AQ Contributing Editor wins challenge!

American Quilter magazine contributing editor Kathie R. Kerler won first place in the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum’s Evolution Challenge with her quilt named At the Ocean's Edge. (Photo above taken by Mark Frey.) The challenge for quilters was to make a quilt based on something new—an idea, method, or device. Kathie’s quilt features an innovative technique, with dimensionality created through “mobius trefoils.” These trefoils are strips of fabric which are sewn, folded, and flattened into triangular shapes (photo below right). She hand quilted the trefoils, hand sewed them together, then hand appliquéd them to the background fabric. The background is machine quilted, and the wave border features a hand-couched metallic braid.

The quilt was made in response to an exhibition called Landscape of the Whale at the Cannon Beach History Center and Museum. The purpose of the exhibition was to promote awareness of a plan developed by the community of Cannon Beach called the Greater Ecola Natural Area Plan. The plan's goal is to create a community with a strong sense of place, protecting and enhancing the natural environment of ocean, beach, the Ecola Creek estuary, and surrounding forested hillsides. Also, for the past 40 years a beach clean-up called SOLV (Stop Oregon Litter and Vandalism) takes place in both spring and fall up and down the Oregon coast during which volunteers remove tons of litter from the shoreline. To honor this desire to protect the area's beaches and way of life, it seemed natural to Kathie to use the mobius trefoil recycling symbol.

Kathie made another spectacular quilt featuring the mobius trefoil technique. This quilt, called Framing the Future, was designed to celebrate Oregon’s 150 year anniversary of U.S. statehood. That's Kathie in the photo with her quilt. More information on this quilt and also complete instructions for making fabric trefoils are on pages 22-24 of the July 2010 issue of American Quilter magazine. AQS members can also access this article online at http://www.americanquilter.com/. Kathie earned certificates in design and embroidery from The City and Guilds of London Institute, and attended the Lesage School of Needlework in Paris, France. Kathie is also a quilt judge certified by the National Quilting Association. We at American Quilter magazine congratulate Kathie and are proud to have her as part of our editorial team.

Paducah, here we come!

Paducah, Kentucky, site of the 26th annual AQS Quilt Show and Contest, is buzzing with activity in advance of the show opening next week (read more at http://AQSQuiltnews.blogspot.com/). By the time we offsite editors arrive on Monday, April 19th, the quilts will have been judged, winners selected, vendors arrived, and general preparations completed. All of the AQS Paducah staff and hundreds of volunteers work long hours for months in advance to pull this incredible show together. I feel privileged to be a part of this amazing tradition and look forward eagerly to it each year.

Three American Quilter magazine editors (Iris Frank, Kathie R. Kerler, and me) will be attending the Paducah show this year. (That's Iris on the left and Kathie on the right.) We'll be interviewing major award winners and doing all the write-ups on winning quilts for the next issue of AQ. But we're also at the show to find new article ideas and explore the newest techniques to present to readers in upcoming issues. Do you have an idea for an article, or have you developed an unusual or creative technique not previously published? We'd love to talk with you. Have you made a quilt from a pattern published in any recent issue of American Quilter? Bring photos or show us your digital images and we'll "publish" you on the AQS Web site.

There are a couple ways to find us. The editors' office is on the second floor of the conference center, in the hallway outside of booth 3801. To speak with any one of us about a possible article, stop by the office and leave a message if we're not there. Or, you can leave your name and cell phone number at the AQS membership desk and we'll get in touch with you. If you see us during the show, please say hello and let us know what you like about American Quilter and what we can do to improve. Feedback from readers is so important!

Easy Fabric Dyeing

(Submitted by Kathie R. Kerler, American Quilter magazine contributing editor)

Hand-dyed fabrics are popular among quilters. Some use hand dyes because they like the mottled effect, while others want a gradated range of shades within a single color for a project. Many quilters think only of immersion dyeing and are not familiar with a product called Dye-Na-Flow by Jacquard. This product offers an easy way to dye or color fabric without using tubs or baggies, large quantities of water, or salt and soda ash. Other products may be similar to Dye-Na-Flow, but this is what I have the most experience with. It is available online or at many retail shops.
Dye-Na-Flow is a concentrated liquid color that can be used on any fabric, natural or synthetic. I have colored silk, organza, and most often cotton. After dyeing with Dye-Na-Flow, the hand of the fabric does not change. It remains soft and easy to stitch.
To use, simply mix a small amount of the Dye-Na-Flow concentrate with water in a cup. Tape your fabric down over a sheet of plastic and paint on the color with a sponge brush. It doesn’t take much concentrate to color a large piece of fabric. Add a little Dye-Na-Flow to a small amount of water, maybe ¼ to a ½ cup at a time, until you obtain the intensity desired. Because it doesn’t take much product, the smallest jar at 2.25 oz. lasts a long time. While the manufacturer does not make any claims, I have had some jars for more than ten years, and the product is still fine. The finished fabric is heat set for 2 – 3 minutes with an iron.
You can manipulate the fabric and Dye-Na-Flow for a variety of effects. If you spray the fabric before applying the colors, as I did, they will mix more. You can use salts to create bursts of color. Or you can do what I did on the sample shown here and scrunch up the fabric so that as it dries, the colors pool in the “valleys” and leave striations. This is not an exact science—experiment to get the look you like.

Whidbey Island for quilters

I’m Kathie Kerler, contributing editor to American Quilter magazine. I recently spent time on Whidbey Island located in Washington’s Puget Sound, home to amazing places and opportunities of interest to quilters.

I attended a great four-day design workshop at Gail Harker Creative Studies Center in Oak Harbor. Gail offers numerous classes and courses such as Experimental Machine Stitch and Studies in Art and Color (www.gailcreativestudies.com). Just ten miles south is the Pacific Northwest Art School in Coupeville. The school features a wide variety of fiber arts workshops with renowned quilters (www.pacificnorthwestartschool.com).

Whidbey Island offers a variety of lodging options, but a special one is Whidbey Island Creative Escape. This four-bedroom, three-bathroom home is nestled in the woods and set up with quilters, crafters, and artists of all types in mind. There are eight tables and lamps in the workspace, allowing plenty of room for each person. Along with a large kitchen, the retreat has a gas fireplace and Jacuzzi tub for relaxing after a day of creating.

If you’ve forgotten some supplies or want to buy fabric, quilt shops abound. At the north end of the island you will find Sundown Quilt Shop in Coupeville at 101 NW Coveland St., Suite B, and a bead shop just a block or two away. In Oak Harbor, there is Quilters Workshop, located next to a yarn store at 715 S.E. Fidalgo Avenue, #105. The Quilt Shop is in Anacortes at 820 Commercial Avenue. At the island’s south end in Freeland is Island Fabrics at 1609 Main Street. Nearby is the town of Langley where you’ll find Quilting by the Sea tucked into a courtyard at 221 2nd Street, Suite 6.

Currently, there is a quilt exhibit by the Contemporary QuiltArt Association of Washington at Penn Cove Pottery, 26184 State Route 20, Coupeville, (360) 678-6464. The photo shows a view from Penn Cove. As you drive the island, you will see a Naval Air Station, farms, sailboats in bays, and at the north end, the stunning Deception Pass and State Park. Whidbey Island is also home to 40 pairs of eagles.

Cannon Beach, Oregon

My name is Kathie Kerler, and I’m a contributing editor for American Quilter magazine. I’m lucky enough to live within 90 minutes of the Oregon Coast and enjoy going there often for a weekend. My favorite town is Cannon Beach—a great place with something for everyone. You can hike at Ecola State Park. In December and April, there’s whale watching as the mammals pass by on their way between birthing and feeding grounds. If you want to fly a kite on the beach but haven’t brought one, you can buy one at a local shop. Tidal pools on the shoreline teem with starfish, anemones, barnacles, and tiny crab, while puffins roost atop popular Haystack Rock, and pelicans fly overhead. In town there are galleries, restaurants, and a variety of places to stay. If all of that isn’t enough, there’s Center Diamond, a wonderful quilt and fabric shop open seven days a week. The shop is located at 1065 S. Hemlock Street in Cannon Beach, phone (503) 436-0833 and Web site www.CenterDiamond.com. Owner Julie Walker specializes in contemporary fabrics, offering a wide selection of batiks and a separate Asian fabric section. Next door is a glass-blowing studio, while across the street is a coffee shop and an adjoining art gallery. Just a short distance away, visit the quilt gallery at the Cannon Beach History Museum and Center. Each quarter there’s a new show featuring Northwest quilters. (Submitted by Kathie R. Kerler, contributing editor for American Quilter magazine)