Balzer Designs

Two Art Quilt Collage Classes with Deborah Boschert

As I mentioned on Friday, I took two classes with Deborah Boschert over the weekend. I had a lot of fun. They were exactly the self-care I needed. This is the palette of fabrics that I chose for myself: Interestingly, I posted a picture of this palette to my instagram stories and asked people if they thought it was a cohesive palette. About half the people (including Deborah) said, "No." I find that fascinating. To me, it looks super cohesive and fun to work with. But we are all different artists and I'm sure it looks like a hot mess... Read more →

My Weekend Plans: Two Classes with Deborah Boschert

I have a fabulous weekend planned for myself. I am going to take two one-day classes via Zoom with Quilt Artist, Deborah Boschert. Here's a short video she put together about one of them -- it's called "Captivating Compositions": And here is a video about the other class: I will be sure to report back next week, but I thought I'd share a few of the videos from Deborah's YouTube channel that are related to class. This one is about how to prepare your fabric for fusible collage: I've ironed plenty of Wonder Under to fabric, but I had no... Read more →

A "Woven" Quilt

I belong to a quilt guild called The Cambridge Modern Quilt Guild. Recently, they issued a challenge to the membership: Quilts should represent what modern quilting means to each maker. Ideas of techniques that typically appear in modern quilts include: Negative Space Improvisational Piecing Minimalism Alternate Gridwork Modern Traditionalism (Updating a traditional quilt block or theme in a modern way) Quilts must include a piece of Enchanted, the Kona Cotton 2020 Color of the Year. We were each sent a small piece of "Enchanted." I started sketching and came up with a design. It actually came together quite quickly. But... Read more →

A Pen Bag Made From Paper

I made this fabulous pen bag from...PAPER!! I have always looooved cut paper, but it's fragile. It's hard to make anything long lasting from it. But then I figured out that I could sandwich the cut paper between two sheets of iron-on vinyl and turn it into a much more durable material. I cut two pieces of pink cardstock, sealed them between layers of iron-on vinyl and was then able to stitch together this pen bag... ...including putting in a zipper! One Note: You do have to be careful when turning the bag because the paper will crease if you... Read more →

Quilt Block Pillows

I don't know about you, but summer weather mixed with social distancing means we spend a lot of time on our porch. I discovered that an easy way to jazz up my outdoor furniture -- and make it feel more homey -- is with some throw pillows. As you can see, I made two throw pillow covers from the same quilt block pattern. But even though the pillow covers are both made from the exact some pattern, they look quite different! It all comes down to fabric choice. As you can see, I made one with solids and the other... Read more →

Two Magical Rings are Great Sewing Tools

I've been working on a lot of Make It Artsy projects lately. Last night I was sewing up a storm, putting together quilt blocks. When I sew, I use two magical rings: a pin ring and a cutter ring. They make everything quick and easy. I do have a tutorial on making your own pin ring. Find it HERE. I bought the blinged out cutter ring years ago at Quilt Festival in Houston and you can buy your own HERE. It's an easy way to have scissors with you, without having scissors with you. Thanks for stopping by! Read more →

Dancing with the Wall: Quickstep with Irene Roderick

I took a live online quilting class with Irene Roderick last week. Over the course of a week, we were to create a two-color improv quilt top. Take a peek at my progress: And here it is all stitched together: I'm quite pleased with where I ended up, even if I did end up grabbing a third color. Rules were meant to be broken, after all. You can see that I completely dismantled my design between photos 3 and 4. It looked too much like houses or silos or something recognizable. I wanted something truly abstract. I haven't determined whether... Read more →

Quilt-as-You-Go in Progress

Just before the baby was born, I put together some improv circles. They grew and grew into quite a fearsomely large quilt top. For scale, each quarter circle section is 8.5x8.5. At some point I add some black and white sashing. And then this design sat on my design wall for five months because I was so intimidated by the notion of quilting a quilt that large. I posted a photo of some of the blocks on instagram and someone suggested quilt-as-you-go. Fun fact: I started a quilt-as-you-go project back in 2007, and blogged about it, but I'm pretty sure... Read more →

Adventures in Arting Podcast: Carol Soderlund

On today's podcast I'm talking to Carol Soderlund about her journey to becoming an expert in fabric dyeing, slow stitching, Nancy Crow, and so much more. If you do not see the podcast player above, please click on this link. On the off chance that you've never listened to a podcast or don't get why anybody would want to, here are some facts: (1) Podcasts are convenient. It's a recording that is available to you whenever and wherever you'd like to listen. You can pause, stop, start, fast forward, and rewind. Stream it through Apple Music or any podcast service.... Read more →

Fabric Face Mask with Filter Pocket

Like many people who sew, I made some cloth face masks. I used the template provided in the description of THIS video tutorial to make these particular masks: I used all kinds of fabric: hand painted, hand printed, hand dyed, sun printed, and commercial. The ones I made are for friends and family and I sent them out into the world with this video I made on how to use them -- proper fit is very important to functionality: This particular mask design calls for 6 pieces -- 2 outer, 2 lining, and 2 for the filter pocket. I cut... Read more →