New Year and New Projects

Posted on March 11, 2022 by janehh22

This is Jane and I know its been awhile since I added a post!

January was a very busy travel month for me and it seemed that many of those in-person quilting events that had been postponed for 2 years where all happening in January. And guess what else was big in January Omicron! I traveled, I taught (in a mask), I met loads of new quilters and I did not get sick!

Peace River Quilt Guild, Punta Gorda, FL

I went from Craft Napa in Napa to Ontario, LA to Haines City to Punta Gorda, Florida. It was an exhausting month but such a treat to be out teaching again. I do love the enthusiasm and dedication of my students whether its approaching something that is totally new for them or working on a project that was started and never finished. Just recently I have received many photos of finished work by students and photos of quilts in shows getting ribbons.

With all the craziness going on in the world right now and me feeling kind of helpless I decided, as I have a few sunflower patterns, I would try to help Ukraine in any little way I can. I am offering my Shy Sunflower collage pattern for $5 and I will donate all the proceeds to the World Central Kitchen who are feeding refugees at the Polish border.

I took this photo last summer when I went out into my garden to check how the sunflowers were coming along. I was looking at some others turned around and saw this one 3/4 open! It just looked so perfect I had to get my camera and take a photo. My sunflower class and kits continue to be my most requested and popular offerings. When I have time I am excited to make my own collage using this pattern and am looking forward to seeing other peoples interpretation.

If you like this pattern please order it from my website the link is below

https://janehaworth.com/shopping/shy-sunflower-pdf-pattern

A few days after I returned form Florida there was a quilt call for entry due that I was keen to enter. It’s an exhibit called Prism Play and its what Sandra talked about last month. I have 2 color cards I agreed I would make quilts for. One I had started and the other I had an idea. Luckily I got them made and entered on time. Happily I heard they both were selected!

The first is called Bias Tape Beauty inspired by some giant succulents I saw outside of the Monterey Plaza Hotel in Monterey. The other is called Meadow and is made of layers of unusual and vintage fabrics.

I have been developing some new classes to teach both online and in person. One theme is using various wildflower patterns interpreting them in different ways. I will be teaching three online classes for the Mancuso Virtual Schoolhouse 2 May 11-14th. Wildflowers, Three Chickens and Vases with Succulents, all fabric collage classes.

Finally I will just share a few photos from Florida. I was hosted by Becky at her beautiful home in Cape Coral near Punta Gorda. She introduced me to manatees and burrowing owls. And I will say I think I say a little gator at the Lake we stayed at during the Peace River quilters retreat!

Finally if you read the latest edition of Quilting Arts magazine you will have seen my Simple Layered Stitch article. In this Part 2 I talk about using your small hand stitched blocks to make a journal cover or small bag. Hand stitching is something that has kept me awake in the evenings and my hands busy over Covid!

February was my birthday month and a pretty special day as it fell on 2-22-2022. I seemed to spend the whole weekend celebrating with family and friends which was nice

Best wishes to you all and I’ll be back in a couple of months with my last projects and travels. Enjoy quilting and lets show all the support we can for the people in Ukraine.

Balancing Summer with Quilting.

Posted on June 25, 2021 by janehh22

This is Jane. Summer is here and I have been thinking about how to combine my quilting business with taking time off. Whilst running a quilting business from home it is too easy to spend all your time working and not taking a break. My sewing space is located at the front of the house, so its very easy to slip in and get sewing! My high school aged son is still home so I want to do fun things with him this summer. We are currently planning a couple of road-trips so really when I’m not traveling I can work. It’s about finding the right balance.

Camping at Long Lake June 12th 2021 Photo by James Haworth

Since Covid I have received many custom orders from customers around the USA. They send me t-shirts or neckties to make into quilts. Although I am trying to cut down on this type of work it still flows in. Ideally I would love to have more time to spend developing new ideas for quilts, playing with fabric and making new work to enter into exhibitions or quilt shows. Writing this I am sure that is what many of us crave.

Part of my workshop at the Artistic Alchemy Retreat this year is a day of mark-making. I plan on spending time this summer exploring the various mediums and techniques I will teach at Zephyr. I think it’s all about having the materials at hand and inspiration to kick start your creativity. One of the materials I will provide will be gelli-plates so we can explore how they can be used. In the photo above I gathered leaves to print in layers.

This small quilt is the 12″ x 12″ donation piece I submitted to the SAQA Benefit Auction that happens in September every year. This piece I called ‘Keep Calm and Sloth On’ I have been meaning to make a large sloth quilt but “have no time!” and so at least I started with this small piece. It does include a lot of messy stitching, hand stitching and unusual materials. I used leaves I had leftover from a 2011 reptile quilt, some silk necktie off-cuts and threadwork I made using ‘solvy’, a dissolvable interfacing.

Often I will look at Pixabay.com for copyright free images for subjects that I aren’t able to take myself. Otherwise I will look over my own photo library for ideas. This picture I took at my neighbors house while letting out her dog. I love the contrast in colors and textures. This would be a great image for a fabric collage.

In the same way this photo would be good for a fabric collage. I would probably crop it a bit. Again there are nice contrasting textures and lines and then the focal point KitKat, my cat. If you wish to start your own fabric collage of any subject or my favorite topic; pets and animals, think about signing up for my workshop at Zephyr Point. It will be my last year teaching here but I am looking forward to attending at a later date when I can work on a project like this.

I do love making quilts for customers using their saved clothes or ties. It is meaningful for them to preserve those memories especially of loved ones that are no longer around. For the first photo I made three of these lap quilts for three sons from their dads old polo, flannel and button-up shirts. I still have a pile of fabric left that I intend on making a surprise quilt for the lady (mom) who sent them to me. The middle quilt is a king-size necktie quilt that I am still working on and the last a t-shirt quilt made from a husbands collection of old rock music shirts.

We recently spent a lovely weekend camping, hiking and backpacking with family and friends. It was a time to enjoy nature, friendship and life returning to normal. This spot is just an hours drive up I80 from our home into the Sierra Nevada mountains near Donner Summit. The hike is just over 1/2 a mile so we were able to take in extra supplies that normally when backpacking you couldn’t take! From our camping area we had amazing views of Devils Peak and could relax by this cold body of water.

I have spent this last year teaching online classes for the Mancuso’s at their various online quilt shows. This was the last workshop I taught called Big-Eyed Chameleon Fabric Collage. These photos include the inspiration photo, my sample and student work by Gayle. I love what she did and I think hers is better than mine. Hopefully that’s a sign of a good teacher! I have just a couple of online classes on my calendar and I believe as the Mancuso shows happen in-person they will still continue to host a portion of the show online, as requested.

My set up for the Road to California online event in May.

Although I do enjoy teaching online and students are able to get a great view, use their whole stash and favorite sewing machine etc it will be great to meet in person again. On Saturday I am teaching to a local guild which will be my first time in about 16 months. I hope i’m not too rusty!

Student work from my on-demand Love of Pets workshop.

My first in-person gathering was at the Carson Valley Quilt Guild in May. I got to speak at their guild meeting and share my quilts. I was very happy to see so many members brought in their animal quilts that they made after signing up for my on-demand class. In 2020 my workshop Love of Pets was cancelled so the guild signed up as a group and took the class online. The link is here Love of Pets

Demonstrating mono-printing using Botanicals.

It was a nice break this week to gather with the Mountain Art Quilters for an outside meeting in a members beautiful backyard. This was our first in-person meeting and was a chance to breath, relax and enjoy time with other creatives. This reminds me of that feeling I get when at Lake Tahoe at the Artistic Alchemy Retreat. I love the quiet of the lake early in the morning, the buzz in the dining hall when you chose new friends to meet and sit with. Heidi says they have a new chef so thats something to look forward to! Seeing what people are working on and how creative they can be is always inspirational.

Thanks for following along with my post this month and if you are interested in the retreat there is still time, so reach out to Heidi, Sandra or myself with any questions.

Kicking Off 2021 with Creativity

Posted on January 8, 2021 by janehh22

This is Jane. Happy New Year. 2021 is finally here, yeah!

Hoping everyone is well and staying healthy. Going forward we will need patience as we keep wearing our masks while waiting for the vaccine program to roll out and hopefully politics will take a backseat in our lives.

Leading into 2021 we have been in contact with Zephyr Point Conference Center and are planning our retreat, September 6-10th 2021. Finally here’s an event we can anticipate and get excited about after so much time sheltering at home. We should be able to gather, maybe still wearing our masks but share this beautiful and creative environment. As usual our retreat information and reservation forms will come out at the beginning of February. So be looking for that. We are all excited to make our announcement for the September retreat.

Christmas time rolls around and my family asks me “What would you like for Christmas?” I really don’t need anything but usually I will buy items that can be gifted to me! This year these included a knitted beanie, quilting books, and some art supplies. I was caught by surprise as my son James bought me a Gelli plate and two brayers for printing. The Gelli plate by Gel Press is the biggest one I have seen! Its 12″ x 14″

After watching a few Youtube videos, I went outside gathered some leaves and weeds from my garden, organized my supplies and started printing. I used acrylic and fabric paints I already had. Tip: I did buy expensive Golden fluid acrylics but found they worked no differently than less expensive craft paints. I tore up some white muslin into 13″ x 15″ pieces, which I sprayed with Terial Magic to stiffen them. I also gathered some sketchbook paper and covered my table with newsprint in preparation.

With my daughter Lucy to help and all the supplies around, we ended up making about 10 panels of fabric and about the same on paper. Many of the prints have three layers using three different colors and a variety of leaf shapes. Some layers were made using the the paint off the plate and others came off the ghost print that was under the leaves after the initial print.

The question I ask myself and I am sure my family does too, is what will I do with them? They are all unique, some more successful than others but beautiful and unexpected art. I have a few favorites and some of these are on paper. I plan to copy these using my inkjet printer onto fabric sheets.

My workshop for the 2021 retreat will again be a combo class of mark-making and collage. So if you wish to play with fabrics, papers, printing supplies and paint then this could be the workshop for you. As I think about using these panels I could cut and piece them together for a great background for my collage.

Starting some fabric collage using succulent imagery

The two books I “bought myself” for Christmas were The Painted Quilt by Laura and Linda Kemshall and Botanicals by Uppercase. I have also been watching videos on DesignmattersTV which is fun and relaxing, inspiring all things surface design and quilting.

Using my new iPhone to take a picture as I work

This year some of my goals include finishing some of the collage quilts I have made but not quilted or finished. Above I am working on finishing one such quilt which I need for an online class next week. I am teaching my class Little Frank Fabric Collage for Craft Napa Uncorked. Other goals include using my stash of fabric, drawing and painting in my sketchbook, being more experimental in my work and writing another online, on-demand workshop on Coursecraft. Check out more of my work and patterns etc I have for sale on my website

Another new product I have been using is called Applipops These are a variety of different sized metal rings, that you use in pairs, to make simple pressed circles of fabric. I have been using them in the hand stitched Japanese Rice Pouches I’ve been stitching. The pattern I use for the above bag is from KZStevens and is very simple to make. I’m on my sixth one! My current hand stitch, meditative stitching project is this floral panel that I stitch in the evening whilst watching Hinterland on Netflix. This panel will be number seven Rice Pouch!

Work in Progress hand stitched, embroidery panel

So now you know what I have been up to in 2021 and I hope you too have been inspired and creative. So lets get through these crazy times by staying busy and staying home. As Heid says try to get in 15 minutes a day of creativity.

Until next time, Jane

Changing Times. Embracing Technology!

Posted on May 29, 2020 by janehh22

This is Jane. My blog post this week will start from a message from us all.

It is our utmost desire when having our retreats at Zephyr to give you the optimum experience….where you are able to learn, laugh, and enjoy the company of the other sewists in the beautiful setting of Lake Tahoe. We three, Jane, Heidi and Sandra have been in constant communication with Zephyr, and between ourselves, about the fate of the September retreat in light of the Covid virus. We want, more than anything, to be able to go forward there in safety and assurance of a positive experience for you all. When we were in discussion about this issue we came to the ultimate conclusion that we cannot assure these objectives. In many ways it is out of our hands and for that reason we are postponing our September retreat until 2021. Your safety and positive experience are our primary goals.

We know how disappointed you are, as are we, but you surely understand where we are coming from in postponing the retreat. Please email us for any questions you may have. This is unprecedented territory for us, and we pledge to be fair and equitable going forward. We want 2021 to be a fantastic year with a retreat that is the best yet.

Lake view from Zephyr Point

It makes us sad to have made this decision but I feel we can all now move forward and focus on the retreat for 2021. As a traveling quilt teacher I have just about written off 2020. I still have a few things on my calendar but I shall have to wait and see if they go ahead. As I said in my blog title, even I am now having to jump on the technology bandwagon, something a few weeks ago I just wasn’t interested in doing.

Fabric Journal, one of the samples for Artistic Alchemy retreat

As for technology I recently presented my lecture ‘Living a Creative Life’ to the San Francisco Quilt Guild using Zoom! My Power Point lasted 30 minutes, followed by Q & A, and went down well, I believe! We had 138 attendees and all stayed till the end. I will say I did miss the audience reactions and participation though.

Pet Portrait Fabric collage Jane Haworth

Precious

And I am now working on putting together an online class called Love of Pets Fabric Collage. This wasn’t something I had considered but as time goes on and reality sets in I know I won’t be teaching in person for a while. When I think about the opportunities that this opens up, its pretty good. Quilters from all around the country and world will have the chance to take my class.

Fabric selection ideas for Love of Pets online class

The good thing that has come out of this pandemic is reconnecting with family, and friends using either Messenger video groups, Instagram Live or Zoom. I come from a large family, all of them in the UK and for the first we have been catching up virtually. Pokey Bolton has a daily chat with quilters and artists on Instagram Live at 1pm pacific time and I was on with her a few weeks ago talking about this very subject, teaching cancellations and ways to move forward. Then lets not mention the funny glasses my close friend Ronnie and I found on Messenger video!

Porch time during lockdown

Staying at home I think is made easier by creating routines. I will work in the morning, have a family lunch and play Yahtzee on the iPad, listen to Pokey’s 1pm chat, work the afternoon till about 5 when its “Beer O’clock”. This is our family time for a beer on the porch and daily card game challenge! Our favorites are Wizard, Knaves and Phase 10.

Big Frank 46″ x 69″

Now that I have had more time for sewing I will share what I’ve been working on over the last couple of months. With the deadline to enter the World of Beauty quilt competition at IQF Houston coming up, I decided to make a couple of large quilts. I always think a quilt needs to be big to look impressive hanging in a quilt show. So Big Frank was created! I’m pretty happy with him and am now working on Little Frank and perhaps pattern I can share.

Detail of the eye, approx 9” x 6”

Here is a detail of his eye and really I don’t think it looks as impressive close-up as you just see the different fabrics I included. Some are pretty random! When I started this quilt my intent to use scraps and those old fabrics I have but never use. Pretty much the ugly ones! I started with a grey, brown and blue palette but as the quilt grew I would get bored with using these same fabrics and so I’d look through my stash and grab a bunch in another color. So now as he progressed I added those greens, ochres and even pinks!

Notes of Hope 81” x 61”

This is the other large quilt I have been working on and just finished. I made it in response to the Mountain Art Quilters Spring challenge. The category that spoke to me was ‘Colors of Emotion’

Small ‘messages of hope’ attached to the railings on the Foresthill Bridge, CA

The story behind this quilt. In 2018 I remember hearing on the news that a lady from Auburn, Brittney Hendricks, organized for volunteers to make ‘Notes of Hope’ that they attached to the railings on the Foresthill Bridge. This bridge is located just outside Auburn, CA is the highest bridge in California and fourth highest in the USA and has been the scene for 90 suicides since it was built in 1947. These ‘messages of hope’ attached to the bridge are an attempt to convince people that life continues to be worth living. I walked the bridge with my son James in the new year and took many photos.

These photos I printed onto fabric sheets and then Improv pieced everything together. Starting with the words, the dark black fabrics around them, included a small colorful border and then more black border. I will say it was a little tricky to square it up!

This little ‘Yorkie’ quilt is one of many samples started whilst demoing in the classes I teach. Having more time now I want to work on these. Once the collage was finished it was time to choose the background. I put these photos on my new Facebook group Fabric Collage School asking for opinions and although I love the busy background on the left I settled with the more restful blue one on the right. Its so fun to get peoples ideas and opinions while you are still working on something!

Time to clean this machine!

After spending a month making masks, and sewing everyday I finally decided it was time to clean out my sewing machine. I have a Juki 2010Q which is a straight stitch semi-industrial machine and I love it. Its a workhorse. Everyday I oil my machine and clean out around the bobbin but it has this little hatch underneath that was last cleaned out around Christmas. I think it was time!

Now its time to get back to sewing, video taping my work in progress for my online class and entering my quilts into World of Beauty. Although sadly we won’t be holding our retreat I do want to devote some time to fabric play and mark-making and come up with some great samples for next time. Out of interest is anyone up for some kind of virtual Artistic Alchemy event?

Staying Creative during a Pandemic!

Posted on April 17, 2020 by janehh22

This is Jane. Heidi, Sandra and I have been communicating about the retreat this September and we still feel hopeful. We will keep you in informed of any news we hear from Zephyr Conference Center. Lets keep fingers crossed and positive thoughts during these crazy times. We are still taking reservations, if you feel like holding your spot.

What strange times we are in! When I am told to stay home, with few other commitments to fill my day, what better excuse is there than to SEW. I have spent the last few years trying to catch up with projects and custom orders so having few distractions its good for me. Saying that, I am finding it hard mentally, to stay focused but I tell myself I have time, plenty of time.

Living through this pandemic is hard. But living here in Northern California I appreciate how lucky I am and we are not suffering as hard as many people around the globe. Lets appreciate what we have and quit complaining about hair and nail issues.

Now the weather has improved I have enjoyed the time I spend walking my neighborhood with my son James. He needs to log daily his PE requirements. We like to take photos, look for wildflowers and local wildlife.

Lupines along the NID

I am lucky enough to live close to one of the NID (Nevada Irrigation District) canals and it makes the perfect three mile hike.

As I said I am using this time to catch up! I have some custom quilt orders from 2019 that needed completing! I am down to finishing my last two. The two photos above were made using T shirts on both sides of the quilt. I have avoided doing this in the past as I was concerned about the stretch when quilting and what kind of quilting pattern to use.

Completed queen sized T shirt quilt, Notre Dame University

Actually they both turned out amazing, very drapable and soft. I made the back a little larger, taped it to the floor before layering with the batting and quilt top. I then used many safety pins to hold the layers together. My stitching pattern was a large meander for the quilting and had no problems with stretch. I will definitely do this again.

Fabric collage pet portraits by Jane Haworth

Fabric Pet Portrait, Buddy the Labradoodle

The collage above was a commission I received from one of my Craft Napa students. She wanted me to make the collage and then I sent it to her to stitch and complete the quilt. My plan is to finish many of the pet portrait samples started as demos during class when I teach.

A lot going on in my quilt making studio

This is a photo of my sewing space right now! I am working on a T shirt quilt, have a couple of projects ready to quilt and also supplies for mask making everywhere!

This was another commission I recently received for a Beagle called Teddy. I am thinking a fun way to focus on my work (as I do have trouble with this) is to set aside a week just to work on a theme. This week has been to complete all the T shirt quilts! Next week is for pet collage and another week will just be free-motion quilting. And then of course there are old UFO’s! I’ll let you know how it goes!!

Fitted face masks April 2020

I have plenty of work I could work on but about 3 weeks ago into the mix came mask making! To begin with I wondered is there a real need for this. But after a few days it became clear that local healthcare workers needed our help. I had fabric I could use from my stash, my trusty Juki 2010Q and I was ready to help.

The first appeal came from a Pediatric doctor friend who needed face masks for colleagues and outpatients. So I made a couple of batches for her with the help of my sewing friends. Then my friend Annie, who hasn’t sewn since school, received a request for 300 masks for a local senior care service. With little time it came down to us to make them. So with social distancing in mind we set up a small production line and banged out 200 masks in two days! The last 100 she did at home with contributions from other sewing friends.

First day of Face mask making 100 masks

I must admit I was a little burned out after that but now it is hard to go a day without making a few masks while the need is still there. I emailed my neighborhood association and my husbands colleagues saying I would make masks for a small donation. I have enjoyed getting to know my neighbors and these monetary donations will allow me to fabric shop and replenish my stash when the time is right.

Inspired by the honey pot for a stitching design

I will just share a few of the projects I am working on. This is a sketch for a hand stitching project I am just starting. I do enjoy hand stitching in the evening when I can hang out with the family, be creative and not fall asleep!

These are two projects I recently finished. The Kookaburra Bag is hand stitched onto felt and the Boho Bag is hand stitched on top of various fabrics that cover a flannel foundation. Both were patterns I bought at IQF Houston. Patterns by Wendy Williams for Flying Fish Kits

This quilt (waiting to be stitched) are beetle designs that I started a year ago. I placed the bugs onto old linens and other unusual neutrals and when piecing them together I reversed the seams so I have the raw edges on the front. If you’ve ever tried this its harder than you think! This is a new series of collage designs that I will have available perhaps for a new class.

Artistic Alchemy Retreat 2019

Here is a photo from last years Artistic Alchemy retreat and lets keep our finger crossed that we can all meet up again in September. We are still taking bookings for all the workshops and open studio. If you wish to send in a reservation form and deposit this will ‘hold your spot” I am imagining in September we will all be in need for some creative time and company.

My workshop this year 2020 is Mark-Making and Fabric Collage. Students will have the opportunity to spend at least a day playing with mono-printing, painting on fabric, carving and stamping and creating some one-of-a-kind fabrics to use in collage.

Lino Printing and mark making Jane Haworth

Lino Cutting and printmaking

Keep sewing, keep healthy and lets use this time to be creative.

Summertime Fun and Inspiration

Posted on July 5, 2019 by janehh22

This is Jane. Its only a month into summer and I have been active; camping, backpacking, and living on a desert island! Now July is here I’m hoping to have more time to catch up with some sewing projects, prep for the Artistic Alchemy retreat in early September before I start teaching again in mid August .

If you are still considering coming to the retreat I still have openings. My workshop Pet Portraits will cover making patterns for fabric collage, the technique itself, choices of fabrics and using value in collage. Please consider the workshop if you want to explore other kinds of art quilting. At the moment I am open to working with my students on other projects too, including making T-shirt quilts.

Consider working on a T-shirt quilt

When I’m not making art quilts I have an Etsy shop where I make custom T-shirt quilts. Quilters love or hate them! So if you have a project that you have been putting off, the retreat could be your chance to get it off the ground. Contact me if you have questions.

Packing into Point Reyes

This travel journal quilt I was working on at last years retreat before my appearance on Quilting Arts TV. I just entered it into a SAQA exhibit called Stitching California and I am happy to say it was accepted. I know one of my students in my workshop this year wants to work on journal quilts.

My recent trip to the Florida Keys with the Boy Scouts of America

I said I had been living on a desert island, actually off the Florida Keys. I was lucky enough to accompany my son and some other scouts from his troop for an outer island adventure on Big Munson Island. This was a once-in-a-lifetime trip that I thoroughly enjoyed but I will say it might not be for everyone! We were able to snorkel with a 300lb Goliath Grouper, go deep-sea fishing 25 miles out to sea, swim in 700ft water, canoe 12+ miles in Polynesian war canoes and live off the grid for 5 days.

With no phones aka cameras I took my sketch book and preserved my memories in that way. It was refreshing not to worry about capturing every new sight or event. Also having no sense of time was something I got used to but loved. We learned about sargassum! It was shocking to start with, we grew used to it but never loved it! This was especially true as our conservation project was gathering and moving it to be used as mulch. Look up the link and see how warming ocean temps and climate change are making this a real problem in our oceans and coastlines.

Enchanted Hill

Before taking my break in June I was working on a couple of quilts to enter into juried exhibitions. This one ‘Enchanted Hill’, Hearst Castle I made for the Stitching California exhibit but unfortunately it didn’t make the cut. This quilt I painted as a whole cloth, glued on fabric appliqué details, free-motion quilted and hand stitched.

Gentle Giant, Nubian Giraffe Calf

This quilt I recently finished for another exhibit called Better World which was juried and by invitation only. Unfortunately this didn’t make the cut either! It is hard to spend a lot of time working on these projects, when you are busy anyway, and not reap the rewards. I feel it happens to many quilters but I know I will enter them into other quilt shows so they can be seen.

Detail of Gentle Giant

When it came to appliquéing the tail I decided to make it 3D. So the hairy end of the tail actually hangs loose from the quilt. Fun little detail that you need to see in person! I support the Giraffe Conservation Foundation GCF and as I did with my Melman (my large giraffe quilt) when I sell this one I will again donate half the proceeds to GCF.

Catching up on my travels! While camping in Bodega Bay we got to explore the town of Bodega, hike the coast to Goat Rock Beach, eat oysters and watch the local wildlife; actually otters not turtles but I loved that painting!

Backpacking Jane Haworth

Grouse Ridge Trails

Camping by Island Lake

On our overnight backpacking trip to Island Lake on Grouse Ridge we enjoyed beautiful views, peace and quiet and a lot of snow!

Chicken Class with the quilters of King City

Before all my adventures I was teaching plenty of fabric collage classes including this one in King City. A place I had never visited before but really grew to love.

My pet portrait fabric collage class really is my most popular as it gives students a chance to work on something personal. Its just not another class sample! They learn the technique and hopefully will take it home, finish the quilt and maybe give as a gift to a loved one. Here are a few examples of works in progress.

Student work Jane Haworth

Pet Portraits by Jane Haworth

Student work

Class at leals Coop Auburn

And the “pet portrait” class does not have to be of a cat or dog

Pet Portraits by Jane Haworth Student Work

or in a realistic color sceme. I am really enjoying work “outside of the box” and mixing up my color choices in some of my newest projects.

B for Bovine

I hope I have inspired you to start a new quilt project, look at trying a new technique or sign up for my workshop at the Artistic Alchemy retreat at Zephyr Point, Lake Tahoe this September 2-6th 2019. Contact us as space is still available in my workshop or with Heidi or in Open Studio. Our deadline has closed and full payments are now due but we would hate for you to miss out on the fun. And Lake Tahoe is beautiful in September.

Exploring Fun Fabric Collage

Posted on May 17, 2019 by janehh22

This is Jane Haworth and I want to talk about my passion for Fabric Collage. I have been spending my time over the last few weeks teaching collage, making collage and exploring what can be made using fabric collage.

: Sasha the Alaskan Malamute

It seems to me that fabric collage is really “in” right now. I am a part of the Facebook group called Collage Quilter which has an impressive 14,700 members. Everyday I see quilts that fabric collager’s have made, works-in-progress where the maker is looking for some input on the design and first timers who are looking for advice or encouragement.

I first learned about fabric collage in 2003 from Susan Carlson. She was on an episode of Simply Quilts with Alex Anderson that I recorded. Susan was making a fish quilt. I went on to make many fish quilts and also make quilts from photos I took while on vacation in Hawaii.

Hawaiian Church Hanelai Bay, north shore Kauai

Fabric Collage is a method of cutting small pieces of fabric and layering them either using a fusible product on the back or adhering them together using glue. I use the glue technique as I learned from Susan Carlson, actually Aleenes Tacky glue. The fabric pieces are simply cut and are therefore raw edge. Using the colors and the patterns in the fabric is the key to a successful quilt.

I will be teaching Fabric Collage at the Artistic Alchemy Retreat this September at Lake Tahoe and have openings if you are interested in learning this fun, versatile and forgiving technique.

This winter and spring I have taught in Yuma, Arizona, Sonora and Chico, CA and just returned home from Boerne, Texas. All these quilt guilds choose the Pet portrait workshop and I am always happy to see how well these students did in class. For most people its a total new technique that they embrace and the results were great.

Student work completed 1 month after class in Yuma,AZ

When approaching collage there are endless options for subject matter to choose. You can also buy patterns and kits. In these the design is laid out for you, then you just have to find the fabric from your stash. An easier option is a kit that speeds the process up as you are not hunting for that perfect fabric all the time. For a beginner either of these is good and once you start you will be seeing great subject matter all around you.

Fabric Collage Addiction I call it! And a great stash buster also! Part of my workshop is to teach people how to draw their own patterns. I have found ladies who can be so creative in their sewing but crumble when I put a pencil in their hand! I will show you it is not so hard and from the student photos of completed quilts I have been sent I am blown away by how successful these students are.

Crash Helmet by Ginger Barnes

This lady also sent me photos of two more black dog collages that she has completed and she only took my class in Boerne, Texas, three weeks ago!

This quilt of Mocha was made by Kelly Leith also from Boerne, Texas and don’t you just love how the dog is just loving herself!

Artistic Alchemy has a “big day out” coming up this Saturday. We will be presenting ourselves and our work at the American Sewing Guild’s Sacramento chapter meeting in Roseville, CA. Our presentation includes a fashion show. I have been figuring out ways to include collage on clothing, more specifically jean jackets and shirts. I have used some of my collage samples as a jumping off point. I have daisies, a seahorse and a toucan that are all now stitched onto jackets and a cross-stitch I found at the thrift store.

I got my daughter Lucy to model a couple of my finished jackets. Thanks Lucy!

Black-eyed Susan’s on the back of this denim jacket

At the beginning of the month Artistic Alchemy were out “in the wild” at the Pine Tree Quilt Show in Grass Valley. We were promoting the retreat at Zephyr Point, Lake Tahoe, Sept 2-6 and Sandra was the featured artist and had a fantastic display of all her work.

“In the Wild” Artistic Alchemy; Sandra Bruce, Jane Haworth, Mary Boalt and Heidi Emmett

Pine tree’s Featured artist for 2019 Sandra Bruce

With all the rain we are having right now and snow in the mountains it hardly feels like summer is approaching! But in a couple of weeks my son will graduate from 8th grade and summer vacation will be here. I am looking forward to summer but have many classes to teach before I can think about relaxing by the pool and camping in the Sierras.

The workshops have been filling up for our retreat at the end of summer so look at both mine or Heidi’s workshops which have availability or there is always ‘open studio’ where you get to work on your own projects. Although my workshop is pet portraits you are welcome to work on any subject matter in my fabric collage class.

Custom quilt made for one of my Etsy clients. Don’t you love the bandana!

Fabric collage is an addiction that uses up your fabric scraps or maybe you are wanting to make a fabric quilt of your dearest pet. So if you want to join in the fun and see what the buzz is about contact me.

New Workshop Pet Portraits

Posted on March 1, 2019 by janehh22

This is Jane. I have decided to bring back, by popular demand, my workshop for 2019 Pet Portrait Fabric Collage. I get requests from students and people I meet at quilt guilds, “Where I can take your pet portrait class?” So having had little interest in the Travel Journal workshop I have decided at this early stage to change my workshop for the retreat this year. I hope this causes no confusion.

Cover of April/May 2019 Quilting Arts Jane Haworth

Purple version of Tilly by Jane Haworth

I am also especially excited to share the news that I will have a pet portrait article in the upcoming April/May 2019 edition of Quilting Arts magazine and they decided to use one of my quilts as the cover. I am a cover girl! This is beyond what I could have imagined. So if you are interested in making your own pet portrait or learning my technique for fabric collage check out the workshop page. Sign-ups are live and I know at least one class has a waiting list. Don’t forget we also have open studio where you get the experience of Artistic Alchemy but without being signed up for a specific workshop.

Nifty, a special Golden Labrador

In this workshop students learn to make their own patterns from photographs. Learn to use the value and patterns in fabric to your advantage, my fabric collage technique, free-motion quilting and how to finish the quilt. We will also spend time using mixed media to create our own fabrics using lino-cuts, gel prints and fabric painting. The retreat is spread over 5 days with evening entertainment and access to the classrooms at night. Nothing could be better than the Zephyr Point Lake Tahoe location, a beautiful tranquil setting and good food as a bonus.

Life in 2019 continues to be busy for me, traveling and teaching and keeping on top of my memory quilt orders for my Etsy shop. The new year started with 4 nights at CraftNapa where I took a class from Maria Shell and taught two classes. I have attended this event, organized by Pokey Bolton, for four years and this was my first year to be part of the faculty. I was very happy to join this creative and inspiring event with its wonderful array of talented teachers.

QATV 2300 series

Jane and Susan

The 2300 series of Quilting Arts TV is airing on some regional TV stations and the DVD set is now available for purchase at The Quilting Company I received this DVD set in the mail and it took me over two weeks to pluck up the courage to watch myself! I had a local group of art quilters visiting, so we had a bit of a watch party.

The weather here in Northern California has been crazy this winter. As skiers we like to head to the Sierra Nevada mountains but most weekends its been snowing so much the freeway has been closed. Well that just leaves me more time to work on my sewing! We spent a weekend at Donner Summit and spent most of the time trapped inside clearing decks but we did have fun on a snowshoe hike in waist deep snow!

February 2019 Snow-shoeing adventures Donner Summit

My quilting took me to Yuma, Arizona to speak to and teach the Desert Lily Quilters. I stayed with a friend who moved there a year ago and so we had a great catch-up. I learned about “snow-birds” and adored all the adobe houses. During winter guild attendance is high. They meet every week and also everyone seems to belong to “small groups” for sewing, knitting and stitching get-togethers. This friendly guild embraced fabric collage and are well on their way to making some very successful pet portrait quilts.

Coming up on May 18th Artistic Alchemy has been invited to an event in Roseville hosted by the American Sewing Guild. We will be doing demonstrations, presentations, and a fashion show. So when we have more details we will be sure to post them here on the blog. So if you are looking for a creative, inspiring get-a-way in September be sure to check out the workshop page and sign-up for one of the available classes. We are thinking this year attendance will be high and judging by the current registration trend it certainly looks like it.

Celebrating Christmas the English Way

Posted on December 28, 2018 by janehh22

This is Jane. In the UK Christmas is not over in a day. We start celebrating on Christmas Eve all the way through to the New Year. We have lived in California for 20 years now but still like to keep our English traditions especially around the Christmas holidays. Christmas dinner is eaten around 1-2pm, so you are done by 3pm ready for The Queen’s Speech and then a chance to nap while Wizard of Oz plays in the background. Dinner includes turkey, Paxo stuffing, bread sauce and not forgetting the crackers on the table. December 26th or Boxing Day is another public holiday and is the day to celebrate Christmas with friends or relatives. Its the time to serve leftovers; cold turkey and ham, take a walk, open more presents and chill out watching Christmas specials on the telly.

With friends we took our Boxing Day walk, just a stroll down the local canal, before our early afternoon dinner, then games and a little celebratory glass of sherry.

Family photo time. When our kids and friends kids grow older together its fun for them and us to see them change. And of course as parents we never grow older or change!!

Its been 5 days now and I haven’t powered up my Juki 2010Q, “Julie”. I am actually itching to get back to finishing some projects but am giving myself a break. Recently we have had some wonderful sunsets and the location of my sewing machine in my new studio/workspace is perfect. No longer am I tucked away in the bedroom in the back of the house but at the front in the “formal lounge”

I continue to teach my monthly Kids Sewing Class at Howells in Auburn. I have some very charming and enthusiastic girls that embrace all of the projects that I give them. November we made pajama pants and December Christmas stockings. I love the way they bring their own personalities into their projects.

I have been working on planning and making samples for a couple of new classes I will teach in 2019. This one Fabulous Fish is a wall hanging version of Rainbow Fish, the king size raffle quilt I made in 2017 with the Foothill Quilt Guild. As a Pisces I feel these fish are something I fall back on and have been doodling and painting for 30+ years so its only natural I plan a workshop around them.

2018 was my busiest year so far for teaching and presenting at Quilt Guilds. I also taught my Love of Pets workshop at In-between Stitches in Livermore and am scheduled to teach it again in 2019. Look up my calendar to check up on dates for upcoming classes. These photos are from Livermore, students at work and students work! I’d also like to thank the following guilds for hosting me this year: Folsom Quilt and Fibre Guild, Country Crossroads Quilters of Modesto, Marin Needle Arts Guild, River City Quilt Guild, Foothill Quilt Guild, Santa Clara Valley Quilt, Diablo Valley Quilt Guild, Oroville Piecemakers Guild and In-between Stitches Livermore.

My next engagement is one I am very excited about and that is to be on the faculty for Craft Napa 2019. I have attended this fun, creative retreat over the past 3 years taking classes from some incredible teachers. I am teaching Pet Portraits Fabric Collage and Succulent Love, draw, paint and collage succulents. These little dog collages are fabric postcards that will be auctioned off as a Stay Pawsitive fundraiser for Wags and Whiskers in Chico, CA

Susan Brusker Knapp and I on the set of Quilting Arts TV

A couple of the highlights from 2018 was filming tv segments for the Quilting Arts TV show that will be coming out sometime in 2019 and meeting Susan Brubaker Knapp, the staff of Quilting Arts TV and the other quilt artists that recorded for that series. Then in November being part of the faculty at the International Quilt Festival and teaching 4 classes was tiring but wonderful.

And of course not forgetting my first experience of joining Artistic Alchemy. Teaching and generally having a great time with staff and students at the 5th annual retreat at Zephyr Point was another highlight. With the New Year right around the corner I am putting plans together for my workshop for 2019 and encourage anyone interested to watch out as as we will be announcing workshops and sign-ups early in February.

Finally I like to make a summary of the work I have created over the year and some of my other achievements. I made 21 T-shirt quilts and 4 necktie quilts for my Etsy shop customers, 19 art quilts, won Best of Show with Bullseye x Nine at the Foothill Quilt Guild show, exhibited Melman, the Vulnerable Giraffe quilt at Sisters, Oregon and sold it, and also exhibited quilts juried into Road to California, PIQF and IQF Houston.

Thanks to all the students who have attended my classes and I plan to very soon start a newsletter for my website janehaworth.com.

Mary Boalt, Sandra Bruce, Heidi Emmett and I want thank all you supporters of Artistic Alchemy and wish everyone a Happy New Year for 2019. May it bring peace and creativity to you all.

My Process of Making Fabric Collage

Posted on May 4, 2018 by janehh22

Hi This is JANE HAWORTH writing this weeks post

Sometimes coming up with the idea for my next collage quilt is hard but other times I am awash with ideas. Then having enough time is my next problem! A couple of years ago I saw a documentary about giraffes and I was shocked to hear that their numbers are really low and giraffes are on the endangered species list. The BBC documentary was Giraffes: Africa’s Gentle Giants and follows the work of the Giraffe Conservation Foundation

Giraffe Image

I was inspired and needed to make a giraffe quilt. I found this image on Pixabay which is a copyright free resource for images. I printed it out as a full page and then had to decide how large to make the quilt. This time I wanted it big, and I mean really big. I always get that feeling when I see one of my quilts out in the wild, at a quilt show, that the quilt looked so much bigger at home. So instead of increasing the size by 3 times or 6 times I decided 10 times. I was now making my giraffe image about 90″ x 70″.

Giraffe Tongue

My usual method of making my pattern is to draw a grid on newsprint. I drew 10″ squares and then transposed the lines from the 1″ grid that covered my photograph.

I began work on the tongue and that was 12″ long. The fabrics I decided to use for the giraffe included many upholstery and furnishing fabrics, as well as linen, burlap and regular quilting fabrics I had in my stash. I was not thinking about the background at this stage.

Giraffe Eye

He’s looking at me!

Completed Head

Working on a large scale was hard. On my usual worktable the collage would be falling off any chance it had and keeping all my fabrics close had its challenges too. I first completed the head as a single unit and then I tackled the neck, that would lay behind the head and then be glued in place.

Completed head laid out onto batting.

Once the giraffe was made I was very happy and had now to figure out the background. I cut a piece of batting to the approximate size of the completed quilt and using my family room floor laid it out with the giraffe in it place. I decided to go with green patterned fabrics that I been setting aside and these included hand-dyed and over-dyed, batiks, African fabrics and other pieces I again found in my stash.

Using the floor space in my family room.

To complete this quilt I made up my backing and taped it down to the floor. Lay the batting over the top, positioned the giraffe it its spot and then lay out my background fabrics. These I cut to size and pieced together as I went making sure they tucked behind the giraffe. Eventually all the batting was covered and I could glue the giraffe in place. I took my iron and pressed it all while it still lay on the floor, finishing with safety pins to hold the three layers together.

Quilting using my Janome 6500

To quilt all my quilts I use my regular sewing machine and this quilt was hard work I will admit. I think using the heavier upholstery fabrics and burlap made the quilt stiffer, harder to handle, fit under the machine and generally hard on my body. So I do remember working for only a hour or so at a time especially on those tricky parts in the center of the quilt.

Finished quilt at the FQG Show April 2017

My husband decided the giraffe needed to be called Melman after the giraffe in the movie ‘Madagascar’. So the quilt is named ‘Melman, The vulnerable Giraffe’. I decided if I sold the quilt I would donate half the money to the Giraffe Conservation Foundation. It was juried into IQF Houston in 2017 but didn’t sell and this summer it will be at Sisters, Oregon for their outdoor quilt show on July 14 2018. So he’s still for sale!

Having explained my process of making a fabric collage art quilt I must say making a smaller quilt is easier, fun, less daunting, and easier on the body. So join me at my workshop Fabric Collage Addiction, if you can, September 3-7 2018 at Zephyr Point for the Artistic Alchemy Retreat.

Artistic Alchemy will be “out in the wild” this coming weekend, May 5 & 6 at the Pine Tree Quilt Show at the Nevada County Fairgrounds in Grass Valley. So come down and meet us, chat about the retreat, hear about our show special and see what ‘goodies’ we have for sale. Here are a few of the things I have been working on for that sale.

Custom print Bag

Hand dyed fabric

Many print Bags

Selection of small pet faces

Lake Tahoe is beautiful in September so combine a trip to the mountains with sewing and play time. Check out the 4 workshops on offer from Mary, Heidi, Sandra and myself, or just work on your own projects. What could be better than taking a break from the heat and surrounding yourself with creativity.

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Category Archives: Fabric collage addiction