Open Studios in Houston!

I'll be demoing how to put lights into quilts at the International Quilt Festival in Houston this week!  It's all part of Open Studios, sponsored this year by Craftsy!

Come by and see how I put lights into quilts and see the coolest new technology and conductive threads I'm using!  You won't want to miss it!  Come by and say you saw this on my blog and I'll give you something special!!

UPDATE:  I wanted to tell you this earlier, but wanted to clear it with them first, but I'll be demoing Superior Threads' newest line of conductive thread and LED products!  Check it out!

Thursday November 1

10 am to Noon

Sunday November 4

Noon to 2pm

Open Studios is near the entrance to the Food Court just off the vendor show floor   It's going to be a great time.

Here's the full schedule of artists, and 4 artists will be demoing at each time. 

Thursday, November 1 
10:00 a.m.-Noon
Lynn Roddy Brown, Piecing Triangle Units
Nancy Goldsworthy, Couching Chunky & Challenging Threads
Cheryl Sleboda, Light Up Your Quilts!
Barb Forrister, 3D Flowers

12:00-2:00 p.m.
Joyce Hughes, Thread Painting
Jamie Fingal, Rebel Quilting
Leslie Jenison, Monoprinting on Fabric
Marlene Glickman, Surface Design with Sticks, Clamps, and Stamps

2:00-4:00 p.m.
Sarah Ann Smith, Thread Painting
Teri Lucas, Fusible Appliqué Cards
Sara Hochhauser, Dye It, Sew It, Wear It
Michele Muska, Making Felted Fabric

4:00-6:00 p.m.
Martha DeLeonardis, Twister Designs
Cyndi Souder, Curved Piecing with Tiny Seams and Persuasive Pressing
Christen Brown, Ribbon Work and Hand Embroidery
Ana Buzzalino, Stitched & Painted Landscapes

Friday, November 2
10:00 a.m.-Noon
Christine Adams, Stitched & Collaged Fabric Books
Cathy Franks, Couching with Yarns to Create Leaves and Flower Shapes
Mary Anne Griffin, Painting Fabric
Judi Hurwitt, Gelatin Monoprinting

Noon-2:00 p.m.
Ana Buzzalino, Stitched & Painted Landscapes
Joyce Hughes, Raw-Edge Appliqué
Barb Forrister, 3D Flowers
Helen Gibb, Silk Ribbon Embellishments

2:00-4:00 p.m.

A really nice review of the Technocraft show

The Newport Mercury magazine is a local Rhode Island weekly that recently covered the exhibit that my piece Dunkelheit is in.  I was thrilled to read this excerpt from the article:

"The brilliance of Sleboda’s work was noticed most clearly by viewing the piece in a quiet gallery early. Triggered by sound, the piece lights up, blinking as it picks up on ambient room noise. Barely flickering at the beginning of the show, by the time the moths took flight, the piece was aglow with flickering lights, responding to the noise of the crowd."

Wow!  Thank you so much to Suzi Ballenger who let me know about the article (and the exhibition in the first place!), and also to Jess Braley for such a glowing review of the exhibit and my work.  I really wish I could travel to see the show, it looks fabulous. 
The article is on page 9 of the 5/09/12 edition, in case it gets archived and you would like to read the whole thing.  

Looking back to look forward

The channel guide for when my episode was on locally!

I can't say that 2011 wasn't good to me.  It was a fabulous year.  Some of my highlights were:
     -taping a segment for Series 800 of Quilting Arts TV!
     -Having my EL Wire article published in In Stitches digital magazine
     -Teaching at Houston in the Make It University area
     -Acceptance into my first IQA show and also two other exhibitions
     -having several of my meme quilts go viral


It's been such a successful year that it makes you wonder how to keep the momentum going?  I have lots of ideas scrambling around in my head that I hope to make come to life.  It's going to be a great year again, and I hope you'll stay for the ride!  

Chicago Area! My Episode of Quilting Arts is Airing!

If you are in the Chicago area, my episode of Quilting Arts is airing on January 5th at 1 pm on WYCC (channel 20). It's episode 811, called "Quilts Gone Wild".   On Comcast Cable near me it's even in HD on channel 240.  Please check it out!

Paying it forward...

Lately, I have had some great things happen to me, and I'm so grateful for everything that has come my way. But for every happiness that I have received, I wish I could make others just as happy.
When I was at Houston, my friend Catherine and I wandered past the Machine Quilting Unlimited booth. One of the ladies working the booth asked "Are you the one with the light up quilts?". I told her that I really appreciated her comment and that it made my day. It really did. And right there, I realized that for every compliment and encouraging word I got, I should pass on at least 2 more of my own. 
So, when I saw someone with a jacket they might have made themselves, I stopped her and asked about it.  Sure enough, she had, and I told them how much I loved it. As I walked away, she turned to her friends and said "Wasn't that nice?" 
Also in Houston, I asked my friend Pokey to write a note for my online friend Jackie who could not be at the show and mailed it to her. 
I know EXACTLY what it feels like to have someone tell you they recognized your name, or knew of your work somehow. I know what it feels like for a "famous" quilter to say something encouraging. Just think how wonderful we all would feel if someone else took a second to say they liked your quilts.
So, if you are a "famous"/published quilter, tell someone you don't know how nice their work is. If you are a quilt teacher, tell a student how wonderful a job they are doing. If you are not famous or a teacher (like me), spread some happiness to 2 more people by complimenting their work too.  You don't know how much it will mean to someone to get that compliment.  Maybe they are waiting for that compliment before they launch an art career of their own... you never know what the effect you will have on others!


P.S. Lyric Kinard is doing a really similar thing all through December as her way of saying "Thanks", which I have been following along with. Check it out!  

Stitched Together: Art & Science show

Click to make big!

It's pretty cool to see your name included with some other fabulous artists.  I'm just thrilled to be included!  My work "Misunderstood" will be in this show!

My article in In Stitches e-Mag (Blog Tour Stop #3!)

InStitches Vol 5 on my iPad!

Hey, there!  Welcome to my blog if you are new, I'm stop #3 on the In Stitches blog tour!  My regulars may remember when I said I had a dream about submitting an article to Quilting Arts, and the dream had a different ending than I wanted.  Well, at the time, my goal was getting into the magazine itself.  But what the dream actually was about was getting into the new digital magazine by Quilting Arts called In Stitches. 
In the dream, I was disappointed, because I had never tried an issue, so I thought it would be a "lesser" product. Let me stress that... in the DREAM I was upset.... but I also had no idea what the magazine was about.  I can tell you now that I WAS WRONG.  The digital issues, of which I have now collected them all, are actually really fabulous.  They are full of videos to watch, interactive articles, and so much more.  It's really expanding on the magazine experience, and I really, really love it.  It's incredibly innovative, and now I'm thrilled to have be a part of it. 

I'm also happy to say that this is another "dream come true" as my article on how to use Electroluminescent Wire in quilts is in the latest issue! This really could not be done any other way, as these light up quilts are so hard to see in print.

I am so BLOWN AWAY by how cool this digital magazine is.  My article has "light switches" to see the quilts both on and off.  Isn't that COOL? QA did a great job making my article looks so wonderful, that I can't find enough exclamation points to describe how cool it is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  The whole issue is great and I know you will love the interactivity of it.
I know you want to know where to get your very own copy of this for your PC or Mac, so click here to go to the Quilting Arts website to get one.  Also, look for it in your iTunes app for your iPad! (Search for Interweave in the app store.)
If you have a digital video camera, or know someone who does, and have something unique to share, I really suggest you consider submitting an article.  QA is a fantastic team to work with.
Check out the rest of the folks on the blog tour below and tell them I sent you!
Monday 10/10 Lindsey Murray http://quiltingdaily.com
Tuesday 10/11 Larkin Van Horn http://blog.larkinart.com
Wednesday 10/12 Cheryl Sleboda http://blog.muppin.com
Thursday 10/13 Alma Stoller http://almastoller.blogspot.com
Friday 10/14 Therese May http://theresemay.blogspot.com
Monday 10/17 Barb Forrister http://barbforrister.com/category/blog
Tuesday 10/18 Carol Ann Waugh http://carolannwaugh.com/blog/
Wednesday 10/19 Jane Davila http://janedavila.blogspot.com

Quilting Arts TV Season 8 Available for Pre-order

The season I am appearing in for my e-textile quilts is now available for pre-order!  You know you want to run right over and get one today!  I haven't seen it yet and I'm sure I look fine but I have no idea what I said! 

Quilting Arts TV

The cat's out of the bag, I will be taping a couple of segments for Quilting Arts TV Series 800 while on location in Cincinnati!  

I'm over the moon, of course, and I'm having a blast making my projects for the show. 


Much of this is serendipitous as a result of my fabulous Houston trip, after which I didn't think things could get much better!  


Thanks so mcuh to all of you who encourage me along the way, I truly appreciate it!

Technique of the Week #32 - Electroluminescent Wire

Project Hours: 5 hours
Design and Materials: 1 hour
Execution: 4 hours 
To say that I love the electronic convergence of tech and textile is an understatement.  I don't just love it, I LURVE it.  Love love love it.
So when I saw fashion students using electroluminescent wire in garments, I just HAD to try it.  EL Wire is readily available on the internet, and if you saw my little video with Pokey Bolton, you know I found some by typing it into the almighty Google machine to locate some. 
That piece was in my gallery show and some other places, but it was really my trial piece.  I didn't know what to do with it, how to get it to stay in shape, etc.  i have perfected it now, and while I can't give away all my secrets (yet) on how to do it, I know you're all smart folks and can come up with some amazing designs of your own.
Sticking with my octo theme for the year, this little bugger is done with 3 feet of El Wire, and it's an 8 inch piece.  Almost all of the time was spent on shaping and sewing down the wire. It's a flexible tube, not unlike your iPod cord.  So take a look at that cord and imagine bending it into tight corners, etc and you will see the dilemma here. 

But, oh, when it's done, it sure looks pretty all lit up.  The swirled background gives him an eye in shadow when he's lit up.

I'm in the latest QUILTING ARTS!!!!

This was the HARDEST secret (that really ended up not being that secret) I have ever had to keep!!  Especially since subscribers got their issues a few days ago and have been emailing me, and messaging me on Facebook, and even commenting here!
My article was picked up for the 10th anniversary issue of Quilting Arts!  
I'm so excited, I can barely stand it!
It's available from quilt shops, all the major bookstores, and Quilting Art's website.  Please go out and get a copy!  
There's a few cool giveaways I'm planning this month, so get ready, because it's gonna be an awesome time here!  There's not enough exclamation points for me to express how cool this is for me! !!!  
This is literally a dream come true.  It's also one of my major art goals achieved.  Remember way back when when I said I had a dream about this?  I didn't tell you that the dream resulted in me NOT getting into the magazine.  I was so upset about the dream, and I knew that I would never know how it would really turn out unless I actually submitted the article.  I know many of you replied to my "should I or shouldn't I" blog post, and I thank you for spurring me on!  
Please let me know what you think of the article, and I will be back with lots of giveaways and fun stuff!  No, really!  Check back often!!!

Open Studios at Houston

Come see me in Houston!

I will be part of Quilting Arts' MIU/Open Studios area at the International Quilt Festival in Houston!  Come and see me on November 6th from 4 to 6pm  and Sunday November 7th from 11:45 am to 1:45 pm.  
I will be demoing some pretty cool things at these times in the Open Studios area of the giant Make It University area.  I hope you will come by and say hello, take one of my new MOO cards, and enjoy yourself!  I'm completely bowled over to be part of this. Yay!
This is a photo by Helen Gregory of Quilting Arts, showing Judy Coates Perez during her Open Studios time in Chicago. 
This is just one of many things that's going on right now, so hold tight... it's gonna be a crazy ride!

Psst. It's done.

I did it.. I submitted my article.  
Many thanks to Kelly, Carol, Diane, Toni, Megan, and Debbi!  Your swift kick in the pants encouraged me to just get over it and send it off already! ha ha!  
Now the long wait for a response begins... 

Party like a Rock Star!

I had an amazing weekend at the IQA Chicago quilt festival. Lots of cool things happened, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I spent each day at the show until it ended, so I had little time to "live blog" the show like last year, but here are the highlights! (Pictures from the hallways leaving the show, because I hate posts without pictures.)
Thursday: I spent the day in a full day class with Maggie Wiess on Thermofax screen printing. It was great fun, and I think Thermofax screening is right up my alley. While I love my Gocco, the supplies are getting more and more expensive, and hard to find. Thermofax printing is similar enough, and there are enough services out there to provide me screens without buying the machine that I can make use of it. I can't wait to finish my project from class. After class, the show floor opened, and I walked the floor, spent money, and took a Make It University class on Little Windows resin. When Pokey Bolton called my name, she said "Oh I know her!" and even gave me a little hug. Wow!

Friday: Bright and early I got to the show and took the Embellishment Know How seminar, which was about 8-9 demos on embellishing your work. Afterwards, I had lunch with Steff and Catherine, and did some shopping with Steff. I made it through the whole vendor area, and had some time for some of the quilts. The Art Quilt reception was Friday evening, and Steff and I attended. I made a tiara last year that I didn't wear because I could not stay, but entered the "tiara parade" this time. Now, style counts, so I entered as the "queen of mean" and my skull pendant on my tiara even has a crown on it. Instead of a Miss America wave, I threw up the "heavy metal" horns and rocked down the aisle. Well, I guess this paid off, I was a runner up! Best of all, my co-runner up was none other than Melanie Testa, and we chatted for a bit and really hit it off. We also got a chance to speak with Karey Bresenhan, Bonnie McCaffrey, Laura Krasinski, Maggie Weiss, and many others! Melanie, Bonnie, Steff, Catherine and I went to dinner. Bonnie even taped us doing our "Shopping Show and Tell" for one of her video podcasts!

Saturday: Wow, how could you top yesterday? By hanging out with Melanie Testa for a portion of the day, that's how! I took her MIU class first thing, and we shopped a couple of booths and looked at some of the quilts afterwards. My friend Amanda and her friend were visiting the show from Baltimore, so I went to lunch with them, and then got to hang out with Melanie a bit more. It was really good to get her perspective on art quilting, and her story on how things in the art quilting wold are going. It gave me a lot to think about. At that point, it was time for Surviving the Runway. It's was an 80's Prom theme, and I made my Prom Queen tiara in ridiculous over to top fashion. I am sure You Tube Videos will surface. It was silly, and lots of fun. I didn't win, but had a great time with everyone. Bonnie McCaffery even gave me some sideline help. So fun!

Sunday: I got to sleep in a little bit (one extra hour). Arriving at the show at the opening, I did the last of my shopping, and got a call from Steff, who was there shopping with our friend Pika. We all took the "good girl Doll" class from Debbie Crane at MIU, did some more shopping, and took one last gander at the quilts. I spent literally my last dollar saved for the show, a grand total of almost $700 spent on the show overall. It was an amazing time. I felt like I really was part of the "it crowd", and was a bit of the MIU groupie, but had a fantastic time, and can't wait to see the shak out of the many things I discussed with everyone.

I'll post my "Show and tell" things I bought on the next post!!

Vote for your favorites (including mine)

I am a participant in Susan Lenz's CyberFyber ATC and Fabric postcard exhibition in South Carolina this month.

And though I would love to "feel the love" from my bloggy friends, there are really some talented artists on these pages you should take a look at, with neat links to all of our various blogs. Please vote for your favorites, and not just mine.
You can see my Postcard by taking a look here.
You can see my ATC by taking a look here.
Susan has done a great job putting these together, and I hope you enjoy!

Signature Styles

I recently had someone tell me that they knew a project was mine because it was my "style". Really? I has a style? This made me take a look at some of my past works, and I looked at sketches of upcoming projects I plan to work on. Indeed, a formation of a style is there. If you look at my Japanese Doll theme, and it continues with the Robots theme, I do have a signature look to the work. It actually came about before these works were thought of. My Journal Quilt, that was not made in time for jurying, was very much in this same vein as these recent themed works. Is it original? Well, the work is original, but is the style?

In clothing, it's easy(ier) to say that this dress looks like Betsey Johnson, or that looks like Michael Kors. Surely a painting style can be attributed to being "after Picasso", or "after O'Keefe", or whoever has the closest style to your painting. It seems like my style copies so many things that I am influenced by, that I did not originally see my own style. Am I inadvertently copying the style of someone else? Who is the original artist if my style and the other artist's style are developed independently? Is it then in the realm of who is more famous? At what point does your style become yours? Back to clothing, the recnet Project Runway winner Christian Siriano has a look that is becoming his own, but it is often still described as "Vivienne Westwood meets whoever". The point is: when does it become his own?

After discussing this with my husband for his feedback he had 2 comments:
1. This whole thing goes back to "are there any truly original ideas anymore" and because I am influenced by what I see, by natural extension my work is going to incorporate those influences. His own work has a style that I recognize, and someone mentioned to him previously, but he does not.
2. That I should not get caught up designing to meet my "style", but to continue to make art and let that style develop over time.

This second one is true. This got me thinking about why I am so concerned with even wanting/having a style at all, which led me to "why I make (my) art". Oh boy, that is a topic for another post!

International Quilt Festival Chicago- Day 4

Well, it's over.
I got up this morning to SNOW. Isn't it supposed to be Spring?? Ugh. Off I drive to the show.
I get there a bit early, so I look to drop my stuff off in class to find that the teacher needs a "Teacher's Pet". Since I am first to come to the class, I get to be the one to do it if I want. Sure, why not? I am a sucker for volunteer jobs. This class is taught by Barb Broshous and we are making long stem 3-D roses. They are gorgeous on a quilt. She mainly does dimensional flowers so this is right up my alley. I thought this was a hand sewing class, but to my surprise, there are very expensive Huskvarna Viking machines in the room. The class was fun, and small, only 10 of us, which was a nice change of pace. I had a good time, and Barb is a kind and patient teacher.
I could barely bring myself to go to the show floor again, I was so tired. But I made it through the last of the journal quilts.
I was stopped by Pokey Bolton for a few words, as she folded her beutiful fabrics she just bought. (Yes, she stopped me to say hello. OMG!PONIES!!1!) I also stopped by to say hi to Frieda Anderson, who took my photo and said she would put it on her blog, as I am an avid reader of hers. We took Judy Perez's class together a while back, so it was good to see her again. Her work is so nice, and her dyed fabrics are wonderfully bright. I also met a wonderful fiber collage artist named Lynn Krawczyk, who was so nice, and showed me some of her wool purchases, into which she plans to make evil plushies, once she saw my Uglidoll on my bag. She was very cool, and her work is so cool in person.
I met up with two of my "Fiber Divas" guild members, and shopped at a few booths with them. But after stumbling around the last few places, I decided it was time to go.
I'd like to invite anyone I met along the way to comment or email me to stay in touch!!

International Quilt Festival Chicago -Day 2

Driving in to the show this morning was tough, because last night seemed so very very late.

My first class of the day was about making Quilting a business, which I took as an exploration, possibly to sell my quilts eventually, but aslo to explore some ideas on reaching quilters on the internet, and some web tools our industry is missing that I know of from the comic book industry (like show floor blogging and interviews... maybe next year). Morna Golletz was our teacher in this class and I learned a great deal.

Next, the show floor... again a glutton for punishment. However, the vendors area was PACKED. On Friday. And just at about noon! So about 10 steps into the show I meet up with new friends from my Riverwalk Guild. We decide to eat lunch. Yum!

Fueled for the afternoon, I spend a good bit of time in the vendors area again as best as I can manage, often getting bumped and pushed and elbowed. While I love the vendors area, I also hate it. Tomorrow will be a good example of why, and I will take photos.

I stopped at the Quilting Arts booth area to see the artists in "residence" doing on floor demos of various techniques. I spoke again with Judy Coates Perez, whos is so very nice, and chatted a bit about her painted works. I also spoke with Kelli Perkins, who was so kind to explain her work and was so inspiring also. I also chatted with Pokey Bolton again about the embellishing machine she was demo-ing. And I saw a paint on fabric technique by Julaine Lofquist-Birch which used dried on shaving cream.

I shopped the next couple of hours and No, I still haven't walked the whole vendor area yet. I started at lane 900, and ended at lane 1400. Tomorrow and Sunday I will do the rest. Tomorrow will be mostly quilts, after my show. At this point, I am being bumped so often, I cannot stand it any more. I buy those thirsty towels on an impulse. I walk past Alex Anderson, whose line has died down. I briefly consider going back to tell her how much I love her podcasts.

Now, I scheduled classes back in January as soon as the classes opened. I did not know that the Friday night class I took would interfere with the Tiara Parade and QuiltArt Reception. Oh noes! Class starts at 6pm, reception at 5pm.

So I decide to go to the reception for an hour. I even made a tiara. In the food line, I finally MEET Bonnie McCaffery, tell her how I missed her yesterday, and she is a lovely person. I also meet Virginia Spiegel! She is also lovely. I met lots of QuiltArt list "readers" and "contributors" and I am so sorry if I can't remember all of your names right now. But the one I enjoy immensely is speaking with Karey Bresenhan. I told her how much fun I was having at the show and thanked her so very much for holding the reception. I saw so many other quilters I would have loved to say hello to. Sadly, before the tiara parade, I had to leave for my class, as I did not want to upset my teacher by barging in late. So I left, but before I did, I had one quick photo taken of me as proof.

My class was by Tricia Spitzmueller on Tyvek manipulation. This was a fun class, and it was again very good to sit down. Here are my class projects!

Thus the long rainy drive back home and looking forward to another class and more show on Day 3!!

International Quilt Festival Chicago- Day 1

I should have thought of this sooner, I don't know why no one is "blogging" the show. I will do a much better job on this next time, maybe even wi-fi it from the show floor.

Anyways, Day one:

I participated in the Thursday Luncheon "Surviving the Runway", in which I met a lovely group of ladies, of whose names I am poor at remembering, but who all have this blog and website address and should feel free to email me. The challenge was to design an outfit for our model, who could potentially win a BabyLock Embellisher machine! Well, we danced, we laughed, we designed, and we crafted, and the lone picture of our design is this:

Ok, you had to be there. The mask had a beak on it that flapped up and down when our lovely model Lea shook her head. Yes, we used the tablecloth to wrap her in. Yes, it was ridiculous. Well, WE WON! We all got bags of paint, trims, batting, and a rubbing plate, and our model won the Embellisher! It was a thrill to start off the entire show. I took ephemera scraps for a "recycled" weekly quilt...

Afterwards, I was chilling out to some vidcasts on my iPod before the show floor opened. Well, as I am watching Bonnie McCaffery on the iPod, I look up to see her walking RIGHT TOWARDS ME. I did a doubletake to her face on the screen...it was like out of a movie. I opened my mouth to say something... . Nothing. I couldn't bring myself to squawk her name out. Darn! I missed a great chance!

Next, the vendors on the show floor, and nothing I can say will do it justice. I will take pictures tomorrow. While I hear Houston is larger, this show tired my 35 year old butt out.

After about an hour and a half, I'm very tired, so I check to see if I can get into a Quilting Arts Make It University class. The deal is this: you put your name into a fishbowl. Only 25 can get in. If you put your name in twice and get caught, BUSTED! You can't be in it. Once in, the class costs a whopping $10. It's a great deal, and you have a good chance of being in the class on Preview night. I put my name in, and was called by the effervescent Patricia "Pokey" Bolton. As she calls my name, get this! She says, "I know your name from my blog". OMG!! PONIES! She knows my NAME??? Besides being called for the class, I could die just from that and be a happy woman. I am able to bring myself to sit, and I am so glad to be off my feet. I make this:

Not wanting to miss another opportunity to meet someone, and after blowing my chance with Bonnie McCaffery, I stop to say hello to Pokey and tell her how she made my day. We chatted ever so briefly per these rules, and off I stumble home.