Art Quilts by Kathy York

Quilt Market

Well, Quilt Market is this weekend in Minneapolis and I won't be there. Clothworks will be very busy trying to sell my new fabric line, Urban Landscapes. I have sent my quilt, Urban Circles, for display, but am feeling a bit sad that I won't get to see it there. Not to worry, I will be busy learning new batik techniques with Jane Dunnewold, and I couldn't be happier!

Meanwhile, I have been dreaming up ideas of what to do with my fabric. These are some sample projects made with practice runs of the fabric before the real stuff is printed. Apparently, the colors are off just a bit but can be corrected with Photoshop, but my skills are not advanced to that point yet. These projects will be available to shops that order Urban Landscapes. Cool!

The first is a ruffle skirt and pocket T-shirt. The skirt has 3 tiers and an elastic waist, super comfy and easy to adjust for growing kids! The T-shirt is from Target. I shortened the hem and then fussy cut the pocket and stitched it on. Then I appliqued the hearts and hand stitched the stems.

The next project are two pillows for my couch. I love the way they look. Pretty, simple, and graphic. And the backs have a slightly wavy edge around the big buttons. So if you want a change, you can just flip the pillows over, effectively making them two-sided.


Here's a close up of the hand stitching on the red one.

Here's the quilting of the blue one. After stitching the pillow, this side is now hidden inside the pillow case, but I just love looking at the quilting lines, so I had to share!

This is my tote bag made from some of the Urban Landscapes fabric. You may have seen this tote bag in Quilting Arts Gifts magazine last fall?
Now here it is with my new fabrics, and a slight improvement. My original bag had a simple open pocket. I have altered this to have a zippered pocket so that my credit card won't fall out again!

Here are some closeups for you. I love this project because you can use it to practice your machine quilting skills on a small sample. This is the side of the tote bag. I typically use one quilting motif on one side of the bag, and then a different motif on the other.

How to make a zippered pocket? I didn't know either until I tried, but this is what I came up with. First, cut the pocket and turn under a seam allowance along the place where you will sew in the zipper. Then stitch the zipper in place, like in the photo. And trim off the long end of the zipper, flush with the pocket

Then turn under the edges of the pocket, pin to the lining of the tote bag, and stitch in place. It is easier if you open the zipper half way to do the ends. And, though simple, it's very functional, and looks pretty good too. And, though probably not everyone's taste, I love the contrasting colors!!