WHO NEEDS MARCH MADNESS?!? WE’VE GOT MOJO!
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Just log onto www.toginet.com for a brand-new,
LIVE, 2-hour
Creative Mojo with Mark Lipinski!
3 pm -5 pm EST 2 pm – 4 pm CST 1 pm – 3 pm MST 12 pm – 2 pm PST
Call into the live show with your questions or comments for my guests
(877) 864-4869
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CLICK HERE to join Mark’s FACEBOOK Fan Page!
CLICK HERE to follow Mark’s Twitter updates!
CLICK HERE to join Mark’s Pickle Road Studio Posse on Yahoo!
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MEET MY CO-HOST
Art Director, Designer, Mr. Electric Himself
JEFF TURNER
A little-known fact about Jeff:
As an Art Director…Jeff designed the Allegra Logo!
So, next time you’re sniffly and you reach for these…
…think of our very own Mr. Electric!
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MEET
Quilters, Guild Members, Community Organizers, Proud Texans
MONECA OSBON & JANE BURRELL!
They’re giving us the skinny on the Fredericksburg Sister City Quilt, created by members of the Montabaur Patchwork Quilters in Germany, and assembled by the Vereins Quilt Guild in Fredericksburg, Texas!
In 1996, the city of Fredericksburg, Texas held a week-long celebration commemorating its 150th birthday. As a part of that celebration, a quilt show was held. The show was put together by volunteers who had a love for quilts and quilting. During the course of planning and executing that show, it was evident that a number of women in Fredericksburg were interested in having a guild where quilters could meet on a regular basis. In September 1997, a group of volunteers from the 150th show helped to organize a guild with the first guild meeting being held in November 1997. At that meeting there were 42 women who signed up as charter members. The Guild was named in January 1998 and at the end of its first full year, the Vereins Quilt Guild of Fredericksburg had grown to 162 members who actively participate in all phases of guild activities.
In the spirit of cooperation and sharing, a Twinning or Sister City Agreement between the Verbandsgemeinde of Montabaur in Germany and the City of Fredericksburg (TX) in the United States was created in September 1997. Today, a handmade quilt, made cooperatively by citizens in both cities, hangs in the Visitor Information Center (VIC) at 302 East Austin Street, in Fredericksburg, Texas.
Members of the Montabaur Patchwork Quilters created colorful blocks and mailed them for assembly to the Vereins Quilt Guild of Fredericksburg. The quilt, designed with four blocks across and five down pattern, is bordered in black with touches of gold and red. Fat Quarter Bee members of the Vereins Quilt Guild assembled the pieces and it was quilted by Guild member, Moneca Osbon.
The completed quilt was presented to the City in Fredericksburg in May 2006 during the city’s 160th anniversary celebration. Fredericksburg was founded in 1846 by German settlers, many from Westerwald and the region that is now Montabaur, in Germany. After being stored, the quilt now hangs proudly for all to see in the Fredericksburg Visitor Information Center.
“This is a true cooperation between cities joined through their heritage and history. Knowing that pieces of this beautiful quilt were made in Germany and shipped here, is a true testament of the spirit of the Twinning Agreement that binds both cities,” says Ernie Loeffler, director of the Fredericksburg Convention and Visitor Bureau, the organization that operates the Visitor Information Center which is open 361 days of the year to the public for visitor-related information.
Loeffler adds, “Come see the quilt. Once you know its background, it’s tough not to be amazed by what all went in to its creation. And our sincere thanks to all of the participants in Montabaur and Fredericksburg who created this beautiful work of fabric art.”
Detail from the exchange quilt:
Meet the cities that fostered these artists! Fredericksburg, TX:
(Now you’re talkin’!! Clearly, THIS is a city after my own heart!)
German heritage is deeply meaningful to Fredericksburg’s townsfolk:
And their sister city, Montabaur, Germany:
(More shopping, ja!)
CLICK HERE for the Vereins Quilt Guild’s website!
CLICK HERE to visit Fredericksburg, Texas online!
Fredericksburg’s on TWITTER and FACEBOOK!
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MEET
Writer, Quilt Designer, Teacher
CHERYL ARKISON
About CHERYL . . .
Cheryl Arkison is a writer, quilt designer, teacher, mom, sister, daughter, and the bestest wife ever.
The focus of Cheryl’s writing is on food, family, travel, and craft. She is the Food Editor for What’s Up Families magazine and has contributed to the Edmonton Journal, the Calgary Herald, and Christmas 365. Her work can also be found online at delishmag.com, simplebites.net, babble.com, & foodnetwork.com.
Her first book, co-authored with Amanda Jean Nyberg (above left), is called Sunday Morning Quilts. It has just been published by Stash Books!
As a quilter, Cheryl’s designs have been featured in Fat Quarterly and through designers like Daisy Janie. Her free-form patterns are available through her shop.
Rounding out her professional tasks, Cheryl also teaches both quilting and cooking classes. Improvisational quilting is a strong focus, but she also teaches on fabric confidence and selection, basic techniques, and design. As a good Ukrainian she can also teach you the basics of pyrohy, borscht, and more.
Cheryl lives in Calgary, Alberta with her husband, one old pooch, and two wild little girls. A third baby is due to arrive in the spring of 2012. Cheryl rules the house from her Dining Room Empire.
Cheryl’s scrap-conscious designs are practical and spectacular!
Can’t wait to chat about Cheryl’s first book….
…and her third baby, due any minute now!!
CLICK HERE for Cheryl’s website!
CLICK HERE to keep up with Cheryl’s vibrant blog!
CLICK HERE to read another blog Cheryl contributes to…
CLICK HERE to find out more about Sunday Morning Quilts!
Cheryl’s on TWITTER!
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MEET
Rug-Hooker, Author, Storyteller, Teacher
DEANNE FITZPATRICK
About DEANNE…
In Deanne’s own words: “I have a rug hooking studio in downtown Amherst, Nova Scotia where I show my one-of-a-kind hooked rugs, create rug hooking kits, patterns, host workshops, and sell supplies. It is there in that warm colourful space that I write my books on rug hooking, and create designs for kits and patterns. It is a big creative space with a dye kitchen in the back where we transform old clothes and fancy wools into hooked rugs. We hand-draw the rug patterns, and create the kits right there. I love to spend time there, touching the wool, making tea, and playing in that lovely space. It is a dream come true for me. I have written four books about rug hooking. We welcome visitors to the studio. If you drop in we’ll teach how to hook rugs right on the spot, and send you off with a new passion for creating hooked rugs. If you cannot drop by, please peruse the site watch our videos so you can learn how to hook rugs.
Rug hooking is my passion. I grew up in Freshwater, Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, the youngest of seven children. My mother and both of my grandmothers hooked rugs as a past time, and as a chore of necessity. By the time I was born, my grandmothers had died, and my mother had long since abandoned rug hooking as a chore of poverty. In Newfoundland in the late sixties and early seventies, very few people were hooking, though there was still a scattered mat hanging about people’s back doors. For the most part it was out with the old and in with the new. I can still see a Rita Murphy, my friend’s mother, sitting in her back room, hooking away on her mats. Her floors were a carpet of many multicoloured hooked rugs. At the time to me it seemed an old-fashioned thing. Little did I know that I would spend years doing exactly the same thing.
I learned to hook rugs because I wanted rugs for an old farmhouse where I had settled. It began as a purely practical craft for me, and later turned into an art. Though I did not know how to hook, it was something I had always been familiar with. As a teenager, I began seeing rugs for what they were. I marvelled that a woman’s hand had pulled up every loop in a rug that lay on the floor of my sisters’ farmhouse. In my mid-twenties, I went to an annual meeting of The Rug Hooking Guild of Nova Scotia, and Marion Kennedy taught me the basics. How to cut your wool, and how to pull up a loop, then she told me to get to it. As soon as I started hooking rugs I knew it was for me. It was a simple technique, and I could see my progress. I finished my first little stamped pattern within a week and so it began. For me, Marion was the right teacher. She gave me the supplies, showed me the basic stitch, and said, “Now do it, finish the rug.” Her simple style of teaching made a huge difference in my learning. She did not try to direct me but let me learn as I hooked.
I learned that I could tell stories, and express myself through rug hooking. This is what really got me involved with it. Each time I make a rug I create a new design. In many of my pieces I tell stories or express ideas about the world. I work full-time as a rug hooking artist. Each piece I create is different from the last. I use recycled cloth, gather old wool clothing from real people in real communities. The clothes are washed, dried and torn apart. It is then hooked loop by loop on a a backing of burlap or linen.”
Deanne’s artworks evoke place, nostalgia, and wonderment…
Check out Deanne’s newest book and her other published titles (including an audiobook!)
CLICK HERE for Deanne’s website!
CLICK HERE to follow Deanne’s blog…lots there to learn!
CLICK HERE for Deanne’s chock-full studio shop!
Deanne’s on TWITTER!
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MEET
Editor, Writer, Mixed-Media Master
CATE COULACOS PRATO
About CATE…
Cate says, “A lifelong writer and editor, I’ve been with Cloth Paper Scissors since its debut in 2004. I’m editor of Cloth Paper Scissors Studios and Online Editor for Quilting Daily.
My book, Mixed-Media Self-Portraits, Inspiration & Techniques (Interweave), was published in 2008 and I dabble in an ever-widening variety of art media, primarily fabric collage and embroidery.
I live with my husband, two teenage daughters, and various pets in an antique home in central Massachusetts. I brake for vintage fabrics and linens, and the occasional roadside table and chair.”
Of course you’ve seen the wondrous mags Cate mentioned…right?
‘Cause if you haven’t, you must!
They’re incredible idea generators!
And definitely don’t miss Cate’s books…
Today, Cate and I are also talking about National Craft Month activities! Specifically…
From the Interweave family of publications, take a gander at this array of products YOU could win!!
Jewelry Making Daily giving away Bohemian-Inspired Jewelry (book) and Metalsmith Essentials: Basic Fabrication (DVD)
Beading Daily giving away How to Stitch Custom Clasps (DVD) and Getting Started with Seed Beads (book)
Knitting Daily – giving away Folk Socks, Updated Edition (book) and Knitting Daily Workshop: Getting Started Knitting with Eunny Jang (DVD)
Crochet Me – giving away The Best of Interweave Crochet (book) and Crochet Me Workshop: Basics and Beyond with Kristin Omdahl (DVD)
Quilting Daily – giving away Quilting Arts TV Series 900 (DVD set) and The Best of Quilting Arts (book)
ClothPaperScissors – giving away The Encaustic Studio: A Wax Workshop in Mixed-Media Art (book) and The Cloth Paper Scissors Book (book) SewDaily – giving way Cut-up Couture: Edgy Upcycled Garments to Sew (book) and Sewing Tips & Tricks with Tricia Waddell (DVD)
SpinningDaily – giving away Spin Art by Jacey Boggs (book) and Getting Started on a Drop Spindle with Maggie Casey (DVD)
WeavingToday – giving away Color and Texture in Weaving by Margo Selby (book) and Slots and Holes: Three Ways to Warp a Rigid Heddle Loom by Liz Gipson (DVD)
The Win a Knitter’s Library Sweepstakes is only happening on KnittingDaily.com’s Facebook page at: http://www.ow.ly/9yG1D!
Do not miss out, cupcakes!
CLICK HERE for Cate’s blog posts!
CLICK HERE to read Quilting Daily online!
Cloth Paper Scissors is on FACEBOOK!
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And, when your Mojo listening’s done…
Get your small-quilt thinking caps on (look, mine is fur-lined!!) and make a resolution with me to enter the NEW Alliance for American Quilts contest (the prizes are amazing – and your small quilt isn’t due until JUNE!!!)
The 2012 theme is “Home Is Where the Quilt Is,” celebrating the form and the meaning of Home. All techniques and materials are encouraged. Entries must be 3 layers–top, filling and backing and must conform to our contest guidelines–click here to download the “Home” entry form (3 pages).
THE CONTEST IS OPEN TO QUILTERS FROM ALL OVER THE GLOBE (yes, you too, Australia, Canada, Italy, France, England, Ireland, Poland — anywhere and everywhere there are quilters!)
CLICK HERE to read more about this awesome opportunity to let your craftwork shine! DO IT DO IT DO IT WITH ME, cupcake!!! And thanks! xoxom
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If you’ve never used Auriful Thread. . .
. . . then you haven’t really sewn!
Why not start off with my BASICS ?
Mark Lipinski's Blog 
Great show Mark! Love it when Jeff co-hosts. I was having a bad day and the two of you really cheered me up. Thanks! 😉
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Great Show. I always look forward for Wednesdays!!!! Greetings from Costa Rica!!!!
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