. I sent the directions into Threads magazine with many samples for photography this summer. Yesterday I got the finished issue and found that I had the BACK COVER!!

It should be on newsstands soon so pick up a copy. Lots of interesting projects to make for yourself or as gifts. My Koos loop scarf is also in there too….a fabulous fast gift to make!

Leave a comment on some projects you’d like to see in next issue and I’ll select a winner for a free copy of this magazine on Oct. 6! But please leave your email address so I can contact you.

Itchin’ for Stitchin’

noreply@blogger.com (Dragon Threads Open Book) — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 21:31:00 +0000

Sometimes I just HAVE to sew! Run that machine fast and listen to the soothing hummm. So this week I made little projects, just for fun. Many don’t need patterns but there are also many free tutorials/patterns online at many sites like craftsy.com, etc.

First I needed a padded strap for my new camera, an easy tube with some fusible fleece inside, made out of two Jane Sassaman prints. Then I made one out of my favorite black floral Sassaman print for a friend’s camera.

Next, I had a practice piece of free-motion stitching on two Sassaman fabrics and I turned it into the No Guts Boxy Pouch from craftsy.com. My fabric was a different size and I didn’t line it since it was quilted to a beautiful dots fabric but it is a great pattern for guideline if you want to make one.

I’ve been wanting seat belt cover straps so they don’t cut my neck. For my Smart car with the tomato interior, I used a gray/red/black fabric from Lonni Rossi with a mottled black on the back…it’s reversible so theoretically, if my husband drives the car, he can turn it over to the black side. But in reality, he’ll probably just take it off! I just love the colors.

Then I made another one for the jade green mini-van out of two Sassaman fabrics. The inside print is black/white.

They don’t take any time and you can find tutorials online but basically I cut two 6.5” x 11” rectangles, fusible fleece on both sides….stitched right sides together with 1/4” seams, turned right side out and stitched on velcro. I also ran some quilting lines to hold the layers together better.

I think I’ll make a few more as gifts…use up some scraps and just run that machine as fast as possible. Sometimes it’s great to do these easy, mindless projects…they give you some satisfaction and as gifts, gets you lots of ooohs and ahhhs!

Ann Rebele Gallery show

noreply@blogger.com (Dragon Threads Open Book) — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 18:33:00 +0000

Ann Rebele: Beyond the Surface at the Columbus Cultural Arts Center, Aug 17- Sept. 29, 2012.

I had a great time the other night attending the opening of this art quilt show in downtown Columbus, OH. It is so much fun to go to the openings in particular since there are many people, the artist is there and there is food and drink. It’s a little party and always a fun time. Of course we saw people that we know there but, it wasn’t ladies from my local guilds, it was neighbors. We ended up going to an Italian restaurant later with 4 friends and Ann and many showed up there also!

I’ve shown you Ann’s work in previous blogs. We live in the same town but are facebook friends. Our husbands worked together for years but I wasn’t a quilter then.

The triptych above is called Looking Back at Last Year and made especially for the show. It’s large and I fell in love with it! Reminds me of an old Japanese block print but with vivid color.

These large prints that she creates are tiled to fit into the printer but they are put together so invisibly that at first I didn’t notice the seams.

I asked Ann how she creates these multi-layer pieces and this is her response:

The most recent technique that I have been using in my work has been
drawing on silk organza layered over a background image, to create the
transparency. This started when I was doing the series of "Forgotten
But Not Gone" using the tombs in New Orleans, to create that eerie,
ghostly effect. I draw on a "whole cloth" of silk organza with fabric
pens. Then I lay this organza over the background image, which is a
photograph that I digitally manipulate, section, print on cotton
fabric, then sew together to get the large image.
I have also been painting on the silk organza using fabric inks. They
work a lot like watercolor paints.

Annabelle’s Rose Garden

Southern Living

Forgotten but Not Gone-Bella

When you are in front of these quilts, you can just look deep into them for the details on the different layers. They are captivating. I would love to take a class from Ann!

Here are my favorites….I’m partial to Asian design!

Geisha with Iris and Angry Bird

Japanese Lady with Cherry Blossom

There will be a coffee and conversation with Ann at the Cultural Arts Center on Sept. 20 at noon if you happen to be close by.

These events are great ways to increase your knowledge and appreciation for art quilts and I encourage you to look for gallery shows in your area and make it a point to attend!

Garment sewing

noreply@blogger.com (Dragon Threads Open Book) — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 19:00:00 +0000

Fashion design is my passion. If you sew clothing you know that is so difficult now to find fabric to fit all your ideas and patterns.

I got an app for my ipad called Sewing Kit HD and it lets me keep all my patterns and info in one place so all I have to do is carry the ipad to the fabric store. It shows the front pattern cover photo and I take a photo of the back with all the yardage and notions requirements. It takes time to load when you have hundreds of patterns as I do, but it is worth it.

On facebook, I saw this French viscose fabric and thought it would be beautiful for a Vogue pattern that I owned. I wasn’t even shopping for fabric at the time. The NYC company Elliott Berman Textiles has a great site for designer fabrics from all over the world. Customer service was excellent also…when I found a little hole in the middle of the fabric, they sent me a replacement yard to that was enough to finish my dress.

This is Vogue 1234 by Sandra Betzina. Because I used a large busy print, you can not see the seamlines and this dress was an architectural feat! I had to number all the dots for pivoting and the notches since the pieces were so unconventional but the instructions were so well written that it was relatively easy. Even though this is a viscose knit, it wasn’t hard to make but it is not for beginner sewers. I think it fits well and is easy to wear. It was too long for my 5 ft 4” and I had to take off 8 inches from the bottom therefore losing the slit in the back but it didn’t bother me.

I think I’d like to make it again but with solids so you can see the seaming and maybe color blocked for more interest. I just love the side drape.

I actually wore it a few days after it was finished to an art quilt gallery opening reception and then out to dinner!

Vikki Pignatelli’s new book

noreply@blogger.com (Dragon Threads Open Book) — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 00:06:00 +0000

Vikki is the author of Quilting by Improvisation for Dragon Threads. She is our guest blogger for the week while I go on vacation to a lovely lake in New Hampshire!

She has just self-published an inspirational book which is available this month on her website. Here is her story about writing and publishing:

The Improbable Quilter

Twenty-five years ago, I never would have dreamed of becoming a quilt teacher. In fact I hated sewing. I was a sewing disaster in 7^th grade Home Economics. Maybe it's because I couldn't follow the precise rules. Or perhaps the pink floral "housecoat" I had to make in class didn't interest me as a twelve-year-old preteen. Either way, I thought sewing wasn't for me. The only reason I started to quilt was because of my sister's unrelenting insistence, coaxing me into attending a beginning quilt class with her. The rest is history. I became enamored with the wonderful art of quilting. I found out sewing can be fun. One thing led to another and my career snowballed. And so did life's lessons.

I didn't come into quilting until my mid-forties and quilting didn't become my career and mission until I was fifty. In my younger years, I painted with oils and watercolor, experimented in sculpture and played with all craft mediums. I was self-taught in all the art forms. I gained much knowledge about art…and wisdom about life…along the way. This was especially true with quilting.

Shortly after I finished writing Quilting By Improvisation (Dragon Threads, 2006), the inspiration to write another book came to me. However, this book would be different. Rather than writing about technical construction techniques in quilting, the thought of tackling the emotional, almost spiritual issues involved in artwork popped into mind. While excited about the concept for the new book, I wasn't ready for the challenge of writing another manuscript so soon after Quilting By Improvisation. So I put it off "for awhile". Well, "awhile" turned into five years. It's amazing how fast those years fly by, isn't it? During that time, I often thought about beginning my new book, but always dismissed the impulse. My excuse? Always too busy to take the time. Then in July 2011, during a Wyoming workshop, one of my students strongly urged me to get started on my book. The little voice inside me agreed. It was time to get motivated and write.

After the workshop, my hostess and friend, Kathy Lichtendahl and her husband, Ken, invited Denny (my husband) and me to stay with them on her remote llama ranch for a few days to relax. To this day, I don't think Kathy and Ken realize how lucky they were not to be saddled with permanent houseguests. We lodged in their bunkhouse and loved every moment. It was pure bliss and totally silent except for the wind. No TV, phone or distractions. I was completely relaxed. For the next three days I perched myself on a chair on the porch and wrote non-stop…the words pouring out of me. Thus began my new book. I already knew the title…Nurture Your Creative Spirit.

Later in the fall, one of my teaching engagements was on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. Before I needed to report to the scheduled workshops, we rented a condo on Molokai for 8 days. My sole purpose: to write my book. And write I did, sitting on the lanai from morning to night, with the ocean as my backdrop.

Then, again in North Carolina during our family vacation with my sisters and their families, I stayed sequestered at the oceanfront beach house, writing on the veranda while the others played, shopped or walked along the seashore. With all these beautiful settings for inspiration, the words just kept flowing.

I reached deep within my heart and soul to write this book. Based on my lectures, I intended Nurture Your Creative Spirit to be a personal, spiritual view of the art of creating. I wanted it to be a motivational book, meant to encourage and inspire others on their creative journey.

I write about the most important traits of creativity: determination, persistence, being passionate about one's work, having faith in yourself, courage and flexibility to name a few. I reveal my experiences and the hard lessons learned from making my quilts, as well as the stories and symbolism behind them. I relate my thoughts regarding the artistic process and staying in balance in life and art. I discuss creativity and inspirations. Using my quilts as examples, I show how emotions affect my work. I discuss the difference between critique and criticism, the importance of having a good support system and the art of gratitude. Once the book began to take shape, the subtitle became obvious: The Wisdom and Insights Learned From the Art of Quilting. Though told from my viewpoint as a quilter, the book is relevant to artists in all mediums.

Once I finished writing the manuscript and set the actual printing process gears in motion, reality set in. And reality can be scary. Typing your thoughts and words on paper is just the beginning. Next comes the endless, tedious rounds of editing, corrections and changes…first for the raw manuscript, then with the graphic designer as he or she flows the text into pages and adds the images and captions. I was fortunate to find an excellent (and very patient) graphic designer, Merry Yee Clark, who enjoyed working on Nurture Your Creative Spirit. Merry put her heart into the book as well as her expertise. Then,I found a great printing company near our home. Their team guided me through the steps and made the printing experience painless.

Publishing your own book is not for the faint-hearted. Though I strongly believe I was called to produce this book and share my knowledge, the large financial outlay and negative "what ifs" are always in the back of my mind. It does take faith and constant self-encouragement to keep moving forward. Even though the book is almost ready to debut, I still ask myself, "What on earth am I doing!" As I said, keep the faith and believe…..

Without doubt, writing this book allowed me to increase my creative and spiritual self-awareness. It’s my hope Nurture Your Creative Spirit will help you in your journey to gain wisdom, understanding and enlightenment into your own creativity and spirit.

With warm wishes,

Vikki

COMMENT BELOW if you would like to win a copy of this book. Winner will be selected July 16.

Winners…and the blog goes on…

noreply@blogger.com (Dragon Threads Open Book) — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 14:38:00 +0000

We had so many enthusiastic comments on our day of the blog tour and want to thank all of you.

The winner of the pillowcase kit is: Trillium creates

The winner of a copy of PATCHWORK SASSAMAN STYLE is: Janice PD #24

Barbara #5 from the blog post before this one is the winner of a copy of the Quilting Party book.

All the winners…Please contact me at linda at dragonthreads dot com with your mailing address.

And keep following the tour for more chances to win the book and other surprises! Today is Melissa Peda’s turn.

July 9:    Melissa Peda
July 10:   Susan B Knapp
July 11:   Jacquie Gering
July 12:   Weeks Ringle
July 13:   SewCalGal
July 14:   Jessica Kovach
July 15:   Pam Matthews
July 16:   Frieda Anderson
July 17:   Pat Sloan
July 18:   Jan Krentz
July 19:   Anita Grossman Solomon
July 20:   Lyric Kinard
July 21:   The Quilt Show
July 22:   Jane La Fazio
July 23:   Free Spirit
July 24:   Nancy Zieman

NOTE: The free shipping I offered to my commenters is for the USA only/sorry for the confusion.

After the books arrive…SPECIAL GIVEAWAY!

noreply@blogger.com (Dragon Threads Open Book) — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 04:31:00 +0000

So you would think that all the work and pressure would be off once the books arrive but that’s not the case.

It’s been weeks of preparation to organize this Extraordinary Blog Tour for the new book, PATCHWORK SASSAMAN STYLE. We were lucky because Jane and I have many friends who were willing to get on the tour bus and write about Jane and the new book.

The objective of a blog tour is : to get the book into the eyes of many potential buyers; to give readers more information about Jane and her process for making beautiful fabrics and quilts; to introduce readers to other blogs/sites which may be of interest to them; and to create that elusive ‘buzz’ on the internet. A good tour should ultimately help sales or stats on all the blogs sites that participate.

So far, I think it’s been going well. Our first post, Artfabrik, had over 150 comments! One person won a copy of the book but then smart Laura Wasilowski sent all the others a free pattern pdf! It must have been a nice surprise for all of them.

My next job, to support Jane, is shipping books to the Festival of Quilts in the UK for her August classes and signings, along with hundreds of brochures for her to hand out. We must make sure everything is at her venues on time.

Our special giveaway is this beautiful pillowcase kit courtesy of Jane…I’ve made her pillowcase pattern before and it is an ingenious method to encase the seams like a store-bought one. Isn’t the fabric lovely? And another random winner will win a copy of the book! Leave a comment below: what do you think of the tour so far? We’ll select winners on Monday.

Don’t forget to follow the rest of the tour for more info, fun and big surprises! Tour schedule is a two posts down. Tomorrow the extraordinary blog tour continues on the blog of award-winning quilter Gloria Hansen.