Category Archives: News

Surprise and Prize

Last month while listening to a podcast at While She Naps with Abby Glassenberg, I learned that Abby would be giving her listeners an opportunity “to recommend great stuff you’re enjoying right now.” Listeners could record a message on the While She Naps website (technology – so cool!) and on Dec. 4th the podcast aired. To my surprise I was one of the people selected for inclusion in the podcast. I talked about Barb Owen, owner of How To Get Creative, who is someone I find inspirational and encouraging. Barb is a multi-talented artist and author who produces fun projects video on YouTube and offers special membership classes on her website.

Abby was joined by guest co-host, Stacey Trock, and the entire podcast was filled with great ideas from suggested reading, tools and notions, websites, blogs… I could go on but instead I’ll encourage you to check While She Naps out for yourself.

During the podcast Abby drew three names to receive prizes and I was one of them! My prize arrive a couple days ago and as you can see by the photo, the prize was a” Welcome pack” from Spoonflower. I have used Spoonflower for fabric printing in the past and I’m looking forward to again (included in the prize – Spoondollar credits).

It was so nice to be able to contribute to Abby’s Community Episode podcast and exciting to have won a prize on top of that! Abby’s entire website is a great resource for anyone interested in sewing, quilting, and so more more.

Bloggers Moving On

I have been a follower of a wonderful blog, I have mentioned in the past, And Then We Set It On Fire… Today it was announced that the contributors will no longer be posting new posts. I’m sad but totally understand. I will miss the inspiration and great techniques that have been shared by the many artists over the years. The site will be up for now and at least through June, so if you aren’t familiar with it I hope you will go check it out and from there you may find links to the individual artists and much more inspiration and eye candy.

My own blogging has been sporadic to say the least! There are personal reasons and reasons I’ll blame of the political climate. I appreciate you stopping by and I hope you enjoy what I have to say but mostly the fiber art I share. Thank you!

Here is my most recent piece…

I painted over the raw edged patchwork and quilting and was pleasantly surprised that some of the fabric print showed through; it added another visual layer. This piece didn’t make it to where I had hoped but I really like it. I may offer it for sale at the San Diego Quilt Show in the Quilt Sales booth, where I’ll be chairperson again.

Fabric Challenge and Swap

I was happy to learn that the fabric I submitted for the Quilting Art Fabric Challenge/Swap was published in their Dec 2016/Jan2017 magazine. They didn’t publish all of the submissions but I was impression by the variety and would love to be able to ask many of the artists how exactly they achieved their results.

The way the challenge worked was for readers to create a fat quarter of fabric with original surface designs, submit it, and then they would receive a fat quarter made by another entrant. For more information see that QA link above.

I was so excited when I received a fat quarter created by Susan Price. Susan along with her business partner, Elizabeth, create original and custom Thermofax screens and sell their designs on Etsy at – PGFiber2art

Susan explained that the fabric I received was snow dyed, pole-wrapped (Shibori) and then thermofax screen printed using her original photo called Birds on a Branch. I think it is beautiful! Thank you, Susan.

A short time after I received Susan’s fabric I received a “thank you” email from Pat Robertson, who was the recipient of my challenge fabric. As I looked through the magazine again, I discovered that the fabric Pat submitted was also published so I asked Pat to send me photos of her fabric. Pat was kind enough to also send photos of her process too. The steps are – Pre-treated fabric, snow pile, dye applied, processing, fabric accepting the dye, rinse, and beautiful results! Thank you, Pat.

So you can see what wonderful results may come from playing with (and working) surface designs. I hope you will give it a try and if you do please share your results!

Fire season and Water is Life

We were hit with a heat wave this week but there seems to be a break today, unfortunately several fires have broken out around the state and county. Knowing how these fire can spread and the damage they cause, especially with the winds we have been experiencing, is always frightening. I live in an area that has remained unscathed by fire but I have friends and family who have lost homes (and pets) in past fires. I’m thankful to the firefighters for what they do every day and admire the strength of those who rebuild and move forward.

On a happier note – Recently I received a Machine Quilting Unlimited magazine in the mail and noticed a banner at the top of the cover that read “Water is Life – Exhibit at the United Nations. A few of the quilts from the Quilt for Change – Water is Life exhibit are featured, including my a triptych Clear Necessity.

So, I’m trying to be careful and not waste too much water while I paint more fabric…

The left piece was started by painting textile paint wet on wet, then slightly folding and left in the sun to achieve a sun print (the “rays”). After it dried I did a rubbing on a homemade foam leaf stamp using wax pastels and then sprayed the entire piece with water to soften the design. Center piece was tilt painted (Online lesson at Curious.com) and the piece on the right was made by laying a piece of fabric onto a plexiglass sheet that had acrylic paint pooled and dripped on it. Though the acrylic paint ended up thin enough to stitch on (video coming soon, I hope) Next time I will use textile paint so that the hand will remain softer.

If you paint fabric I would love to see your designs. I’m always surprised and usually please when paint meets fabric!

Special Exhibit!

I’m happy to say that pieces from my Photograph on Fiber series will be one of the Special Exhibits at the 2016 San Diego Quilt Show. That link has all the information about the show.

If you don’t already know, these pieces began as a collaboration with my son whose photograph of a lone leaf inspired my fiber art. I figured out a way to incorporate the actual photograph and my fiber art quilt into one work of art. Some of the more recent pieces have been inspired by and include the work of other photographers (Always used with permission) and in one case* the photo was taken by me (*Gathering Evidence).

The original construction which included, in part; adhering the photograph to the acrylic sheet and drilling the holes, got to be too much for me. More recently I have had the photographs mounted to the acrylic and holes drilled professionally (a company I would highly recommend – ArtisanHD)

Working on this series has allowed me to paint and stitch fabric & fiber and stretch as an artist and designer and of course, exhibit my artwork. I developed an easier version and teach that as a course online at Curious.com , where you’ll find more of my lessons, as well as lessons and courses on just about anything you may be curious about.

So if you are in the San Diego, California area August 31 – Sept 3, 2016, treat yourself to a colorful few days of quilts, fiber art, classes, and much more! I’m Chairperson for the Quilt Sales booth so stop by and say “Hi” and be wowed by the wonderful quilts.

Quilting Away,
A

Seeing Red!

No art work today…it was a beautiful sunny day, in the eighties! I spent part of the day walking in the local Parkinson’s Association 5K Run with a couple loved ones and a cast of thousands (lots of dogs!). This year the t-shirts were red, if you know me well, you know red is not my color but I was invited to wear this and I think it fit pretty well. What do you think?

parkinsons_5k_2016_red_mustang — Thanks Ron!

Still Here and Kicking!

There has been much going on and I have been bad about ~~focusing~~ posting.

I was happy to learn that the Water is Life quilt exhibit at the United Nations Geneva has been extended for the second time and will be up until April 11, 2016. I’m really looking forward to seeing the quilts when they come to the States in 2017. I’m very proud to have a quilt in that exhibit. From what I have seen it looks like my quilt may be one of the simplest in design, other than it being a triptych, but that’s OK… sometimes simplistic says a lot.

In other news Terial Arts shared my Leaf Napkin Ring design on their blog recently and using my pattern, the owner Terry McFeely, made a pretty blue fabric napkin ring with a sequin detail.

terry terail arts photo leaf napkin ring

It’s fun to see what others do with a design to make it their own. I’ll be posting a How-to instructional video for making the Leaf Napkin Ring on my YouTube channel soon.

More news coming soon.

Traveling Quilt for Change

I’m very excited to have recently learned that my quilt A Clear Necessity, as well as the other 40 quilts accepted to the “Water is Life: Clean Water and its Impact on the Lives of Women and Girls around the World,” exhibition, will be here in the USA in 2017 – Maybe near you! It is an honor to be part of this exhibition while supporting the message and doing what I love. Read below for more details about where in the world the exhibit will be on display.

Press/News Release

Contact Information: Allison Wilbur, Quilt for Change, quiltforchange@me.com, (401) 316-6410

For Immediate Release

Local Artist to Exhibit in Geneva, Switzerland

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND — San Diego artist Ann L. Scott will display her quilt, A Clear Necessity, at the United Nations European headquarters building in Geneva, Switzerland in March and April of this year. Ann is one of 41 art quilters chosen to participate in the exhibition “Water is Life: Clean Water and its Impact on the Lives of Women and Girls around the World,” which will debut at the UN’s Palais des Nations under the auspices of the U.S. Diplomatic Mission to the United Nations in Geneva on March 22, World Water Day.

Organized by the Rhode Island non-profit Quilt for Change (www.quiltforchange.org) and Rome, Italy-based American Exchange Rome, “Water is Life” highlights the importance of consistent access to clean water in the lives of millions of women around the world and brings attention to the many countries whose populations face a struggle for clean water on a daily basis. Without clean water, millions of women are deprived of the opportunity to live, safe, healthy lives, to obtain an education, find jobs, care for their families, and contribute to their societies. According to Allison Wilbur, Executive Director of Quilt for Change, “’Water is Life’ is the fifth major quilt show to be displayed at UN headquarters, where diplomats, policy makers and thousands of visitors to the UN’s headquarters are exposed to the messages of concern and support for women’s empowerment embodied in these quilts. Participating quilters are artists who bring their subject matter to life through their talent and compassion.”

After its debut, “Water is Life” will travel to Rome for exhibition under the auspices of the U.S. Embassy in Rome in October, 2016. Crossing the Atlantic, the show is scheduled to be on display at the New England Quilt Museum in Lowell, Massachusetts, from February-April 2017, and then to tour at seven major quilt shows across the country with the Mancuso Show Quilt Festivals.

For more information on the exhibit, visit www.quiltforchange.org, and on Facebook at Quilt for Change/Quilt Challenge or http://www.american-exchange-rome.org/usunquiltexhibit2016/.

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Triptych to Switzerland

This is “A Clear Necessity”, my entry to Quilt for Change – “Water is Life: Clean Water and Its Impact on the Lives of Women and Girls around the World.” I’m excited to tell you that it has been selected to be part of the Quilt Challenge Exhibit which is scheduled to open at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland in March 2016. Once again my art is traveling more than I ever will… but I’m okay with that!

The earth fabric was made with a flour resist and then wax pastel over that. The bean is made from the drop cloth cotton fabric that I always place under my (painted) pole wrapped (arashi) pieces to catch the drips (often creating wonderful and surprising fabric!)

Fabric Storage in the Studio

I re-purposed several bookcases when I moved my studio back into my home. Bookcases are great because they are narrow and so don’t take up a lot of floor space (mine even have doors) but most standard storage boxes either don’t fit or don’t use the shelf space fully. My solution was to design and construct boxes to fit the way I wanted to use the space. The boxes are good for storing fat quarters but most any size yardage can be folded to fit. They can be stacked two high and they have little windows so I can quickly see what color is in each box. They can be easily pull out when I want to go on a serious fabric search.

These boxes fit a minimum 22″ wide shelf. I have them in a 33″ wide bookcase so I have room along the side of the boxes for a few other items. I’m planning to make some more boxes to fit in a 16″ x 11″ bookcase which is filled (and a mess) with landscape and painted sky fabric. They could be made just about any size, though, I would not go bigger than the one in my lessons (viewable on Curious.com and – YouTube) because foam board and hot glue are only so strong and fabric can get heavy!

If this helps you better organize your fabric I would love to hear about it… and remember these boxes could be used to hold other items too.

Stitching and Painting Away, Ann

Fiber Designs by Ann

Fiber art Design, Instruction, Sales