Expansion of Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores’ offerings includes the assistance of well-known quilter M’Liss Rae Hawley.
Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores, the leading national fabric and craft specialty retailer, has enlisted the expertise of M’Liss Rae Hawley, the internationally known leader in the field of quilting, to expand class and fabric offerings for quilters nationwide, according to their recent announcement.
M’Liss’s exclusive line of fabric designs include floral and travel themes.  Her classes will appeal to quilters of any level…beginners to experts.
Check out more details at the link above.
(c)2008 Mary Emma Allen

QuiltingAndPatchwork.com 
   Do you have favorite books that have helped you with your quilting and fabric art? Perhaps they are instructional. Others may be inspirational.  Maybe they delve into quilting history.  Also, you may read some for pure enjoyment.
These also may change, depending on your current quilting needs and interests. Some of your favorites may be out of print, but if someone searches diligently, they probably can find with a copy.
I asked my daughter Beth (Meandering Threads) what her five favorite books currently are.  She actually came up with six, two by the same author.
1. The Painted Quilt by Linda & Laura Kempshall
2. Landscape in Contemporary …read more

             Over at Home Biz Notes, guest blogger Yvonne Russell provides advice and suggestions for operating a home based bookstore, whether it’s one where customers come to your home shop or you sell solely online.  In Start Your Own Specialist Home Based Bookstore, Yvonne discusses how to research before starting your business, how and where to obtain your books, how to find a niche…in short, many tips to start you on the way to success rather than failure with a specialty bookstore.
So…have you decided your niche might be quilt, fabric art, and related books?  Perhaps you want to operate simply a …read more

 As we work with color for our quilting and fabric art projects, we may find ourselves selecting the same or similar color combinations over and over.  Why does this happen?
When I was making quilts to sell, left to my own choices, I usually selected colors I liked, which, when you learn about color schemes, were the “cool” colors, those with pink or blue undertones.  These are the colors that look best on me, so I usually surround myself with them.
                            However, when I made quilts on commission, often my customers chose colors I never would in the “warm” color range, …read more

Throughout the ages, needlework has sustained women (and sometimes men) as they work their way through grief…loss of a person close to them, a pet, a job, a home, or relocation to an area where they know no one.  (At a grief seminar, I learned there are many types of grief, other than that of losing a person in our life.)
Needlework also has comforted women during war time, as they made quilts and other items (nowadays even fabric postcards) for those far from home on the battlefront.
I recently discovered a site, Real Women Quilt, with a page, Quilting through Grief, where quilters …read more

Quilters and fabric artists often have what seems like tons of leftover fabric they plan to use for a future project.  Or they purchase fabric then don’t find a way to incorporate it into any of their projects.
At Layers Upon Layers, I discovered an ideal way to use your leftover fabric…swatch portraits.  Cyndi seems intrigued by this idea, too, which she found at The Purl Bee.  There’s even a tutorial at that site for creating wall art from your fabric by using embroidery and quilting hoops of various sizes. 
As I looked at the fabric portraits displayed, I also could envision …read more

For many quilting and fabric art projects, we don’t need the most expensive fabric.  Odds and ends from various souces will suffice.  Also,  you may find some very nice fabric as you accumulate it from your non-traditional sources.
At Quilted Paradise, I found an article about Fabric Finds for the Frugal Quilter which contains some very good ideas for acquiring fabric for your projects.  Mentioned here:
Bandanas
Neckties
Thrift Stores
Garage Sales
Yard, garage and church sales
My daughter and I’ve found many fun fabrics and embellishments  from these sources over the years.  Let your creativity soar and you’ll discover many interesting ways to use items found this …read more

William Lehman, at Artist Hideout, called my attention to his post about renowned quilter Nancy Crow.  He had discovered a story about her in his local news which told how her rather accidentally become involved in quiltmaking when she discovered she couldn’t realize her dream of becoming a potter.  She was allergic to clay dust.
So Nancy turned to quiltmaking and her work now brings prices between $8,000 and $75.000. 
When I became involved in qultmaking again in the 1970s (I first quilted with my grandmother at age 8), Nancy was starting to make a name for herself.  It has been exciting to watch …read more

         According to the latest e-mail newsletter I received from Quilting Arts Magazine, paper quilts are all the craze now.  This is a preview of an upcoming article in the latest issue.
Paper quilts! you say. These often involve a collage effect and include the use of paper, fibers, expandable paint, netting, and other embellishments.  Quilters also include items such as angelina fibers, chiffon scarves and silk handkerchiefs. 
(My daughter looks for chiffon scarves at the local second hand shop to create various effects in her fabric and paper art.)
 What have you tried in the field of paper quilts, as well as mixed …read more

In a previous post, I mentioned the new book, 1000 ATCs (Artist Trading Cards), with photos of these playing card size pieces of art by quilters and fabric artists.  Also, my daughter, Beth, had one of her ATCs selected for inclusion in the book.
As mentions at her Meandering Threads blog, the one she pictures there isn’t exactly like the ATC in the book.  However, it’s very close and will give you some more inspiration if you’re inclined to make these works of art.