Excitement Among the Twelves

I received my copy of the latest issue of Quilting Arts the other day (Feb/Mar 2012 Issue 55).  This particular issue is special to me and the 11 other members of the Twelve by Twelve group.

The reason we are so excited about this issue is because we have a six-page spread inside.  The article is set up in a Question/Answer format and each member of our group has answered a question about the Twelve by Twelve group.  

I hope you enjoy reading about us in Quilting Arts!

The Occasional Art Journaler

I really love art journals.  Yes, I'm more of an art journal freak than keeping a journal for working out projects and such. Although I do have journals where I just sketch. Those journals are for when I need ideas in creating art quilts and the like. But back to art journals...

I keep one going on my desk pretty much all the time. I don't usually sit and work on these for long periods of time. I usually just add little things here and there when the mood strikes.  I also don't always know what I want to do each step of the way so walking by it gives me time to glance and ponder. Then, when I suddenly get the light bulb moment, I can visit my journal and add the next tidbit.

Today I added some paper flower cut-outs from some scrapbook paper. I had originally added some doodles above the heart and ended up not liking what I did....so out came the paint and the gel medium and scrapbook papers. It's so nice to be able to change your mind when you want to. We don't always get to do that.

I'm loving these little negative cut-outs that remain from cutting my flower shapes.  I will definitely be using these somewhere else in my art journal pages.

My First Video

In my previous blog post, I shared some mini colored pencil illustrations I had made.  Above are more that I'm working on.  I am having fun with these small, fun pieces.  The bottom four are waiting to be colored.

And I'm very excited to share with you my first ever video tutorial.  I recently purchased a pocket-sized video camera and I'm having fun playing with it.  It was challenging to learn the video editing software, and I still have a ways to go with that.  Hopefully I'll become a pro very quickly.  While the video below isn't going to win any movie awards, I do hope you enjoy it.

Painting with Colored Pencils from Terri Stegmiller on Vimeo.

EDIT: Some of you are asking about where to purchase. I purchased my bottle from Zest-It Art Products, UK-based retailer. To my knowledge it is not yet available in the US and I don't know if it will be. If you are considering purchasing it, I would suggest a Google search to see if you can locate it in your area.

Lots of Mini's

I've been working on some mini art lately.  I like making mini things as it gives me a chance to use up small pieces of left over materials. 

The first photo is all the mini quilts I made.  I figured with Valentine's Day coming up soon, that I'd make a bunch of heart quilts.  

And the other mini art I've been making is these colored pencil illustrations.  I made them on small, cast-off pieces of watercolor paper.  These are the perfect "sit in front of the TV with hubby" project. I mounted the watercolor paper to mat board.

I've added all these small mini works to my etsy shop.

A New Painting

I have a spot in the entryway of my house where I've had one of those large grapevine wreaths hanging now for oh, maybe 15 years or so.  I'm tired of it, it's dusty/dirty and I need a change.  So I decided to create a painting.

This is the largest painting I've ever done and I enjoyed working on a larger scale. The canvas measures 28" x 22".

I made a video slideshow of the photos I took during the progression of the painting. I hope you enjoy!

Cat with Vase Painting Progression from Terri Stegmiller on Vimeo.

New Tutorial Available

With Valentine's Day fast approaching, I thought I'd make this tutorial available in case anyone is looking for ideas on making their own Valentine's gifts.

You will find this tutorial in the Tutorials link at the top of my blog or click here.  The name of this tutorial is Valentine Heart Quilt.  I hope you enjoy it and if you make a heart following these directions, I hope you will share a photo with me.

Happy Monday!

I Made a Valentine

Last evening I spent some time with friends, new and old, and we sewed and laughed.  I taught them my techniques for painting with Neocolor II crayons.  I forgot to take my camera with me.  :(

Here is what I made during the demonstration.  A valentine.

I found the quilted neutral background with pink border in my stash.  It was a leftover from another project.

I drew a basic heart shape onto some paper.  I like to use Carol Doak's Foundation Paper for this process as it tears away fairly easily.  Although you could use plain copy paper.

I pinned the heart drawing to the quilted background and stitched over the shape with black thread.  Next I removed the paper.  After the paper was removed I did some more thread sketching and added lots of details.  I colored the shape with the crayons and then using a paint brush I wet the area with some textile medium. The small quilt measures 7" x 6.5".

Foto/Fiber 2012

You may have seen the news around the web about Foto/Fiber 2012.  But if you haven't you can read all about it below.  I am participating in this wonderful fundraiser and I am today's featured artist here (click the link to see peeks of the fiber bonuses I am including in my fiber bonus packages).   As the day draws near to this event, I will share more photos of what you will find in the fiber bonuses I will be putting together.

Foto/Fiber 2012
90 Photos AND 90 Fiber BONUSES Gold Donor Day - February 15, 2012
Make a minimum donation of $100, choose a photo by
Virginia A. Spiegel, Karen Stiehl Osborn, or Cynthia Wenslow
and choose a Fiber BONUS by a specific artist
from the following list of fiber artists.

Regular Foto/Fiber - February 16, 2012
Make a minimum donation of $50 and choose a photo by
Virginia A. Spiegel, Karen Stiehl Osborn, or Cynthia Wenslow.
Your Fiber BONUS will be chosen at random for youfrom the following list of generous fiber artists.
Artists donating Fiber BONUS include: Natalya Aikens, Frances Holliday Alford, Pamela Allen, Liz Berg, Sue Bleiweiss, Nancy G. Cook, Jane Davila, Vivika DeNegre, Diane Rusin Doran, Jane Dunnewold, Jamie Fingal, Leonie Hartley Hoover, Leslie Tucker Jenison, Lyric Kinard, Susan Brubaker Knapp, Lynn Krawzcyk, Jane LaFazio, Susan Lenz, Jeanelle McCall, Linda Teddlie Minton, Karen Musgrave, Gail Myrhorodsky, Karen Stiehl Osborn, BJ Parady, Cate Coulacos Prato, Yvonne Porcella, Wen Redmond, Sue Reno, Lesley Riley, Cynthia St. Charles, Susan Schrott, Suzanne Silk, Lura Schwarz Smith (with Kerby C. Smith), Sarah Ann Smith, and Terri Stegmiller
Drawings for Fiber Art throughout the event.All patrons of Foto/Fiber 2012 will also have multiple chances throughout Foto/Fiber to win fiber art donated by:Leonie Hartley HooverLyric Kinard
Lynn Krawczyk
Yvonne Porcella
Susan Schrott
Mary Ann Van Soest

More information on how Foto/Fiber 2012 works:
http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/FotoFiberHowItWorks.html
Our goal – Raise $7,000 for the American Cancer Society

Fiberart For A Cause has already donated over $215,000 to the American Cancer Society through the generosity of fiber artists and their patrons.
Contact Virginia(at)VirginiaSpiegel.com for more information.

Sneak Peek

I posted a few sneak peeks of my work in progress for the next Twelve by Twelve challenge.  Our challenge this round is Metamorphosis.  See my post on the Twelve by Twelve blog here.

Birds of a Feather

I recently created 12 mini quilts. These all measure 6" square. I worked on these over a period of time this past fall. I hadn't shared them with you before this (well maybe a sneak peek) because they were gifts.  

Machine pieced, free-motion quilted, thread sketched, painted

I sent these to all the members of the Twelve by Twelve group. I feel so blessed to be part of this group and I was thrilled to have met so many in person when I went to Houston in November. I enjoyed making this quilt series and while working on them I would think about how connected the Twelves have become over the years we've worked together.

I hope my little Birds of a Feather series brings you a smile.