I finally decided to start taking drawing classes and they have really made a difference. I have learned a ton about perspective and rules of drawing. I drew a self portrait, which everyone agrees looks like someone or everyone in my family. I think it’s a great start! Naomi Ocean, my art teacher and Riki Metz my fellow art student are both incredibly supportive and share so much knowledge. Thanks you guys!

I decided to prepare a piece for the Color Palette challenge for the Israel Quilter’s Association. The piece made the cut and is now hanging in the Jerusalem Theater through 15 June 2014. There is an exhibit opening on Thur, 15 May 2014 if you want to join us there. All are welcome. Below is the invitation and a photo of my quilt.

My vision of color is the rainbow formed by fruit at the Jerusalem market, Mahaneh Yehuda, which is a very unique place that challenges our senses. The colors, sounds, smells and flavor of the atmosphere tempt us and pull us into this addictive setting. I tried to evoke this feeling in my quilt.

Six of my quilts will be shown during July and August 2014 at the Chase Family Gallery at the JCC in Greater Hartford, CT. The theme is Connecting Threads with a Jewish Tone. If you can visit the exhibit, it looks like a lovely gallery. Let me know how it is. I wish I could make it, but at least my quilts will be well traveled!

I prepared loads of quilted accessories for the fair at our synagogue. I worked around the clock and have loads of stock now. So, keep that in mind if you need any handmade gifts this summer.
Quilted Accessories
Textile Bags and Purses

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Drawing classes, what a wonderful surprise. I found out I can draw!!! What an amazing discovery. You need a pencil or two, an eraser and a lot of patience. I have a long way to go, but it is a beginning. Now I will tell you a little about what I learned.

I had an epiphany towards the end of the year and I didn’t want to wait till 2014 to start. I thought that if I could improve my drawing skills, my artwork would benefit all around. I sought out a local teacher and thankfully found a talented, creative, energetic art teacher, named Naomi Ocean.

My first real project was of Poor Yorick (Hamlet). I worked on him for 3-4 weeks together with Naomi’s guidance and help. Who knew what one could do with a pencil and an eraser and a lot of precision? The pencil strokes and shading form the face and the background. You can’t just have an image floating on the page though. It has to have a background, right? Shading the background is how you make the focus of your drawing pop. You shade with a pencil but you draw with a pencil and an eraser. Lighter areas are brought out by erasing lightly. It’s all so basic, but not at all simple. I am sure that with these new skills I will find painting with thread even more fun than before. Here are a few shots of Yorick. Let me know what you think of him…

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I took a second day of classes with Phyllis, where she taught the art of portrait in quilting. Here are a few images of Phyllis’s work. I’ll talk more about this in another post.

This summer conference of the Israel Quilters Association was a special one because the group is celebrating its 20th anniversary. There were quite a few guest teachers from the US, England and Scotland in addition to the long list of talented Israeli teachers. I wandered around and saw some wonderful projects. It’s just this kind of gathering that everyone needs to help motivate and jump start new ideas and energies.

The conference opened with a few speeches given by some of the guest teachers.

Alicia Merrett discussed “A Passion for Color”. Her talk dealt with the use of color in quilting. She loves vivid shades and uses color to give different impressions in her work.

The next speaker was Pat Archibald, who took us on some of her journeys and showed us how her travels had inspired her work. Pat, a teacher from Scotland, reminded us about the art of storytelling as well as sharing some amazing art with us. Her stories were mesmerizing, particularly her climb up Mt. Kilimanjaro.

The last speech was given by Phyllis Cullen, who discussed the “Rules of Art”. Phyllis touched on the questions: How? Why? and What? She said that we can take artistic license with color, texture, values of light and dark to bring harmony, variety, contrast and balance to our work. These element lend themselves to movement. By playing with proportion and focal point of a piece you change the balance, tell a story and set a mood. Is your piece abstract? surreal? a landscape? a pictorial story? Phyllis mentioned keeping a journal of sketches, emotions, doodles, words and photos. In summary though her message was to have fun!

The conference was also an opportunity to meet new friends and visit with old friends. A group of participants on the Internet Jewish Quilters chat list attended the conference. Each day a group of us ate lunch together. Now my email pals have faces! I really enjoyed meeting everyone.

Are you getting the impression that I had a great week of learning, sharing and inspiration? You are right! That’s exactly what it was. Below I share some photos from the conference.

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Crazy quilted coat

This is what Riki wrote at the end of the project:
“Last year I came up with the idea of having a quilt made for my
daughter Nediva’s bat mitzvah. I took the design to Cindy because I
knew that she would make a truly wonderful quilt — one that Nediva
would cherish all her life.
When Cindy saw the design, she asked me a question. “Can you use a sewing machine?”
“Yes,” I answered.
“You’re making that quilt,” said Cindy.
I gulped.”I don’t know anything about quilting,” I said.
“Then I will teach you,” said Cindy.
“You will make a quilt for Nediva. It will be meaningful to both of you.”

Cindy helped me choose the material and gave me step-by-step
instrucions on what to buy. She suggested that we use crazy quilting
to create Yosef’s coat. Then we sat together every week for two hours
and worked for about a year. Cindy is an extremely patient teacher.
She shares her hard earned knowledge generously. And she’s great fun
to be with. Not only did I have a teacher, I soon had a friend.

I am looking forward to making many more quilts with Cindy.
Riki Metz”

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Now I know I still need a lot of practice and I know it isn’t perfect, but the face I drew looks like a person. What’s more it looks like the original image I was trying to imitate. We worked from a series of books published by Walter Foster. It opened a whole new world for me. Very exciting! We looked at the intricacies of the features of the face; the shape of each features; the direction and placement of eyes, lips, nose. Once we studied each feature it wasn’t so bewildering. I drew the face you see here with an HB pencil on a sketch pad.

I intend to use this new knowledge in my quilting. As a matter of fact, there is a new challenge coming up in May for the Israel Quilters Association entitled “The Many Faces of Jerusalem.” Seems like the perfect opportunity to try my hand at faces in fabric. If you are interested in finding out more details about this challenge, feel free to contact me.

Now, about my friend Malka. She is an artist from France who teaches art classes in Beit Shemesh and paints wonderfully. In addition she runs a successful bride salon from her home. You can find out more about her salon at this link: Salon Victorine or write to her at: malka75@bezeqint.net

One last comment. I bought a copy of a Walter Foster book at an art shop on Bezalel Street on Friday. I had the best time visiting the art supply shops there. Afterwards I spoke at length to an artist selling her jewelry at a table along Bezalel Street. We had a really interesting chat about running a small business and selling high-end art. That seems to be the place to do it on Fridays in the Jerusalem area. There is traffic: buyers, tourists… It was so good to connect and share ideas with other artists. It was a real inspiration.

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As you can see from the photos some women followed photos they brought with them. Some worked from their imagination. The result was that they enjoyed, relaxed and had a very nice time.

Eileen sent out a mail at the end… “A great big thank you to Cindy Richard for teaching a wonderful class on needle felting. The women’s evening last night was fun filled and relaxing. Cindy taught us the craft of needle felting which was enjoyed by all the attendees. At the end of the evening we each took home our own beautifully handcrafted picture. Thank you to Cindy and all the women that attended!”

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According to Judy Montel, Shulamit’s mom, “Shulamit and her friends, both her school friends and her bnei akiva friends, had a wonderful time with the project, and so did her cousins”.

Here are some photos from the event.

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Have you ever looked out the window and thought, “I would love to capture this scene in a quilt”? Now you can!

The technique taught in this class will enable you to capture your favorite scene in a photograph and create it in a beautiful quilt. Your palate will be fabric and your paint will be thread. You will be able to achieve depth and three-dimensional qualities, almost as if you can walk into the scene yourself.

Level of class: Intermediate

The post I am teaching fiber art quilting classes: Artistic quilt scenes appeared first on CindyRQuilts.

This lovely, handmade, multi-purpose small tote is a great gift idea. It’s handy for taking a few items and still looking fashionable without being loaded down. Tissues, keys, sunglasses and a book. What more do you need?

The dimensions of the finished bag are: 9″ back/front x 2.75″ side panel x 10″ long; 9.5″ handle drop (can be a short shoulder bag or hand-held)
23.5cm back/front x 7cm side panel x 25cm long; 24cm handle drop

The design includes straps that are filled with batting for added comfort. The bag has a cute flower that adds to its beauty.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/78173639/pdf-tutorial-how-to-make-a-quilted
I will email a PDF file of this tutorial upon receipt of your email address and payment. No shipment costs; no waiting!

*** Update***
I have also decided to provide this bag as a combination tutorial / fabric kit in case you don’t have time to shop for fabric. So, visit this second shop item if you prefer having the fabric provided!
http://www.etsy.com/listing/78660521/fabric-kit-tutorial-to-make-a-quilted

************

Required materials for this Tote Bag

 Body of bag: ½ yard pre-quilted fabric or a pieced or plain top fabric with cotton batting and a back that you have quilted together measuring ½ yard
 Coordinating cotton thread
 Binding and Straps: ¼ yard coordinating cotton fabric
 Straps: 1” strip of batting cut into two pieces measuring 1” x 22”
 1 fat quarter lightweight cotton or rayon fabric for the flower
 Strong thread, such as a coated cotton or a polyester for hand sewing the flower
 1 button
 Sewing machine
 Walking foot (optional but recommended)
 Overlock foot (optional but recommended)
 Scissors
 Rotary board, ruler and cutter (optional)
 Iron
 Pins
 Hand sewing needle

Note to my fellow Etsy sellers: You are welcome to sell your finished bag but please limit the numbers so we can all benefit…

Please protect artistic works from misuse and illegal infringement by respecting the copyright laws connected with this original tutorial. All the images and instructional information contained in this tutorial belong solely to CindyRQuilts.

Thanks for visiting.
Enjoy!

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The second half of the class was devoted to embroidery. Carmella took us through the world of embroidery and showed us a number of stitches that we will be able to use on these projects and any future quilts.
 
In addition, other workshops offered during the get-away included Crazy Quilting, Collage, Baltimore Design, and more. The evening events were punctuated by a concert of two harpists and a flutist. The head of the Israel Quilters Organization, Clara Kichel (www.clarakichel.co.il), together with the other members of the committee who arranged the events, did an amazing job. It was a great experience.

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