Pokey Bolton

I’d love to chat with someone that has the talent of identifying talent before others do. Personally, I don’t view myself as a talented person, but I do admire when I see talent in others, and I especially enjoy when I get a chance to spend time with those who are really talented inspire me. When I met Pokey Bolton, in person at IQF Long Beach, instantly was amazed with this very talented and personable young woman. I certainly felt inspired and encouraged to reach out and start making Art Quilts, and other artistic things. While I am confident many knew who Pokey is, long before I had a chance to meet her, I’m delighted to have had a chance to meet her at IQF Long Beach. And I’m sure, she’ll have an influence on me, as well as others, for many years to come.
I found Pokey to be very personable, very talented, and very encouraging. While I was interested in getting an opportunity to interview Pokey, I made it clear to her that I am not an artistic person. Personally, I’ve always been a bit fearful to try to make “art”, but I do admire art of a variety of artistic medias.

Besides being talented, I think of inspirational, creative, motivational, encouraging, supportive, friendly, kind, thoughtful, respectful, and energetic, when I now think of Pokey Bolton. She is the type of person that I would have loved to have grown up with, whom I’d love to have as a friend and/or family member, to have as a teacher or mentor. But, I realized, that I’m fortunate to be able to easily connect with Pokey through many contributions she has shared with us in the world of quilting, as well as the “art world” in general:

Quilting Arts Magazine

Quilting Arts TV on PBS, where she is the host.

Cloth Paper Scissors magazine, where she is the Editor in Chief .




















Make It University at the International Quilt Festivals in Houston, Chicago and Long Beach, which has become a trademark for the IQF quilt shows, and I found to be a fantastic way to get exposed to a variety of techniques, for a minimal amount of money and time.














































- Quilting Arts Workshop

















2010 Calendar Cloth Paper Scissors. This is the first ever Cloth Paper Scissors Calendar and it shows beautiful art quilts submitted by readers of Cloth Paper Scissors. All the quilts displayed in this calendar are beautiful. This calendar would certainly be enjoyed by any quilter, and also make a wonderful gift item.



































Pokey has also presented interesting lectures and held delightful workshops for many Quilt Guilds.

The Quilting Arts Book: Techniques and Inspiration for Creating One-of-a-kind Art Quilts by Patricia Bolton. From principles of design to sketching to quilting and embellishment techniques to gorgeous quilts, The Quilting Arts Book is full of art quilt inspiration. tip is for free-motion machine quilting
















Published the book “1,000 Artist Trading Cards: Innovative and Inspired Mixed Media”, by Patricia (Pokey) Bolton. From my perspective, Pokey has been instrumental in starting the ATC (Artist Trading Card) trend among quilters and quilt artists. While you can certainly enjoy this creative trading fun, I view that owning this book is a must if you want to optimize your trading fun with ATC’s. I also believe ATC’s would make a great quilt guild challenge, a multi-quilt guild activity, fun for friends at sew-cials, and something that would work for replacing boring traditional business cards (e.g. why not use an ATC as a quilter’s calling card?). Clearly, the possibilities are endless and Pokey’s book “1,000 Artist Trading Cards: Innovative and Inspired Mixed Media” will help you have fun making these cute and tradable cards.














































































Pokey has also been an Exhibit Curator for various quilt exhibits, including invitational exhibits with Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) that was on display at the 2009 International Quilt Festival Long Beach.

Clearly, Pokey is very talented. I’ve become so enchanted that I am certainly looking forward reading and applying insights that are available via the various contributions Pokey has given us (e.g. her books, magazines, exhibits, DVDs, Make It University, and PBS shows) She is now my Muse for me to enter the mixed media world of quilting. And, if you are not already a follower of Pokey, I hope you will join me in enjoying her contributions to our world of quilting.

















I also really enjoyed seeing the demo, in Pokey's booth, by Judy Coates Perez. Judy shared insights about using metal embellishing for various items. Samples shows are delightful ornaments, but the technique could certainly be used to make many artistic items: purses, quilts, cards...and looked like it was easy, as well as fun to do. I can't wait to give it a try!




I'm excited to have found Pokey as my muse and eager to learn from her insights to make some cute ATCs and various art projects. I'm also excited to play with the metal embossing on quilts, as shared with me by Judy Coates Perez, at Pokey's booth during the fantastic IQF Long Beach Show. I hope you too will enjoy Pokey's magazines, books, workshops and shows. And I can't wait to trade an ATC card with you at a future Make It University.