Coloring Book Inspired Christmas Cards by Sherry Lidgard

By Dawn Goldsmith

I love coloring books, coloring with crayons, pencils even markers -- you know like we did as kids. It's good therapy and fun -- staying inside the lines is a nice change for fabric artists!

I'm not alone in that fascination. Recently Sherry Lidgard wrote a blog at The Quilt Show website declaring her love of coloring.

Over the years I've tried to incorporate crayons into my quilting and sewing projects. I tried using crayons on fabric, even textile crayons and wasn't thrilled with the results. Too fragile, even after heat setting them. And the colors weren't as strong as I would have liked.

Sherry, feeling the pinch of the economic downturn, searched for Christmas gifts that wouldn't break her budget and yet be a welcome present. Postage was a factor with gifts to be sent from California to Florida. So she turned to coloring books and found a 'go-zillion' online.

She explains her process: I found a bunch that I liked and printed them out. I went over the lines with a sharpie and used colored pencils to color them. Then I scanned them into my computer and ran them through Photoshop.

I prepared fabric sheets for my printer using freezer paper and muslin and printed out the pages. I added batting and backing to the images and quilted them, focusing on the outlines and doing some background quilting on some of them. I used black thread and free-motion to go over the outlines (more than once) of the pictures when I quilted them. Gives them better difinition.

Then I bound them with holiday fabric and they're ready to go! The only thing I had to actually spend money on was printer ink-everything else came from my itty stash. I made about 25 different pieces.

She added: They can be hung on the wall but I think propping them on a shelf or on some kind of small display stand would be better because of their size.


The only downside to her project was the envelope. Because of the odd size of the finished quilt she had to make the envelopes. "I bought poster board and made very simple envelopes to fit each little quilt. Next time I'll make a more standard size so I can buy envelopes and save some time!"

I'm thinking how well this project would work if you have children and want to make a memory quilt of their artwork! Or a grandma gift complete with artwork! Or or or.... next year's Christmas cards featuring your own or your child's coloring pages.

Oh, Sherry added a note with her gifts -- just in case they might not quite know what to do with it. A little disclaimer -- "It's not a potholder...."

My View: Jackie Robinson's Weaver Fever DVD with pattern pdf

Sharon Pederson's company Nine Patch Media produces a Quilters' Schoolhouse DVD Series featuring some of the leading quilt designers, artists and artisans in the quilt art community.

Nine Patch Media also offer high quality video, audio and presentation. No distractions, no faltering, no stammering, no camera shyness. The presentation is professional and proceeds in easy to digest segments allowing a watcher to pause whenever necessary. In fact in Jackie Robinson's presentation, she encourages you to pause, do what she's taught, and then proceed to the next step.

The DVDs they have produced, at least those I've viewed, have been outstanding and covered all of my questions and then some.

Weaver Fever by Jackie Robinson is a DVD that really delivers. I can remember way back in 1991 when Jackie Robinson introduced her innovative bargello inspired Weaver Fever with her threefers and four-fers and five-fers. Well, the pattern, published by Animus Quilts Publishing (Jackie's company) has never gotten old and the pattern continues to sell. Now she has taken the time to show the process complete with tips for assured success with this beautiful interlaced pattern. And she includes a downloadable pdf file of a booklet to lay on your work table and reference again and again and again while making your own Weaver Fever quilt.

Jackie has a delightful on-air personality and her presentation is delivered with a twinkle in her eye and an easy-to-follow pace. The process she advocates may not be the most exciting, but it is organized. She doesn't snip willy nilly. She doesn't throw tidbits of cloth over her shoulder. In truth, she's a bit anal about the whole process.

She emphasizes the pre-cutting preparation -- the choosing of fabrics, the way to determine what cuts must be made, and how to organize the fabrics -- which leads to a manageable, few surprises procedure when it comes to the actual cutting and piecing. In the design she presents, success depends heavily on the proper placement of each of seven fabrics, in a repeating pattern. The quilter needs a process that keeps the fabric separated and ready to grab. Jackie's brochure gives every bit of information required to know just how many strips of each fabric to cut and then how to lay the fabrics out so that piecing is easy. She also throws in handy tips and facts about sewing fabrics together.

For example, when sewing strips together, alternate which strip is on top directly beneath the presser foot and which is closest to the feed dogs. The feed dogs will not stretch fabrics, presser feet will. If you sew Strip A to B with B ontop, when you sew B to C, make sure C is ontop. It is a simple process that will prevent your strips from bowing into a half circle.

She also demonstrates the easy peasy way of making mitred corners. Even I could do this! Even I want to try this. And up until now, I avoided mitred corners like alligator meat or sneezing colleagues.

Since 1991 Jackie Robinson has taught the making of this quilt and has seen just about everything that could go wrong -- go wrong. In this DVD she addresses all of those possibilities and by the end of the DVD, you'll be googling Maywood Studios and ordering your fabric from Jackie's collection. (Although, I tried and they don't sell it at that site.)

Her border prints make the finish easy -- and she even demonstrates how to cut those! Jackie doesn't forget a thing.

As I said, she may seem a bit anal in the beginning about how she folds her fabrics, how she cuts from the back to the front, how she carefully stacks each cut piece of fabric in the order of how it will be sewed into the quilt. But she speaks from experience and gives great advice. All of that attention to detail pays off and eliminates headaches and ripping. And I can see how easily this quilt design could get messed up.

When it comes to price -- I'm not quite such a staunch advocate. At $29.95, I hesitate. It is a professional quality video that runs for 77 minutes and includes a trunk show, outtakes and complete pattern PDF.... The trunk show was a little disappointing in that it is simply the same design with different colors. Still, its good inspiration.

For the experienced quilter, the booklet alone may be enough. Also, the prices for fabric packages and the booklet quoted at Animus, seems like more for your dollar. For example Jackie offers the booklet separately for $8. For the fabric to make a 50x60-inch lap quilt: $67 (which, I understand includes the booklet), plus $30 for the backing.

Yet, for someone like me who is math challenged and easily confused, the video is essential. If planning to make several quilts using this technique, then definitely buy the video.

“The Magic of Fabric” by Diane Gaudynski

Diane Gaudynski transports anyone who views her work to another place. A land where feathers and swirls and circles and crosshatch and stipple and thread and needle come as near to perfection as any of us have ever witnessed. Seeing her work simply mesmerizes. Eyes search every inch, mouths form ohhs and aahhs escape like sighs and yes, some are moved to tears. In her S.O.S. inteview with The Alliance For American quilts is such a tribute to our ancestor quilters. And her retelling of what inspired the colors for the featured log cabin quilt made me laugh and feel such delight. I do hope you'll visit her interview and read about Fluffy, her feline muse. But first, get comfortable and enjoy Diane's romance with fabric that's so evident in the way she speaks of quilting, fabrics, color and this community of quilters. -- Dawn

(Photo: A selection of Cherrywood cottons for a possible class project.)

Fabric is “Magic” contained in cloth.

Quilters know this. It’s instinctive.

I recently thought my family room looked dull and lifeless in these grey cloudy autumn days, went shopping and indulged in a new silk throw pillow.

The color is bronze/umber and shines like an oak leaf in autumn, and has tiny pleats through the center part that catch the light even more, giving texture and more angles for the light to bounce from. It lights up the room.

One new piece of fabric turned a graying dull old lady of a room into a warm and inviting place. I am going to get another silk pillow today to finish the job. And do some dusting too, always helps. And then look for some silk fabric in this shade to add to my mostly cotton quilts.

Earlier this year I was at a big quilting event where progressive sessions were held, one group would leave, and for a day or two the place would be empty of all but a few quilters who stayed on to attend or teach at the next class. When the quilters left, the atmosphere at this beautiful location suddenly seemed to me flattened, depressed, void of color and life.

I sat with non-quilters for meals and discussed mundane things. When the quilters started flooding in to the registration building for the next session it was as if the sun came out. Smiles, color, laughter, joy, bags of fabric and supplies piled high made that place come to life once again. One could not help but feel better just seeing these people arrive, quilters who use fabric to express their take on life and their art. They had packed magic in their bags. I knew mealtime from then on would be exhilarating!

(Photo: Free motion machine quilting on hand dyed sateen by Wendy Richardson.)

It was difficult in that “off” time making conversation with people who did not have private hoards of fabric, rooms devoted to them in their homes, plans to add more finds at any opportunity. The quest for the perfect fabric for the next quilt is always there with us, and the excitement of the hunt or the find puts roses in cheeks, sparkle in eyes, and beauty in the finished quilts.

I have always loved fabric—the colors, textures, designs, the hand of it, the softness or crispness, the challenge of what you could do with a new and wonderful find. Before I could even read, I began my journey into fabric involvement by sewing doll clothes with scraps from our own clothes. I then progressed to sewing for my younger sister to learn all the basics (she was too young to be a critic) and then to my own clothes in high school and for twenty years after that….. until I discovered piecing and quilting.

(Photo: Free motion echo quilting on silk dupioni fabric with #100 silk threads)

During those years I learned and loved everything about the fabric: selvedges, the grainline, how it behaved in sewing it, washing and preparing it, pressing fabric, discerning the good from the not so good in quality. I shopped at manufacturers’ outlets and had access to the best wools, cottons, corduroys and hounds tooth, gabardines and batiste, silks, crepes and satins, all beautiful stuff, for great prices. I fearlessly cut into it and made clothes and decorator items, monster bed spreads that went to the floor with insets of stuffed cording. Making machine quilted bed quilts is nothing compared to the weight of that quilted corduroy bedspread I sewed on my original Singer Silver Touch ‘N Sew.

When I began piecing and making quilts, there was very little variety in quality 100% cotton available, and I made do with blends, and bright primary colored cottons, but I wasn’t happy. A trickle of quilt fabrics appeared in our new quilt shops back in the late 1970’s, and they were fabulous, like water in a parched desert. The colors, the lovely hand of them, the prints and designs, oh my. I still have remnants of the first Jinny Beyer collection, and always tell the story in my “Mud” lecture about searching everywhere for some mustard colored cotton for my quilt, made with all cool greens and purples available in the late 80’s. Mustards and khakis were not around. It was all dusty blues and old rose. I found that fabric, and it made the quilt work. It saved that quilt.

Being a quilt artist requires an extensive library of fabric. When you begin a project or find your work “needs” something, not sure what, you will always have that library and be able to rummage through it and find what the quilt needs. Maybe it’s my favorite mustard, maybe hot pink, or dusty teal or scarlet or aubergine. Maybe something not 100% cotton, as first we turned to nothing but cotton, learned our craft, and now have branched out into including any kind of fabric in the universe in our quilts. We indulge shamelessly in fabric.

(Photo: A block from my quilt “Shadows of Umbria” which featured large scale vintage type fabrics floating in a sea of heavily quilted Cherrywood cottons.)

I machine quilt my quilts on a home machine, and have to adapt what fabrics I choose so that they will work with a machine stitch, allow proper tension, not stretch and distort, etc. Fabrics are auditioned for color and scale of print, but also for how they will handle when machine quilted. Will the thread morph nicely with the fabric or will it sit on top and look stringy and pathetic? Will quilting show? Will the fabric sabotage my skills in quilting, or showcase them?

I use starch frequently to stabilize fabrics for cutting and piecing. It helps tame unruly fabrics and washes out of the finished quilt nicely.

And I make prototypes. My students get so tired of my telling them to audition the fabric, and the quilting that will be used on that fabric before piecing the quilt top. I have saved many a project from becoming a UFO because of pre-washing the fabric selection, layering it with the batt chosen for the quilt and the backing as well, and doing some quilting on it in the design planned for that fabric. How it handles in the machine, how the thread colors look on that choice, how it looks in then end all help me decide if I will use it or not.

(Photo: Here is a sample of a prototype: I quilted a small feather design on the fabric designated for my tote bag, tried out the thread colors, backgrounds, shading with pencils or ink, and then used this information on the real project.)

I have a stack of center squares from a log cabin quilt all with different quilting designs, including the one that was the final choice. It is obvious all the other designs were second best but I didn’t know that until I took the actual fabric and quilted it in the options.

As you gain experience the need for prototypes and extensive testing of your fabrics is decreased. Your knowledge base will fill that need.

Do I pre-wash fabrics? Yes, always. I like to know what could happen if and when the finished quilt is washed, and I like to control that outcome. So each fabric is hand washed separately in very hot water with a bit of quilt soap until no color runs, then washed in a load of fabrics in the washer, rinsed thoroughly, dried in the dryer on low, folded and used. They are washed right before cutting for the quilt so they are fresh and clean and don’t bother my allergies.

I’ve learned that sometimes it’s more important to use a fabric that I can control, that showcases my quilting well, that behaves in the finished quilt, that doesn’t run or bleed, and that looks wonderful than to fall for the next best thing or the pretty face in the new assortments for sale.

I’ve also learned not to worry if a fabric will “go” with the others in a quilt. If “you” love it, it will work just fine.

Fabric is the bedrock of quilting and it pays to take time to find and use what works best plus gives you the payoff in fabulousness that you need.

Fabric softens the rough edges of our lives, gives visual warmth as well as actual warmth, is a comfort in times of joy and hard times as well.

Keep quilting; your work gets better every day, plus you’ll use up some of your fabric library!

Diane
Visit Diane Gaudynski's website and blog, too. Can anyone ever get enough of her work? Don't forget her several books and DVDs and classes.
Photo: My cat Arnie in his youth would always find  fabrics, cut or uncut. He seemed to find the right colors to set off his handsome good looks too.)

Threading Your Way Through the Quiltscape Guided by Sarah Smith

A few blogs ago I reviewed a few books that I had found to be especially outstanding. Top of my list is Sarah Smith's Thread Work Unraveled. It is a reference book that I keep near my sewing machine and refer to whenever I need to shop for thread, needles or other sewing necessities. But her book does not do justice to this quilt artist's talent. She isn't 'just a teacher' or 'just an author.' Sarah Smith creates beauty and inserts meaning and emotion and then quietly stands out of the limelight so that the focus is on the art. Today, I hope we can focus a bit more on the artist as well as her art. -- Dawn

FREE GIVEAWAY: Sarah has generously offered to provide one of her original patterns to the lucky winner of a giveaway here at Subversive Stitchers: Women Armed with Needles. Please include contact email information or where I can locate said information. Those entering the giveaway need to leave a comment here on Sarah’s guest blog about your favorite thread, favorite needle or a problem you are having with needle or thread or both. Sarah’s available to answer questions and may give more extensive answers on her own blog at a later date. Your comments can be added up through Dec. 20th. The winner will be chosen on Dec. 21st.

When I teach, I always want to be able to do a brain-transplant from me to my students so they can know all the stuff it has taken me decades to learn so that their learning curve is shorter than mine. Since Vulcan-mind-melds don't yet exist (at least as far as I know), I'm hoping the book will be the next best thing.

Folks often ask what is the best thread, and how do I get results like yours. The answers are the dreaded "it depends on the look you want" and (twice as bad as a four-letter word, the 8-letter P-word) "practice."

The single best thing anyone can do is buy decent thread (not the cheap stuff in the 8 for a dollar bin). Follow that with: Just do it; just quilt!

You WILL get better, and other folks will think you're amazing long before you think you're even so-so! Just do it!

Photos 1 and 2: Earth and Turquoise inspired by a quotation by N. Scott Momaday. The piece features turquoise, beads, silk bombyx fibers, tulle, commercial cotton batiks, and extensive thread stitching, as well as leather lacing, sticks, rocks and wild turkey feathers. First photo a close up, second photo full size view. The quilted portion is approximately 28x28 inches. Overall including feathers length is 54 inches.

Let me add: It never hurts to start at the beginning. For me, the beginning is a good needle, followed by good tension. If you are using a dull needle or one that isn't suited to your thread and project, you simply won't get good results no matter how fine the thread or your quilting skills. Then, you need to understand your machine so that you are working in harmony and not fighting one another. There is a whole section and project in the book to help you with this.

The shoe analogy works: when you go hiking, you don't wear satin pumps. You need hiking boots-- the correct shoe for what you are going to do (have you seen how many of those TV female cops are wearing spike heels? sheesh! NOT in real life...they need to be able to run!). AND, you need the correct shoe size. If the shoe is too big, your foot flops around and gets rubbed and sore; if the shoe is too small, blisters! The same thing applies to needles and thread. This is how you can end up with wobbly stitches or frayed, breaking thread.

Photo 3: Tea. Size: 16" tall by 19" wide. Fusible applique, painting and intense machine quilting. (above) Tea is a morning still life, with my mug, teapot, creamer, cereal bowl and book. In 2006 I wanted a play day with a quilty friend, and I wanted to see my friend Teri Austin, so I signed up for a day-class with Teri at the 2006 Maine Quilts show. Instead of doing the teacher's pattern, as usual I wanted to do my own imagery, so I prepared this picture to work on in the class. At long last I have finished it, and I love it! I hope you do, too.

When starting a quilting project, the first thing I do is figure out how the quilt will be used. If it is a wall quilt, anything goes. But if it is something that will be washed, you want to select a thread that will stand up to washing (as in, metallic isn't the best choice for a baby's quilt!) and lots of use (think kid-forts and quilts used to carry cats and small dogs...ahem....).

Once you've picked your thread, select a needle that is suitable to the thread and the fabric, in both type (Denim, Topstitch, Embroidery, Quilting--which by the way is better for piecing than for actual machine quilting...it has a very small eye that tends to fray the threads!) and size.

There are many good resources out there. In addition to my book, which specializes on thread, you may want to find a good book on machine quilting (Harriet Hargrave's and Diane Gaudynski's books are my favorites). If you do lots of machine applique --Janet Pittman's and Harriet Hargrave's are on my shelf. The major thread companies sometimes have information on their websites. The education tab at Superior Threads has a wealth of information.

Thanks for inviting me to guest blog, Dawn! Here's to happy quilting and LOTS of thread!

You may have noticed that not only are Sarah's quilts gorgeous and exquisitely made, they come with good stories behind them. Her Bijagos Warrior (which won an Honorable this year at NQA-Ohio) is no exception.

Sarah writes: In the summer of 1982, I worked as a volunteer on the island of Bubaque, in the Bijagos Archipelago off the coast of Guinea-Bissau, under the auspices of Operation Crossroads Africa. Guinea-Bissau is a former Portuguese colony nestled just south of Senegal, on the westernmost part of the bulge of Africa.

One day, a boat was leaving to go to a neighboring island-not a common occurrence. This man was on the boat and immediately caught my eye. Even then, when Bubaque had only had electricity for two years, it was unusual to see men dressed in a traditional manner. To me, he represents a vanishing way of life, and I wanted to capture that as well as his physical beauty.

Bijagos Warrior was one of only three quilts in the 2005 statewide Maine Quilts show to receive an "Exceptional Merit" ribbon. Quilts are judged on a scale of 0-100; blue ribbon quilts are those earning 90-96 points (average of the 3 judges' scores). Exceptional Merit are those earning 97-100 points. This year's judges were Elly Sienkiewicz, Pepper Cory and Joyce Becker, so I'm especially thrilled to receive this recognition. Size: 40 x 60 inches; completed June 2004. You may have seen this quilt. It was juried into the Pacific International Quilt Festival, Santa Clara, California, 2004. Juried into the American Quilter's Society (AQS) 2005 show in Paducah, Kentucky. Maine Quilts 2005; Exceptional Merit award winner. Juried into The Best of New England Quilt Guilds, The New England Quilt Museum, Lowell, Massachusetts, January to April 2006. Published in the Janome International Digest, Fall/Winter 2004, and in various quilt show publications in a Janome advertisement, 2005. Also included in the on-line video promoting Janome's new 11000 sewing machine. Art Quilts Maine show, Saco Museum, Saco, Maine, April to July 2007. The National Quilt Association show, Columbus, OH, June 2009. This guy really gets around!

And there's more!

Ask anyone in the United States what is the first they think of when thinking of Maine, and they'll say lobsters. Lobster buoys are everywhere along the coast... bobbing in the water, tied to traps on the dock, piled in heaps in the yards of lobstermen. This piece is a riff on the buoys; the ones in the original photo were an easily-seen red and orange-y yellow... a bit bright for most homes! I wanted to do color studies using value -- light versus dark -- to render the close-up view of the buoys.


The center quilted panel is 10x10 inches, mounted on commercial batik over stretcher bars. The finished pieces are 16 x 16 inches, and one inch deep (fabric wraps cleanly to the back, which is clean finished and ready to hang).

With These Hands, inspired by Rodin's sculpture "The Cathedral," this portrait of my hands uses every thread I own that approximated my skin tone, even pool blue and gray for the veins. I free-motion embroidered the hands onto Thermogauze vanishing muslin and a layer of tulle in a hoop, trimmed and padded it with two layers of batting and appliqued. I quilted all the things I do with my hands.: "With these hands, I love, sew, design . . . ." I used a similar quilting technique to make the hands in "Earth and Turquoise," which is in the Orbs gallery. 14x14 inches; made in 2004. Created for and a finalist in the Quilting Arts Magazine Calendar Challenge for 2005. 

Fields of Gold, just won an award in Houston! The center portion of this piece was designed as a project for my book: Thread Work Unraveled. While it was hanging on the design wall, my friend Lisa Walton sent me a metre of her inspiring hand-dyed fabric--gorgeous green, gold and rust. I pinned it up on the wall, wondering how I could use it for a journal quilt. You can visit Lisa's website, Dyed and Gone to Heaven, and yes...she ships worldwide!

Then inspiration hit: the green and gold section meshed perfectly with my little "sunset trees." Then, my friend Deborah's quilt, Fields of Gold, worked its way into my subconscious. As I mulled over how I would quilt the hand-dyed portion, the lyrics to the Fields of Gold song by Sting popped into my head, and images of bowing grasses were replaced by wheat blowing in the wind.
Shown at Art Quilts XIII, the Chandler Center for the Arts, Chandler, Arizona, October to December 2008. Juried into the Contemporary Colorations II exhibit at the National Quilt Association show, Columbus, Ohio, June 2009. Size: 18 1/4 by 20 3/4 inches.

Travels Down Under and Around the UK with Vikki Pignatelli

Vikki Pignatelli, founder of the Sacred Threads Quilt Exhibit, is also the Crazy about Curves lady who introduced her innovative easy, frustration-free way of sewing curves. Now she brings a delightful new element to quilting and teaching -- travel.

More and more fabric loving teachers are finding ways to visit  horizons on various continents, but in today's blog, Vikki lets us travel vicariously through her. She shares her experiences and provides inspirations from various cultures. Her enthusiasm and joy in her experience are contagious. Note the photo of Vikki posed in front of a Maori carving in New Zealand.

Please give a warm welcome to Vikki Pignatelli! -- Dawn

2009 has been such an exciting year for me as a teacher and a person.

My husband, Denny, and I traveled down under to New Zealand and Australia this spring. I taught a month in New Zealand and a month in Australia for a total of 22 classes. This autumn I taught for a month in glorious Ireland and a week in England and we also had the opportunity to explore Edinburgh, Scotland. On top of all these wonderful experiences, we are grandparents again for the first time in 16 years…a very long dry spell! Danny and Allison, our son and daughter-in-law, gave us a beautiful new grandson in August, Miles Parker.

During my international travels I’ve come to the conclusion that quilters in particular and people in general are the same everywhere. The workshop interests of the international quilters are identical as those who reside here. They are excited by new gadgets, thread and fabric. During my travels in NZ, Australia, Ireland and England they requested the same classes…my basic curves technique (using a pattern), improvisation, fabric manipulations and color/design. (Photo of Vikki's class in Pukekohe in NZ.)

It was a dream come true to visit New Zealand and Australia. I was initially invited to teach at the Symposium that was held in Wellington. The Symposium led to invitations from guilds, asking me  to teach in Pukekohe (close to Auckland), Hokitika (on the Tasman Sea), and Levin. We absolutely loved New Zealand and both agree it is at the top of our favorite places on earth! The quilters are awesome, the people are awesome, and the scenery is incredibly awesome. I know that “awesome” is an overused word these days, but there just simply is no other word to describe it. (Photo of Maori motifs on picket fence.)

We arrived there about 10 days early so we could tour some of this magnificent country. We went to Rotorua, which is a town full of thermal activity…geysers and steam vents abound. It’s not unusual to see steam coming from people’s yards. It is also a town with a concentrated population of Maori people. Originally coming from Polynesia, the Maori were the first inhabitants of New Zealand. We also attend a hangi…a Maori banquet. Originally a hangi was banquet cooked underground sealed and covered over with earth, but because of health laws it still a bountiful feast, but now cooked in conventional ovens and on stoves. We brought back a beautiful Maori carved wooden mask and a souvenir of our trip. (Photo of Vikki and Denny discovering Maori heritage.)

We also went to Queenstown…where, by the way, the next NZ Symposium will be held in 2011. The Queenstown area is mountainous and is where the scenery from the movie Lord of the Rings was filmed. From Queenstown we went to Te Anau, the start off point for the fjord tours. This area at the bottom of the sound island of NZ is pretty remote with few people and mostly sheep.

Many times we felt we were truly at the end of the earth! From Te Anau we boarded an overnight “cruise” of Doubtful Sound …but not before we had to cross a huge lake and then board a bus taking us over a steep mountain pass to take us to the boat on the sound. (Photo of moody Doubtful Sound, NZ.)

The engineers and builders used this old road during the time the power plant was in construction and it is the only road in the entire area. As there are no residents in this remote area, the only thing it’s used for is to transport tourists to/from the Doubtful Sound tour. Over the mountain pass you’ll see a forest made up of trees and fern trees…literally a tree with branches shaped like a palm tree, but with huge fern fronds instead.

Anyone who is familiar with my work knows I am enamored with trees and THIS tree was incredibly fascinating. The trees in this temperate rain forest are enshrouded with moss/lichens and other plants, giving the whole forest a “haunted by trolls and elves look”. I expected a little troll to pop out in front of the bus at any time! The sheer beauty and stillness of Doubtful Sound is a testament to the divinity that resides there. We experienced a sense of awe….in the fjords the people on the boat were silent because they were spellbound by the beauty. I must say that this tour of this wonderful place was one of the top joyful moments of my life.

In Australia I taught in Sydney, Eaton Hill near Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Doncaster near Melbourne. Wow!! We saw the Opera House and harbor bridge in Sydney. We explored Brisbane for 4 days, walking until our feet were stubs and taking their river taxis all over the place. We both agree Brisbane is one of our favorite cities we’ve ever been to! Melbourne has a terrific marketplace that goes on forever…many, many blocks and took all day to explore. Every imaginable fruit, vegetable or any other food is available…everything and anything you could want was there. I was amazed at the number of fruits and vegetables that I’ve never seen before! On the Gold Coast, we saw and explored sub-tropical rain forests and banana plantations.

While in the rainforest, imagine Denny’s horror when he looked down to find a large splotchy blood stain on his sock…seems that a leech had found his leg and had a feast at his expense….a scene reminiscent of the African Queen movie. The leech had dropped off and was inching away from him on the floor. Leeches are common in the rainforest, especially after the flooding that had happened just before our arrival.

While in Ireland I taught in Donegal, Belfast, Ballyjamesduff in Co Cavan, Dublin and Galway…. In England I taught in Durham. Ireland was just as I imagined …green, lush countryside and friendly people who will go out of their way for you. Again the quilters were magnificent! (Photo: My class in Durham, England.)

Being in the classroom there is identical to being in class in the States....with ONE exception….come 10 AM and 3PM, no matter what, the students would break for tea. As an American and not knowing this custom, I would be talking, giving my demos and many just got up and left, leaving me talking to empty chairs and wondering what happened to my class It didn’t take me long to get into their groove and look forward to teatime. Teatime happened in all FOUR countries….probably a good idea here too now that I think about it!

I was able to see and do a lot of sightseeing during my month there. The most amazing thing for me was the old ruins—abbeys and churches that dated back to 400 AD. (See photo.)

In the USA, 200 years is old. But when you see these ruins that are 1600 years old it boggles the mind---You think about how many souls that have lived and walked on that ground before you and you wonder who they were…and what they were like as persons and how they lived during that era.

We had the opportunity to visit New Grange, tombs which are older that the Pyramids in Egypt. The people living there 5000 years ago built this in such a way that once a year on the winter solstice at sunrise the rays of the sun would enter a slit built into the hillside (where the tombs were) and flood the floor of the chamber with light…just for a short time.
 

The theory is that the ancient people thought that this was the only time the spirits of their dead could rise from the earth to the heavens…during this short interval of sunlight at the winter solstice. This is the only time during the year this phenomena happens in the tomb chamber….This idea is very similar to the customs of the ancient Indians in the Americas. It is strong evidence to show we are all connected in Spirit through the ages, place and time.

 

There were multiple carvings on the rocks in the tomb… among them the symbols of the spiral…symbolizing eternity…and the fern, which is the universal symbol for new life. (See photo above of New Grange with symbols on the rock.)

 

Coincidently, the fern is the symbol for New Zealand as well and is everywhere in their culture. (See photo for examples of New Zealand fabric.)

I found that students no matter where they reside are enthusiastic, excited to learn and eager to share everything…fabric, information and knowledge. (See samples of Aussie fabric pictured here.) In the same way quilters everywhere also share the same insecurities about their work, color choices and designs as well. We all share a common bond and I believe that is because our inspirations and creativity comes from a common Source.

One thing that I didn’t expect in Ireland…there are very, very FEW stand-alone quilt shops. Most Irish quilt shops are in an owner’s home or garage. I am not sure why…it just is that way. (See examples of Irish fabric.) They Irish quilters were also eager for books and threads, both seem to be in short supply. And I’ve also noticed that quilting books/fabric, quilting supplies (and just about everything else) are significantly more expensive overseas in all countries (that I’ve taught in) than in the USA…big time! I think this is due not only because of shipping costs from point of origin, but due to the huge VAT tax (some as much as 25%) that these governments impose (I’ve been told this pays for their health care systems). For instance, I taught in Denmark in 2008 (and will again next spring) and my book sold for the equivalent of $60 American dollars. And our usual batiks and cotton fabrics that cost $10 a yard in the USA were the equivalent to $30 USD a yard in Denmark. (Note Vikki's latest DVD based on her book.)

All in all this year we had 35 flight segments during this year (19 in NZ/Australia alone) with aircraft ranging from 747s to a 19-seater prop in NZ (We had to fly over the “Southern Alps” of NZ in that thing…the tanker filling the plane with gas was as big as it was!)

As with all things, there is a yin/yang to being a traveling teacher. I absolutely love what I do and consider myself richly blessed to be able to experience all this…my wonderful students and people I meet, the memories of the beautiful places and scenery that are emblazoned in my mind.

It’s not all glamour though...it’s not easy living out of a suitcases and airports and hauling heavy baggage. Even as I compose this blog I’m on a plane to yet another teaching engagement. (See photo of Vikki feeding the lorikeets.)

My conclusion is that it is all worth it!! The really only bad thing is putting on the pounds from trying all the great food from these countries…Irish Stew, the great soups in Ireland, scones and lemon curd (my favorite) lamb, fish and chips, beer, the lamb …maybe that’s not so bad either as I think of it! Guess I’ll just have to hit the treadmill for a longer walk!
Now my traveling for the year is finished. Denny and I’ll look forward to relaxing and playing with our new grandson. Hopefully we’ll sort out the thousands (not kidding!) of photos we shot. With a little luck, I may even have the opportunity to quilt!

P.S. Vikki is planning a tour in Denmark in 2010. Check out her website for dates and other information. Please contact Vikki via her email for more information about her books, classes, lectures and workshops.

Make Your Own Holiday Cards

Tis the season to be sending cards to one and all. How many of you design your own?

Fabric post cards? Cutouts? Painted designs? Multi-dimensional? Pop-up? I'd love to see what you're sending out this year.

Just email me a photo and I'll post it here.

If you're still looking for ideas. Here are a few that I found at a cute website PointclickHome.

I thought of this quirky, subversive stitcher bunch as soon as I saw this card. An ostrich with a candy cane in his mouth? What says Christmas any more than that? If you're a knitter -- an alpaca of course!

Then at the other end of the spectrum -- the more traditional birds in trees inspired by a combination of the family tree, O Tannenbaum, and Pennsylvania Dutch style. I found this one charming and may be just right for my family whose roots do head in that Germanic direction. Not just a holiday card, I suspect. Birthdays and all kinds of greetings could be fit under this charming tree -- as in this case 'Happy Winter.'

Christmas cards are especially dear to us since we're so far away from friends and family. Of course holiday greetings via email are just as warmly welcomed. But there is something special about finding letters and cards in the mailbox.

A scrapbooking friend makes the most delightful cards and I am in awe of her collection of stamps and do-dads and embellishments and paper cutter and paper and ideas. My fingers are itching to create something personal this year.

Another idea -- multi-dimensional or maybe pop-up. That sounds like it might take some math, so I'm not too sure about them. But the samples here might give you a couple ideas on how to make your own. Well, not that you really need any ideas.

And then there is just the cute, simple, adorable that plays off of well remembered Christmas traditions and themes such as the 12 days of Christmas -- the partridge in a pear tree. Or the eight lights of Chanukah? The menorah, so traditional -- well, maybe something a bit less traditional.... The eight match sticks?

Simple or embellished, glittery or embossed, inked or painted, beaded or appliqued or just a plain "Happy Holidays" -- they all convey the thought that we're thinking of one another during this holiday season. Now, get out the glue sticks, the Misty-Fuse, the scraps and odd bits you've picked up throughout the year and indulge your creative side once more.

And as this last card suggests, Have a Merry EVERYTHING!

Here's a snowy little man made by a Subversive Stitcher -- Chris Wheeler!

I make and trade Fabric Postcards. I have my own group on yahoo. You can read more about me and my blog, website and postcard group at my web site.

I decided a long time ago that these cards are tiny works of art and why should I go to the store to buy a card for the recipient to look at it for a few days and throw away. With these fabric cards you can keep them forever and display as art. If anyone is interested in more information on the cards and trading in our swaps please feel free to contact me. -- Chris Wheeler,

PO Box 170,  Locust Fork, AL 35097or at http://www.chriswheelerquilts.com/

Subversive Stitcher --

Pamela Allen

Pamela makes quite an assortment of cards. She offers samples of a few of her cards sent through the years.

She wrote "What FUN! I started the tradition years ago of making my own. And boy! With a family of 15 grandchildren that has added up to alot of cards over the years." She added that the last one features all the "family" elves.

You can see more of Pamela's work by clicking on her name listed under guest blog in the right column.

Subversive Stitcher -- Betyann Shaver

This is my Christmas postcard for this year.

This woven basket is on black/brown batik with silk ribbon, cotton floss and beads.

Betyann has a thoughtful and beautiful quilt on her blog site that she made for the Alzheimer Priority project.





Subversive Stitcher -- Kit Robinson
Here are a few of the Christmas cards I have made in the past few years. I make several of more or less the same design and send them out to friends and family. Check out my website. See below for information about how Kit made these cards.

The tree postcard was a picture from my imagination, and the others were cut out from Christmas and other fabrics and made into small abstracts. All of the cards were constructed with fabric pieces backed with Wonder Under and fused to a base fabric which had been prepared with Shirt Tailor fusible interfacing (a relatively heavy interfacing from Pellon). They were then made into a sandwich consisting of the top, Warm and White batting, and a muslin or other plain colored fabric backing and quilted with lots of sparkly threads. Finally, a light colored mottled batik was fused to the back to cover up the quilting, the edges were satin stitched with metallic threads and a personal message was written to the recipient with a fabric pen. Although I have used paints in some of my postcards, these particular postcards were not painted.

Subversive Stitcher: Kathleen Connors

Thanks very much for all the information, ideas and links that you share on your blog. I'm a quilter, and thoroughly enjoy learning about quilters and all needlework creators. And thank you for your call to share our handmade cards with you.

I've enclosed photos of two greeting cards that I've made. The first uses the Iris Folding technique, with fabric instead of paper. There are detailed instructions for Iris Folding available online, including how to draw a pattern for any design. It's great fun to do and can be taught to children.

The second card is an original needleturned applique winter scene, matted and mounted on a 5" x 7" blank card.

Small framed fabric landscapes, which I design as I cut the fabrics for the landscape, are a favorite of mine to make.

Subversive Stitcher: Norma Schlager
Here are the cards that I made this year.  I don't know why they were so hard to photograph, but they were.  The inserts are embossed velvet that I did.  I used two different stamps, one for friends, one for family.

Subversive Stitcher: Jane Stricker

For ten years, I have made cards using the faces of my grandchildren on computer drawn backgrounds. Here's one from this year and one from 6 years ago.

See how they have grown!

Question: What would you like to see at Subversive Stitchers?

Virginia Spiegel's Blue Waters shown here reminds me that all things are possible as we drift through this life. My thoughts turn to 2010 and I'm wondering about Subversive Stitchers: Women Armed with Needles. What direction should it flow in 2010?

So, I ask you, who have been a part of this fun ride thus far, "What would you like to see, or would rather NOT see? Whose work would you like to see posted here or what guest blogger are you dying to hear from?"

Please let me know your ideas or feelings or wish list for Subversive Stitchers!

I'm also wondering about a logo for Subversive Stitchers? Any thoughts or drawings or ideas are definitely welcome. Maybe a contest?

Thanks so much. I've had such a pleasure meeting and interacting and sharing with all of you. I'm looking forward to the next year and hope you are too!

Dawn