Review of Sarah Ann Smith's DVD

Welcome to the Blog Hop!  I am honored to have been asked by my artist friend, Sarah Ann Smith to review her DVD "Art Quilt Design from Photo to Threadwork, with Fabric Collage and Machine Quilting" by Interweave.The link to the Interweave store is here, for your viewing pleasure!

What I love about this DVD is that Sarah shares with the viewers all of the wonderful products that she uses in her work, and why they are so great. For, me - this info is invaluable.  From needles, to pencils, to paint, to the fabulous iron for fusing, Mistyfuse, and Transdoodle, and more - there many wonderful things to be learned here.

The DVD is divided up into chapters, so it is very easy to follow. 

She discusses how she selects photographs for a project and what you need to look for in choosing the best one.  She also took the time to show us how she selects the fabrics for a given project, and talks about color and contrast and all of the elements to keep in mind while designing a quilt. 

One of the things that I admire about Sarah, is that she always gives credit to other artists that she has learned a technique from. Gotta love that.

You learn all about using particular paints and pencils to create the look you desire, and tools that help you get where you need to go.  This can apply to any project that you are working on.  She has given us suggestions for terrific tools, to help us on our way!

The section on threat was quite enlightening to me personally, because I only use black thread for free motion machine quilting. She discusses threads in length, and how she selects the colors, and the bobbin thread. All of the pretty colors, like candy, I might add.  What size needle to use, and why she prefers polyester thread for free motion quilting.  As she proceeds to the quilting stage, she touches on how important that the light source is when you are stitching - consider it before adding lighter colors. There is planning afoot, and she shows you what to look for.

I highly recommend Sarah's DVD!  You learn design, choosing the right photograph, transferring to a pattern, design elements, fabric selection, tools, free motion machine quilting and the DVD finishes with the various ways in which to finish your art quilt.  You are ready to GO.

Here is where you go next in the Blog Hop
Sept 21 - Deborah Boschert    http://deborahsjournal.blogspot.com/
Sept 24 -  Vicki Welsh    http://vickiwelsh.typepad.com/
Sept 26 - Leslie Jenison  http://leslietuckerjenison.blogspot.com/
Sept 28 - Terry Grant   http://andsewitgoes.blogspot.com/
Oct 1 - Gloria Hansen    http://www.gloriahansen.com/weblog/
Oct 3 - Diane Perin Hock    http://goingtopieces.blogspot.com/
Oct 5 - Sarah Ann Smith  http://www.sarahannsmith.com/weblog/ 

Give Away Scoop
Post your comments, and choosing on a random scale, one lucky person will receive Sarah Ann Smith's new DVD.  If you live outside of the US, you will receive a free download of the DVD.  Deadline is Sept 21 at 10:00pm Pacific Standard Time.  I will announce the winner on Sunday, September 22.  Beth M. is the winner!  Congratulations!