Quilting Inspiration from Nature
What inspires you? What do you think about when you choose fabrics for a sewing or quilting project? Do you find yourself drawn to certain colors, shapes, or pattern styles? I get much of my creative inspiration from nature. Some of my earliest and most enduring memories are of specific landscapes and places and the […]
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Adventures with Spoonflower – Around the World and Back Again
I haven’t been posting lately, but I HAVE been creating. 🙂 Working on designs for a couple of new fabric collections has made me reflect a bit on previous work. Today I thought it would be fun to revisit the first fabric designs I ever uploaded to my shop on Spoonflower.com. Around the World and […]
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A No Hand-Sewing Method for Adding a Hanging Sleeve to a Quilt
The quilting on my newest Colorwash Bargello quilt is finished! It actually only took me about 2 1/2 hours cumulatively to complete the all-over free-motion quilting, but I had to break the time up into smaller increments so as to not overtax my body – taking into account MS, spinal stenosis, degenerative disc disease, chronic […]
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Journal Quilts with Celtic Knotwork
To me, Journal Quilting is a handy shorthand way to describe quilting as a vehicle for personal reflection and expression. Although I impose no size restrictions on myself, the pieces are generally on the smaller side, which better lends itself to a sense of immediacy. I often incorporate 3 dimensional elements, hand beading, hand painting, or […]
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Celtic Quilts – My Journey
My first book Celtic Quilts: A New Look for Ancient Designs was published in 2000 by Martingale & Co.  The following has been excerpted from a lecture/trunk show that I have shared with quilt guilds, quilt show attendees, and various community groups around the country. I’d like to share with you some of the things […]
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Fun with Fabric Paints
Getting started: It’s important to think about how you expect to use your fabric. If you intend to create “art cloth” to mat and frame like a painting, or to serve as the main focal point of a quilt or wall hanging, your needs may be quite different than they would be if you intend […]
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Quick Tips for Making Color Theory Work for You
Do you ever struggle with something you are creating, just knowing that something is off or missing, but not sure what it is? Both from personal experience and from that as a long-time instructor, I find that quite often this has to do with color and value choices. Color theory to the rescue! But sometimes color […]
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Mosaic Fabric
I’ve always been fascinated with the interplay of color, value and visual texture of mosaics, especially those created by artists such as Sonia King. Back in 1997, a book called Machine Embroidery: Stitched Patterns by Valerie Campbell-Harding was published by Quilters’ Resource Inc. The cover photos fascinated me – mosaics in fabric! There wasn’t a […]
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