I'm teaching at Houston!

I would love to see you at the International Quilt Festival!

I'll be posting details about my classes soon.

You can find the full class catalog 

here

in the meantime.

Winner: Patchwork Sassaman Style

 Donna~~ said...

I usually end up cutting them into small bits of the design I can use. I definitely need to read Jane's book and learn to see the large prints in a new way! Her quilts are beautiful!

Congratulations Donna!

A copy will be on it's way as soon as I get your info!

For Your Inspiration: time travel sweetness

On a recent trip to Philadelphia we did a little time travel....

 

My brother and daughter....

 

(messing around with the Autostitch app)

 "kid in the candy shop!"

(all photos taken with my iPhone and manipulated with the Snapseed app. Funnest toys ever!)

Work in Progress: changing my mind

The road project continues...

Unless I have a looming deadline I never consider "undoing" wasted time. It was worth a try and hand work can be like meditation to me. The color of the reddish beads worked beautifully with the center stone but I could tell it wasn't going to work with the other two and the direction I had in mind. So out it goes. I'm not expecting perfection so it isn't a mistake.

Down the Doors Winner

Congratulations to Amy Parra Morusiewicz! I'll be sending you a copy of Down the Doors next week!

Book Review: Patchwork Sassaman Style

After introducing you to the amazing Jane Sassaman and her art, I'd like to tell you about her new book, 

Patchwork Sassaman Style

Now - You know my work is usually made from fabric I've dyed myself and hangs on the wall, not the bed. But I've got to admit - I've been having that undeniable compulsion recently to make a bed quilt. The problem is my attention span for bed-quilt-making usually lasts about a day and a half and then I'm done. I have at least four mostly finished bed quilt tops to show for my short attention span. After reading Jane's book - I think I might just be able to pull something off!

With Jane's signature style of bright and bold fabrics she shows you how to selectively cut and piece your way to simple yet impressive quilts. She'll take two or three fabrics and give you a number of cutting and piecing options. Each one makes a unique and, dare I say, impressively gorgeous quilt. In this case, the fabric does all the work! She gives lots of hints for wise cutting and design placement to make your designs look well integrated.

Now I've got to admit that my very favorite part of the book is the section at the very front called "History and Designing Fabric." I'm always fascinated by the design process and reading about how Jane works to come up with her fabric is very interesting. 

Jane talks about being inspired by the 19th century Arts and Crafts Movement and William Morris who said, "have nothing in your houses which you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful." I can certainly see those influences in her work. It's a movement I'm very attracted to myself.

Guess what - I think I need to go shopping.

If you can't find Jane's fabrics at your local shop try her online store.

Interested? Have I whet your appetite?

Leave a comment for your chance to win this beautiful book!

Tell me how you use big, bold, beautiful fabrics.

Make sure I can contact you - and check back in three days

(unfortunately this contest is only open to US entries)

or if you just can't wait the book is

available at Amazon

 (and... I'll be combining the comments here with those at my wordpress blog. They are identical as I'm still trying to get things running smoothly over here. A random number generator will pick the winner.)

Here are some other stops on the tour that still have giveaways open.

Stop by and leave a comment at each blog to increase your chances to win.

July 18 Jan Krentz
July 19 Make It Simpler
July 20 Lyric Kinard
July 22 Jane LaFazio
July 24 Nancy Zieman

Artist Spotlight: Jane Sassaman

I'd love to introduce you to a long-time favorite artist of mine - the lovely and talented Jane Sassaman. I have quite a few of her pieces in my favorite lecture (The Elements of Art). Her work is bold, full of movement, and speaks to my heart.

L: I'm always very interested in the different paths people take to their current place. Did you always know you wanted to be an artist? How did you get to where you are?

Jane: Yes, there was no other career path for me. Thank goodness my parents encouraged me along the way. But I have always been tunnel-visioned and it is very easy to ignore everything else when I have a goal or a project in the works. When I'm at home, I'm in the studio eight hours a day, seven days a week. 

When I started quilting my goal was to be in the Quilt National with all those other quilters that I admired so much. So that was the first show I entered and luckily I was accepted, in fact I was in every Quilt National from 1989-2005. I think that exposure helped get my work into the world. I think it's about time to enter again!

Lyric: I think it's very important for creative people to have a space of their own (no matter how small) where they can walk in and get to work. Tell me about your working space.

Jane: I have a nice big studio space now, but for years I worked on the only table in a small house in the middle of family life. Yes, a nice studio is great, but determination and vision can overcome many obstacles. 

My current space is in a separate building on our property, so now I can actually have some privacy. It is still waiting for more bookcases and storage, but it is great to have a larger space to spread into. The walls are painted bright yellow and saffron, colors that I find very energetic and encouraging.

Lyric: Your work is very bold and graphic in quality. Have you always worked this way or did you wander through various styles before "finding your voice?"

Jane: I seem to have been born with a preference for hard edged graphics and solid colors. Even in junior high school my work contained these elements. And these some of the characteristics that drew me to quilting, along with the craftsmanship, fabric, scale and independence.

Lyric: How do you balance the business side of your work with making art?

Jane: Sigh! I have found I'm a much better artist than a business woman! I would love to hook up with someone who's "art" is business. These days the studio work often takes a back seat to correspondence. But I am determined to adjust those proportions this year. I am also designing fabric for FreeSpirit/Westminster, which I LOVE doing. This designing takes a lot of time and concentration. And then I design quilts with the fabric to show the fabrics potential... and this is what Patchwork Sassaman Style is all about. I'm hoping that this book will excite people into using some of those big beautiful prints.

Lyric: Is there an event coming up that you would like to tell us about?

Jane: I will be attending the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, August 16-19 to do a lecture and a Meet the Designer event hosted by Kaffe Fassett.

This will be my first trip to the show and I am really looking forward to seeing all the quilts and meeting their makers.

So - isn't she amazing? Are you as in love with her work as I am? That beautiful scarf is for sale on her website, along with some of her beautiful fabric and patterns. 

Stay tuned - Jane has a new book that I'll review (and give away!) in two days!