A Day of Threadplay with Libby Lehman

I had the most pleasant afternoon last week. I sat down with a cup of tea and watched Libby Lehman’s excellent and enjoyable new DVD, A Day of Threadplay, produced by Ricky Tim’s company.

I took a class from Libby years ago. She was just as warm and friendly than as she is on the DVD. She’s a wonderful teacher, and I think her style translates well from in-person to digital. Go visit her blog if you'd like to get to know her a little better. Before I cover her DVD, check out some of these fantastic quilts from her site:

Skyview II, Crop Circles

Leaves in Living Color

She starts off with some instruction about her famous “Sheer Ribbon Illusion” technique. She walks through an easy small project, but on the way covers some color theory. She also included a fabulous way to chain piece that i just loved.

One thing that is nice on a DVD is that you can stop, rewind, and really get close-up on special techniques. The photography is excellent and clear on this 75 minute DVD. It was a treat watching Libby creating her ribbon illusion with free motion.

Her next subject is her “Potluck Applique” style, which is a great way to design in layers. This is her method of doing reverse applique with her improvements. Libby features the decorative stitches on the machine and some tips on satin stitching like a pro.

The last lesson is “Sheer Fabric” play, in which sheer fabrics are used in layers. Libby shows how to design, handle, and sew these layers for beautiful effect. She also teaches couching and bobbin work.

Even for an experienced quilter and sewer, there is lots of great instruction and tips here. She even shows you her binding method, one that I'd like to use soon. This DVD is so rich in useful information and techniques for all quilters, and it’s one of the best I've seen!

AND!!! I have a copy to GIVEAWAY. One lucky commenter will win. You have until February 27th at midnight to make your mark down below in the comment section.

And if you don't win, or you just can’t wait, go to Ricky's site and order your own. They’re on sale as of today. You won’t regret it!

Koos and Coat, Koos Coat

Kathryn Brenne has written many interesting articles about complex subjects for Threads magazine. I've followed her for years. A couple years ago she had Koos come to her studio in Canada to teach for a weekend. I believe it was his first time travelling to a do a small workshop. He loved it!  She had a post recently about putting together a Koos coat she wore to visit Koos in his studio.In the post she notes that he plans to teach again this Fall. Search her blog to see what the class created last time. I hear it was quite successful; the garments looked great! These pictures come directly from

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This coat is a new Koos Vogue pattern that we previewed on my blog. It’s been getting a lot of buzz on the web and in print. Its nickname is the stegosaurus coat for the scallop edges!  Funny. The coat, stegosaurus aside, has a sophisticated, stylish shape. I love the buttonhole embellishment!  Kathryn made it and did a perfect job choosing the fabrics.

Check out her website for her very creative workshops....remaking a fur coat and working with leather sound wonderful to me!

Cross Roads by Leonie Castelino

From Leonie Castelina, the superb Bojagi artist, this press release and photos.

‘CROSS ROADS’, A Work of Art in Contemporary Bojagi by Leonie Castelino was exhibited at the Henan Art Museum in  Zhengzhou City, China, at the 6^th  Fiber Art Biennale From Lausanne to Beijing in October – November 2010.  It was one of 291 works of fiber art from artists all over the world.

In ‘CROSS ROADS’, Leonie explores ‘Mandala and the Cosmic Stream of Consciousness’, in the distinctive elements of Pojagi or Bojagi: material, architecture, seams, transparency, color,  composition and design.  Color in the background material is layered and juxtaposed, so that at different vantage points, the hue changes.  The medallion is textured with the intricate ‘gekki’ or triple seams and layered. The black organza has been rusted and exudes a subtle patterning. Hints of shimmer of metallic organza are interspersed. The work is described as feminine with a sensuous mystique.  This work of art is created with silk organza, machine and hand pieced.  It measures 28” x 61”.

Noriko Endo Exhibition

Noriko Endo, author of the book Confetti Naturescapes, had a solo exhibition at a gallery In Tokyo the last week of January. It was the same time as the giant quilt show in the Tokyo Dome near by so she had lots of traffic!  She estimated that 400 people came in to see her work.

Lee Nakamoto from Accuquilt in Nebraska was there and took these photos to share. Keep in mind while you look at the pictures that the detail is hard to capture in photos, particularly in the large quilts.

Check Noriko's website o see where she'll be teaching in your area.  She is teaching at both Quilt Festivals this year in Cincinnati and Houston and I got her to teach for our new Columbus Modern Quilt guild also!  Looking forward to taking her class myself.

Winter Knitting

Knitting might be off the topic of books and quilting, but great minds think outside the box. Great minds think about knitting scarves when they are surrounded by snow and ice.

For Christmas my boys got me two balls of mohair/silk yarn. That’s right. My boys bought yarn at the yarn store. And, yes, I might have sent them to my favorite local yarn store, and yes, I might have given them the pattern to take with them, but they chose the yarn and color by themselves. And yes, they did a great job.

The pattern was really interesting. I chanced upon it while browsing on Etsy.com (it’s part of a winter retail therapy program my health demands). This particular scarf really caught my eye. It was gorgeous and intriguing. I could not figure out the technique out from the pictures or product description. What could I do? BUY! Here’s a pic from the Etsy shop (VitalTemptation of Brooklyn NY):

And here’s a link to the listing: Shibori Style Felted Bobble Knit Scarf Pattern

I downloaded the pattern and Eureka! Those bobbles are so clever. So easy. I grabbed my needles and my yarn and started knitting. I’m not going to divulge the secret behind the bobble bubbles (It can be yours for $5.50 from the pattern author) but it is so, so nifty. Look at this close up from the Etsy site:

I think I'll look around etsy patterns more often.

Montano Giveaway Winner

The winner is:

BillieBee. She graciously posted a little note about it on her blog. Congratulations and thanks, BillieBee! Leslie V was runner-up winner of the book.

Keep us posted about what you make out of all this great stuff!