October 14, 2023

The Artist:

Deborah Fell is a full-time studio artist committed to the quilt medium. She is a professional member of the Studio Art Quilt Associates and a member of the Art Quilt Network. Deborah’s art focuses on abstract, organic shapes while using surface treatments such as dyeing, painting, photography, and reclaimed materials. Deborah has been a professional educator for over 30 years. In addition to teaching at-risk high school students in a public high school setting, Deborah has taught art workshops at national symposiums such as Quilt Surface Design Symposium, Quilting by the Lake and Art Quilt Tahoe. In 2012 Deborah started teaching art quilt courses at the University of Illinois through the OLLI program. Deborah earned a Master’s degree from Northern Illinois University and did graduate work at University of Illinois, University of New Hampshire and had a fellowship at Northwestern University.

Deborah was an Artist-in Residence at the Mendocino Arts Center in 2011, at the University of Illinois (Champaign) in 2013, at the Nantucket School of Design and the Arts in 2016, and at the Vermont Studio Center in 2017. Her work was on the front cover of Art Quilting Studio’s Winter 2012 issue and was the featured artist for the January 2017 Patchwork Professional in Germany, which featured an architectural series focusing on German architectural elements. Deborah’s work was exhibited in South Africa in 2014, Holland in 2015, and in France and Cape Town in 2017. Her art quilt in Visions 2018 won the Quilts Japan Prize, and she taught in Tokyo in 2019 and Australia in 2023. Deborah won a Juror’s Choice Award at Quilt National 2021. Her quilt, Lines: People Waiting, won the Award of Excellence at Quilt National 2023.

In 2010 Deborah was asked to assist the host of CBS’s television show, Extreme Home Makeover, by creating the art piece for the master bedroom of the new house built in the east central Illinois area.

Guild Meeting/Program: Gee’s Bend Quilts

This is an in-depth journey into the significance of Gee’s Bend quilts and their place in the art quilt world.

Date/Time: October 14, 2023 10:30 AM 

Location: St. James Episcopal Church, 11815 Seven Locks Rd, Potomac, MD 20854

Extended Workshop: Creating the Illusion of Depth in Art Quilts

Discover a variety of ways to create the illusion of depth on a two-dimensional plane (in our case, a quilt.) Students will work in a collage style, using mixed media techniques with fabric, paint, paper and found objects to create a series of small studies. We will paint, sew, fuse and glue, concentrating on design principles such as overlapping, placement, size, value, and focus. In the end, you will leave with a better sense of command over how to create the illusion of three dimensions, depth, and foreground/background within your two-dimensional art. This workshop is suitable for beginning and intermediate quilters.

Date/Time: October 15-16, 2023 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Location: PFAG member home in Potomac, MD

Workshop Fee: Members: $160.00 Non-Members: $220.00

Student Supply List:

Three colors transparent fluid acrylic paint
Small sizes—we don’t need much (1 oz.)
Bring 3 or 4 related paint colors. If you buy paint, I recommend Golden Fluid Acrylics: https//www.dickblick.com/products/golden-fluid-acrylics

Small bottles of black & white paint

Basic paint supplies:
Small containers for water
Bucket for table water
Paint palette

Rags or paper towels

Apron

Paint brushes—bring what you have—5 or 6 various sizes
My favorite brushes are the cheap chip brushes from hardware stores

Texture tools

Acrylic gel medium (matte)
At least 8 oz.
If you are going to purchase, get Golden Regular Acrylic Gel Medium.
https://www.dickblick.com/products/golden-regular-acrylic-gel-mediums/

Pad of mixed media paper
Any kind of heavy paper you might have in your studio is suitable, e.g., Bristol or watercolor paper

A few large Ziploc bags or a bin of misc. materials such as:
Fabric scraps—edges from squared up quilts, small pieces you might not be able to use for anything else
Lightweight tissue type papers (old wrapping stuff, old sewing patterns….)
Old newspapers, magazine images….
Found objects
If you can sew it down, it’s fair game!

Thin & thick black sharpie

Handmade paper—small amounts
Similar to the one in the link below
https://www.dickblick.com/products/black-ink-thai-bamboo-leaves-decorative-paper/

Latex gloves—optional
Gel medium gets very messy.

Painting tools
outside of the box stuff like toothpicks, old toothbrushes
anything you can create textures with
Bring what you have.

Paper & cloth scissors

Sewing machine/basic sewing tools/thread
Bring a walking foot if you have it.

2 yds. duck cloth canvas
natural color
7 oz.—this is important
no sizing
Dick Blick and Dharma carry this

1 yd. black canvas duck cloth
You can get this at Joann’s
This is usually a 10 oz. weight
If it feels stiff from sizing, not a problem

1 yd. Regular weight Wonder Under fusible webbing

3—5 fat quarters of fabric that relate to one another

4 unscented dryer sheets

Plastic for table (shower curtain liners work well)
Click here to print supply list