Chrissie Grace - Sharing Stitches: Exchanging Fabric and Inspiration to Sew One-of-a-Kind Projects

Perhaps you are an accomplished sewer who would like to learn more about altering fabric into mixed-media art pieces. Maybe you are a prolific artist who would like to learn how to use a sewing machine to incorporate fabric pieces into your work. You might just have an intense desire to quilt, sew or create things with fabric. If any of these descriptions apply to you, then you have picked up the right book.

I consider myself a mixed-media artist. I have a long past creating mosaic art with glass and tile. I also love to paint and create mixed-media collages. Working as an artist has always been a solitary experience for me. Whether it was in my garage studio, at my kitchen table or alone in my car jotting down ideas, my artistic dialogue was limited to myself. I started yearning for a connection to other artists. I wanted to connect to some creative partners with whom I could develop a small artistic community. It wasn't until I made the decision to step outside my little work zone in my home studio that I really started blossoming.

A few years ago I wanted to learn how to sew and took a quilting class at a local sewing studio. I hit many roadblocks along the way trying to figure things out on my own. Let's just say that my seam ripper and I became very close! Creating my blog (www.chrissiegrace.blogspot.com) led me to develop relationships with other artists and sewers who were happily offering tutorials online. I saw that quilters were having online quilting swaps and a lot of painters were hosting round robin journal collaborations. After joining and completing a few of these swaps and collaborations, I realized how much I was learning! Working with other artists can provide you with knowledge and inspiration that is impossible to gain by working alone. Besides that, it's just plain fun!

When I created this book, I wanted to host a number of online swaps and collaborations focusing on fabric art. I have an affinity for both functioning fabric pieces (quilts, home accessory items and garments) and fabric art (altered fabric art pieces, fabric round robin journals and quilt blocks) for their aesthetic qualities. I decided to include a mix of both types of projects in the book.

I wanted to represent an eclectic group of sewers and artists, so I asked people with very different backgrounds to participate. Some of the people in our group were very experienced sewers, while others didn't know how to sew but had the desire to learn. They actually learned through the process of our projects! You will find that if you decide to host a collaboration or swapping group, you will have participants who range in levels from beginner to advanced. Be prepared to work with people of all technical levels. This is part of the fun; when you are in a group, you are both learning and teaching at the same time.

If you are trying to decide whether you would like to either participate in or host a swap or collaboration, consider the power of working with a group. When you participate, the projects are usually assigned a theme. This theme may be a subject that you would not normally choose to work with. Your imagination will be stretched as you wrap your creative senses around that subject. Knowing that other people are collaborating with you gives you a sense of artistic security. There is an unspoken agreement that while you are working with other people, you are giving the same precious time and respect that other artists are giving.