Vicki Jensen & the Ambassadors sounds like a rock band but these SDA rock stars have radically transformed the formerly lonely struggle of building community around the textile arts. Find out how they have energized SDA on the local level by creating blogs, holding effective quarterly meetings & brainstorming future projects through inspired teamwork. …

Check out the awards, commissions and collaborations SDA Members Patricia Greaves (UK), Dawn Edwards (Michigan) and Kathie Kerler (Oregon) created and won in 2010. Dawn Edward’s “Triton’s Horn” (Felt & Mixed Media) is shown at left….

Meet SDA Member Melanie Siegel of Ontario, Canada, who recently sent in news of this public works commission she completed in 2010. She wrote a winning proposal to teach felting to 8th and 9th graders in the public schools and her students did the rest. “UNITY” now hangs in the Richmond Green Library. …

In my workshop “Embellished Textile Assemblages”, I will be emphasizing both the craft of stitching & bead embroidery as well as ‘happy accidents’ of intuitive compositions and meaning that can arise from serendipitous material combinations. Participants are encouraged to bring a variety of objects/mementos that are visually and/or emotionally compelling. Plan to leave with a completed workshop relic!…

To entice you to register for CONFLUENCE: 2011 International Surface Design Conference in Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN (June 9-12), this issue spotlights featured speakers Pat Hickman and India Flint along with SDA’s President Emeritus Jason Pollen, who will have an exhibition there. Other articles consider ways in which the notion of “confluence” is textile-specific, where “ideas meet and mingle”–whether it be the surface design of municipal recycling trucks or how etsy.com has supercharged the DIY craft movement. Get your hot links here!…

In the forward to this new book, Rudolf Smend writes, “Rita Trefois has managed to create a record that presents contemporary batik art in a timeless fashion, as well as expertly incorporating the history and, in particular, the batik technique….This publication is an important milestone in the long history of batik, as well as a prototype and inspiration for the younger generation.” Read Rita Trefois’s introduction to her long-awaited book here!
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We all love the beautiful blue color found in indigo-dyed textiles. The time-honored process of dyeing with indigo is the perfect companion to shibori techniques. Whether I am working with white linen or a piece of fabric previously dyed with MX dyes, I find the process of adding color and pattern to fabric from the indigo vat a magical experience. Join me next June in Minneapolis to experience it yourself….

“I am floating 30 feet above the concrete floor in the dark. I can hear the murmuring of the audience as I strap the paintbrush onto a 3 foot long piece of bamboo. The lights switch on, illuminating a tower of white silk. As as the luscious notes of a solo cello begin to resonate through the auditorium, I begin to paint.”…

ART YARN was a hot topic at the recent Textile Society of America conference in Lincoln, NE, thanks to Tracy Hudson’s outstanding and eye-opening presentation. This peripatetic spinner/quilter, currently based in Qatar, shares her take on this new twist and how the ravelry.com community has inspired and supported her work through the magic of the World Wide Web. Get inspired by her creative process and spin art, then link to some of her favorite spinners and resources……

Read about the ideas and surface design techniques Michelle Sirois-Silver and Andrea Donnelly (whose work appears at left) plan to explore using SDA Personal Development Grants. Check out the guidelines for applying to win a grant yourself on the SDA website….