Quilting Arts Magazine Summer 2021

It is growing season in the northern hemisphere, and on any given day you’ll find me knee deep in my garden—weeding, planting, or just admiring the tiny plot that feeds my family and provides a bounty of flowers all season long. This year our raised beds needed to be rebuilt before we planted, and I am making many trips with the wheelbarrow to the compost piles to amend the soil. Adding nutrients and organic matter to the tired dirt works like magic. Within weeks, those beds will be full of happy seedlings and the hard work will pay off. So what does composting have to do with quilting? Simple—before it becomes valuable in the garden, compost is the decomposed detritus of daily life: leftovers from the kitchen, garden, and yard. Dried…

Frances Holliday Alford is an internationally known quilt artist living in Grafton, Vermont. She encourages fellow artists to collaborate and share her home studio. She is known for quirky subjects, vivid colors, and unusual embellishments. franceshollidayalford.com Ana Buzzalino is a fiber and mixed-media artist, surface designer, teacher, and lecturer who loves to combine layers and texture in her original work. Ana is currently teaching online from her studio in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. anabuzzalino.com Colleen Ansbaugh is a fiber artist whose work is strongly influenced by the ‘Up North’ woods and landscapes of Wisconsin. She is noted for her use of color and textures, and interpreting life experiences in new and exciting ways. colleenansbaugh.com Marie Shirley-Jones is a fiber artist, author of children’s books, and former K-8 art teacher from the small town of Red Lodge, Montana.…

Dear Quilting Arts, I designed and made a COVID-19 quilt inspired by Laurie Ceesay Landry’s article in the April/May 2020 issue. The size is 44" x 47". I had a blast blinging it up; glitter for her eye shadow, crystals on each eye brow. She also has false eyelashes and 2020 earrings. The coronavirus germ cells all have crystal stones on them, too. I’ve made four portrait quilts so far. I have a lot more to learn. I enjoy QUILTING ARTS. Quilla Ulmer Aurora, Nebraska “Tickled Pink” • 39. " x 34. " Beth Schillig Editor’s Note: Due to a photo processing error in the Spring 2021 issue, “Tickled Pink” by Beth Schillig (shown on pages 88 and 90) was not printed in its full splendor. We are happy to present these shots—a photo of…

a braided curve is a versatile improv unit that can be used in an assortment of quilt compositions from pieced landscapes to traditional pieced quilt blocks. The following instructions show how to make your very own basic braided curve units. As you become a more expert braided curve maker, you can modify these steps to suit your own design needs. For example, the braided curves here are made using two layers of fabric. More advanced braided curve makers may decide to cut their fabrics using four layers, creating more color swapping options. Before you begin, know that all steps can be executed with or without a ruler. I tend to use my ruler for the first step and then cut freehand from then on, so the instructions are written that way. Importantly,…

peeking into an artist’s workplace can open a window into their creative process. When you consider how much time and effort it takes to create a body of work like Maria Shell’s—full of intricate improvisational piecing, exuberant color, and innovative techniques—and also the prolific nature of her quilt making, you just know that the spaces in which she creates must be exceptional. I asked Maria to share some insight into her process and share her creative studio with our readers. VIVIKA: In your book Improv Patchwork you wrote, “Not everyone has a large studio with loads of storage … I really do think it is important for makers to have a space.” Like Virginia Woolf, you believe that having dedicated personal space is one of the keys to creativity. Tell me…

dr. Carolyn Mazloomi doesn’t want to talk about her Ph.D. in aerospace engineering or her brief career as a nurse. No, long ago she moved on from that. Quilts are her thing now. Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and educated in California, she now lives with her husband near Cincinnati, Ohio, and juggles making her own quilts, curating powerful quilt exhibitions about the African American experience, and advocating for African American quilters. The artist Carolyn’s art quilts—many of which are black and white, with strong graphic appeal that resemble wood cuts or linoleum block prints—explore themes of music, motherhood, family, and social and racial injustice. She likes the starkness of black and white, she says. “There’s nothing to get in the way of the message.” She starts by sketching in ink on paper,…