In the early 1980s, I assembled a book of quilting designs. That is, they’re guides for stitching on completed quilts. However, you could use these same designs for many other kinds of art, especially fabric art. And, I included some suggestions on a couple of pages in this book. For example: For a non-fabric art …
This is another project started in the mid-1990s and not completed. Clearly, even good projects are sometimes put aside. Basically, I was going to make myself a bunch of great wearable art pinafores. Note: In the States, a pinafore is called a jumper. I grew up calling them pinafores, because… well, that’s what my family …
I’ve always loved the color purple. Almost every shade of purple delights me. This is an original one-of-a-kind jacket that I created around 1992, using a Vogue designer jacket pattern. The fabrics are all 100% cottons. On half of the front, I have hand-beaded with glass bugle and seed beads. I’ve also painted it with …
The fabric art jacket in the photo at right was made in 1991. I have always loved everything related to Disneyland and DisneyWorld. When I was growing up, my mother was a free-lance artist for Walt Disney, and she did all of the artwork for two Disney board games: Fantasyland, and Steps to Toyland. Particularly …
Scraps of fabric can be used to create rolled beads. Here’s the simplest version. You’ll need fabric, white glue and water, and something thin to wrap the beads around. This can be a thin dowel, toothpicks, shishkebab skewers, thin cocktail straws, or… Well, see what you have around the house. You could even use heavy …
This shows part of the ribbon embroidery & beading on a jumper bodice started in the 1990s. In real life, the area shown is about 7.5″ x 4″. I was inspired by a crazy quilt that I saw many years ago, and the bright embroidery on the black velvet reminded me of fireworks. I knew …
In 1991, I designed and made this quilted wallhanging for a challenge in Salt Lake City, Utah. A “challenge” is kind of competition. Usually it includes a rule that all participants must follow. That rule is designed to make the competition more interesting… or difficult. In many cases, the challenge element is a particular fabric, …
This is a baby quilt that I made in 2003. It’s made with over a dozen fabrics, each 100% cotton. Each square in the quilt is about 1″ x 1″. It could be very tedious to make a quilt like this, but the top created with strip piecing. This is a faster technique that works …
This rocking chair is called a Lincoln rocker by some, and a Kennedy rocker by others. It’s the same design that Jack Kennedy had in the White House. He felt that it helped his back. The restored chair is shown at right. This particular chair came from a yard sale on Boston’s North Shore (an …
If you’re interested in fabric art but don’t know where to start, here are a few basics. First, decide the kind of fabric art that you’d like to start with. As time permits, I’ll show you simple projects to “test drive” different forms of fabric art. For now, here are a few areas to consider: …