By Kathryn Bassett kathrynb@kpcnews.net
Sunday, 16 October 2011 07:35

Lina Zerkle creates portraits or free-form images representing characteristics of individuals in her quilts.
Photo By Chad Kline

Lina Zerkle blends bold shapes, strong colors, patterns, textures and her own sense of humor to create unique, nontraditional artwork in fabric form.

“It’s more than just technique,” she said of her work. “Once you get the techniques down, you’re free to do whatever you want and break the rules.”

Fiber art is a style of fine art that uses textiles. Quilting, knitting, felting, braiding and flocking and among the forms of fiber art.

Lina Zerkle of Waterloo takes an improvisational approach to her work when making quilts and wall hangings.
Photo by Chad Kline

Taking an improvisational approach to her work, Zerkle, of Waterloo, makes quilts and wall hangings. In addition to abstract designs, Zerkle creates self-portraits, portraits of friends and family members or free-form images representing characteristics of individuals, she said.

Lina Zerkle of Waterloo has experimented with constructing three-dimensional fabric vessels and bowls. Photo By Chad Kline

“My abstract pieces convey moods and express feelings, communicate ideas or tell stories. It is my way to bring order out of chaos,” Zerkle said.

Influenced by her love for clay pottery, Zerkle also has experimented with constructing three-dimensional fabric vessels and bowls.

Zerkle’s work has been exhibited across northeast Indiana at locations such as Artlink in Fort Wayne, shows in Auburn, the Midwest Museum of American Art in Elkhart, the Elkhart Visitors Bureau and the Lerner Performing Art Center in Elkhart.

“Design, color, movement, energy, spirit, joy and humor are important aspects of my work,” said Zerkle. “I enjoy what I do.”

Fiber artist Cher Coburn of Auburn has created berets, bags, scarves and art pieces using the technique of crofusion.
Photo by Kathryn Bassett

Cher Coburn of Auburn has spent her whole life
in the arts.

Through the art of crofusion, Coburn found her voice expressing who she is artistically, she said.

Crofusion is a form of fiber art that involves felting
of crochet.

Fiber artist Cher Coburn of Auburn entitled this piece of crofusion “I Felt Like Scrumbling.” The piece, which takes on the form of a bag, is Coburn’s favorite creation.
Photo Contributed

“I identify with it because its beginnings are like the many threads of my life crocheted together, looking much like ugly ducklings. However once fused together, (they) form the beautiful basis of my world,” Coburn said.

“Finishing with beads, baubles and more represent the many blessings and people in my life and, because of them, the pieces become completed works.”

Fiber artist Cher Coburn used the technique of crofusion, which brings together crocheting and felting, to create this poppy. Photo Contributed

“I’ve crocheted since (age) 16,” Coburn said. “I never followed patterns, and I wanted to do something different. I never followed the norm.

“I have a friend who does free-form crocheting and a friend who was doing felting. I thought the two things together would be really cool.”

Cher Coburn took first place in a contest at the Texas State Fair with this bag, which she created using the technique of crofusion.
Photo Contributed

Bags, berets, scarves. wall hangings and other art pieces are among Coburn’s crofused creations. Her work can be seen at Expressions Gallery in Auburn and Sozo’s in Kendallville.

Martha Snyder of Topeka spends a lot of time at her sewing machine to piece together several sections of fabric to create award winning quilts.
Photo By Chad Kline

Martha Snyder of Topeka expresses herself artistically through the technique of applique. A day does not go by that Snyder is not working on a quilt or applique project, she said.

A seamstress all her life, Snyder began quilting in the early 1980s after taking a class in New Haven.

“That got me started. I’ve been quilting ever since,” she said.

Snyder now focuses her talents on needleturn applique work. Using a pattern, Snyder cuts out pieces of fabric and hand-stitches them onto a background.

Martha Snyder of Topeka uses needleturn appliqué in her quilt designs. Using a pattern, Snyder cuts out pieces of fabric and hand-stitches them onto a background. Photo By Chad Kline

Using the applique technique, Snyder has created a series of mural quilts that depict scenes of lighthouses, churches and covered bridges, barns and trains. Snyder said she uses different types of stitching, embroidery and fabrics on these works.

“You find different fabric that looks likes stone or grass, hills, water and sky,” she added.

Snyder’s favorite piece is entitled, “Ladies of the Sea,” and shows 16 Old World ships from different countries, surrounded by an applique border of flowers. The quilt was judged best of show at the 2010 Shipshewana Quilt Festival and received the viewers’ choice award at the 2010 Appleseed Quit Show in Fort Wayne.

What is your favorite style of fabric art? Have you created your own style?
Share it here with us, we’d love to hear from you.

by Terry White

Cotton Fabric
When you are new at something, it is best to use the easiest materials. When it comes to sewing a quilt, the best material to use is 100% cotton fabrics. It is very easy to find cotton fabric for quilting these days. Walk into any fabric store and they will have a whole section for quilting. Look at and feel these fabrics. The feel will be a medium weight fabric with body. This is different from lightweight fabrics or upholstery fabrics. There will be a natural feel to the fabric as well, not slippery or heavy or rough. So, this fabric is perfect for cutting out shapes for appliqué or cutting and stitching patchwork.

You will see a beautiful variety of colors and patterns in these cotton fabrics. Where do you start? My first advice is to start with your favorite colors and styles. You will enjoy the process with every quilt you make if you use fabric in the colors and patterns that you love. Here are three representative groups of fabric:


The first group of fabrics is of Japanese design and interspersed with small printed fabrics. The Japanese patterns are rather large and spray across the fabric. The smaller prints sort of contain the large prints and work well together in a patchwork quilt. The colors of the small prints also bridge the colors of the large prints. So, if you like Japanese style and bright intense colors, then this group may appeal to you.


This second fabric grouping is of more old-fashioned or traditional prints. You will find this type of printed fabric in quilts made in the early to mid 1900’s. The fabrics in the photo are reproductions of those old-fashioned fabrics. Quilters who like this style of quilts tend to like a muted color palette and traditional quilt patterns.


This group of fabrics is called Batik. Batiks are made in India and the prints are made by printing the fabric with wax and then they are dyed in various colors. The wax is then melted away, leaving the printed image. So, the prints won’t be perfect even though they are perfectly beautiful. Batik is more tightly woven then regular cotton fabric and some of the wax residue will remain, so they are a little tougher and stronger than regular cotton prints. This group is also very bright in color and appeals to some quilters.

I have shown you three different groups of fabrics, each of which is very popular among quilters. There are many more and lots to learn. You must make your own choices. The more quilts you make (or look at) the more you will learn about how the colors and prints of fabrics work together.


The pattern you will use for your first quilt will also help to determine what fabrics you choose. For example, if you make a pattern which requires high contrast among the fabric pieces, then it will be important to choose dark, medium and light colors to create that contrast. The example to the left is a detail from a Seminole patchwork quilt. The high contrast is created by using colors that contrast as well as dark, medium and light of one color (blue in this case).

Pre-wash your fabrics
There are several reasons to pre-wash your fabric before starting a quilt. Cotton fabrics are finished with assorted chemicals to make them look good in the store, help prevent wrinkles and adds a sheen.

The chemicals can:
1. be harmful to one’s skin over long periods of exposure;
2. hide the real qualities of the fabric by filling in the weave of the fabric and giving the appearance of a finely woven material;
3. be holding in dyes that may run when washed.

Backing Fabric
You want to use the same high quality cotton fabric for the back of your quilt as for the top. Some people use sheets, but this isn’t a good idea because sheets usually have a polyester content in them which causes the needle to skip when machine quilting. If the quilt is to be hand quilted, needling through polyester/cotton mix is very hard. If the sheet used is very high thread count cotton, this is just as hard to work with as the poly/cotton blend. If you have a 100% cotton sheet that feels like your regular cottons used for the top, then this will be fine to use.

Next: Quilt Battings & Threads.

For more information on quilting, especially for the beginner, click here.

Make the Lining

1. I used polyester taffeta lining fabric for the lining. I traced the correct size of the lining onto the fabric with a fine line marker and then cut it out with serrated scissors.



Havel’s serrated scissors are wonderful for cutting slippery fabrics because
the teeth bite and hold the fabric as they cut.

2. Cut the fabric for the back of the album 14″ square.

Back of Album

3. Layout the front and the back of the album onto the lining.

Front of Album

Next: On The Ninth Day Of Havel’s,
My True Love Is The Rotary Wave Blade

For a printable PDF, please click here.

Make the Christmas Presents

1. Choose fabric scraps that liven up the design. I chose four green prints.
Green will show up very well against the orange background.



2. Apply fusible web to the back of the fabric scraps. Take the paper off the fusible,
so that it is just the fabric with the iron-on web.



3. Use Havel’s 8″ Sewing/Quilting Scissors and free hand cut the present boxes. This will add whimsy to the design because the boxes won’t be perfectly square with straight lines.



4. Fuse in place.



5. Cut sections of 1/2″ red rick rack and glue in place as the package ribbons.



6. Glue a flower sequin to the top of each present.

Next: On The Fifth Day Of Havel’s,
My True Love Is The 6 1/2″ Teflon Coated Serrated Scissors

For a printable PDF, please click here.

Decorative Stitching

1. Choose yellow, orange and pink threads in cotton and rayon for decorative stitches.

2. Use the decorative stitches on your sewing machine to join the patches and to stitch them to the interfacing. The interfacing is a good stabilizer for machine embroidery. The brand doesn’t matter, the weight matters.

3. Lower the top tension on your machine so that the decorative stitches are fuller and are raised up on the surface of the fabric. I like to use two threads through the eye of the needle (a rayon and a cotton) to add thickness to the stitch and to create a more interesting colorful stitch. Use a 90/14 machine embroidery needle. Thread your machine as if you are using a twin needle, but thread both threads through the eye of the needle. Your sewing machine manual will tell you how to thread your machine for a twin needle.

TIP: I like to make samples of my stitches before I work on my project, this way I can test the threads and stitches and adjust the tension on my machine.

4. Use Havel’s bent embroidery scissors to cut the small threads. The bent form is easy to use and avoids cutting your fabric.

5. Stitch over the raw edges of adjoining fabrics. Cover every edge with stitching.

6. Press when finished.

Next: On The Third Day Of Havel’s,
My True Love Is The. . .

For a printable PDF, please click here.

Prepare Background

1. Trace a 13” square onto the two pieces of medium weight fusible interfacing. Set one aside.

2. Place one right side up (fusible side) onto your ironing surface.

3. Enlarge the grid to a 13″ square and use it as a guide to measure and
cut your pieces. Use it also as a placement guide for your pieces.

4. Use Havel’s Jumbo Rotary Cutter to cut out rectangles and squares for the
background of our design. I used warm orange fabric scraps.

5. Lay each piece onto the fusible interfacing. The pieces should be placed
side by side with no overlap.

6. Cover the 13” square with your patches. Press with a hot iron.

Next : On The Second Day Of Havel’s. . .

For a printable PDF, please click here.

Each part will include the patterns, fun and simple techniques and photo steps that take just a little time. So, have fun with the Twelve Days of Havel’s!

This free quilt pattern finishes at approximately 13″ square. So, my album cover has finished measurements to fit an album 14″ to 16″. The size of the border can be measured to fit your album.

The bookmark is a very simple project with lots of pizzazz!

You Will Need:
A photo album at least 14″ square in size

Fabric:
● Scraps of cotton in Orange (about five different prints for the background, spine label, back label and bookmark), Green (for the presents and bookmark stars), Purple (for the tree trunk), Bright blue (for the tree) **Please note that you should use any colors of fabric that you choose!
● 13 inch square of fabric for the back of cover
● 1/2″ yard of bright blue batik fabric for borders
● 1/2 yard of lining fabric – I used a polyester taffeta – it is light weight and doesn’t add bulk to the finished album cover
● A 10″ square of yellow felt
● A 10″ square of fancy novelty tulle

Adhesives:
● Two pieces of medium weight fusible interfacing
● A yard of fusible web (one of your choosing and be sure to follow the manufacturer’s directions)
● Fabric or Craft glue
● Spray adhesive

Threads:
● Decorative cotton and rayon threads for the decorative stitching on the orange background in Orange, Pink, Warm Yellow and multi-colors and Dual Duty thread for bobbin in warm yellow
● Blue variegated cotton thread for buttonhole stitches on the tree
● Purple variegated cotton thread for buttonhole stitches on the tree trunk
● Purple rayon thread to stitch the garland onto the tree
● Two yards of purple metallic ribbon yarn for the tree garland and the bookmark strings
● Multi-color pearl cotton yarn for the ornament hangers

Embellishments:
● 12 inches of red rick rack
● Four flower sequins
● Eight red buttons
● Deep pink fine point marker
● Black fine point marker

Next : On The First Day Of Havel’s,
My True Love Is The Jumbo Rotary Cutter

For a printable PDF, please click here.

Havel’s Sewing is pleased to announce that out of 1,400+ entries, Leveda Ashlin of Missouri is the winner of the gift basket of Havel’s Scissors valued at over $350.00.

Leveda says, “Thanks again for the pleasant surprise. I was introduced to Havel’s scissors and seam rippers during a workshop our Quilt Guild
(The Material Girlz) sponsored, in August, with Patrick Lose, and loved the seam ripper I purchased from him. He spoke highly of your products so I was happy to see your booth and look forward to visiting it next year at the AQS show.”
Sincerely, Leveda Ashlin

Her gift basket will include one of each:
● Ultra-Pro Seam Ripper ● 5 1/2″ Curved Tip Sewing/Quilting Scissors ● 5 1/2″ Straight Tip Serrated Sewing/Quilting Scissors ● 7″ Fine Teeth Sewing/Quilting Scissors ● 8″ Sewing/Quilting Scissors ● 6 1/2″ Teflon-Coated Serrated Scissors ● 5 1/2″ Teflon-Coated Serrated Scissors ● 9″ Teflon-Coated Serrated Scissors ● 9″ Pinking Shears ● Snip-Eze Embroidery Snips ● “Ultimates” Multi-Angled Machine Embroidery Scissors ● 4 3/4″ Dura Snips with Neck Strap ● 28mm Rotary & Chenille Cutter ● 45mm Rotary Cutter ● 60mm Jumbo Rotary Cutter ● 28mm Rotary Cutter Blades (2) ● 45mm Rotary Cutter Blade (1) ● 60mm Rotary Cutter Blade (1) ● 45mm Rotary Cutter Pinking Blade (1) ● 45mm Rotary Cutter Skip Blade (1) ● 45mm Rotary Cutter Wave Blade (1)

If you’d like a chance to win as well, stop by the Havel’s Sewing booth at the IQF in Houston,
November 3-6, and register to win. Good Luck!

This project was so much fun, that I kept making more in different styles. The first one received enough oooohs and ahhhs from friends that I knew this would have to become presents for my girls….all my girls!!….AND, each one will suit the personality of the friend.

When you open up the wrap, there are three pockets for three different scissors. The pockets will hold scissors eight inches and smaller. This is my personal fan scissors wrap.





The three scissors I use the most are:
1. Havel’s Bent Embroidery Scissors when I thread paint and use the decorative embroidery
stitches on my Bernina.
2. Havel’s 7″ Serrated Scissors when I cut most fabrics and slippy trims.
3. Havel’s 5 1/2″ Curved Scissors when I cut appliqué shapes.

*There are three main pieces to this project…..the decorated cover, lining, and scissor pocket.*

1. Use pattern piece A: Trace the shape onto fusible interfacing and cut out.

2. Use pattern pieces B, C, D, E, F: Trace each shape onto desired fabric and cut out.

3. Lay the fabric shapes side by side onto the fusible interfacing and press.



4. Decorate with decorative stitching and beautiful threads.
TIP: Because this is a project which will get a lot of use, I don’t add too many delicate
details…..this will be different for different styles….but add what you like!

5. Trim the excess interfacing and rough edges of decorative cover. Use this as a pattern and cut out your lining piece and a piece of fusible web. Set aside.

6. Use pattern piece G: Trace shape onto lining fabric…this is the scissor pocket.



7. Fold the top edge of the pocket piece 1/2 inch and press. Use a piece of fusible web to tack it down.



8. Add fusible web to extra strips of lining fabric. Iron them to the wrong side
of the pocket along the fold lines. This adds stability to the pockets

9. Decorate the top edge with decorative stitching.

10. Decorate the two sides of each scissor pocket fold with a row of decorative stitches.



11. Lay the pocket onto the lining fabric. Stitch the pocket to the lining with a
lightening stitch along the fold lines.

Final Construction

12. Apply fusible web to the back of the decorative cover according to manufacturer’s directions.

13. Press the pocket and liner to the back of the decorative cover.



14. Finish edge all around. I used two threads through a 90/14 needle with an overcast stitch.
This is a great place to use a serger.



15. Attach a two hole button to the cover with colored elastic cord.
Use a permanent marking pen to color the elastic. Make a loop and knot it.



Pull the two ends of the elastic through the back of the button. Use an awl to make two holes large enough for the elastic to go through the cover. Knot the elastic on the back.

16. Sew a shank button on the cover to finish the closure.

17. Add a bead drop to the bottom.

18. The bead drop was made from parts of old jewelry and lovely one-of-a-kind glass beads. The heart pin is from a box of costume jewelry I bought years ago. The big pink button I used is vintage, but one I considered using is from Blumenthal called “Cut Outs” which I picked up in the Green Room at a Quilting Arts TV shoot!



19. Follow the photos to make the label windows and ID’s.

The plastic window is glued to the inside of the suede frame. The frame is glued to the scissor pockets on the sides and the bottom, this way, the cardboard ID label slides right in.

Fan Scissors Wrap Pattern A (B, C, D, E, F Combined)

Fan Scissors Wrap Pattern D, E, F

Fan Scissors Wrap Pattern G (H Combined Three Times)

For a printable PDF version of Terry’s Fan Scissors Wrap, click here.