Workshop & Instructor Information

Pat Pauly

Cutting Up the Pretties: Designing with Special Fabrics

December 5 - 8, 2013

3-day workshop

All Levels

We all have that great piece of fabric that we purchased, made, traded or were given. Embrace and USE the special fabric we love (but are afraid to use) and overcome the fear of “Cutting Up the Pretties”. In hands-on surface design and sewing workshop we start a notebook of ideas, print on fabric, as well as begin an art quilt using that great fabric. Pat Pauly shows how to “cut up the pretties” and use the special fabric to its best advantage. Use various design solutions and construction techniques to learn a new language in design elements.

On the first of three days, we use direct dye and stamping with textile paint over commercial and hand-dyed fabric. Pat shows how to add depth, pattern, and texture. Day two we discover the qualities that make the fabrics valueable, and study design through fabric sketches while learning techniques for piecing. Using the fabrics that are special or “pretty” while incorporating pieces made in class, we will start a composition. Day three, Pat shows how to apply the design to the finished work and build the quilt. Pat will finish with a discussion on how to quilt, block, bind, and finish the piece.

So gather those great and unique fabrics, along with some blenders, and explore design and color in some careful exercises that will give you various solutions for designing with one-of-a-kind pieces.

Bio

Pat Pauly’s work in textiles began in 1980 when she turned to fiber as a medium of choice. Her early showing at Quilt National cemented her love of working in contemporary fibers with untraditional surface design. Her pieces have been seen in exhibitions and numerous juried shows including the 1983, 2009 and 2011 Quilt National.

Pauly is known for using vivid and brilliant colors as well as incorporating both commercial and artist-made fabrics in her work. Her large sized pieces, no doubt influenced from her years of working as an exhibition designer (where scale is everything), prove why Pauly encourages her colleagues to “go big or go home.”

Pauly shows her work both nationally and internationally. Along with curating and organizing exhibitions of contemporary fiber art, Pauly teaches workshops in design, surface design, and construction techniques. Pauly is also a sought-after lecturer on the evolution of traditional quilts to contemporary fiber art.