Some Great Quilty Websites

Do you ever have a few extra minutes to seek inspiration for new projects on the web?

If you are a blog reader, you probably are already aware of the excitement that starts to sizzle when you come across awesome artistic projects and wonder, what if...? could I do that? would it work to use a different technique? how did they make this?

Of course, going to a quilt show or workshop is the ideal way to increase your knowledge of what's new in the quilting world. But we are so lucky in this day and age to have the Internet to bring the information we seek right into our living rooms.

I have featured Bonnie McCaffery's site before, but would like to point you in her direction once again. Bonnie's own quilts and techniques are very well-known, and she is a popular teacher of portrait quilts, fantasy fabrics, and more. I personally own two of her books, one of which is now out of print. Portrait Quilts has been reprinted and is even on Barnes and Noble's site.

In the last few years, Bonnie has provided a wonderful service of producing short vidcasts or "podcasts" of interviews with quilters. Bonnie's interviews are friendly and informative, but not too "gushy." They are available on the Internet from her site, or you can download them to your iPod from the iTunes store- for free!

One of my favorite of her vidcasts is with Larkin Van Horn, beader extraordinaire and textile artist. After watching this vidcast, I signed up to take a workshop with Larkin at the upcoming North Carolina Quilt Symposium. The workshop topic is Beaded Buttons- something I have never tried. Always learning something new!

I also was very impressed with the vidcast with Pam Holland. I started out smiling as Pam described how she and three quilting friends had their eyeliner or eyebrows tattooed after downing a few margaritas. After seeing Pam describe her "Drapplique" technique (drawing + applique), I immediately went to her website. Wow- some very detailed techniques for creating portrait quilts, and so many beautiful projects to ponder.

Okay, grab your coffee (or a margarita!) and spend a few minutes with Bonnie and friends!

Art Quilting Pod-Cast

If you are like me, you get excited about every new product or technique that someone has used to make a beautiful art quilt. After I see a quilt that is gorgeous, watch a video, get a book, or see a magazine article, I purchase the product...and then it sits unused until motivation or need provides the impetus to actually use it. This seems somewhat wasteful, but it has served me well when the mood has struck! For example, after seeing Marilyn Badger make her Magical Ponchos on Simply Quilts episode 1110, I ordered the silk tops, Angelina, and water-soluble stabilizer immediately. Then about two years later, I got it all out and produced my beautiful fiber shawl when I needed it to wear to a wedding.

Another example of products I purchased after a Simply Quilts episode are Tsukineko inks, Fantastix markers, and stands. I was inspired by the talented Lura Schwarz Smith and her Faces in Fabric episode. I also ordered two sets of her DVD's. Well, I have yet to complete my portrait quilt, but I use these inks constantly for other projects, including:

• painting quilt labels-those fabric markers dry out so fast, but these inks do not!
• coloring quilted motifs, such as on Spring Greens and my other trapuntoed quilts
• adding details to picture quilts, such as Change of Season and Golden Memories
• painting fabric
• re-coloring faded quilts and decorative flags, such as the Fourth of July quilt
• creating artsy backgrounds and images for fabric postcards

Anyway, the reason for today's post on this topic is that I just watched Linda Schmidt on Bonnie McCaffery's ladest Vid-Cast. Have you checked these out? They are short, free video segments featuring Bonnie interviewing various quilters. Linda is a fabulous quilt artist who uses many products to achieve life-like dimension and texture. She also teaches classes online at Quilt University. Take a look at this Vid-Cast and see if you aren't eager to sign up for one of Linda's classes, purchase some Puff Paints or Tinzel or Misty Fuse!

Bonnie McCaffery Pod-casts

This morning I enjoyed spending some time on Bonnie McCaffery's website. She has been posting videos or podcasts of interviews with quilters and artists from around the world. I have found them to be very inspiring and done well- no shaky camera, audio drifting in and out of range. The latest vid-cast is with fiber artist Melinda Schwakhofer. Wow, she made me want to grab my Angelina fibers, beads, and wires, pen some lines of poetry, and create something fabulous! I have so many neat materials upstairs in my messy studio that I have never even tried, like Lutradur, Misty Fuse, and Lumiere paints. I better get going! By the way, I saw Bonnie once when I was in Richmond at the charming Quilting Adventures store. She was just coming in to teach a class on Portrait Quilts- another project I want to do some day! I have the book, the paints...

In case anyone wants to see the picture of the full quilt that I just finished for my sister-in-law Debbie, here is a picture. I added more to my Webshots site in the album 2007 Longarm Quilting. The quilt top was made by her late grandmother in the 1970's.

I also made the discovery that now Webshots is allowing the posting of videos! Great!