Show 1201 - The ABC's of (Award-Winning) Quilted Feathers

Posts On: January 1, 2013

Following up her highly popular appearance in the 400 series, quiltmaker, teacher, and author Sue Nickels returns to the TQS set, this time to share the secrets behind her fabulous quilted feathers. You'll love her simple approach to designing even the most complex motifs…and her favorite tips? Not to be missed! There's even an opportunity for you to get in on the act with a special TQS contest. Then Ricky shares an impromptu musical interlude with talented TQS member Rita Connolly, and we go on the road to meet Kathy Plank, who gives us a taste of the annual Sisters (OR) Home and Garden Tour, including stops at some colorful, quilt-bedecked gardens.

Show 1212 - Something Old, Something New: Early Influences and Fresh Stitches

Posts On: June 3, 2013

Alex and Ricky welcome back fiber artist, author, and teacher Judith Baker Montano for her third TQS appearance, this time on location at The Old Exchange and Provost in beautiful downtown Charleston, SC. This time around, Judith discusses her Canadian upbringing, and the influences of both the Hutterites and Canada's native peoples on her early work. She then shares her techniques for distorting traditional stitches to create organic shapes and interesting layers, and how she employs cheesecloth, scrim, and other unique materials in her pieces, incorporating painterly techniques along the way. Finally, in a segment taped in Sisters, OR, we meet UK quilter, Karin Hellaby, who offers a brief history of Pineapple quilts and shows her "Sew Simple" technique for creating a Pineapple block.

Show 1211 - Fresh Techniques for Old Favorites

Posts On: May 20, 2013

Long-time quilter, teacher, and self-confessed "obsessive quilter" Ann Petersen thrives on producing sharp points and perfectly pieced blocks, and loves to share her techniques for piecing success. In this show, Ann demonstrates her method for piecing accurate curves with the aid of freezer paper and just five pins! She also reveals her ingenious method for foundation piecing…without the fuss of paper to remove. Finally, if you suffer from arthritis, you'll appreciate our visit to the home and studio of Bend, OR, artist Sarah Kaufman, who has successfully adapted her quilting methods to cope with this debilitating ailment, and shares her nifty process for making the Folded Log Cabin block.

Show 1210 - The "Stars" are Out in Big Sky Country!

Posts On: May 6, 2013

The "stars are out" at the Nine Quarter Circle Ranch in Gallatin Gateway, MT, as Alex demos some clever—and easy—variations on the traditional Sawtooth Star block, and Ricky shows how to piece her Lone-Star-based Montana Star. (Cutting directions for the Montana Star will be available on the TQS website.) This "stellar" show also features a visit to Valentine, NE, where Florentine Blue Thunder shares his amazing Lakota Star quilts and Vi Colombe (from the Rosebud Reservation in Mission, SD) shows us her stunning Circular Stars. Can't get more star-studded than that!

Show 1209 - A "Roundup" of Techniques from Two Terrific Teachers

Posts On: April 22, 2013

Saddle up, as we stop by for a visit with renowned quilters, teachers, and authors Georgia Bonesteel and Charlotte Warr Andersen at their annual retreat at the Nine Quarter Circle Ranch in Gallatin Gateway, MT. First the pair unveils a special quilt commemorating the 100th anniversary of the ranch, as well as retreat projects from previous years. Next Georgia demonstrates "picture piecing," her special method of paper piecing with gridded freezer paper, and Charlotte shows how it easy it is to use organza to create soft and shimmery effects in landscape quilts. We finish with a tour of our historic ranch location with owners Kim and Kelly Kelsey.

Show 1208 - Starting a Longarm Business? What I Wish I Knew!

Posts On: April 8, 2013

Only 27 quilts have been awarded the distinction of Master Quilt by the National Quilt Association, and Tribute to Tolkein, made by this episode's featured artist Sue McCarty, is one of the honored few. After demonstrating how to personalize a computer-generated quilting design by adding your own unique flairs and touches, Sue unveils "What I Wish I Knew," her nine most valuable tips for launching a successful career as a longarm quilter. If you've ever considered quilting for others, you won’t want to miss this! In addition, Ricky demonstrates a quick-and-easy sleeve for displaying your quilt.

Show 1207 - Out of Africa: From Life Experience to Incredible Quilts

Posts On: March 25, 2013

You won’t want to miss this show, as (self-taught!) textile artist Hollis Chatelain visits us on location at friend Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry's Bryerpatch Studios in Paducah, KY. Hollis reveals how her previous experiences as a photographer and as a Peace Corps volunteer in West Africa—as well as her vivid dreams!—have informed her amazing, award-winning work. She also shares how she combines a fast-and-fun reverse appliqué technique using recycled denim and hand-dyed fabric to create texture, as well as insight into her incredible threadwork. Then quilter and AQS Executive Director Bonnie Browning drops by to show Hollis, Caryl, Alex, Ricky, and Justin how the fun, relaxing, and improvisational art of the Zentangle can translate to quilting.

Show 1206 - The Magical World of Mixed Media

Posts On: March 11, 2013

Dollmaker, mixed-media artist, and TQS classroom teacher Lauren Vlcek enjoys combining her various talents to create one-of-a-kind mixed-media pieces. In this info-packed show, Lauren demonstrates how she uses her deconstructed crazy-quilt technique to make a small wall shrine, sharing tons of tips for fabric selection, pressing, decorative machine stitching, and embellishment along the way. She also shows how to insert a reverse-appliqué "window frame" in a pieced block background, and a variety of ways to employ the results. But that's not all: Ricky also shares tips for working with guild exchange blocks, and offers a few potential block suggestions (available on the TQS website).

Show 1205 - Picture This: Simplified Pictorial Piecing

Posts On: February 25, 2013

Quilt artist and teacher Sue Rasmussen began her sewing career as an 11-year-old on an 830 Bernina purchased for her by her dad. In this show, she joins the TQS gang on location at the Main Street Quilting Company in Bozeman, MT, to demonstrate her terrific techniques for adapting a traditional pictorial block or personal photograph for simplified piecing. Along the way, she shares loads of good info on fabric choices, construction, and even on using your iPad for creating templates! Then we visit the Coffee Creek Quilters, whose quilting classes for women incarcerated at the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Wilsonville, OR, have dramatically changed the lives of the participants.

Show 1204 - Songs, Stories, and Buttons

Posts On: February 11, 2013

Join Cathy Miller, a.k.a. The Singing Quilter, as she shares her journey to quilting via a quilting stage production. Her effervescent personality and quilting songs will have you in stitches. Cathy then shows Alex how to use the Japanese art of Notan in quilting. Jill Gorski, the button lady, will expand your knowledge of antique buttons, you might otherwise have overlooked. Jill also shows creative ideas for using those special buttons in your stash. It's a double dose of fun show. You don't want to miss it!

Show 1202 - Make it Modern!

Posts On: January 14, 2013

Although she has only been quilting since 2008, teacher, author, (lifetime sewer) and Modern Quilter Jacquie Gering has already made quite a splash in the quilting world. Jacquie enjoys giving traditional blocks a fresh spin, and shares her technique for modernizing the classic Log Cabin block by altering the shape and size of the pieces and through adventurous fabric choices. She also demonstrates how to add lush texture to your quilts with straight-line quilting and the serpentine stitch. We then caught up with Alma de la Melena Cox, an artist who uses paint and fabric to create "quilts on wood", while she was teaching at Quilter's Affair in Sisters, OR.

Show 1213 - "Shake It Up" with the Queen of Paper Piecing

Posts On: June 17, 2013

Quilt artist, prolific author (20 books and counting), and popular teacher Carol Doak joins the TQS gang aboard the historic USS Yorktown, now part of the Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum complex just east of Charleston, SC. Considered by many the Queen of Paper Piecing, Carol "shakes things up" with a ton of creative options for flipping, distorting, and otherwise changing up the shape of familiar paper-pieced elements. Among her revelations: a method that allows you to incorporate paper piecing to size borders for any quilt. We wrap with a tour of our location, veteran of two wars, the Apollo 8 space mission . . . and two Hollywood movies!