Spotlight: Clare Murray Adams

 

Are you a Fabric Person or a Paper Person? Do you like to work with both? Are you intrigued by the idea of perhaps combining them but are not sure how to start? We have the perfect teacher for you: Clare Murray Adams. Clare was a university professor who is now a true mixed-media artist.

The components of her work can include anything that can be sewn or glued into a pleasing design.

Clare will guide you through an exploration of what happens when you layer fabric on paper and paper on fabric

Her students will experiment with painting, mark making and hand stitching. Clare is an expert in many techniques and types of media, but you will also, very painlessly, learn a lot about design.

Clare is teaching during the first week of QSDS. There will be a five-day session of “Collage With Stitch” starts on May 29, followed by the two-day version. What could be better than a week immersing yourself in mixed media? Check out all the details here:  https://www.qsds.com/aboutclasses.html 

 

There‘s So Much More To QSDS!

 People like to come to QSDS for the terrific teachers and the opportunity to spend an extended period focusing on their work. That’s true every year. But there are so many reasons why you (and your friends) should come THIS year. This is a Quilt National Year!         

The Wednesday bus trip will go to Athens, Ohio where you will see the entire exhibit. (When the travels, it goes out in smaller groups) seeing Quilt National at the Dairy Barn is a treat. The lighting and sight lines set off every quilt to its best advantage. The bus will also stop at the Riffe Gallery in Downtown Columbus for a look at “Interwoven: The Many Voices of Fiber” which will include a wide, thought-provoking mix of fiber art. We will also stop at Quilt Beginnings, a very nice shop in the Columbus area.

There are shopping opportunities just steps from the classrooms. The Vendor Mall will include St Theresa’s Textile Trove. Along with her usual fabulous fabrics, embellishment, adornments and more, Becky will also be carrying a selection of hand dyed fabrics and embroidery fibers from Fiber on a Whim. Come in for a little break from class or a bit of retail therapy. 

There will be other exhibits, right on the CCAD campus. “Small Works” will give you an idea of what the faculty and staff create when they are not teaching. 

Another gallery on the CCAD campus is devoted to the Challenged Ones. Each year, QSDS “alumni” keep working and stay in touch by creating a series of four quilts on a year-long theme. 2023 will be “Test Your Metal”

Tuesday nights are always fun. It’s the Mini Bazaar! Students and teachers rent tables and sell hand dyed fabrics, jewelry and more. Then we have an ice cream social. It’s a great time to visit and to discover what you SHOULD have bought.

But let’s not forget about the teachers and their classes. On Monday and Saturday evenings, each member of the faculty for that Session gives a short presentation about their work, so we all learn more about them. QSDS has an open classroom policy. So long as a group discussion is not going on, students are welcome to wander around and see what’s going on in the other classes.

Malin may tell you about how she was subliminally influenced by those oranges on the shelf. It’s all part of the fun and learning at QSDS!

Each week at QSDS ends with a fun Friday night mini-quilt auction to support the Scholarship Fund. Plans are in the works to combine this with a Thrift Shop Prom and dance party! Wear your favorite creative thrift shop finds, (prom dress, vintage styles, hippie tie dye or punk Doc Martins) and cut loose a bit. There might even be prizes for more than one prom queen

 

Learn more about QSDS at: https://www.qsds.com/aboutqsds.html
 

Teacher Spotlight: Valerie Goodwin

 Valerie will be returning to QSDS during the second week of QSDS. She is the author of

“Art Quilt Maps: Capture a Sense of Place With Fiber Collage.”

There is so much to learn from her! Valerie’s five-day class is “Light & Lacy.” The focus

will be on incorporating translucent or transparent materials with more traditional

opaque fabrics. Have you ever thought about adding organdy, chiffon, or netting to your

work? This is your chance.

Are you one of the many quilters and fiber artists who have bought a cutting machine, or

are considering doing so? Valerie uses one to create her art. She will be ready to

help you understand the technicalities, as well as the specialty fabrics used, such as

Lutrador and Evalon. Your subject matter has no limits and could include florals,

abstracts or map-like imagery. Valerie brings a lot of already-cut-out shapes for

students—doesn’t this look inviting??

On the final weekend of QSDS, add some surface design skills to your repertoire while

creating a small “Monoprinted Map Collage.” Valerie will show you how to work with

paints and a Gel Plate to print the background. Then everyone will have fun adding

some of her cut-out shapes with hand embroidery. Best of all, you don’t need your

sewing machine for this class.

To see more of Valerie’s work and read all the details, go to:

https://www.qsds.com/classesbysession2023.html

Teacher Spotlight: Maria Shell

 

Maria will be coming from her home in Alaska to teach two classes at QSDS during the

first week. She is the author of “Improv Patchwork–Dynamic Quilts Made with Line & Shape.” She is renowned for the wonderful graphic quality of her quilts.

Maria’s 5-day class will be “Big Botany--Abstraction Through Color, Pattern & Repetition” She will show you how to start with a flower, tree branches, a leaf, or a section of a landscape as inspiration and then transform  into a dramatic pieced quilt. Look at what her students have created!

On the first weekend, Maria will teach her “Circle & Curve Sampler,” which will give you time to experiment with a variety of wavy, curvy, arching shapes that will expand your repertoire of piecing skills. Maria is great at helping her students master improvisational techniques, but you will also go home with a new sense of confidence about design.

 Check out Maria and her classes here:https://www.qsds.com/classesbysession2023.html

2022: Back To In-Person QSDS!

 We did it! We arrived at the college from all over the country,

vaccinated and well-prepared with masks, hand sanitizer and all of our fabrics and art

supplies. Everyone was so eager to get to work and learn something

new, to see old friends and make new ones. As always, it was a great

mix of techniques and design, sewing, painting and dyeing.

Christi was just one of Sue Benner’s students who worked on a series

of small studies and learned how to get to the heart of a design.

QSDS has always been known as an opportunity to try something out

of the ordinary. We were all so happy to have time to truly focus on

exploring new techniques with teachers who are masters at what they

teach. Jane spent five days in Lisa Binkley’s class, exploring a variety

of methods to dye and print with botanicals.

The CCAD Dye was full of leaves, seed pods and flowers, plus

mysterious solutions in buckets.

Michael James came out of retirement to be the mentor for the

Independent Study

Participants spent the week working on their fiber art, benefitting from

individual critiques and enjoying wide-ranging discussions about art in

all its forms.

Now we can begin looking forward to 2023. The information about the

classes and activities is all here on the web site. So check it out----the

next QSDS will be here before you know it!

Teacher Spotlight: David Hornung

David, a retired university professor is the author of “Color: a Workshop For Artists

and Designers.” You may even have a copy of this book on your bookshelf.

His own art focuses on painting and collage.

During the second week of QSDS, David will teach a seven-day  Collage Workshop. If you have never really devoted much time to this useful and highly addictive art form, you are in for a treat, and possibly a revelation. The supplies are simple—and  

almost everywhere. Aside from some glue, brushes, scissors and basic colors of paints, the main medium of collage is paper.

Anything goes–magazines, old book pages, envelopes, maps, you name it.

I can guarantee that there will be a lot of sharing and trading of collage papers in class.

Students will concentrate on smaller collages, working out ideas, themes, design concepts.

Pretty much anything goes. For those who have worked primarily in fabric, you will

find that this is a really great way to explore color and design concepts in a much

faster way then when you work with precious fabric. And, also to refine ideas that might lead to new fiber art. But collages are also a beautiful and satisfying art form on their own. 

For seven days, you can focus on a very freeing way of working, with the time

and space to spread out and really get into it. Who knows where this will lead?

And don’t worry, if, along the way, your work table looks like this for a while.

Sometimes that is just part of the creative process!

Check out David’s class and those of the other great QSDS

faculty here: https://www.qsds.com/aboutclasses.html

Teacher Spotlight: Lisa Binkley - Classes during QSDS Sessions 3 & 4

Many of you may know Lisa.

Her classes on embroidery and beading on fabric have been very popular at QSDS

over the years. This summer, she will return to QSDS during the second week

(Session 3 & 4).

Lisa’s five-day class during Session 3 is “Botanical Printing & Dyeing.

This is a very hot topic right now!

She will guide you through two major techniques: 1. dyeing cloth with natural materials

such as logwood, madder and cochineal.

2. Then you will experiment with printing leaves and flowers, which works beautifully on a range of fabrics. What a delightful surprise, to undo each little bundle and discover

the colors and patterns inside!

Let’s face it, do you really want to try to gather the supplies and learn all this on your own at home? Heck no! Spend five days with Lisa, who will bring all the correct supplies and equipment. She knows all about the mordants and the way different plant materials react. 

Let’s face it, do you really want to try to gather the supplies and learn all this on your own at home? Heck no! Spend five days with Lisa, who will bring all the correct supplies and equipment. She knows all about the mordants and the way different plant materials react. 

Lisa stays for the final weekend of QSDS to teach “Hand Stitching on Hand-Dyed & Printed Fabric.” Do you have a beautiful fabric that has you stumped? Is it a piece of shibori or maybe some colorful dye-painted cotton? Lisa will get you stitching and understanding how to respond to the patterning. It will be a relaxing and creative class.  In fact, why not consider spending the whole week with Lisa? It’s a chance to start stitching on those newly dyed and printed fabrics.

Check out Lisa's classes and all of our other fantastic teachers & classes at:

https://www.qsds.com/classesbysession2022.html#session3