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Submitted by Dianne McD. What is a quilt?  I define a quilt as “a hug you can wrap around yourself”. But what I’m really asking here is, “What qualifies as a quilt?”  It’s a question that many people have tried to answer for a long time.  When I first started quilting, I understood a quilt to be three layers:  top, batting, and backing. My small group would discuss this sometimes.  Some of us were subscribed to the Quilting Arts magazine; and when they put out a challenge and a call for quilts, they would usually stipulate that the finished product needed to be three layers. Read More →

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Submitted by Naomi M. Having recently focused on the history of several unique Japanese fabrics, and several Japanese fabric dyeing techniques, I thought you would enjoy reading this NY Time’s article about the true ingenuity of Japanese women to deal with a social crisis. (You’ll be taken to the New York Times site.  Be sure and scroll through all their advertising to get the whole story.)Read More →

Pantone Classic Blue

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Submitted by Liz M. Each year, many companies select a “color” to promote in fabrics and design. I have followed a couple of them for the last few years and been interested in the choices. There does not seem to be any pattern; lights, darks and brights all show up. These colors are forecasting interior design, fashion and, ultimately, our fabric choices. I have been interested in Pantone as it is an industry standard for graphic design. Marketing consultants use the palette and stipulate the colors to promote consistency in a company’s brand and logo. Pantone (click here for website) has chosen Classic Blue forRead More →

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Submitted by Dianne McD. At our Guild meeting this last January, Momoko Kanaoka spoke to us about Japanese textiles.  Momo is the Product Designer and Production Manager at the Kiriko shop which is located in Portland’s Chinatown. You can visit the shop’s website here. During her presentation, she showed us many interesting and beautiful Japanese fabrics and clothing.  One amazing textile was dyed using a Shirbori method, and Momo had planned to show us a video on that technique.  But we couldn’t connect to the internet in a timely fashion and had to move on. All is not lost, however.  Momo kindly sent me theRead More →

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Submitted by Rosalie Movius Besides acting as our guest writer this week, Rosalie is also MPS’s intrepid Program Chair. Thomas Knauer’s new book, Why We Quilt, speaks to “the power of Art, Activism, Community and Creativity” in quilting. The book provides short historical asides to set the stage for the personal answers from more than forty American quilters about why they quilt. While each person has his/her more personal reasons for quilting, Thomas identifies five broad categories:Read More →