Last year  The Modern Quilt Guild approached me and asked me what I thought about partnering and launching the first Modern Quilt Masters retreat at my place in Napa.

I was more than game! I have found the board of the National Modern Quilt Guild extremely forward thinking and easy to work with, and when they pitched Denyse Schmidt as the teacher for the four-day retreat at my place, I was in! The 12-student, immersive four-day retreat sold out very quickly. BERNINA of America and Meissner’s were generous to provide sewing machines for student use, and I was able to secure an amazing chef in Napa to cook us lunch every day. We ate great food, drank some local/boutique wine, some hiked in the neighboring mountainside, others dabbled in a Sunday Fun Day with a Bloody Mary bar here in my barn, we enjoyed a pool-side BBQ with partners/spouses/friends, but most importantly, we created quilts…

Everyone was so prolific:

Another case in point:

We had plenty of critique time with Denyse who was so giving of herself.

And a special guest showed up…Jennifer Sampou.

More work in progress…

I am so grateful to have hosted this retreat. I did not get very far in my top, but I will. Craft Napa 2018 registration launches in a few days and I have been a bit busy getting it ready. This next Craft Napa event has grown a lot…17 teachers with …drumroll…41 workshops over the four days!

I want to thank the Modern Quilt Guild, Meissner’s, BERNINA USA, and Denyse Schmidt for such generosity and collaboration this past week.

Cheers to all,

Pokey

Thank you Pantone for choosing such a gorgeous Color of the Year for 2017:

Pantone deems “Greenery” a color that is “life-affirming, emblematic of the pursuits of personal passions and vitality.”

I agree. Green has always been my very favorite color that I have found both calming yet invigorating. And in dealing with the stress of today’s heated political climate, I find myself more than ever going to my studio at night and immersing myself in this leafy color that celebrates the promises of flourishing, hope, and growth.

Thanks to one of the most precipitous winters ever on record in California, we are reaping the rewards of green in Napa. Below is a view from the top of my street in Napa. In the distance you can see where the San Pablo Bay (which is a part of the San Francisco Bay) meets the shoreline at its most northern tip.

The Pantone websites offers “pairings” for their featured color of the year– fitting language for wine country! I like the Transitions pairing the most:

The county of Napa concurs; I snapped the following recently here at my place:

Here is to warm, springtime, verdant days ahead for all.

Happy Spring,

QuiltCon East just transpired and for those of us who didn’t go, maybe you were like me: sitting in your kitchen compulsively eating microwave popcorn, refreshing your Instagram feed, eagerly awaiting to see friends and colleagues at the meet-ups, read about their observations of the show, and of course, to see the winning quilts! I also wanted to see how teaching was going for my friends, especially those new to teaching.

Just last week, working out at my local gym here in Napa, a quilting friend of mine waved at a distance and shouted, “I did two classes today in readying for a shrimp and grits feast in Savannah!”

She was QuiltCon bound, and I was so jealous!

I was jealous because of the camaraderie, the networking, the inspiration I have found at QuiltCon. I have been to every edition, and this past one in 2016 in Pasadena, frankly, bowled me over. I am very impressed with the production of this show and how quickly they have been able to develop it in a very sophisticated, forward-thinking manner, not to mention the excitement that manufacturers and movers and shakers in this industry have for it.

The reason I didn’t go to QuiltCon this year was because I got another upcoming invitation that was a conflict: an invitation to…well…Disneyworld.

When you can only be away so much, and only take so many transcontinental treks…it’s family first. So instead of seeing the best in show quilt in person at QuiltCon, in a couple of days, my niece and/or nephew will be my seat mate on the Crush ‘n Gusher…or The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Underground Adventure–whatever they choose.

In the meantime, today I was interviewed by Abby Glassenburg, co-founder of Craft Industry Alliance and founder/host of the While She Naps podcast. We have a shared history; we both were public school teachers and taught in the same school district nearly at the same time in Massachusetts. She is a true journalist, she asks questions and seeks answers in order to gain an understanding to issues that have not been previously addressed in this industry, with the designer, the crafter, the author, the teacher, the talent in mind. I wish we had a couple more hours to talk. Her podcast with me as a guest will go live this Monday, March 6th.

So tomorrow I head east–not to view amazing quilts–but to raise my arms high above my head, screaming at the top of my lungs at the peak of Expedition Everest, smiling, with a niece or nephew by my side. Because in five or so years, they will be moving on,  and I won’t be asked to sit next to them on a roller coaster probably ever again.

QuiltCon will still be there, but for this year, I am trading the viewing of quilts and quilter camaraderie for a pair of Mickey Mouse ears.

And I am totally good with that.

What a month of weather in Northern CA! Today, it was confirmed by officials: this is the wettest winter ever on record for the state of California, and we certainly felt that in Napa. MY AT&T services (Internet, microcell tower so I can make and accept calls, alarm, etc.) were out for nine straight days, and mudslides and road closures were rampant in my Mt. Veeder/Browns Valley neighborhood, as were downed trees. Case in point:

When I moved here, I had a prized olive tree in my garden.

But last week…my olive tree couldn’t take the constant winds and pressure from the rains and it split, limb by limb. Notice where my power line is (a bit anxiety-provoking). But fortunately through the app Next Door, I found someone who is a woodworker in my neighborhood, and with the help of a friend with a chainsaw, they cut most of it up. Now my neighbor has a lot of wood to make furniture, and I have wood for my pizza oven and leaves for monoprinting.

Meteorologists predict that the heavy rains for the most part have ended for the season, as has the historic drought in CA! I am truly looking forward to brighter, sunnier days ahead. This view the other day from my art barn was a very welcomed site:

And speaking of bright and sunny days, this special individual (below) is coming to lead a very small, intensive, 4-day retreat in June! I am very honored to be working with the Modern Quilt Guild to bring Denyse Schmidt to Napa for improvisational quilting. All of the information and retreat particulars can be found on the Modern Quilt Masters website.

Cheers to a creative weekend! Pretty soon this is what my BBQ area will look like again, and I am looking forward to enjoying the fruits of Napa Valley, olives included (even if they aren’t my own).  🙂

I’m honored to be closing out Melanie Testa and Carol Soderlund’s author blog hop for their brand new book, Playful Fabric Printing that is now available!

As the publisher, it was a pleasure to work with these two talented artists so this book could at long last see the light of day.

The book is chock-full of techniques, color recipes, and step-by-step instructions for printing your own fabrics using thickened dyes and low-tech, easily accessible tools.

I get asked all the time, why thickened dyes vs. fabric paint? I actually like to print with both. Paint sits on top of the fabric, and when dry, it can have a bit of a stiff hand to it (depending upon the brand and type)–sometimes this is wanted as it adds wonderful texture. I use fabric paints most especially in my art quilts and fabric collages. However, when you use thickened dyes (dyes with print paste added), the dyes act like paint–you can stamp, screenprint, monoprint, etc., but when you wash the dyes out, you are left with a fabric that has a very soft hand, and plays really well with commercial fabrics for quilts and projects.

My Latest Print Session and a Hack for Batching

The other day I plucked some lemons from my Meyer lemon tree for stamping. I like to layer color on my prints; I often first monoprint a background color with thickened dyes, let that layer dry, and then apply a Thermofax screen, stamp, or stencil, letting each layer of thickened dye dry before applying another layer of print work.

Once I think a piece of fabric is finished with layers of printing, and the fabric is completely dry, it’s time to “batch” the fabrics so that the dyes permanently soak into the fibers. (If you skip this step, most of the dyes will completely wash out when rinsing.) Batching takes time and a moist environment, and traditionally you batch fabrics overnight by rolling the printed fabrics in plastic and placing in a dark bathroom or closet.

This means waiting to use the fabrics…and I do not like to wait.

However, Carol and Melly  taught me the best hack ever: creating your own steam system where the fabric dyes set in just 20 minutes.

Meet what I like to call Cousin Itt:

See the resemblance?

The directions for assembling this steam system are in the book, and for me, one of my biggest take-aways. This easy-to-assemble steam system means I can walk into my studio in the morning, and just a few hours later, come away with stacks and stacks of printed fabrics that I can then quilt with immediately. All you need is a a rice cooker with a steam basket, metal duct, wire mesh,  cheesecloth, newsprint, foil, and a towel, among a few other tools for assembly. Below I am showing some local quilting friends how this steam system works.

To the left in this photo, you can see that the metal duct is sitting in the rice cooker with a steam basket (with some water on the bottom). I am holding the inner tube (rolled wire mesh with cheesecloth stitched around it) where you wrap your fabrics with layers of newsprint. Once you’ve rolled your layered fabrics and newsprint around the inner tube and secured with masking tape,  set this inner tube inside the metal duct. Place a towel on top, then wrap both the top and the bottom with foil to keep the steam from leaking out. Set your timer for 20 minutes, and when done steaming, the fabrics are ready to be rinsed and stitched.

I have so many plans for quilt making with my prints, and I am really looking forward to experimenting with the numerous techniques and dye recipes in this book.

So to close out this blog, I want to ask the following question. Leave your answer in the comments area, and I will randomly select a winner to get a free copy of the book.

Question: If you could create your own fabrics, what motifs would you feature? And if you have printed your own fabrics and they are viewable online, please share the link so we can see!

To see the other blogs in this blog hop (many with techniques and demos) click the following:

Melly Testa
http://melanietesta.com/blog/

Carol Soderlund
http://www.carolsoderlund.com/blog/

Lisa Chin
http://somethingcleveraboutnothing.blogspot.com

Julie Fei-Fan Balzer
http://www.balzerdesigns.typepad.com/

Judy Coates Perez
http://www.judycoatesperez.com

Carrie Bloomston
http://www.carriebloomston.com/blog/

Lynn Krawcyzk
http://smudgeddesignstudio.com

Leslie Tucker Jenison
http://leslietuckerjenison.blogspot.com

I have finally recovered! Our second edition of CRAFT NAPA went so well, and it was a welcomed bit of respite from the outside world for a few days.  Some fun facts: We had nearly 200 students (up from 113 last year), 12 teachers for 33 workshops, an Artists’ Market, Wine Blending Competition, and a three-hour tour on the Wine Train to close the four-day event.

A few of us after a day of workshops:

So grateful to BERNINA of America and Meissner’s Sewing for providing BERNINAs for 3 full classrooms and sewing stations in others. Below is Jennifer Gigas, tireless as always, on the opening night of the event, offering up a free BERNINA sewing machine.

There was a lot of opining at the Artists’ View Luncheon where our teachers fielded honest and candid questions from students about manufacturers, supplies, inspiration, best practices, and copyright issues. I took so many things away from this luncheon, but here is a fun fact, explained by Victoria Findlay Wolfe: If you have Accuquilt dies, they will work on your Sizzix machines. Sizzix dyes will not work on your Accuquilt machines, so if you have both, the take-away is Sizzix can handle both!

What some old UFO’s morphed into after Lynn Krawczyk’s UFO workshop…

THANK YOU BERNINA of America and Meissner’s…these machines for free-motion quilting and piecing worked like a dream.

During CRAFT NAPA, we discussed a lot about design and color, including how to repurpose vintage blocks:

Leslie Jenison explaining how to use vintage blocks to turn into a modern quilt.

We studied art history and challenged ourselves to make mini-collages with minimal tools like strips of paper from brown paper bags:

We blended wine led by a vintner who gave each team some measuring cups, beakers, bottles of Merlot, Malbec, Cab Franc, and Cab Sauvignon to create a winning blend (chosen by blind judging).

We took this wine blending pretty seriously; the winning team got to have their wine bottled and given to all participants. (It turns out my team, “The Crafting Winos” won…but I swear it was not rigged!)

We studied shapes and movement in art (and admired Carrie Bloomston’s arm muscles).

We sold LOTS of fabric and supplies at the Artists’ Market. A peek at Jennifer Sampou’s booth…

40 of us closed the event with a wine train excursion, a three-hour tour up Napa Valley and back on a vintage Pullman train.

This was an incredibly fun time together.

But for me, one of the shining moments was hosting Open Studios with Melanie Testa and Carol Soderlund, the two authors for PLAYFUL FABRIC PRINTING. On Saturday these two artists turned the central area at the Embassy Suites into a dye studio and signed books for the masses.

Totally normal to sign books while donning dust masks and mixing dyes, right?

I surprised them with a cake that included the cover of their book…

They loved it, and I made them cry (there is a video of that on Facebook). It was my goal to make them cry. 😉

What made me cry was the ENTIRE cake was eaten, and it hurt me immensely to cut up the cover. But the cake was dee-lish (yellow cake with vanilla icing and a lemon filling).

All in all, it was a such a fun time together. Craft Napa was about making art and embracing our community. Next year’s dates are January 10-14, 2018, and I have plans to change things up. Please save the dates. Until then, thank you, and CHEERS!

Wow, 2016, I have to give you credit. You sure were interesting! This was certainly a year of extremes, and I am choosing to focus on the positives, because– with much gratitude–I can say I had a lot of them.

A few examples…

My dream of building and completing the dream studio space and to share it with friends has become a reality. My studio space/ art barn is done.

The inaugural Craft Napa took place at the Embassy Suites/Napa this past January! We had about 120 students for the first go, and thanks to Meissner’s Sewing and BERNINA of America, we had such a successful first retreat!

We screen-printed, made improvisational quilts, free-motion quilted, collaged, laughed, cried, ate great food, and made wine together.

And students made some incredible art:

Soy wax batik examples from Melly Testa’s workshop.

And for those of us who have spent time together in this industry over the years, we reminisced during the reception in my art barn.

When it was over, some of us took a silly picture to commemorate the success. Yes, I am sitting in a piñata I commissioned to thank BERNINA for sponsoring. I had filled this piñata with Aurifil thread that every student had a chance to whack and grab during the retreat.

A few months later…we had a photo shoot for our first book: Playful Fabric Printing by Melanie Testa and Carol Soderlund. Picture below shows all of the step-out piles, in order (by chapter) to be shot.

It took nearly a full week to shoot and we were inspired during the shoot to take some other artful shots, too, like reflections of tiny mason jars filled with dye placed on cement.

Indigo Perez, location photographer and artist, doing her thing:

A detail of this styled shot ended up on the cover.

And as all good photo shoots should wrap, we had a pizza party with wine, swimming, and a dog on a fruit floatie.

This year, too, I was able to create a few quilts. Here are three that were extra special to me. One for a dear friend and special former colleague of mine, Carmen Beck for her newborn daughter…

Quilt in the piecing stage; I got the pattern from the magazine Quilt Moderne, by Michelle of Sew Demented.

This kid is going to be BOSS of quilting someday…look at the confident expression as she stares at the Best in Show quilt at Quilt Festival!

I made this too, for my new Godson, Hunter (pattern by Elizabeth Hartman, baby by Lindsey and Fergal McLelland).

I was very worried I would drop him during the baptism…

Thankfully, I did not.

And there was this art quilt, my quilt to honor Yvonne Porcella, for an exhibit I put together to celebrate her life. I dubbed this quilt, “Go Forth and Fruit.” Yvonne has been one of my greatest mentors and someone who challenged me and guided me in my career over the years.

One of Yvonne’s sons, Greg and his wife to see the exhibit debut at Quilting in the Garden at Alden Lane this past September.

And finally, just yesterday, I got one advance copy of Playful Fabric Printing. I am pretty happy with it.

Lastly, I feel so blessed I live here in Napa. I took this picture in early February of this year of the budding mustard flowers. I can’t wait to have everyone for the next edition of Craft Napa in less than two weeks.

I wish everyone a blessed new year!
Pokey Bolton

I lost an important person to me yesterday.

There have been two very strong matriarchs in my life, their collective weight probably totaled less than 150 pounds— my grandmother Anne Chatham (“Gran”) who passed nearly four years ago, and the other, Ruth Nichols (“Fooey”), who passed away yesterday.

Both of these women were formidable to me and could give the Dowager Countess from “Downton Abbey” a run for her money: opinionated, strong, take-no-prisoners, both saw a lot in their lifetimes, lived well into their 90’s, and they both were tiny.

To say I adored both of them would be an understatement, and I think I am taking Fooey’s death hard, because selfishly, and even though I am in my mid-40’s and trying to “adult” as best I can, I can no longer run to my grandmother’s house when I am upset and in need of a hug or a caramel apple.

About Fooey

When I was little, I couldn’t pronounce my ‘r’s so Ruthie most easily morphed to “Fooey,” and to this day, I never called her Ruth or Ruthie, it was always Fooey.

In the summers I would go to “Camp Fooey’s” for a week or two. I swam for hours; hit a tennis ball against the garage door; colored page upon page with my fruit-scented markers, then sold said colored pages to her (for a price); played Mad Libs with her; and ate bear claws in her bed all the while getting hooked on “All My Children” and learning Relationship Issues through the eyes of Erika Kane.

We made truckloads of caramel apples; ate blueberry waffles with ice cream and syrup for dinner; and she taught me a very important life skill: how to catalog shop with a discerning eye. My favorite activity though, was sitting on her bed, talking and watching TV, with one of her mother’s many hand-quilted quilts tucked “up just to our noses.” I asked a lot of questions about those hand-quilted quilts over the years, not knowing then that those very quilts would inspire me to pursue a life-long career in the quilt industry.

Having been away from California for nearly 25 years and moving back fairly recently, gave our relationship a boost. I could see her more frequently and the last few visits, she would rifle through her jackets and blouses in her closet, tell me to try them on, and then say, “Oooh, you look darling in that! Take it!” (Whether I liked the jacket or not, I had no choice, I had to take it.)

This picture…this picture just makes me choke up, every time.

It is a picture of Jim Timmins helping Fooey walk across the street to a restaurant in downtown Los Altos. I have no idea what possessed me to take this, but I snapped it on my iPhone and I am so grateful I did, because to me she’s just adorable in it.

Oh, Fooey, I am going to miss you. Thank you for being in my life. I was the luckiest of granddaughters.

Thanks to all who offered your opinions for the cover of our new book Playful Fabric Printing by Melanie Testa and Carol Soderlund from my last post! I received more than 500 responses on the poll alone, and Option #3 was the clear winner (but with some tweaks). Here is the cover we are using:

I cannot tell you how excited I am about this book (available mid-January)! It is 144 pages of pure inspiration, instruction, and ideas for creating your own fabrics and also combining your fabrics with commercial prints and solids to make beautiful quilts and projects. A mock spread of the interior:

And another:

And I have really great news for anyone coming to CRAFT NAPA next month (or anyone in the greater Bay Area): BOTH Melanie Testa and Carol Soderlund will be on hand at CRAFT NAPA for book signings and also to demonstrate fabric printing techniques all day Saturday, January 14, 2017 in the Fountain Court at The Embassy Suites in downtown Napa. So even if you are not signed up for classes, please do come by and meet them! (Be sure to tell your friends, too.)

I hope everyone has some creative plans this weekend. I have both days dedicated entirely to screen printing and stitching my holiday cards and working on a lap quilt for a Christmas gift. Hope to share progress on both early next week.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Pokey

As mentioned in my previous post, we are going to press in a matter of days for Playful Fabric Printing, a co-authored book by Melanie Testa and Carol Soderlund.

Melly Testa (left) Carol Soderlund (right)

As someone who loves surface design, printing, and quilting, I am incredibly honored to be publishing this book, and would love your help choosing a cover. If you make a choice, please leave a comment in the blog comments section, and when the book is available in January, I will randomly select 5 names and send a copy to each!

A bit more information about the book:

Printing your own fabric opens up an entire new world of design, especially for quilters, sewists, and other textile artists. Until now, the process of printing with dyes could seem difficult to learn and even harder to implement. But Carol Soderlund and Melanie Testa have taken all the stumbling blocks out of the way of would-be fabric dyers and printers.

With step-by-step advice, instruction, and photographs, this book is a master class in using dyes and low-tech equipment to print your own fabric, and it begins at the beginning. If you’ve never handled dyes before, never designed your own print motifs, aren’t even sure what supplies or space you might need, everything you want to know is here. More advanced students will value the in-depth presentation of techniques, tools, and insights into approaching fabric printing as an art and taking your work to the next level.

The opportunities for fun creative expression and producing your most original and exciting fabric work ever are unlimited with Carol and Melanie’s friendly help. It’s time to try playful fabric printing!