New ATC themes set for 2011

Get your creative gears turning and be inspired! I've received inquiries for 2011 FiberAntics Artist Trading Card (ATC) swaps, so here are upcoming themes for the first half of the year to keep your interest piqued and your creative juices flowing.

January: It goes with my coffee
February: Feathers
March: Things that changed other things
April: The view from here

     and for 2-month sequence:
May:  First thing in the morning
June: Last thing at night

The FiberAntics ATC swap Rules and Guidelines are posted here. Past and upcoming themes can be found here.

For those who may be unfamiliar with Artist Trading Cards or "ATCs," they are small works of art the size of a baseball trading card: 2.5" x 3.5" (64 mm x 89 mm). They are made one-of-a-kind or in limited editions and are created using various materials: paper, fabric, paint, ink, pencil, thread, embellishments, etc. and any technique: stamping, painting, coloring, collage, stitch, digital printing, mixed media. They are great fun to make, trade and collect!

Wanna trade?? Several great books with examples of ATCs and how-to instructions for making them are available on-line or at your local library. Check them out and join in the fun!

Signs of our times

A short story about signs, quilts made from signs, signs in food, signs all around—here are the ATCs from the August trade with the theme, "Signs."

"A sure sign of Chicken Pox"

left: "Signs?"   right: "Please do not pick the flowers."

left: "Quilts made from Recycled Signs"

right: "A sign is an entity which indicates another entity"

left: "Signs"    right: "Rainbows: a sign of hope and better days..."

And here's a short story about SaraJean and the signs that guide her on her journey through life. The story (and this ATC) unfolds...

 "Signs—a short story"

Watch for the signs. They may lead you in unexpected directions.

Quilt needs a name

Here is a quilty gift for my MIL on her birthday. The featured fabrics are from a fabric line called Flower Show 2 by Benartex. It was quilted and bound in time for her birthday.

However, it needs a name! Got any ideas???

The finished quilt is 59" x 59". It was free-motion quilted on my Janome sewing machine with both cotton and rayon threads.

Feathers appear in the center and on the borders of this quilt. I love quilting free-form feathers. You can squish and moosh and squeeze them into just about any shape or space you need to fill... and they always look good.

For those that are wondering: I don't pre-mark my feathers. I draw the spine guideline with my favorite marking tool [a Chalk-O-Liner] and go from there. I also mark a line about 3/4" to 1/2" from the edge of the quilt top to remind myself of the binding edge.

Give me a good name for this quilt so I can make and attach a label.