...WOW!!! Let's catch up!

.....stay tuned!  Just finished my SECOND book to debut in March 2016.  I have to say, IT WILL HAVE YOU IN "STITCHES"!!!!!!

...a fun tutorial over at the BERNINA "We All Sew" blog

 Tis' the season for making treats and treasures for the holidays!  Wander on over the the BERNINA "We All Sew" blog for the instructions on making these darling "art sandwiches".

WHIMSICAL QUILT SANDWICH ORNAMENTS

...i see stitches....

...the art of stitch collage...

...my artful hearts in stitch....

.....a most creative 2014 in stitches....

 Wishing you the happiest New Year, my creative friends!  

Winter is good, and a polar vortex is welcome when you have an awesome sewing machine, and piles of colorful thread and fabrics.  Rochester, New York (where i live) is right smack in the middle of the most snow and frigid temps in the US, so my nice cozy sewing room is the best place to be.   When i am not on the road travel teaching, I'm in the zone buzzing around on my BERNINA.  It's so exciting to jump out of bed every morning, energized to make new art.  I am really looking forward to many hours of evolving my artwork with my sewing machine this year.  Having my new BERNINA has infused a whole new direction to my art and creativity.  I sew something every single day and have been exploring the bazillions of possibilities with my art quilts.  Color, thread, fabric and free motion is my total bliss!
Here is my New Year piece, "Fly" a fused, 14"x14" mini quilt using commercial batik fabric, and Magnifico thread by Superior Threads.  I am preparing mini tutorials for this blog, so stay tuned all year.  But here's a little peek into the direction i am heading:

I start out with a color palette in mind.  It's liberating to use fabric as a paint palette working with shape and design to create a focal image.  To me, it's like painting without the mess!  You know I love a good creative art mess, but stray thread snippets and cut fabric is much easier to get off my clothes than acrylic paint, so that's a plus!    

 After all the pieces were fused in layers, i pretty much went nuts with free motion stitching around the edges, drawing around the shapes as if the sewing machine needle is my doodle pen and the thread, endless colored ink.  Sigh...........I'm so very much in my most happy, lively, colorful and creative place.

I'm excited about making artful stitches with you, and creating art with my BERNINA babies this year!  

And in 2014.........i hope you "fly"!

live...love...create....STITCH!

Welcome to my brand new blog "Artful Quilt and Stitch" where i will share my obsession and passion for making art with fabric, fibers, threads, dyes, paints and a rockin' sewing machine!  Let's talk "art sewing" and expanding our creative horizons together.   

I am beyond excited, and words just can't express how ecstatic and honored I am to announce 
that i just have been chosen to be an 

"Artisan Ambassador" for 
BERNINA of America. 

 If you have traveled with me on this creative journey in the past few years, you know that the acqusition of my BERNINA 350QE sewing machine changed my life.  This little powerhouse with thread and a foot pedal has taken me down an additional creative path adding a new dimension to my mixed media artwork through art quilting and stitching.  All my artistic ideas have collided into the "art sewing" universe where i am creating and teaching fabric arts, making whimsical art quilts and celebrating every day the absolute joy of working on a BERNINA sewing machine.

As an "Artisan Ambassador" i will regularly be sharing ideas, tutorials, projects, online classes and traveling to teach workshops as a passionate BERNINA girl!  My artful heart is on fire with ideas and possibilities as i work with the BERNINA 7 SERIES machine, the 750QE exploring the magic of this incredible machine.  This baby is a tank,  purrs like a kitten and does everything but cook your dinner!  (Drats, that would be nice, LOL!)  I'm so thrilled to have this opportunity to share my BERNINA love.  It's crazy!

I'll be adding a gallery of my art quilts and fabric pieces along my workshop schedule for 2014 in the next few weeks.  Looking forward to sharing my needle and thread and paint passions and hope to meet you along the way.  

So grateful, so blessed.

Happy Thanksgiving!