QuiltCon(fidential): My Own QuiltCon Experience.

The buildup to QuiltCon was such a phenomenon.  I have experienced nothing like it before:  all the Insta posts of everyone's buttons, etc..  Such excitement!  There was no chance we were not going to have fun!

Here's my button:  image taken from the surface of a quilt I recently made.

"Do What You Love/Love What You Do"

Austin has at least one gorgeous day while we were in town...

We visited Hill Country Yarn Shop before the show opened.

Helping Michele Muska set up the EZ Quilting Booth.

An amazingly efficient registration/check-in set-up.

My name tag:  I got two because I enrolled in workshops and also taught.

Look at all this swag!  Love my new Bernina watch!

Thursday:  Day-long workshop with Carolyn Frielander, "Austin Houses".

A paper-piecing workshop.  If I ever did it before I cannot remember.

I enjoyed it and loved the pattern she taught.

Carolyn takes photos of our completed houses...

Here are mine, under construction...

I took a lunch break and ran down to the show floor to discover my good friend,

Kathy York, had won Best In Show!  Wow!  I'm thrilled for her!

Kathy gets interviewed by the media.  Woot!

Moving on to the Sizzix booth.

Will the real Victoria Findlay Wolfe please step forward??

A visit with a good friend, Frances Holliday Alford.

I even got to ride a sewing machine!

This was a very popular stop inside the Stitch Lab booth.

Bill Volkening had a display of his 70's-era collection

at the show.  The double knit quilts would have made my grandmother Tucker's heart soar.

This one, in particular, killed me dead.

My friend and fellow San Antonio Modern Quilt Guild member (and current president!)

Allison Chambers, posing with her great Conan quilt.

And then there was the evening I had been waiting for:

Improv Quilting with the Gee's Bend Quilters.  Oh my.

 They lead off with songs.....

My small quilt pieced during the workshop..

And posing with Mary Ann Pettway and the quilt I purchased from her.

Pieced by Cynthia Pettway, quilted by Mary Ann.  I'm delighted to own it.

Saturday evening I taught "Geltastic & Printalicious", a stamp-making

and gelatin plate monoprinting workshop.  We all made a 

beautiful mess and had so much fun!

Here is our used paint water.....

A (Very!) Quick Trip To Napa To Witness The Groundbreaking For "Crafting A Life"!

My friend and fellow-artist Pokey Bolton is famous for dreaming big.  One main difference in Pokey is that she has a way of crafting her dreams into reality, and often, those big dreams rub off on many of us who are fortunate to be around her.  She has seen a lot of changes over the past several years and now she is realizing another big dream:  moving back to her home state of California and buying land in Napa.  Her next project:  "Crafting A Life".
What is "Crafting A Life"?  Well, what do you imagine it to mean?  There are so many ways this theme can be interpreted and I think she intends to explore them all.
First up:  construction of a new "Art Barn".  I've seen the plans and walked on the ground where the future art barn will reside.  Inside this future building I think we can weave some magic in the form of quilts, mixed media, perhaps cooking outside the barn in her gorgeous outdoor kitchen (and I, for one, hope to cook some pizzas in that wood oven of hers).  This future place is built for dreaming.  I think the sky is the limit for what can be imagined inside these walls.
Here are a few images from the day of the groundbreaking.....

I think the seat back tray tables on SWA planes look like penguin beaks....

We met Jamie and Steve Fingal at the Oakland airport.

First time our husbands have met in person!

A trip to what my daughters refer to as "The Precious".

A beautiful old barn door.

Tulip trees in bloom

Jamie's fun heart bunting adorns the entry to Pokey's garden.

Gathering by the pool

Two legends of the quilt world:  Yvonne Porcella (L) and Alex Anderson.

Posing with my dear friend Judy Coates Perez

Pokey gives a brief, heartfelt speech before digging in!

She remembered the late Allison Stilwell, who encouraged 

everyone to "Do what you love, no matter how crazy it may seem!".

Putting on her hard hat before the heavy work begins...

Yvonne shows Pokey how she got some Napa dirt under her new manicure!

Flying away on a beautiful day I can see the Golden Gate bridge and Alcatraz

in the distance.  

I'm sure to return, and often.

Let's Go To The Birds With Jamie Fingal's New Fabric Line from Hoffman Fabrics!

I was delighted when my dear friend and "Dinner At Eight" partner-in-crime told me she was designing a fabric line with a "bird" theme.  I looked forward to see it and I am not disappointed!  I am a life-long "bird geek".  I grew up in a house where there were feeders outside each window & binoculars placed in strategic locations in the house for optimum viewing of birds.
I still have this habit.  Few things give me as much joy as observing birds and cultivating a habitat for them in my garden.

Jamie's new line of fabric from Hoffman is a delight for the senses.  The deep, rich colors suggest a bit of fall might be in the air, but it is not simply a fall-themed palette.  I love the addition of a few stripes, a bird journal, the bird houses, and her fun bunting in the mix.

For my project I decided to be quite free-wheeling:  I cut pieces of fabric "freehand" with my rotary cutter.  In other words, no measuring and straight edges from a ruler.  Why?  Just because!  I love the look of the more organic appearance that comes as a result of this method of cutting.

First, I cut squares from many of the fabrics, and then some strips.  The strips were pieced around the square(ish) shapes.

Using Mistyfuse I fused some small pieces, then cut bird and leaf shapes with my Sizzix  dies.  I like how they add some additional depth and movement to the blocks!

cutting the "squares"

Pre-fused fabric is run through the Sizzix Big Shot die-cutter.

the results:  two bird forms and several sizes of leaves.

The "branches" were free-cut with scissors

Since it is close to Valentine's Day I thought adding a heart was in order...

But I wanted it to look a bit like an apple...

I love the wonderful shapes and colors in the fabric.

I like that I can see the shapes of Jamie's sketch-doodles in the fabric!

It is such fun to free-motion quilt using the shapes as a guide.

I used the dual-feed feature on my Bernina 750 QE to do some of the straight quilting.

I like the wonky feel of these free-cut blocks!

I am using a double-layer of wool-blend felt from National Nonwovens as my batting.

It is great for wall-hangings because it holds a nice flat shape.

To finish the (somewhat uneven) edges I opted for a border of black and white ribbon trim.

It looks a bit like film negative edge, which seems perfect for this study in birds!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and please leave a comment here to become eligible for prizes.  We are going to do a give away for a bundle of the 'Autumn is for Birds' fabric.  Hoffman Fabrics has been very generous in providing the prize!  Don't forget to check out the other stops on this multi-day hop.  

Jamie shares a link to her Twisted Sister blog talking about how the 'Autumn is for Birds' fabric line was made:  http://www.jamiefingaldesigns.com/2015/01/autumn-is-for-birds.html

Hoffman Fabrics link http://www.hoffmanfabrics.com/

The giveaway is for a bundle of the 'Autumn is for Birds' fabric.   Hoffman Fabrics has been very generous in providing the fabrics!

Feb 16 - You. Are. Here.

Feb 17 - Lisa Chin

Feb 18 - Cheryl Sleboda

Feb 19 - Stacy Hurt

Feb 20 - Candy Glendening 

Feb 21 - Sue Bleiweiss

Feb 22 - Jamie Fingal

28 Drawings. It's February, After All...

Julie Fei-Fan Balzer threw out a challenge for the month:  create 28 drawings, one per day.
Well, why not?  I love to draw but often go long periods without actually doing it.  I wanted them to be black and white.  My friend, Jamie Fingal, found a great source for these large white sale tags at U-Line.  I now own a box of 1000.  That oughta hold me for a while.  I use tags as great little printing "warm-ups" so these will be put to use!  Here are my first 9 days of drawings....

Fiberart For A Cause: The 100.

I am both honored and excited to be contributing to this wonderful cause again!  Virginia Spiegel has championed this project annually since 2006.  Collectively, these events have raised $240,000.  This year 100 artists have created artwork for sale and we hope to raise at least $10,000 and push the total to $250,000.00.  And this is the best part:  100% of this money goes to the American Cancer Society.  No one contributing gets a "cut" of this money:  every single penny that is raised goes to the organization.   I hope the recipient "falls in love" with this piece.  I have been looking at the Pinterest board dedicated to this project and I am very excited about all the lovely artwork.

And, as much as I wish I didn't have to say it: this is personal.  I lost my niece to cancer almost a year ago to the day.  I have a good friend who is battling pancreatic cancer as I write.  My mother had breast cancer.   I have a friend who awaits test results right now.   Another close friend just fought this battle.  We all know too many people like that.  Some of you may have fought through this.

The auction opens at 10:00 CST on Wednesday, February 4th!  Here is the link.

I am offering this mixed media construction.

It is mounted on a 16x20 stenciled wrapped canvas so it will be very easy to hang.

The piece is made from a variety of cloth and paper which has been hand and machine stitched.

The collage is overlaid onto a piece of hand-made paper, then a piece of canvas.

I will pay the shipping cost for this piece.  All you have to do is be ready to purchase it!

detail 1

detail 2

detail 3

This is the back of the canvas.....

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you are able to support Fiberart For A Cause! xo Leslie