Carolyn Manning Designs

www.freewebs.com/cmanningdesigns

Greetings!  My name is Carolyn Manning and I play with string. Oh, and fabric, buttons, beads, lace and sometimes broken color crayons.

While I experiment with many mediums I have found myself drawn in the most by needlework, fiber arts and textiles.

I have been a cross-stitch and needlework designer for the last decade.  I stitch all of my own designs as well and am always looking for ways to work in old buttons, beads and various other trinkets I have collected throughout the years.  When I package up patterns and include embellishments, rarely will you find two patterns with the same goodies inside.  I find charm in all things old and repurposed.

I like simple and uncomplicated.  Flawed is pretty to me.  A cracked button or a tarnished charm can be perfect worked into a piece.  I am currently working on a series of designs that will combine my love of needlework with vintage fabrics.  (Something else that I collect along with the buttons and broken crayons!)

My 'Illustrator' side shines through most often in my designing with my goofy-faced, whimsical characters.  I think I am known best for my snowmen but I am also influenced by my love of gardens, fantasy and fairy tales.  This next year I intend to explore designs that are  different from my usual 'cartoony' pieces so that I can satisfy all of my creative urges.

I want to create designs that encourage others to pick up a needle and exclaim, "I can do that!"

Artist's Statement: As long as you have breath, you have at hand all you need to create.


Location:  Mankato, Minnesota, USA
Online shops: Hoffmandis (Wholesale Distributor)
   C Manning Designs (My website)
   Etsy
Blog: Make Believe Places and Magical Spaces
Important Links: 
   Hoffman Distributing Company
   Kreinik Manufacturing  (TAFA member)
Languages spoken: English

Cross stitich patterns available from 

Carolyn Manning Designs

Tags: cross stitch, needlework, designing, fibers, textiles, vintage, repurpose

Kreinik Manufacturing Company

http://www.kreinik.com

Kreinik the company began when Jerry and Estelle Kreinik made and sold portable needlework cases in the 1970s. They started carrying silk, metallic and real metal threads for fiber arts, eventually opening a manufacturing plant where threads are made. Today it is still a family-based business with son Doug Kreinik as owner (pictured in photo to the left). Kreinik proudly offers silk, metallic, real metal and fusible threads plus embellishments for hand and machine embroidery out of its Parkersburg, West Virginia, manufacturing facility.

Our manufacturing facility is closed to the public. However, we appear at several trade shows throughout the year, including TNNA, CHA, and Quilt Market shows.

Mission: Provide quality threads in a wide range of colors and a variety of textures for people to make the most beautiful, creative handmade items in the world, through their crafts, hobbies, and businesses.

Location:  Parkersburg, West Virginia, USA
Online store: Kreinik Mall
Social media: Facebook, Twitter
Memberships:
   The National Needle Arts Association
   Craft and Hobby Association
   National Costumers Association
Languages spoken: English

Threads made by Kreinik Manufacturing Company

Tags: commercial thread, commercial supplies, thread, metallic, small business, quilting supplies, fiber art thread

d.e.signed by Diane Evans

www.DEsignedByDianeEvans.com

After spending many years in a room filled with an ever-changing assortment of teenagers, I am now retired from teaching and enjoying the pursuit of my passions, the greatest of which is bringing art quilts to life.  I focus on exciting colors, strong designs, and precise workmanship;  my pieces are created to enhance the environments of homes and corporate settings alike, and I am available for commissions of all types.

Artist's Statement: I express my passion for color in my art quilts by using hand-dyed fabrics and whimsical geometrics that play with each other and invite me in for the fun.  The machine-pieced and appliquéd constructions are layered with cotton batting and backing and are then machine-quilted with rayon threads to add dimension and shine.

I share Danny Kaye's philosophy that "the world is a great big canvas -- and you should throw all the paint you can on it." Music and mathematics are my muses, and I strive to create art quilts that reflect my love affair with color.  Radiating motifs are used to create rhythm, the use of symmetry brings harmony, and dramatic machine-quilted curves add lyrical movement.

Location:  Schenectady, New York, USA
Online stores:
   DEsigned By Diane Evans
   DEsigned By Diane Evans 
Blog: DEsigned By Diane Evans
Memberships:
   Studio Art Quilt Associates
   Professional Art Quilt Alliance
   Adirondack Regional Textile Artists Alliance
Languages spoken: English, French (slowly)

 "Autumn in New York" by Diane Evans

Tags: textile art, fiber art, wall art, quilt, appliqué, design, stitch, hand-dyed, fabric, framed art

Leslie Rinchen-Wongmo

"White Tara" by  Leslie Rinchen-Wongmo

http://silkthangka.com

Threads of Awakening. Stitching Buddhas.
Contemporary Buddhist Textile Art born from Tibetan Tradition.

I make brightly colored sacred images from bits of silk satin and brocade. I carry on the tradition entrusted to me by my Tibetan teachers and experiment with new techniques and imagery.

Through the Stitching Buddhas Virtual Apprentice program, I teach a dedicated bunch of stitcher-practitioners around the world.

And I offer weekly inspirational messages through the Threads of Awakening Weekly Wake-up.

Location:  Oxnard, California, USA

Online store: Fine Art America

Blog: Silk Thangka

Memberships:

   Surface Design Association
   Quilt Italia
   Dzogchen Community
Social Media: Twitter

Languages spoken: English, Italian, some Tibetan

"Three Mongolians" by Leslie Rinchen-Wongmo

Tags: sacred art, panels, embroidery, Tibetan, Central Asia, religious, spiritual, Buddhist, embroidered, applique