Quilt Project Inspiration

Posted on March 3, 2022 by Judy Gula

March is National Quilting Month, and so to celebrate — and since we were not a vendor at the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival — I want to share a number of our shop samples Artistic Artifacts would have had on display in our booth at the show.

Last month we held our Third Thursday Live Sale titled Quilt Projects Inspiration that shared these quilts. Christine Vinh and I not only showed the quilts, but talked about the patterns and tools we used along with several fabric options that participants could purchase through our special Artistic Artifacts CommentSold store. If you weren’t able to join us live, you can still watch the video from the sale on our Artistic Artifacts CommentSold app, where you can purchase the products directly, or from our Facebook page. A benefit of using the app is that you can fast forward to see just the projects/products of interest. Download the app, available for both Apple products or Androids, or by searching Artistic Artifacts in your app store. Now let’s show off a some quilt inspiration!

Happy Chance by Laura Heine panel quilt sewn by Chris Vinh

We kicked off the evening with two quilts made using the Happy Chance by Laura Heine Fat Quarter Bundle + Panel. Pictured above, Chris bordered the printed dress form panel that is included in the bundle using strips of many of the fabrics for a keyboard style border. Simple straight line machine quilting allows the bright colors and designs to stand out.

Detail, Happy Chance by Laura Heine panel quilt sewn by Chris Vinh

Above, a close-up view showing how Chris also fussy-cut several of the flowers and dragonflies to fuse on the wall hanging to make the panel her own.

Happy Chance fabric in an Emma quilt by Judy Gula of Artistic Artifacts

With all the extra fabric from this huge bundle, I cut 10 in. square in creating one of my favorite patterns, the Emma Quilt Pattern by GE Designs — you’ll see more Emma quilts in this post! Stripology XL Creative Grids Quilt Ruler, designed by Gudrun Erla, makes it so easy to cut precise pieces for your blocks. You can learn more about using Stripology rulers in this video demonstration that features Chris, one of our regular Saturday morning Facebook Live presentations.

Emma quilt using Alfie fabric sewn by Christine Vinh

Above, this Emma quilt was made by Chris using the Alfie by Este Macleod Fat Quarter Bundle. Chris varied her layout with several solid blocks that used the feature cat fabric, seen in this detail photo:

Emma quilt with pattern and ruler

Chris used her extra blocks in an improv quilt class, so none of these fun fabrics went to waste!

Crazier Eight quilt by Judy Gula of Artistic Artifacts using Enchanted by Valorie Wells fabric
Judy Gula during a previous Facebook Live presentation

I also shared my Scrap Crazy blocks quilt made using all of the 10 in. squares included in the Enchanted by Valori Wells Fat Quarter Bundle. I used the five templates in this Crazier Eights Template Creative Grids Quilt Ruler. We’re thinking we might try this pattern using the 10 in squares in the Handmade Block Printed Bundle.

You might enjoy another of our prior Saturday morning presentations Cutting Crazy Quilts with Rulers on our YouTube channel! You see the start of my Enchanted quilt, and I used the Creative Grids Scrap Crazy rulers to create a variety of other blocks our own Batik Tambal Exclusive Batik and even vintage handkerchiefs! The Scrap Crazy rulers designed by Karen Montgomery for Creative Grids are ideal with precut fabrics and are a great way to use your scraps too. I found that using an OLFA Rotating Self-Healing Rotary Mat really speeded up my cutting, as it rotates to keep your cutting angle directly in front of you, so no need to turn your either your project or body. All of the Creative Grid Rulers products come with thorough directions and include a QR Code to watch a video demonstration of the ruler.

Stella quilt pattern sewn by Christine Vinh using half of a Pearl Light Fat Quarter bundle

Stella from the Stripology Mixology book by Gundrun Erla is our next featured pattern. Using select fabrics from the Pearl Light Fat Quarter Bundle, which includes 28 pieces with a total of seven yards of fabric, Chris chose to make two wall hangings utilizing the darks and lights in different color ways (pictured above and below). She plans to use the leftover fabric for a bargello quilt.

Stella quilt pattern sewn by Christine Vinh using half of a Pearl Light Fat Quarter bundle

In our presentation we mentioned that the Spring Shimmer bundle and the Chalk & Charcoal bundle, both by Jennifer Sampou would make ideal Stella quilts too. (And based on Chris’ reaction when she saw these two together, she might have a future project planned for combining the two bundles!)

Algorithm quilt by Judy Gula of Artistic Artifacts using Boscage fabric

Above, one of my recent quilt projects uses the Algorithm pattern from the Striplogy Squared by Gundrun Erla. I paired it with Boscage 10 in. Squares pack, with Sue Bentley doing her usual beautiful job longarm quilting it. Boscage, designed by Katarina Roccella for Art Gallery Fabrics, is also available in a Fat Quarter Bundle. We think Pollinate by Jessica Swift precuts would be beautiful in an Algorithm quilt too.

Exponential Quilt Pattern using Tula Pink fabric stitched by Christine Vinh

We recently added quilt patterns by Slightly Biased Quilts to our shop, and Jennifer Worthen of Slightly Biased is creating a sample of her Vertex pattern for us using our Hand-Dyed Indian Cotton solids. We’ll all get a chance to see her results when she joins us on Saturday, March 12 for our morning Facebook Live presentation! Pictured above is a quilt that Chris created using the Exponential Quilt Pattern, a free jelly roll quilt pattern at Slightly Biased Quilts that’s currently hanging in the shopt. One standard design roll of 2.5 in. strips makes one lap size or two baby sized quilts. We love how the Tula Pink fabric is showcased!

Tula Pink fabric used in Yellow Brick Road quilts, made by Artistic Artifacts staff

Also created using Tula Pink fabrics, these two quilts were created by shop staffers Dudley Shugart and Kathy Edwards. Both used the Yellow Brick Road Quilt Pattern, and you can see how you get a completely different look depending on your fabric placement.

Hope you enjoyed seeing these quilts! There were more samples and lots more fabric selections you can see on our Quilt Projects Inspiration video, including our batik panel quilt kits (remember that while products remain, you can still shop prior Third Thursday Live Sales through CommentSold and our app. I encourage you to check out our patterns and books for ideas with many of the patterns calling for FQ Bundles, 10 in. charm squares, and design rolls of 2.5 in. strips. Check out all our precut fabrics for something that calls to you and have fun creating your own quilt!

Shop Unique Items with our App!

Posted on January 24, 2022 by Judy Gula

Judy Gula shows off fabric bundles during our January 20 Live Sale featuring Tula Pink fabrics and products.

Thank you to all who have joined us for our Third Thursday Live sales, held live on Facebook! These live selling events are an ideal opportunity to share with you special Creative Finds for Creative Minds one of a kind products, or those with limited quantities. Judy also enjoys putting together special curated bundles and treasure boxes specifically for our Live Sale.

We have been using CommentSold to help us administer these sales over the last several months and are very happy the ease of use and functionality. User registration is easy, and once you have a CommentSold account, you can also shop any remaining items from our previous sales!

Note that in many cases our live sales feature products and special deals that are not available on our secure shopping website, so we encourage you to explore this new avenue for finding unique fiber and mixed media supplies as well as special coupons and deals we make available there!

Download our CommentSold store app, available for both iPhone/Apple and Android devices.

A new enhancement is the recent launch of our dedicated mobile app for our CommentSold Store! Our app is a free download for phones, tablets, and laptops — and no Facebook account is required if using the app! Search Artistic Artifacts in your app store, or use these links:

iPhones & Apple devices — download our app!
Android users — download our app!

Our Third Thursday and other live sales stream directly to your phone or device! The app makes it fun and easy to watch — whether in real time live or watching the replay at your convenience. You have the option to watch the full replay, or you can shop for find items of interest and see the portion of the video where they were featured!

Our CommentSold store also features products from past sales

Visit our CommentSold store at any time to shop products that remain from our past sales.

We love our new app, but if you prefer to watch and interact via Facebook or Instagram only, you are welcome to create your CommentSold account in that manner. You will be prompted to log in with your Facebook link. Click Connect Messenger (this allows you to get notifications when something you claim in the live sale is added to your cart). A new tab will open up with Facebook Messenger, then click the Get Started button. Watch this quick video illustrating how to create your CommentSold account.

We announce our live sales in advance via our social media sites and in our Wednesday newsletter — subscribe now if you are not already receiving it!

Artistic Artifacts Gift Guide

Posted on November 11, 2021 by Judy Gula

Wooden printing blocks with Artistic Artifacts textile paint

Ideas for the Creative Minds on Your List!

We have put together this list of Creative Finds to help you with your gift buying or to use for your Holiday Wish List to share with those who say “I never know what to get you.”
Fiber and mixed media books at Artistic Artifacts

We’ve included some specific items as well as some suggested collections for the creative person on your list. Hope this helps and we encourage you to shop and ship early this year to avoid the delays and disappointments we all experienced last year.

A good start for almost anyone on your list is a fiber or mixed media book filled with inspiration and/or new ideas and techniques. We recently received a number of beautiful titles that would make wonderful gifts. A few suggestions include: Creativity Through Nature by Anne Blockley, Embroidering the Everyday by Cas Holmes or Textile Travels by Anne Kelly.

Another beautiful book is Quarantine Quilts: Creativity in the Midst of Chaos by Sandra Sider. These visual and personal stories of concerns, despair, and ideas give us a fascinating perspective and can help connect our own experiences with pandemic to the larger world of creativity.

Gift suggestions for hand-stitchers

WonderFil Specialty Threads themed thread packs

Do you have someone on your list who enjoys the process of slow stitching – whether it be embroidery, Sashiko, visible mending, or stitch meditations? Here are a few ideas, pictured above, you might want to check out for them (again, books are always a good idea, and we have a number of titles specifically about Sashiko and visible mending). We have curated ‘Treasure Boxes’ that would be a fun surprise, full of bits of fabrics, threads and ephemera. These can be found in our Fabric & Textile Packages section, which also contains curated fabrics pieces themed by type, boro and stitch meditation scrap packs and more. Always wonderful additions to a fabric stash are our Inspiration Packs, hand dyed found textiles (napkins, damask, trims, doilies, etc.) and fibers bundled with overdyed woven cotton prints and solids. Each is unique!

Handpainted Painter's Threads products, imported from Germany.

And of course, you can’t stitch without thread! We have a large selection of Eleganza thread in three different weights. This gorgeous hand-stitching thread from WonderFil Specialty Threads is also available in color-themed packs that recipients would love!

Artistic Artifacts has long been known as a source for the hand-painted and space-dyed Painter’s Threads products, imported from Germany. Formerly known as Tentakulum, these threads, trims and more are created from silk, cotton, wool, rayon and metallic materials in amazing colorways. A dream to stitch with!

Sashiko Stitching cloth example with Sashiko thread and needles

For someone just starting in hand stitching, we would suggest a bundle of items for them that you might want to put into our Indian Handmade Paper Boxes in large and small sizes: just put a bow on it and your gift is ready! You might add a Sashiko patterned cloth and a Sashiko Handy Pocket Guide; Sashiko Threads and needles by hidimari — or take a look at the huge selection of Tulip Needles for hand-stitching artists — and Karen Kay Buckley’s Perfect Scissors or the Tula Pink 5 in. Curved EZ Snip.

Products for art journaling at Artistic Artifacts

An art journal in progress by Artistic Artifacts owner Judy Gula

Maybe your friend or family member has found Creative Journaling… if so, we have lots of ideas for them, as pictured above! With a New Year ahead, a blank journal is a good starting place. We have a selection of sizes in our Indian Handmade Paper Journals as well as a variety of other journals for art journalists. We have a large selection of Ink, Pens and Markers to journal with; creamy Gelatos by Faber-Castell give you vivid color and blend with water or can be used to tint acrylic mediums. Decorate the pages with collages created from our Found Papers & Collage Packs. Stencils and rubber stamps are always favorites — and don’t forget ink pads!

Products and tools to create mixed media art, all available at Artistic Artifacts.

How about for someone exploring Mixed Media Art? You’ve come to the right place! Seen above, we have curated Mixed Media Treasure Boxes all ready for you: boxed in a vintage cigar box and ready to give! For those who’d like to create their own bundle, fun products would include: a Gel Press Printing Plate, some Artistic Artifacts Paints, Wooden Printing Blocks (our themed multi-block sets are great gifts) with the foam pad that ensures great prints. Mixed media artists love our selection of Stamperia Rice Paper, while a perfect way to add sparkle and shine to cards, mixed media art — even fabric — are gorgeous Foil Transfer Sheets.

Artistic Artifacts has lots to inspire sewing and quilting enthusiasts!
Handy Pocket Guides are available on a variety of topics, sized to take along when shopping for supplies

And let’s not forget our Sewing and Quilting enthusiasts! The possibilities are endless but we’ll try to give you some ideas. Again, our Book & Magazine Section has a great selection of options for anyone who sews and/or quilts. Our Handy Pocket Guides are available on a variety of topics and make great stocking stuffers; perfectly sized to take along when shopping for supplies or attending a quilting class or retreat. Our Sewing, Quilting Tools & Accessories section listed in our Notions category is a great resource for useful products and tools. Another great combo gift – a hand-drawn artisan batik panel with a copy of Colorful Batik Panel Quilts. You could also choose a complete batik panel quilt kit which includes a panel, complementary fabric and the book

If you are still stumped after all these suggestions, you can always give an Artistic Artifacts Gift Certificate and let your favorite creative mind pick out their choice of our creative finds!

We hope this Creative Gift Guide has made your gift giving a bit easier and who knows, you made even be inspired to try a few of these items for yourself! Again, we encourage you to shop and ship early this year!

Fun with BERNINA Feet / Creative Quest

Posted on October 4, 2021 by Judy Gula

Artistic Artifacts is proud to be a BERNINA authorized dealer and now you can purchase BERNINA presser feet and BERNINA accessories directly our secure online shop! Give your creativity free rein with the wide range of presser feet and specialty accessories for sewing, quilting, embroidering and serging.

For our most recent Facebook Live presentation, I asked Leslie Gill-Aglah to share some of her favorite BERNINA Presser Feet. Since I’m an art quilter and art quilter, Leslie is a garment maker, I enjoyed the different opinions and perspectives on what makes a favorite presser foot. In our video Leslie demonstrates how she uses five of the feet on a variety of the BERNINA sewing machines available at Artistic Artifacts.

We’ll be happy to special order a BERNINA accessory for you if you don’t see what you need — email us with your request! Join Leslie’s Facebook Group, Textile Adventures of a Prima Dona — she will be producing a series of Five Minute Feet videos to educate and inform!

Join Us for Our Creative Quest!

And if you love demonstrations and live near our shop, please visit us for the holiday weekend for our Creative Quest, beginning this Friday! We will be open for special hours on Sunday and Monday. Enjoy a 15% shopping discount on most store products, door prizes and fiber and mixed media demonstrations, including our hosting of a Handmade Market with lots of local artisans selling their wares held on the second floor (note: access is via stairs only).

Creative Quest Demo Schedule:

Download a PDF Copy of this schedule to print.

Friday, October 8 (Store Hours: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm)

11:00 am Gelatos by Faber-Castell with Sharon McDonagh (repeats 11:30)
12:00 noon Quilting with Rulers with Tina Wujick (repeats 12:30 pm)
1:00 pm Mixed Media Tags with Diane Herbort (repeats 1:30 pm)
2:00 pm Art Journaling with Ellen Taylor (repeats 2:30 pm)
3:00 pm Hand Stitching with Suzanne Langsdorf (repeats 3:30 pm)
4:00 pm Stripology Rulers by GE Designs with Chris Vinh (repeats 4:30 pm)

Saturday, October 9 (Store Hours: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm)

11:00 am Woodblock Printing with Judy Gula (repeats 11:30)
12:00 noon Monoprinting with Gel Plates with Susan Gantz (repeats 12:30 pm)
1:00 pm Postcard Book with NiYa Costley (repeats 1:30 pm)
2:00 pm Beading with Amy Castine: upstairs at Handmade Market (repeats 2:30 pm)
3:00 pm Creating Silk Paper with Judy Gula (repeats 3:30 pm)
4:00 pm Sashiko Stitching with Chris Vinh: upstairs at the Handmade Market (repeats 4:30 pm)

Sunday, October 10 (Special Store Hours: Noon – 4:00 pm)

12 noon ‘Burrito’ Pillowcase Method with Leslie Pfieffer (repeats 12:30 pm)
1:00 pm Thermofax Printing with Sue Price (repeats 1:30 pm)
2:00 pm Artistic Artifacts Fluid Paints with Judy Gula (repeats 2:30 pm)
3:00 pm Hand Stitching with Suzanne Langsdorf (repeats 3:30 pm)

Monday, October 11 (Special Store Hours: Noon – 4:00 pm)

1:00 pm Gelatos by Faber-Castell with Sharon McDonagh (repeats 1:30)
2:00 pm Stripology Rulers by GE Designs with Chris Vinh (repeats 2:30 pm)
3:00 pm Woodblock Printing with Judy Gula (repeats 3:30)

Making Handmade Cards

Posted on August 11, 2021 by Judy Gula

This summer at the shop we’ve been sharing ideas for handmade gifts and décor for the holidays. Manufacturers ship their seasonal fabrics in the early summer, and we have some beautiful ones available for you! Their arrival was the catalyst for our “don’t get your tinsel in a tangle” attitude — beginning holiday projects during the summer and knowing your homemade gift list is taken care of already really reduces end of the year stress! Visit the Artistic Artifacts YouTube channel for these archived videos of our Saturday morning Facebook Live presentations, including my demonstration (pictured here) of using foil products and my Holiday Paper vintage paper collage pack and more to make mixed media cards.

Along with new cards created this year, I’m sharing from past blog postings as we celebrate our Summer Start = Holiday Peace concept.

I often use gel printing plates to create layered backgrounds (see my post A Peek at Gel Plate Printing for more on monoprinting). The above includes stamped fabric strips layered atop block printed found paper.

Our Found Paper Collage Packs are full of themed paper ephemera for you — all original pages (not photocopied). I also make scans of many vintage items in my collections such as cabinet cards and other photographs, postcards and more, enabling me to use them more than once or resize them for projects. Greeting cards or Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) are the perfect place to use up treasured scraps and bits. I used a scrap of a vintage handkerchief as the base/background for my elegant woman photograph and contrasted it with a trimmed piece from one of my fabric postcards. You can see the dimension added by the batting and machine quilting in this detail photo. Visit this blog post for my tutorial on making fabric postcards.

New to our Found Paper Collage Packs is a vintage photo pack. Another favorite ephemera are antique ledger pages. I love combining fabric and paper scraps for these collages.

Above, I revisited the ephemera that inspired my Blue Fish Quilt.

Block printed cards created using wooden printing blocks and textile paints sold by Artistic Artifacts, accented with paper ephemera

Above, our wide variety of wooden printing blocks includes a variety holiday designs, including some really fun sets! Block prints combined with book text, sheet music and other found paper are collaged to make holiday cards.

Block printed cards with sketching created by Celia Middleton

Several years ago my niece Celia Middleton embellished her block prints with fun sketching details using her favorite pens and markers, then turned her artwork into handmade cards and tags!

Greeting cards by Judy Gula using woven fabric strips and Artist Trading Cards

Many of you know I got my start as a weaver and I often weave both fabric and paper strips into small compositions I adhere to cards. The cards above are from my December 2018 post Using ATCs on Greeting Cards.

Above, these cards are examples from my Greeting Cards with Woven Paper post in December 2015. Both fabric and paper strips are satisfying to weave together. Or mix them! It’s so easy to accumulate remnants resulting from straightening ragged edge fabrics, trimming from wonky/improv piecing, strips left behind after using your paper cutter, etc.

My fabric weaving instructions were originally shared in 2014 — that card post also included these are little mixed media collages, 4 in. x 6 in.

I was testing a set of blank Strathmore mixed media cards, using spray inks and stencils. I created backgrounds on the cards and after they dried, stamped over the inks with paints in a different color. Then I found my collection of retro sewing patterns and began cutting out and pasting figures and text from the cover packages.