Pat Ferguson - Zen Quilting Workbook: Inspired by Zentangle

Pat designed and created Zen Dahlia, a large whole cloth quilt.

For a color catalog featuring over 200 terrific How-To books, visit www.d-originals.com

eISBN: 978-1-60765-116-1

ISBN: 978-1-57421-404-8

COPY PERMISSION: The written instructions, photographs, designs, patterns, and projects in this publication are intended for the personal use of the reader and may be reproduced for that purpose only. Any other use, especially commercial use, is forbidden under law without the written permission of the copyright holder. Every effort has been made to ensure that all information in this book is accurate. However, due to differing conditions, tools, and individual skills, neither the author nor publisher can be responsible for any injuries, losses, or other damages which may result from the use of the information in this book.

INFORMATION: All rights reserved. All images in this book have been reproduced with the knowledge and prior consent of the artists concerned and no responsibility is accepted by producer, publisher, or printer for any infringement of copyright or otherwise, arising from the contents of this publication. Every effort has been made to ensure that credits accurately comply with information supplied.

WARNING: Due to the components used in this craft, children under 8 years of age should not have access to materials or supplies. Under rare circumstances components of products could cause serious or fatal injury. Neither New Design Originals, Suzanne McNeill, the product manufacturer, or the supplier is responsible.

NOTE: The use of products and trademark names is for informational purposes only, with no intention of infringement upon those trademarks.

2011 by Pat Ferguson, Suzanne McNeill and New Design Originals Corporation, www.d-originals.com, an imprint of Fox Chapel Publishing, 800-457-9112, 1970 Broad Street, East Petersburg, PA 17520.

eBook version 1.0

Zentangle and Zen Quilting... an Inevitable Evolution

In 2009, two of my Senior Center students told me about a Zentangle class that they had taken and how much fun it was. It sounded interesting, so that afternoon I checked out www.zentangle.com. That was clearly a day of revelation, as I spent 6 hours poring through the archived newsletters, each containing step-by-step diagrams for many different Zentangles.

I "played" on some plain paper with a pencil while I waited for my Zentangle kit to arrive in the mail. After viewing the instructional DVD, I enjoyed working with the fine quality art paper and free-flowing Pigma pens that were supplied in the kit. I had never been confident enough to draw, but Zentangle enabled me to draw in a different way.

Each pattern, deconstructed to its simplest form of usually one or two easy strokes, provided the technique that finally enabled me to draw. Now, after years of trying, I could actually draw beautiful designs using Maria Thomas and Rick Roberts concept of Anything is possible, One stroke at a time .

I was struck by the similarities between many of the tangle designs and the free motion machine quilting designs used in my domestic and longarm machine quilting. This opened my mind to new and exciting machine quilting possibilities that went far and beyond standard stippling and feathers. I was energized and I was hooked! I was in an entirely new dimension filled with confident anticipation of what I would discover next.

During this creative design process I found that the relaxing, repetitive concepts of Zentangle also applied to machine quilting. Even though the whole cloth quilt took 200 hours to complete, every hour was blissful and the quilt progressed effortlessly.

Zen Dahlia received rave reviews and began winning ribbons at shows. This was the beginning of, what I call my Zen Quilting concept. I wanted to help other quilters feel the relaxed, confident calm of Zen Quilting as I had experienced it. I wanted to impart the calming effects of Zentangle to my quilting students. More than this, I wanted to experience how Rick and Maria transported this magic to their Zentangle students.

So, in May of 2010, I attended an incredible four-day seminar and became an official CZT! I was thrilled to learn about Maria and Rick - their rich historic and artistic backgrounds, their loving and caring life philosophies, how and why they developed this rewarding art form and, most of all, how they approached sharing this eye-opening, relaxing, art form with so many others.

The ball has been rolling ever since. I developed a Zen Quilting class and have been teaching it hand-in-hand with Zentangle classes. I merged Zentangle with free motion quilting to produce unique continuous line designs that are easy to execute.

I am grateful for the opportunity to share my discoveries with you and I welcome you to a world of exciting textures, technique and color. May your journey be joyous, relaxing, creative, inspiring, and wondrous.

Namaste and Happy Quilting!

Pat Ferguson

Zentangle, the red square, and Anything is possible, one stroke at a time are registered trademarks of Zentangle, Inc. Zentangles teaching method is patent pending and is used by permission.

Youll find wonderful resources, a list of Certified Zentangle Teachers (CZTs), workshops, a fabulous gallery of inspiring projects, supplies, kits, and tiles at zentangle.com.

Zentangle:
Anything is possible,
One stroke at a time.

ZEN Quilting:
Anything is possible,
One stitch at a time.

I keep a small sketchbook, a pencil and a Sakura Micron Pigma black pen with me at all times. When I am waiting in a doctors office or at a meeting, I can always pull out my book and sketch to my hearts delight. In this book, you can see my original sketches for Tornado and Rain Forest () in this sketchbook.