Daily Blog

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This month Carolyn Hock helps you with shadowing of your colors. 

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International Quilting Weekend has Free shows, quilting gifts contest, and now a big sale in the Shop. You can get 70% Off, 50% Off, 30% Off, or 20% Off.  We are a small store so items are limited to stock on hand. We wanted our viewers to get first shot before the weekend starts.

Click on anything blue and it will take you right to that product in the store:

76% Off- TQS DVDs $24.95 are now just $5.99

74% Off- Cotton & Steel Fabric $11.99/yd now just $2.99/yd.

50% Off- Rajah Quilt Kit - This historical quilt kit is now priced below fabric cost. It was $189.99 and now is just $94.99.

50% Off- My Country House Quilt Kit by Lynette Anderson. It was $179.99 and is now $89.99

50% Off- Shiva Artist Paintsticks. Highlight or shade your fabrics for an extra effect. 

50% Off- Wool Roving kits. Get more beauty and texture in your quilt.

50% Off- Dynaflow fabric paint. Amazing results.

30% Off most store products with your 1 year membership. Join or Renew Now.

20% Off most of the store products for everyone through Monday March 20. Use this coupon code at checkout     IQW20% 

(The Code IQW20% does not apply to items with higher % (70%, 50%) Off Sales) 

Already priced right are the Eversewn Sewing Machines. Great to take to class or for the new quilter or sewer.

There are just 10 Block of the Month Kits left. Don't miss out on Sue Garman's amazing quilt.

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I decided to include an Empty Spools Seminar in my 2017 Quilt Workshop Goals and it was nothing but a good time!  

I chose to take a workshop with Sandra Leichner after watching a video here on The Quilt Show (see below). On the program she was so genuine and her appliqué was amazing!! I knew right then that someday I would be one of her students. She is an artist in the truest sense of the word...when you get a chance to see the appliqué close up you can't believe the amount of detail. Sandra was a delightful instructor, shared numerous tips on appliqué, and was able to support each student in their process.
 

 

One of the best parts of taking workshops is the people you meet in class. Our class was filled with quilters who came to Empty Spools from all over the country. I feel like I really lucked out because the table where I sat included students who flew in from Massachusetts and they all belonged to the same appliqué group...very experienced. I learned a lot from them...little tips that are going to help me achieve my dream of making a Baltimore Album quilt :)
 

 

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This spring, the Texas Quilt Museum debuts two incredible new exhibits: one that celebrates the still-unfolding career of a quilting icon, and one that’s a little “spicy.” Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry: 40 Years of Light, Color, and Motion and Along the Spice Route will be on display from March 30-June 25, 2017.

Fallert-Gentry will give a free lecture on April 1 at 3 p.m. Museum admission will be free beginning at 2 p.m.

Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry is one of contemporary quilting’s true superstars. As an artist, teacher, author, and designer, her distinctive visual style and innovative quilts have enthralled quilt lovers since 1976. She is known internationally for her unique artwork, which has won top prizes in major competitions.

Her teaching has taken her to 11 countries on five continents. Other honors include having a piece named one of “The 20th Century’s 100 Best American Quilts” (Corona #2: Solar Eclipse), and receiving the International Quilt Festival’s lifetime achievement Silver Star Award.

Fallert-Gentry’s geometric color studies and curved-seam abstracts are inspired by visual impressions she has collected in her travels, everyday life, and her very inventive imagination. This exhibit gathers many quilts from over the decades. “I first saw Caryl’s work in the 1990s, and each decade has renewed my amazement in her accomplishments,” notes Museum Curator Dr. Sandra Sider. “And her works have such a joyful energy.” The exhibit is partially sponsored by Gene Reynolds & Associates.

Along the Spice Route, which is curated by Ann Reardon and Paula Golden, features art quilts on the theme of spices, celebrating the marvelous flavors that make our food interesting and appetizing. As visitors to the Museum will learn, many of these spices have also been used for other purposes—including “curing” baldness, reducing indigestion, acting as antibacterial agents, and to ward off evil spirits.

In addition to depicting the spices themselves as both seeds and flowers, quilts in Along the Spice Route offer a glimpse into spice markets, shipping routes, and caravan trails. Accompanied by a map of the Spice Route, this exhibition is a journey of the mind to distant lands and into the past.

“From the Taj Mahal to a desert caravan, this exhibit showcases the exotic colors and flavors of the East, from the Holy Land to China, in a fascinating variety of materials and techniques,” Dr. Sider offers.

The Texas Quilt Museum is located at 140 W. Colorado St., La Grange, TX 78945. It is open Thurs.-Sat. from 10 a.m.-4 p.m., and on Sun. from Noon-4 p.m.

Star Members can learn about Caryl in Show 1308: Techniques, Tips...and a Very Special Tour for Quilters.

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A shape is a closed two dimensional flat line, meaning that it has length & width. Let's use the example of a simple house drawn on paper. You can tell that the drawing on the left is a house, but you are not able to determine how large it is, or look around it, because it is on a flat piece of paper. While the house on the right gives you a sense of its size, shape, and form (which we will focus on next week). Shape falls into two categories; geometric and organic.

Geometric vs. Organic

As quilters, we are very familiar with blocks and patterns using two dimensional shapes such as a square, rectangle, triangle, or hexagon. These shapes are created using mathematical formulas. You might want to think of them as something that is man-made.

Organic shapes are free-flowing, irregular and less defined. These shapes are often found in nature, such as plants and animals. The line that encloses the organic shape can be curved, angular, or a a blend of both. Twisted Hornet by Sheila Frampton Cooper (Show 1306) is an example using Organic shapes.

Positive vs. Negative Shape

Shapes can also be categorized as Positive or Negative as in the Attic Window block. Positive shapes are the solid forms which make up the window. Negative shape is the space between the shapes (inside the window). The Attic Window block is a perfect example of using both positive and negative space to give the illusion of a three dimensional window.
    
Negative shape is the area around/between the shape such as in the illustrations of scissors. 

In Jenny Bowker's (Show 1804) quilt Arabesque, the doorway is the positive space, while the opening is considered the negative space.

Combining Elements of Shape

In the case of Rainbow Waterfall 1 by Cara Gulati (Show 1105) the organic shape that occupies the negative and positive space is more fluid and varies. While Gloria Loughman's (Show 612) Kimberley Mystique combines both geometric (background sky) and organic shapes (trees and foreground).

There is no homework this week.

Click here for more topics related to the Design to Quilt program.

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Star Members can learn more from Ann in Show 2213: Amish Remix and Quilting On The Road, and about her fascinating life in Show 2006: Engaging the Viewer with Line, Shape, and Gesture.

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The Tattered Splendor exhibit at the Houston International Quilt Festival featured heavily used and beyond-repair antique quilts that Marty Ornish made into something wholly new with embellishments and upcycled materials. See the exhibit and hear what Marty has to say about using vintage textiles.

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It's time to start entering the contest. We don't want anyone to miss the chance because of travel or life,

so you can start now.