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.

International Quilt Show Long Beach

The International Quilt Festival Long Beach 2009 has turned out to be another outstanding quilt show. One of the best world class quilt shows. This show is held by Quilt, Inc. which is the parent company of three consumer shows - International Quilt Festival Houston (since 1974), International Quilt Festival/Chicago (since 2003), International Quilt Festival/Long Beach (since 2008) and two trade shows - International Quilt Market (fall since 1979;spring since 1981).

The 2009 International Quilt Festival/Long Beach show was well orchestrated, with every detail running smoothly. I saw many smiles and heard positive feedback from visitors when I asked for feedback on the 2009 vs 2008 show. Clearly, everyone was delighted with the show this year. I know I was. There were short lines for show tickets, with lines that moved quickly, as more windows were opened to purchase entrance tickets. There was plenty of tasty food, in a variety of locations around the show. And, like all of the shows by Quilts, Inc., the quilts were beautiful and professionally displayed, with wide aisles, allowing plenty of viewing room. There were many special exhibits, a delightful fashion show, and a large variety of vendors. All of these were delightful, but the exhibit by SAGA would be worth the cost of admission if that was all I could have seen. This show was definitely worth the cost of admission!

Quilts on display were certainly inspiring! While I'll be sharing more insights on this show in subsequent articles, I wanted to share some highlights with you today.

My first impression with this show was how many talented quilters, artists, teachers, designers, writers and merchants had come together under one roof. And all were approachable and friendly. I also heard many insights being shared among quilters, along with encouragement. Again, there were so many talented people gathered here, and some of those that caught my attention were:

Phyllis Binkley(Landscape Art Quilts), Pokey Bolton (Cloth Paper Scissors, Marie Bostnick (author), Emeline Briggs (Ethnic Quilts & Fabric), Patti Brown, Eleanor Burns (Quilt In A Day), Debbie Caffrey, LisaCoulombe (Quilts 2 Wear), Jane Cook, Sharon Craig , Karen Cunigan,Carol Doak, Sharon of Dragon Lady Quilts, Kathy Ferarro, Jamie Fingal, (SAQA - Studio Art Quilt Associates), John Flynn,Anthony Giampa (Vermillion Stitchery), Stewart Gill, Monica Gonzales (Monicas Quilts & Beads) , Roberta Horton, Al & Barbara Hutchins (Quilt Artistry Studios), Carol Ireland, Ruth Jones (Quilt Artist, Traveling Quilters), Judy Levy, Patrick Lose, Luella (Luellas Quilt Shop),Kay Mackenzie (Quilt Puppy Designs),Peggy Martin, Kaye Mackenzie (Quilt Puppy Publications), Marti Mitchell, Gillian Moss, Pearl Pereira (P-3 Designs), Nancy O’Bryant Puentes (Executive VP, Quilts, Inc., Mary Lou Rankin (Park Bench Pattern Co.), Marge Renner, Virginia Robertson (teacher), Bob Ruggiero (Director Publications & Public Information Quilts, Inc., Connie Rohman, (SAQA - Studio Art Quilt Associates)Susan Schrempf, Sharon Schamber, Janice Smith (Inspirations Quilt Shop), Daniella Stout (Cozy Quilt Shop), Mary Tabar, and Urban Zundt (Zundt Group, Zund Designs www.zundtdesign.com).

















Make It University is a popular feature of shows offered by Quilt Inc. Pokey Bolton, editor of Cloth Paper Scissors and Quilting Arts magazines, coordinates these a variety of "new creative arts" activities that crossover art forms such as scrapbooking, rubber stamping, accent painting, mixed media, paper crafts, embellishments, bookmarking, Artist Trading Cards (ATC), fabric postcards and more). All participants of these sessions had great fun and learned delightful insights.

















Quilt Angels floated around the exhibit quilts, with their “white gloves” to guard and protect the beautiful quilts on display. They were polite & helpful. Many times I found myself admiring a quilt, to find myself blessed with a Quilt Angel that came by to call my attention to special quilting details only visible on the backside of the quilt, or to show me some special secret perspective on the front. These volunteers were the best ever Quilt Angels, that I’ve ever seen at any quilt show. Helpful, protective and wanting to ensure every visitor had a delightful time! Bless you Quilting Angels for volunteering at this show. You helped to make this a wonderful show!

There was a broad selection of workshops offered at this show. All of the classrooms offered plenty of room, but were limited to an appropriate number of participants. They also had good lighting and room for students to view the instructor’s information. Plus, every participant had use of a new high quality machine, eliminating the need for them to bring their machines to this event.
All of these workshops are wonderful and everyone should learn something new from any workshop that they attend. But I want to call attention to a class that I heard about from re-peat participants. There is a “Saturday Night Sampler class” where students are exposed to techniques from sixteen (16) teachers at separate tables around the room, enabling continuous demonstrations of various techniques. And, every student receives a booklet of one-page handouts from each teacher. From the participants I spoke with this was an amazing workshop and from my perspective an amazing value ($18).

















New machines were also provided to the workshop participants from Janome America, Inc., Pfaff Sewing Macines, Bernina of America, VSM Sewing/Husqvarna Viking, BabyLock USA, and Elna, Inc.. This certainly provided a big help to those that didn't want to bring their own machine to these delightful workshops.


















{above} Botanicals annd Butterflies, by Linda Hibbert, Loveland, Colorado





















{Above Eleanor Burns, Quilt In A Day


















{above} Kaye Mackenzie (Quilt Puppy Publications)





















{Above} Foxy Sisters, by Ann Horton, Redwood Valley, CA





















{above}Sharon Craig . Sharon was giving demonstrations and sharing techniques found in her new book “Layer ‘em Up”. While I love all of Sharon’s books, I definitely recommend this book. It is fun and fast, plus you can create so many interesting designs with insights from this delightful and well written book.





















{above} Patrick Lose. I also learned from Patrick, that he will be publishing a new magazine in 2010. I am very excited and can’t wait for Patrick’s magazine to be released. Oh, how I love his designs.

















{above} Stewart Gill She has a nice selection of fabric paints, of which while I have never tried, I’ve heard many good things from others.





















{Above} Shelley Swanland (Shelley's Studio) . While Shelley designs and teaches many patterns, I love her approach to making Cathedral Windows.

















{above} Sharon Wilhite (Dragon Lady Quilts) and crew

















{above} Luella (Luellas Quilt Shop)

















{above} Luella with Jacki & Ellen (Luellas Quilt Shop)





















{above} Marie Bostnick (author of “A Thread of Truth"). While I’ve not had a chance to read this book, it certainly looks interesting. If I get a chance to read it I’ll definitely post a review to share.






















{above} Mary Lou Rankin (Park Bench Pattern Co.)





















{above} >)Susan Schrempf

















{above} Monica Gonzales (Monicas Quilts & Beads)

















{above} Daniella Stout & Andie (Cozy Quilt Shop)



















{above} Pokey Bolton (Cloth Paper Scissors,

Great job Quilts Inc. The International Quilt Show/Long Beach was absolutely wonderful and this Southern California Gal is certainly appreciative that Quilts, Inc. has brought such a spectacular show to Southern California. Thank you.
The International Quilt Show/Houston during October 15-18th, will be our next world class quilt show. It will be held a the George Brown Convention Center in Houston. I hope to see you there.

Boat & Sewing

"Boating & Sewing" may seem like an unusual title, but for me it is something I do. We are currently heading out for a couple of weeks of summer boating, so I thought this might be an appropriate time to chat a little bit about sewing on a boat.

Last summer we spent four months boating in SE Alaska. Our boat is a perfect size boat for two people, but small when it comes to living on it for four months and doing extended cruising. But then, there are those that go around the world in boats smaller than ours. Our boat is a 34' Wilbur, a lobster hull from Maine. I love our boat, but the size certainly limits what type of projects I can bring on board. I primarily work on hand quilting projects. For our short boating trip this summer, I've brought an english paper piecing project with me.

Our first stop on this trip is in Dana Point, which is where we are now. Tomorrow we'll arrive in Long Beach, where I'll get to go to the International Quilt Show for a couple of days. Afterwards, we'll spend a time on our boat in Catalina, where we'll do some scuba diving and I'll find time quilting and reading. During this time I'll only post every couple of days, as my access to the internet will be limited.

Back to life on a boat.....

In our little boat we sleep in a bed that called a "V-berth". The head of the bed is slightly larger than a king size bed and the foot of the bed is about the size of a twin. As you can probably imagine, regular sheets and blankets don't work really that well on this shape of a bed. There are companies that specialize in making customized linens, but I prefer to create something on my own. My challenge is I've only heard about customized linens and have never seen them, nor seen a pattern. While I've tried several things, over the years, what I created last year seems to work quite well.

I took a king size mattress pad and cut the corners off of one side and sewed them to the other end to match the size of our mattress. Then, I sewed two flat sheets together at the foot. On the bottom side of one of the sheets I sewed fabric to create a pocket for the foot of the mattress pad and each of the corners at the head of the mattress pad. I now can quickly tuck the mattress pad into these pockets to hold the sheets down. You see, a V-berth bed isn't designed to make it easy to tuck in regular sheets and have them stay there. I can also now roll up my mattress pad and sheets quickly, if we need to get into the storage locker under the V-berth bed.
































Just before we headed out on our cruising last summer I decided to make a quilt for our bed. I used the split 9 patch design and used scraps from my stash. I didn't have enough time to have a long arm quilter quilt it for me, so I did some wide meandering to quilt it. It isn't a beautiful quilt, but it really kept us warm while we cruised in SE Alaska last summer.

















I'd like to make another quilt for the boat, but I'll definitely take more time planning it and trying to focus less on functionality and more on creativity. Still, we do enjoy having this quilt on board with us.

Necktie Social Party by Prairie Moon Quilts

Shelly Pagliai is the owner of Prairie Moon Quilts, which opened in October '08. Shelly is a delightful lady who is passionate about quilting and helping others. As such, she has created a delightful way of raising money thru quilting to help others. And I'm hoping you can help her by way of sending her neck ties, yes neck ties. Or maybe you can offer to help to sew blocks or offer long arm services.

Here is the dirt (isn't this an old term for newsworthy scoop) on this heartwarming project.....

In the Old West, "Necktie Social" referred to a public execution by hanging.....Prarie Moon Quilts isn't hanging anyone, but trying to help those in need. They are turning old neckties into quilts and using them for charity fundraisers. To clarify, these necktie quilts will be turned over to various charities that are holding fundraisers that can optimize using a beautiful handmade quilt to raise funds to make a difference for a worthy cause. A few examples of the great causes that are currently targeted to receive one of these necktie quilts are:

- Ronald McDonald House Charities
- ReliefShare (their Shriner's Quilts project)

But with more volunteers, hopefully many more charities will receive one of these beutiful necktie quilts to help raise funds for their charity project.

To clarify, cash donations are not accepted for this project, but if you have neckties, batting, or can offer assistance, etc., please contact Shelly to see how you can help. Volunteers are currently needed to help make blocks. You may actually want to turn your ties into a block and send the block on to Shelly to be quilted.

You can help by donating neckties, volunteering to help make blocks, or help assemble the quilts.











Prarie Moon Quilts will:

- accept any tie of any kind and color
- they will clean and prepare the ties for use in quilts
- The prepared neckties will be packaged up to make quilt blocks, and volunteers are asked to make a block or blocks using the ties, and return the finished blocks to us.


- The finished blocks will be made into quilts that will be donated to charities.

All you need to do is send your ties to:

Prairie Moon Quilts
Necktie Social Project
31763 Intrepid Road
Macon, MO 63552
660.676.0606
http://www.prairiemoonquilts.com/
email: info@prariemoonquilts.com

For more info: http://www.prairiemoonquilts.com/Necktie_Social.html

Here are some ties that I found pretty easy to talk my husband out of and I'll be sending to Prairie Moon Quilts. But then, I think I may have fun turning them into blocks and sending blocks to Prairie Moon Quilts.





















Here are some ties that have been sent in by other supporters. This looks to me like a fun charity project to help with and certainly sending them a few ties (or blocks) is an easy task).

















blogsite: http://prairiemoonquilts.wordpress.com


Free patterns: http://www.prairiemoonquilts.com/Free_Patterns.html

Quilted in Clay

Jennifer Patterson is the owner/designer of Quilted in Clay, a creative jewelry/art store that offers many beautiful pieces of art jewelry fashioned usinged delightful quilt designs.

Personally, I love Quilted in Clay jewelry. It is creative, colorful and brings as much enjoyment as a soft, comfy quilt. I love wearing Quilted in Clay jewelery as it goes with all my outfits, plus it provides me inspiration.

I've always enjoyed Quilted in Clay earrings, pins and bracelets, but I now have my eye set on one of their beautiful necklaces. Wouldn't this look lovely to wear when going to a quild meeting, quilt show, quilt sew-cial, retreat, or even going out to dinner with family & friends?

 















And besides jewelry, they have many beautiful items...even an enchanted Santa.

And for those that like to create their own items, they also sell cute little tools and offer tutorials.

Oh, it is such a challenge to decide which is my favorite piece from Quilted in Clay.













You can find Quilted in Clay jewelry at many quilt shows, as well as see their designs on their website: http://www.quiltedinclay.com/products/index.htm


















Don't you just love Quilted in Clay jewelry too? I know I do, like a kid in a candy store!

The ONLY way I'll make a Rag Quilt

I was convinced I'd never make a rag quilt. While they are soft and cuddly, I was of the opinion it wasn't worth it if I had to manually snip all the edges to help with the ragging effect. But with the help of the AccuQuilt Go cutter it was a breeze to make my first rag quilt.
















The AccuQuiltGo die Cuts 8 ½” squares and snips the edges when the squares are cut, providing significant time savings.




















Rebecca Johnson made this beautiful rag quilt using the AccuQuiltGo cutter. She has experience making rag quilts, using the old fashioned method and she felt that the AccuQuiltGo cutter saved her over 50% of the time it would have taken to make a rag quilt with the old fashioned method.





















Here is a good video clip that shows more insight on the AccuQuiltGo and rag die. But be aware that both the portable AccuQuiltGo and Studio cutters support making rag quilts. And the Studio cutter has a few more accessory dies for making rag quilts.


I found making my first rag quilt, using the AccuQuilg Go cutter and rag die, was easier than I had ever dreamed. It was super fast to cut the fabric and very fast to sew this quilt. And I must admit I really enjoyed working with soft flannel fabric! By the way, I selected nautical flannel fabrics for this quilt as I plan to use it in a Pirate theme gift basket for a charity fundraiser. I love how the Pirates show up in this flannel scrap quilt, along with sharks, sailboats and other nautical items.





























I had so much fun using the AccuQuiltGo cutter and rag die that I'm already planning on making another one. Maybe a bit larger and something for a little Princess!



For more information on the AccuQuilt Cutters and dies, go to: www.accuquiltgo.com