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Artistic Artifacts in Houston
If you are fortunate enough to be visiting the International Quilt Festival, the premier quilt show in the U.S. (taking place October 31-November 3 at the George R. Brown Convention Center), please visit Artistic Artifacts in Booth 861. Check out the schedule of demonstrations and book signings taking place in the booth, as well as at Make It University and Open Studio!
New Australian Aboriginal Fabric Designs!
We have just posted a number of new Aborigine designs to our online store: visit our New Products section to see the latest vibrant designs, including three versions of a subtle tone on tone design by Nambooka called Untitled that could read almost as a solid color in your projects. The wonderful hues and dynamic, organic shapes of this 100% cotton fabric, 44" -45" wide, make it ideal for quilting, home décor and wearable art. View all Australian fabric »
 Judy says, “Try a scrap quilt block with Aboriginal designed fabrics. Or experiment with combining these gorgeous fabrics with others — how about
using them to border one of our Batik Tambal Indonesian Batik Panels?
I loved the outcome I obtained combining Aboriginal designed fabrics with vintage molas in my quilt shown here. If you take a look at a close-up view of the bottom block (click link or below photo to enlarge), you’ll see I snuck some wonderful batik fabric in there as well. We have new patterns and colorways of batik fabric available in our shop too!”
Australian Aboriginal designs are one of the longest continuing traditional arts in the world: more than 50,000 years old! Australia’s Indigenous people originally performed cave painting, rock painting, sand or ground painting. M&S Textiles Australia was established in 1995 to promote Aboriginal designs in the quilting world; the company pays each Aborigine artist a fair market wage and licenses these original indigenous art designs, guaranteeing authenticity. Visit the M&S Textiles website to view photographs of finished quilts using these beautiful fabrics, and to download PDF versions of the quilt patterns!
Australian Spirit: Designer Projects to Quilt, Fuse and Sew
 While you can find many patterns that work well with this fabric in monthly quilting magazines, or can design your own as Judy did above, Australian Spirit: Designer Projects to Quilt, Fuse and Sew is the first quilt project book to comprehensively feature Australian Aboriginal designs. Aboriginal artists paint the rich heritage of their use of color, symbols and design to tell their prehistoric stories. Having their art printed onto fabric gives them another dimension to speak to the world. The designers featured in this book, including Barbara Campbell, Jayme Crow, Susan Deal, Yolanda Fundora, Terrie Kralik, Momo Lohani, Sara Miller-Moe, Cheryl Phillips and Diane Ricks, have brought together this ancient art on fabric to create quilts that harmonize the work of many Aboriginal artists.
Upcoming Classes at Artistic Artifacts
 Learn new techniques, experiment with new mediums and go home with a wonderful new piece of art by registering for our wide variety of classes. The following are being held through the end of this year — with space still available in our two classes this weekend:
- Saturday, November 2: Tin Critters and Creatures with Laura Hummel — Create your own one of a kind art sculpture using new or vintage food tins, drawer pulls, knobs, rusty items, wire and so much more!
- Also on Saturday, November 2: Turn Your Photos into Thermofax Screens with PG Fiber2Art — Use Photoshop Elements (software and laptop required) to turn your own photos into images that can be used to make thermofax screens.
- Saturday, November 9: Studio Tech Basics: 6 Edge Finishes with Cyndi Souder — In this technique class you’ll create a sampler of binding methods to finish art and traditional quilts.
- Tuesday, November 12: Upcycled Textile Shirt with Leslie Brier — Using simple sewing skills, suitable even for beginners, you will piece together your own one of a kind altered art to wear.
- Saturday, November 16: Crazy Quilted Pins & Pendants with Diane Herbort — Start with simple hand piecing and then concentrate on the fun of learning traditional embroidery, beading and embellishment skills with a contemporary twist.
- Also on Saturday, November 16: Gelli Printing with Susan Gantz — Learn to print on a Gelli Arts™ Gel Printing Plate, a process that offers you spontaneity and creates wonderful painterly effects on both fabric and paper.
- Saturday, November 23: Vintage Tart Tin Ornaments with Leslie Brier — Use ICE Resin® to create heirloom-quality ornaments using vintage tin molds (provided!) and holiday ephemera.
- Also on Saturday, November 23: Upcycled Sweaters: Purse Plus Accessories with Kathy Holmes — newly listed: great beginning sewing class! Create a one of a kind purse, cosmetic bag and key fob in this new upcycling/sewing class.
- Sunday, November 24: Vintage Holiday Postcard Art Quilt with Judy Gula — Create a cheerful art quilt, starring a vintage image transfer, using vintage linens, fabrics, and trims and finish with a one of a kind piece of holiday decor that also makes a beautiful, sentimental gift.
- Saturday, November 30: House of Memories: Recycled-Materials Book with DJ Gaskin — Recover from the bustle of Thanksgiving and “Black Friday” with this day of creative play! Build a pocket journal containing a variety of pocket/envelopes to hold small photos, tickets and more. A wonderful handmade gift, or an artful way to journal your holiday memories!
- Sunday, December 8: Altered Keys with Leslie Brier — All supplies provided! Begin with vintage keys and add metal filigree and embellishments to create a unique pendant or ornament. These upcycled items make wonderful gifts!
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