Virginia A. Spiegel

Pokey Bolton

Pokey Bolton is Chief Creative Officer for Quilts, Inc., the producers of the world-renowned International Quilt Festivals.  Pokey has the incredible gift of visualizing a future different than the one that currently exists.  May I remind you that Quilting Arts magazine (which was followed by TV, DVDs, books, and more mags) first existed in Pokey’s head?  Pokey supports many good causes besides Fiberart For A Cause.  Pokey has already raised $20,000 on behalf of rescue animals with more fundraisers for our furry friends coming in the future.  Pokey is always finding the fun in the fiberart world AND making the world a better place.  You can follow Pokey’s adventures on her blog.

1.  Describe your artwork for “A Year of Art” in five words.
Therapeutic, Colorful, Playful, Experimental, Mixed

Tote filled with with the last three seasons of Quilting Arts TV,
an assortment of books from Interweave, as well as a fat pile of screened and printed fabric
by Pokey Bolton
Pokey will match the winning bid to donate to the American Cancer Society
during A Year of Art on February 12 and 13!

2.  Describe the source of inspiration for your artwork.
Everything I come across is an inspiration to me…whether it be my dogs sleeping on my bed or a night lily in my fish pond opening its petals in the early evening. I love to turn these images into screens and create one-of-a-kind fabrics.

3. If you could switch to another medium as a career, what would it be? Why?
Actually…I think I found just the right ones–fabric and paper! I’m exactly where I want to be.

4.  Do you support any other good causes besides Fiberart For A Cause
I support Friends For Life in Houston, this city’s premiere no-kill animal shelter. They take in animals that other local shelters otherwise would have killed as they wouldn’t meet their adoption criteria. I got both my dogs at Friends for Life, and they are fantastic additions to my household.

I also support Teens Alone, an organization outside of Minneapolis that works with homeless teens in getting them into safe homes so they can continue to go to school.

5. What’s coming up for you in the near and far future?
2013 I am hoping to be a fantastic year. After all, 13 is my lucky number! I’m going to really make getting into my studio a priority and explore some ideas that have been brewing for a while. I’m also excited to help launch several creative offerings for the International Quilt Festivals this year, including the Chicago show that is back on our roster. I am planning for a creative and industrious year.

We all know and love Pokey Bolton.  I imagine most of us have been touched in one way or another by her great creativity and kindness.  NOW is the time to help Pokey out with her latest good deed.

Pokey is collecting 4×6″ fabric Pet Project Postcards to sell at International Quilt Festival – Houston to benefit Friends For Life, a no-kill animal adoption and resuce organization. If you, like I and Pokey, have adopted pets from a no-kill shelter, you know first-hand the need is great.

The postcards DON’T necessarily need to be pet themed.  All themes are welcome, but you must have to postcards to Houston by Tuesday, October 23.  YOU CAN DO IT!

All the details are here.

BONUS:  This is my Sunshine, adopted from a no-kill shelter, enjoying her life outside of a cage.  In cat v. keyboard, she always wins.

If you haven’t hear of Pokey Bolton yet, then you must be new to the world of art quilts and mixed-media art.  Pokey was the person who saw ten years ago that many artists who loved fiber didn’t really want to be reading or thinking about quilts/fiber art in a traditional way.

Maybe lots of people knew a change was in the air, but Pokey was the one who bravely forged ahead and created Quilting Arts and Cloth Paper Scissors magazines. These have been followed by spin-off magazines , TV series, DVDs, eMags (Quilting Arts in Stitches), and more, more, more.

But most importantly Pokey has supported and nurtured artists, including myself, by looking at our artwork, publishing our artwork, blogging about our artwork, offering us opportunities to meet other artists, and, generally being our most cherished, not to mention FUN, cheerleader. And she makes the time to make and donate artwork to our fundraiser to fight against cancer.  You can’t not love Pokey!

1.  Why are you participating in the ONE fundraiser for the American Cancer Society?

For the same reason that I’m guessing many of the other artists are: I lost someone to cancer (my father). He died of lung cancer and died very young at age 59. It was difficult to watch him in so much pain towards the end. Such a terrible disease…

To Be a Fly on the Wall by Pokey Bolton.  This is one of two fiber collages by Pokey that will be available on February 16.

2.  Tell us about your collages for ONE.
I love machine needle felting, and combining felting with rubber stamping, hand- and machine-stitching, and screen printing. I am also trying (like most other artists these days) to use up scraps I have in my stash! For these two pieces, I decided to go to town with my machine needle felting, using a variety of fibers, combining yarns, rovings, commercial fabrics, my own screen-printed fabrics, organza, among other materials. I had no end game, no end vision for these two collages; I just played as I went.

3.  What are you working on in the studio now?
My own segments for the next series of Quilting Arts TV. We tape mid-February so the clock is ticking!

4.  Do you collect art?  If so, how do you know a piece is right for your collection?
I absolutely collect art. No rhyme or reason, really, for knowing when a piece is right for my collection; I buy pieces that speak to me on some personal level. My very first art quilt I purchased was by Linda Colsh around 2001. I still love that quilt very much and it hangs in our family room at home. Now that I think of it, I’ve always admired her style very much and she’s been a huge influence on what I try to create.

5.  What would you do with a year free to do what you wanted with no responsibilities or financial concerns?
That’s easy!  I would spend the year in my studio, really trying to perfect and master surface design techniques, and amass a lot of my own, printed fabrics. I would love to develop my own body of work to showcase somewhere. I absolutely love my job  -love promoting other artists, but it would be fun for me to explore what I’m able to create as well. And if I could, I’d seek out some masters in the field to study with them for a week or two.

Thank you generous donors and patrons.  We raised an amazing $1518!    See you next Tuesday:  More totes, more variety, more bids to benefit the American Cancer Society.

Unless a custom tote has been provided, the winning bidder will receive this Relay For Life tote directly from me:

1. Art+Quilt Sponsored by Lyric Kinard
Winning Bid:  $250 by Mary Ann Van Soest who is also a tote donor.

Be inspired by Lyric’s new book, Art+Quilt as you delve deeply into the building blocks that make up our visual language.  A sketchbook is the perfect place to capture your thoughts and inspirations.  Its special cover was created by Lyric and features dyeing, painting, printing and beading.  Also included are three+ yards of hand-dyed cotton fabrics, with some fabrics also printed or painted, by Connie Akers to start you on the way to creating own beautiful art quilt.

Tote: Relay For Life (see above)
Contents:

*Autographed copy of Art + Quilt: Design Principles and Creativity Exercises by Lyric Kinard

*Sketchbook with one-of-a-kind cover by Lyric Kinard

*3+ yards hand-dyed (some also printed/painted) fabrics by Connie Akers

2.  Embellished Mini-Quilts sponsored by Jamie Fingal and the Cut-Loose Quilters of Orange, CA.
Winning Bid: $200 donated to the American Cancer Society by Kay Sorensen, who has supported ALL of FFAC fundraisers.

Everything you need to embellish a quilt with treasures collected by most of the members of the Cut-Loose Quilters!  The members of Cut-Loose who donated items are Peggy Calvert, Cindy Cooksey, Anne Copeland, Jamie Fingal, Stacy Hurt and Julie Schlueter.

Tote: Hand painted by Jamie Fingal

Contents:
*Jamie’s book Embellished Mini Quilts signed by her and three other artists – Cindy Cooksey, Stacy Hurt and Terry Waldron.
*1 bag of miscellaneous trim and 1 card of 3 trims and lime green sequin trim, oooh la la
*2 stackable towers of beads and buttons to take with you wherever you go
*6 bags of beads and sequins that an embellisher cannot live without
*3 bags of buttons and 1 bag of letter beads, because you have something to say
*3 pkgs of rick rack, the happy and perky embellishment
*a bundle of trim, more is more
*embroidery thread, needles, metallic thread, these always enhance a project
*silver metal discs that say “Imagination is everything..it’s the preview of life’s coming attractions”
*Not shown in picture, ribbon trim and a zipper, just to be different

3 . Getting Graphic! sponsored by Pokey Bolton
Winning Bid:  A generous, but anonymous, donor who made A Go For The Gold + donation of $600 to the American Cancer Society.

When Pokey isn’t scheming upcoming publications and projects at Quilting Arts, she can be found in her flannel PJs in her home studio, dyeing and screening brightly hued fabrics with bold designs. (And during the colder, bleaker months she makes her fabrics even brighter and bolder to stave off those winter blues!)

Tote: Pokey combined some of her hand-dyed and screened fabrics with commercial fabrics with whimsical designs.  Pattern is Kathy Mack’s Winslow Market tote as published in International Quilt Festival: Quilt Scene.

Contents:
*A copy of our special issue: International Quilt Festival: Quilt Scene
*A copy of our super-sized special Winter issue of Cloth Paper Scissors STUDIOS
*Quilting Arts (Feb/March issue)
*Cloth Paper Scissors (Jan/Feb issue)
*Quilting Arts TV Series 500 (13 Episodes)
*Texture Transformation: Stitch, Alter, Recycle with Natalya Aikens – Quilting Arts Workshop DVD
*Gelatin Monoprinting with Rayna Gillman – Quilting Arts Workshop DVD
*A fat bundle of Pokey’s hand-dyed/ screened fabrics

4. Knitted Comfort sponsored by Lynn Krawczyk
Winning Bid: The Go For The Gold Price of $180 to Tomme Fent, obsessed knitter and long-time FFAC supporter.

Knitting has, on more than one occasion, helped me to refocus and relax during stressful times.  It’s a fiber art that has been around for centuries, with the earliest knitted object dating back to the 14th century.  Knowing that so many others have gone before me with this art form adds to my growing affection toward it.  Two areas that I have especially grown to love are knitting socks and knitting toys.  There is nothing cozier than a pair of hand kintted socks in your favorite colors or a unique hand knitted toy full of personality.  I’m please to offer this tote (with two more to follow in upcoming weeks) in support of Fiberart For A Cause and the American Cancer Society and I hope that they bring you many moments of happiness too!

Tote: Hand-stitched felt yarn bucket (Mixed Bag Designs)
Contents:
*Knitted Comfort for the Sole book
*Hand-dyed sock yarn in mediumweight Socks that Rock, colorway Strange Brew, (Blue Moon Fiber Arts)
*Hand-knit mini sock by Lynn Krawczyk

5. Rust-Tex Collection sponsored by Lois Jarvis and Rust-Tex.com
Winning Bid:  An anonymous donor generously donated the Go For The Gold price of $288 to the American Cancer Society.

The Rust-Tex Collection has everything you need to get started in rust dyeing including the Rust-Tex Instructional CD. Rust Dyeing is unpredictable, but Lois Jarvis has figured out four techniques that will give you repeatable patterns. Also in the tote is the Rust-Tex Starter Kit that includes everything needed to create the Trees pattern, one of the four techniques on the CD, and 4 steel stars that are guaranteed to rust are just some of the items in the 100% cotton tote that could be rust dye after you pop the CD in your computer and learn how to rust dye.

Tote: 100% cotton tote for rust dyeing
Contents:
-Rust-Tex Instructional CD
-Kit to make Trees Fabric
-Tannin (enough to make a quart)
-1.5oz bottle synthrapol
-Tube of iron fillings
-4 steel stars (guaranteed to rust)
-Fat Quarter of Stormy Skies Fabric
-Fat Quarter of Trees Fabric
-Fat Quarter of Sunburst Fabric

Logo by Jeanelle McCall.

Today’s tote-ology post is about tote contents.  Part I was about the tote bags themselves.  Part III will detail how bidding for totes will work.

1.  Each tote is wonderfully unique.  Artists and businesswomen in the fiber industry have been working hard to make these totes something you are not going to find anywhere else. We hope to have something “Made by Hand” in each tote and/or a custom-made tote.  Please show your appreciation for our generous donors by doing business with them.  All contents of each tote will be listed and shown in a photograph(s) as it comes up for bid

2. It’s a fundraiser! Our goal is to raise the maximum amount possible for the ACS, but sponsors/donors have been wonderful in agreeing to provide totes at a variety of price levels.  Be as generous as you are able and let’s celebrate the wonderfulness that is fiber.  Perhaps you can form a ToteTuesday bidding consortium with your friends and then throw a ToteTuesday party when the tote arrives.  What to keep and what to share – that’s the dilemma!

3..  Any amount you donate to the American Cancer Society through Fiberart For A Cause above retail value is tax deductible (upon advice of your accountant, of course).

4.  All shipping is free to you thanks, again, to generous sponsors/donors.  Totes and their contents may come to you as one shipment or you might have the joy of receiving the contents directly from a multitude of donors.

If you have any questions, please contact me at Virginia(at)VirginiaSpiegel.com