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This past February, MacWorld was held in San Francisco.  I’m very very late in posting images from the show, but here are a few …

The show appeared crowded, which was great, especially considering that it’s the first year that Apple, Inc. decided not to attend.

However, the show occupied half the expo floor space that it had last year.   I’ve more photos coming from the show, but I decided to share a couple images that I took around San Francisco …

San Francisco MOMA – the original photo that I took.

This is the same image that I altered twice using Photoshop.

I took this picture from a restaurant window at Fisherman’s Wharf.

And here is the same image after I digitally altered it twice using Photoshop.

I have some images from a session at Macworld celebrating the 20th anniversary of Photoshop.  That was fun.  Those older versions have such an innocence to them … all of that potential waiting to evolve into the crazy, massive program it is now.

I’m currently in Orlando, attending Photoshop World.  Today I took a pre-conference class on channels and masks.  I suspect I understand more about the topic than I give myself credit for as, despite the excellent instructor,  I felt myself vacillating between wanting to leave and starting to fall asleep.  I almost made it through the entire class.  Meanwhile, rumor is Photoshop CS5 will be announced at tomorrow’s keynote.  We’ll see.

Each day while walking to the Haynes Convention Center to attend classes at Photoshop World, we’d pass a sign for the Skywalk Observatory which is on the 50th floor of the Prudential Office Tower.  During a longer break, we decided to venture up for an hour to take some photographs.  Here’s a small sampling.

There is a 360 degree view of the City.   While the weather was a bit overcast, we took pictures anyway.

I started taking overlapping images so that I could stitch them together using Photoshop to create some photo merges.  The first of the three merges two images together.  The second merges four.  I wasn’t crazy about Boston’s tallest building, the John Hancock building, was a bit central.   I then cropped it to create the image above.

Fenway Park.

Trinity Church

Trinity Church contrasting with the John Hancock building.

Derry read through the various maps and educational signs available and was then able to quickly identify what we were looking at.  It also helped that we both were listening to the headsets provided by the Observatory.

Derry patiently waiting for me to finish.  Then, it was back to classes.

Blushing Triangles 4 – ©Gloria Hansen 2008.  (registered 2008)

I was very fortunate to win the Best Wallhanging award at the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival XX in Hampton, Virginia. I wasn’t able to make the show, but several people sent me photos.  Thank you to Katherine McNeese, Lisa Ellis, Trish, Judith Gleason Glover, Robin Koehler, and Benedicte Caneill. If I’m missing, tell me!

Witley Decay © Gloria Hansen 2008 (registered 2008)

Benedicte was also at the New Jersey Quilt Fest show in Somerset, New Jersey.  I was very pleased to learn that I won a 2nd place for one of my newest pieces, Witley Decay.  Witley was also juried in the SAQA Transformations ’09: Reflections exhibit which will premiere in Birmingham, UK this summer.  I was happy to get the opportunity to display it in my home state and very honored to win an award for it.

Last week I had the pleasure of taking a few hours off from work, meeting up with Colleen Bell (a quilt artist and a gifted nurse practitioner), and visiting  the New Jersey Statue Museum located in Trenton to view a show called “Transformations.”   The Museum organizers  selected the theme to reflect the “renovation project that has transformed the infrastructure of the building.  … Participating craftspeople were encouraged to consider transformation – of ideas, materials or space, and how the products of these transformations themselves trigger additional change – of art forms, perception or society itself, in the work they submit to the jurors.”

Sadly I have no photos from the show.  I made the mistake of asking if I could take photographs.  After some consideration, the guard said no.  I had the feeling that if I didn’t ask, and shot with natural light, it would not have been a problem.  It wasn’t that I wanted to photograph each individual piece of art (although I did have a couple favorites),  but rather the art within the Museum setting.  I so enjoyed the structure itself, how the large windows and natural lighting enhanced the experience and displayed the work to its best.  For example, there was a piece made by Joan Dryer, an American flag,  composed entirely of x-ray film.  It hung under an archway.  The large window behind it was tinted (probably to protect work from UV light), although the Delaware River was visible and glistening from sunlight dancing on the water.  Everything had a black/white/silvery quality to it, complementing Joan’s piece beautifully.

Although I didn’t take any photographs within the building, I did wander around outside to take some.  The show runs through mid-March.

When making a hanging sleeve for a quilt, it is important to incorporate some give to accommodate the hanging device, which at quilt shows is generally some sort of pole.  If the sleeve is sewn onto the quilt without any give, the hanging device can cause the quilt to buckle and not hang as it should.  While there are many methods of creating a sleeve, the following method works for me.  I also must credit quilt artist Libby Lehman on the instructions she shares on the IQA website.  While I discovered sewing wrong sides together for a hanging sleeve by accident (there’s a story), her folding method resulting in the “D” shape for give is more exact than my older method of  ironing in a pleat.

Cut a piece of fabric that is about 10+ to 11 inches wide by at least the width of your quilt.

I place the cut fabric on the back of the quilt, and I fold over the edges to the approximate width that I want the finished sleeve.  I finger press it (no photo – sorry about that!).    Generally I place the sleeve about 1/2 – 1″ from each side.

Fold the edge over twice and sew a seam away from the folded edge.  If precision is more important, then you may want to trim, double fold, and then stitch closer to the edge.  Or, you may prefer two seams — one by each edge.

When finished, lightly press the fabric in half, right sides OUT.

Open the fabric and then fold each edge to the center.  Again, right sides of fabric out.

Press this with a hot iron and some steam to create a good crease on each side.  Both crease lines will serve as the hand stitching line.

Grab the two edges of the fabric to seam together.  The fabric remains right sides out.

Sew the entire length of the sleeve with a 1/4″ seam allowance.  I start about 1/2 inch from the edge, back stitch to the edge, and then stitch the seam.

When coming to the end of the seam, I sew just about off  the edge.  I then swing around the fabric around . . .

and sew about an inch or so in.  This way the end of the seam is in rather than right at the edge.

Iron open the seam, but take care not to create a new seam.  I use a mini iron.  If you use a regular iron, tilt the iron so that you’re only using the tip.  Again, avoid making new creases (you only want the two to serve as your hand stitching line.

The seam is pressed open, but the original crease line is still there.

Pin the sleeve into position.

The important thing is maintaining the “D” shape.  In other words, do not pull the sleeve taunt.  If you’re more comfortable, baste rather than pin it into place.

Another view.  Also, per Alison’s helpful comment, watch the top placement of the sleeve to confirm that it is not too close to the edge.  Otherwise, you risk the sleeve peaking out from the top when the quilt is hanging.

Stitch the sleeve into place using whatever stitch you prefer — blind, whip, etc.

Here is the side stitched down (and if you’re more careful, you’ll line up the edges of the seam better than I did).  Once the sleeve is stitched into place, the quilt is ready for hanging.

Again, Libby gets all of the credit for her folding method resulting in the “D” shape for give.  If you’d like a copy of her instructions, visit the International Quilt Association website here.  Scroll to the bottom of the page, and click the download PDF link.  And, while there, if you’re not a member of IQA, consider joining.

While at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, UK, I cam across a Belgium company, Trapsuutjies Fabric Paint, selling fabric paint.  If you live in the US like I do, then buying from their Belgium location and having it shipped over is pricey. However, they offer a FREE 32-page PDF fabric painting instruction book. It covers topics like monoprinting, silk painting, screenprinting, printing, reverse stamping, applying paint with a  card, sunpainting, blotching, and more.  The address to download the PDF is here.  Otherwise, be sure to check out their site for their products.  If anyone knows of a US distributor, let me know.

I received the Premiere issue of Somerset Studio’s new annual publication “Digital Studio.” I’m very pleased to share that my RGB.self quilt appears on page 110. The new publication is 144 color pages. While it’s geared more digital scrapbooking, there are many inspiring images in the book. The $9.96 issue hits the newsstands on March 1st. Or, you can learn more about it here.