A Gift for Myself

This year I chose to buy myself a Christmas gift!!

Each year Amber (my D-I-L) and I visit a local Arts council craft fair. Amber is a master at finding interesting gifts for family and friends and many of them come from arts fairs, so while she is shopping for others, I often end up shopping for myself!!!

This year I was excited to see that my friend Elizabeth Barton had a booth there. Elizabeth is from here and is well known in the art quilting world, having written two books……

“Inspired to Design“…….

and “Working in A Series“……

In 2011 I took a 1-week class under her at the Arrowmont School of arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. During the first 4 days of the week, we spent our time learning to do Shibori dyeing…..

A Day to Dye For!!!!

Later in the week we used our fabrics to create a quilt from a photo……

I will post more about this quilt soon….I promise!!

BUT…..back to the Art Fair…..

Elizabeth had a booth and was selling some of her quilts. This one immediately caught my eye……

It uses her classic Shibori-Dyed fabrics and the lovely colors work perfectly with my “January Blues” decorating theme!!! I love the pink and mauve highlights that come through the dyes!!

So….to shorten an already long story….

It came home with me and is hanging in my den as I write.

Thank you Elizabeth for sharing your talent with me!!!

For Free-Motion Quilting ideas, be sure to check out my YouTube channel…… https://www.youtube.com/c/francesquilts/videos

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On the air….

Last Friday I was in the studio audience for a new video-cast that is originating from our local public library.
The Library and one of our local art centers has received a grant to set up a program for “Boomers”…..those of us born between 1946 and 1964. As part of this program they are presenting programs and activities that relate to this particular age group. Most of these are being done as a live Video-Cast and then the recording is available on line for all to see.

The first speaker was local quilter, Elizabeth Barton who spoke about how she uses gravel and photographs to inspire the wonderful quilts that she makes. Elizabeth is internationally known for her wonderful art quilts, with many appearing in books, magazines and on the walls of some famous buildings.

She writes an excellent blog….check it out here….

Her talk was filled with photos and resulting quilts and is well worth checking out. You can see it here….
I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did.

AND, for MY big news… I have just signed up to attend a week-long workshop at Arrowmount School of Arts & Crafts, with Elizabeth Barton teaching!!! Here is the description of the class that I will be taking…..

Arashi is a Japanese technique that yields beautiful wave-like markings and stripes on fabric. Dyes are pre-mixed into solutions and yields gorgeous colors in tye-dyed patterns. Utilize your stunning fabrics in a quilt design. Beginners may focus on simple, traditional quilts while more advanced students channel their energies into more complex custom designs. Plenty of individual instruction will help you move forward on your quilt journey. You’ll leave with a wonderful quilt and yards of fabulous fabric.

Doesn’t this sound like FUN….cant wait for October to get here!!!!