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Bugs Bunny himself would love to take a bite out of this oversized carrot from Carol Morrissey.

Star Members can watch Carol in Show 1908: Postcards and Photorealism.

CarrotFarmbyCarolMorrissey - 36 Pieces Non-Rotating

CarrotFarmbyCarolMorrissey - 100 Pieces Non-Rotating

CarrotFarmbyCarolMorrissey - 297 Pieces Non-Rotating

CarrotFarmbyCarolMorrissey - 36 Pieces Rotating

CarrotFarmbyCarolMorrissey - 100 Pieces Rotating

CarrotFarmbyCarolMorrissey - 297 Pieces Rotating

Original Photo: Gregory Case

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Bugs Bunny himself would love to take a bite out of this oversized carrot from Carol Morrissey.

Star Members can watch Carol in Show 1908: Postcards and Photorealism.

Original Photo: Gregory Case

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RARE Science works directly with patient families and foundations to find more immediate therapeutic solutions for children with rare diseases. 

This year RARE Science is partnering with TQS (and a number of other great organizations) to bring you... the FIRST Ever Celebrity RARE Bear Auction!  This is your opportunity to own a signed bear made by the quilt world's most talented artists while helping a great cause.

Meet "Ruby Duby" by Tamara Leberer

Ruby Duby is made with a combination of luscious hand-dyed Dupioni silk and silk fusion.   Hand embroidery and beautiful set of fused glass eyes and ribbons of silk sari fabric around her neck complete the ensemble.

My name is Ruby Duby. I was named after my Grandpa Rube, and “Ruby Duby” is the name he liked to use around his grandchildren. Like the color Red invokes, Grandpa Rube was strong, sassy and generous. Ruby Duby is a reminder of how important and enriching your relationship with your grandparents can be! They are always there to lift you up and strengthen your confidence. They are simply the best!

Star Members can watch Tamara in Show 1901: Silk Fusion.

Click here for links to see more Celebrity RARE Bears.

As an artist, creating beauty, first and foremost, drives me. I prefer to create what I personally feel is appealing. My inspiration comes from the colors of nature, the built environment and the classic definitions of design. Still, I consider myself a rule-breaking, get-it-done kind of gal.

Trying new things; always trying new things; and putting things together in new ways fuels my creativity. My ideas come from a conglomeration of traditional and aesthetic skills picked up through my personal and professional life in architecture, sewing and gardening.

Whether you call them art quilts or fiber art, my work revolves around a love of fiber, fabric and color. I find the vivid colors of fiber and fabric and the texture and dimensionality of quilting thrilling. No matter what or how much I do, I can’t extinguish my passion to create with my hands. My favorite manner of work is improvisational, where I explore line, shape and color to create harmony and motion.

I have been teaching Silk Fusion, along with many other fiber art techniques such as felting, nuno felting, modern quilt piecing, and free motion quilting in Colorado since 2011.

I have spent the last 15 years exploring every facet of fiber art before finding the sweet spot that makes my artist heart feel at home: combining a wide variety of fibers in different ways, and then quilting, always quilting.

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Fall is always an exciting time with my retreat, Quilting in the Garden, and Quilt Market & Festival in Houston! This year at market, I have a few products debuting with Quilters Select. In the Quilters Select family we are showcasing our new rotary cutter. It is beautifully weighted, either left or right handed, and has a super EASY blade change. We also have two new thread lines to showcase. Please stop by booth #800 to check out all the new exciting products.

Also at market, my new line with RJR Fabrics, Mirage, will debut (booth #1034). I am super excited about the vibrancy of the colors and to showcase them, I have been sewing like a mad woman. Many of the projects have been posted on my Facebook page. With a week or so to go, the last quilt is shaping up.
 

I really liked where it was heading but felt an appliqué border would seal the deal. Note to self: my design wall was already occupied! Making sure that everything was secure on project #1, I simply pinned a white table cloth on top of my other project. I know had a place to design my new project. After adding white borders, I used a disappearing ink pen to “plot” the areas where the stem will reside. The stems were made with a clover bias tape maker. I prepped the stems with Select Appli-Stick ¼” Tape.

Because I chose to work in Christmas colors, little light bulbs seemed to be the appropriate addition to the stem.

ENTER THE SECRET WEAPON – a cordless iron!
 

Once the vine was placed and pinned – off to the wall I went with a hot iron!
The story isn’t over yet…….I am at the machine appliquéing the little bulbs in place, watch.

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With the election just around the corner, we thought we'd bring your attention to this quilt from the American Folk Art Museum. This quilt, by an unknown quilt maker, was created using the only socially acceptable means available to voice her Democratic sympathies. The symbolism in the quilt allowed her to state her political opinions in the only way she could in the late nineteenth century. How far have we come today?

Click here to learn about the historical and political implications of the quilt.

Artist unidentified; initialed “J.F.R.” | Cleveland-Hendricks Crazy Quilt | American Folk Art Museum, folkartmuseum.org

(photos: Mary Kay Davis)

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RARE Science works directly with patient families and foundations to find more immediate therapeutic solutions for children with rare diseases. 

This year RARE Science is partnering with TQS (and a number of other great organizations) to bring you... the FIRST Ever Celebrity RARE Bear Auction! This is your opportunity to own a signed bear made by the quilt world's most talented artists while helping a great cause.

Meet "Scarlett O'Beara" by Rosie de Leon-McCrady

Days have been hard since Rhett walked out the door, but a minor setback isn’t going to keep this Southern girl down for long. Strong willed and independent, Scarlett has another social event, and man, in her sights.

With little money and no curtains left in Tara to stitch together an outfit, this clever girl has had to be resourceful. Deep in her stash of quilting fabric she found bits of Moda’s French General and Scarlet to piece together the basics. But, as any Southern girl knows, to catch a man’s eye, you need an outfit that stands out from the crowd. 

Her vest, featuring the Cross Your Heart emblem (that she hand-painted using a stencil and Paintstiks), shows that this upcoming event means a great deal to her. The small red triangles, outlined in Redwork, along the collar enhance her creamy white complexion, while the bow under her chin will hide the nervousness she feels when she meets the "next man of her dreams."

Star Members can watch Rosie in Show 1509: Seeing Red: Ramp Up Your Redwork!

Click here for links to see more Celebrity RARE Bears.

About Me

As I look back on my years, it seems I was always destined to end up with a needle and a thread in my hands. Whether it be embroidery, quilting, or simply refastening a button to an old shirt, as soon as my fingers stick that piece of thread through the fabric and pull it through, I suddenly feel at home. As a young girl, my mother took the time to instill in me the necessary values that would carry me through womanhood. There were the timeless baking lessons where much of the batter seemed to make its way into our mouths before making it into the pan. There were the numerous lectures on the importance of doing well in school which, of course, I always paid the utmost attention to. However, it was the time I spent with her learning how to embroider that I remember so vividly. Embroidery not only became an activity that I could do with my mother, but also an outlet for a young girl to enhance her creativity. My mother’s lessons paid off, and soon, much to my mother’s delight and sometimes to her dismay, embroidery started popping up on our pillow cases, dresser scarves, and tablecloths at our house. I was hooked.

My introduction to quilting did not come till years later when, fate in the form of my future husband, Phil McCrady, introduced me to his mother, Kathleen McCrady. Mrs. McCrady, renowned in the industry for her vast knowledge and expertise in the history of quilts and textiles, helped me fill a void that had been missing for some time. I had recently learned, right before the encounter, that my maternal grandmother quilted, and I wanted to follow in her footsteps. Mrs. McCrady graciously taught me how to hand piece and hand quilt. It is because of her kindness and my husband’s encouragement and support that I have been quilting my way to happiness for 24 years.

In an effort to spread the art of quilt making and embroidery, and yes I do feel it is an art, I started teaching classes a little over fifteen years ago throughout Texas and New Mexico. With time, I started being approached to judge quilt shows. These interactions with my students and with quilting contestants, combined with my five years experience at a retail quilt shop, offered me much insight to the needs of my future Redwork customers. I believe in putting excellent tools in the hands of every stitcher. If you have the right tools, you will enjoy the craft, and thus, you accomplish more. My hope is to have my unique line of products become an integral part of the industry I have come to love and that is now my second career.

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(This blog was originally posted in 2013 - his exhibit, Collecting New York Beauty Quilts: Bill Volckening's Passion, is no longer at the museum)

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Bill Volckening has many passions, he has been a US Master's swimmer, a magazine creator, an artist and an editor. Then he discovered New York Beauty quilts, all because of a girl he was dating and a visit to Shelly Zegart. The girlfriend wanted to buy an antique quilt, so he tagged along...to Shelly Zegart's apartment. (You might remember Shelly as the creator of "Why Quilts Matter?")  While he was there, he spotted a densely quilted, red, white, and green, New York Beauty quilt and fell in love with it. He decided to buy it and paid Shelly in installments. Bill has now been collecting for more than twenty years (he calls himself a "quilt magnet.") and his collection was on exhibit - Collecting New York Beauty Quilts: Bill Volckening's Passion - at the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles through October 27, 2013. 

Bill and the museum have graciously allowed TQS to share some of that exhibit with our members, but if you can get to the museum to see the exhibit in person you will not be disappointed. In the video you'll also get a quick glimpse at Bill's future exhibit featuring quilts from the 1970s.

Bill has also become a quilter himself and recently won his first ribbon for his quilt "Wild-Eyed Susans" featuring wool flowers. It was a guild challenge for the Northwest Quilters that he started at a quilt retreat in Sisters. He believes he is the only one to actually finish a project from that retreat. Bill says, "I missed the memo that retreats were supposed to yield UFOs!" To learn more about the making of the quilt, click here.

 You can learn more about Bill on his website, www.billvolckening.com.

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Congratulations to Janet Stone, Best of Show winner at PIQF 2016 for "No L," (71" x 70").

Janet writes,

"Inspired by quilt collector, Bill Volckening's antique New York beauty quilts. I thought the large sashing intersection blocks would be a great place to put letters. Except L, that is. Being feaful of curved piecing, all the curvy pieces are appliquéd."

To see the collection that inspired Janet's quilt, click here.

Listen to Janet Stone (TQS BOM 2014 Designer) talk with Bonnie Browning about her quilt "No L," which also won the Best Home Machine Workmanship Award at AQS QuiltWeek® in Des Moines, Iowa.

Star Members can watch Janet in Show 1401: From ABC to BOM: Tips and Techniques Just for "Ewe." 

If you'd like to see the 2014 BOM, designed by Janet, A-Z For Ewe and Me, click here.

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RARE Science works directly with patient families and foundations to find more immediate therapeutic solutions for children with rare diseases. 

This year RARE Science is partnering with TQS (and a number of other great organizations) to bring you... the FIRST Ever Celebrity RARE Bear Auction!  This is your opportunity to own a signed bear made by the quilt world's most talented artists while helping a great cause.

Meet "The Huerfano Bear" by Ricky Tims

Huerfano county of Colorado is home to the reclusive and RARE White Canvas Bear.  This uniquely pure white bear has unusually furry ears and two different footpads. Sightings are very rare, but legend has it that he lives in the mountains just outside of La Veta, CO. Local residents know that due to his poor eyesight, this bear only comes out at night to forage for food. Occasionally there will be paw prints found in the mud after a heavy rainstorm, or large clumps of white fur found on patio garden furniture.

Recently, lured by the scent of something that smelled appealing, the bear apparently made his way into Ricky’s dye studio and accidentally fell into a large dye filled pot. As it was very late in the evening and raining heavily, no one happened to be in the studio to hear the disturbance.  The next day as Ricky and Justin arrived, they found large muddy footprints leading from a back window (which had accidentally been left open) to the dye studio. Upon entering the studio, they discovered a very hungry and distressed bear wedged inside the dye pot and unable to get out. He was covered in a rainbow of colors and had several major injuries to his arms and legs.  Everyone knows that Ricky and Justin have a soft spot for animals in need. So Ricky, who just happens to be a wiz at hand sewing, stitched up the cuts and added a few patches to larger areas where the fur had been torn away, while Justin found something to eat in the kitchen to calm the bear down.  Once he had been fed and patched up, the bear scampered off out of town. No one has seen him since, but there were a few rainbow colored hairs found at a picnic area just outside of town.

Star Members can watch Ricky in Show 803: Create Your Own Rhapsody Quilt: Part 1.

Click here for links to see more Celebrity RARE Bears.

Ricky Tims has successfully blended two diverse passions into one very unique and interesting career. His skills as a pianist, composer and producer have been evidenced by the thousands who have heard his music. His success as a quilter is equally significant. His quilts have been displayed worldwide and are highly regarded as excellent examples of contemporary quilts with traditional appeal.

He is known in the international world of quilting as a best-selling author, enthusiastic and encouraging teacher, an award-winning quilter, fabric designer, and a talented and spellbinding speaker. His innovative and entertaining concert presentations feature live music and humor combined with scholarly insights and
wisdom.

Ricky has made quilts that have won numerous international awards. In 2005 he was named as one of The Thirty Most Distinguished Quilters in the World. In 2008 he was profiled and featured on the popular national television news show, CBS News Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood. In 2009 he was selected, (in a three-way tie) by the readers of Quilter's Newsletter Magazine, as The Most Influential Person in the Quilting Industry.

He is co-founder and co-host of the online TV show, The Quilt Show, along with Alex Anderson. He holds week-long La Veta Quilt Retreats at his art quilt studio in the tiny mountain town of La Veta, CO. His newest venture is LetsQuiltTogether.com – a website where he teaches online classes.

Ricky is passionate about quilting, and is delighted to share his experience and enthusiasm with quilters of every level of expertise. He is challenged by creativity in all forms, and encourages individuals to cultivate self-expression, reach for the unreachable, and believe in the impossible.

Quilting is a relatively new interest compared to Ricky's lifelong passion for music. He began formal music lessons at the age of three. He is a pianist, conductor, composer, arranger, music producer, and performing artist. His music is neither classical, new age, pop, nor world, yet it could fall under any of those classifications. He has also produced several solo piano recordings. His blend of music and quilting is unique and remarkable.