First Look: Quilting Arts Magazine Fall 2024

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A while back, the Quilting Arts team started thinking about how technology, the internet, and social media have changed our lives in so many ways. Even art quilters—whether self-taught or professionally trained—face the challenge of embracing new technology over time. Some let the new tech slide by while others are early adapters, taking quick action which can result in exciting innovations. Let’s take a first look at Quilting Arts Magazine Fall 2024.

This issue is about pushing the boundaries of digital art and design. We take a fresh look at cutting edge tools and techniques that inspire innovation with fabric and thread—with the guidance and perspective of the creators who are using them.

We also include beautifully ‘analog’ techniques in gel plate printing and two types of image transfers, artist interviews, galleries of stunning quilts, and more in this issue. Please enjoy!

Photo Play

Margaret Abramshe shares her photo manipulation tips and techniques in “A Beginner’s Guide to Picsart.” This app is a tried-and-true tool for Margaret and in her article, she leads the reader through a step-by-step tutorial in the fun of photo play. Even I got on board! See my sample above.

Believe it or not, I’ve never explored photo manipulation much but following Margaret’s tips I had a lot of fun. This is definitely an app I will explore further. If I can do it, you can too!

Innovation and History

In her article, “The Printed Quilt,” Laura Kemshall takes readers where few quilters have gone before—using a wide-format printer, Laura literally prints onto a completed quilt! This is totally new territory for quilters and, admittedly, not many own or have access to such a printer but we just had to include this for readers to see what may well be coming over the next artistic horizon. Stay tuned and be open to change!

This picture shows a printed quilt coming off of a wide-format printer. *Photo courtesy of Laura Kemshall*.

Rachel Ivy Clarke explores the vastness of using data for quilt design—a recent popular interpretation is the temperature quilt—but she takes readers much further in exploring data in quilts of the past, present, and future. Rachel kindly shared additional resources for readers. Please click here for your free copy.

Other articles along this issue’s theme include how to maximize images on yardage when using an online printing service, using digital design software for creating quilting motifs, and more.

More to Explore

Since we cannot live by digital tools only, we are delighted to also feature Lisa Thorpe on creating botanical prints for beautiful quilts, Wen Redmond’s tissue paper transfer technique and multiple applications, and Margarita Korioth’s discovery of a humble landscape fabric that does double duty in her art studio.

Also in the Fall issue, don’t miss the features on quilt artists Gary Tyler, Gloria Loughman, and Paola Zanda plus beautiful galleries of quilts and more.

Watch my interview with cover artist Phyllis Cullen.