31 March

Video: Friday’s Sneak Peek: Maria’s Soft New Quilt “Under The Sea,” Plus Ten New “Scrap Bin Potholders.”

by Jon Katz

As is my custom, I stopped into Maria’s Studio on Friday for my weekly sneak peek at her new art. Since she’s not into promoting herself, I try to do some of it. It’s sincere; I think she’s pretty talented.

I was not disappointed.

There is a beautiful and soft new quilt called “Under The Sea,” an artistic tribute to life under the water. It just went up for sale today.

Plus, 10 new “Scrap Bin” potholders are up on her Etsy Studio Page.

The quilt costs $425 plus shipping; the potholders are $22 plus shipping.

They are bright and cheerful, as potholders tend to be.

We had a fun video despite her being in a grumpy mood and me getting over a stomach sickness, a gift, we think, of my brush with Covid.

Here’s the video we took. I’m not unbiased, but I really loved it. Maria has captured the dreamy, soothing feel of the ocean. And shows how she makes her art.

It was great fun, and I loved seeing Maria — arms wheeling around – talk about how she shaped and changed this quilt as she made it. It’s a beautiful process and beautiful thing.

 

This is a close-up of a part of her quilt, “Under The Sea.

Ten new potholders are up on Etsy. They were made from the scrap bin pile, aptly named “Scrap Bin Potholders.” $22 plus shipping; you can see them and buy them here.

Maria’s e-mail is [email protected]; her blog is www.fullmoonfiberart.com

23 March

Joy, Joy, Maria Has Finished Her Next Quilt, Which Is Already Sold. She Calls It “Home..”

by Jon Katz

I was out in the yard throwing a ball for Zinnia, and when I came in, Maria stuck her head out of her studio – she had one of her elfish smiles – and asked me if I wanted to take a picture. I know what this means.

I am rarely invited into the studio when she is working, and I hardly ever go in.

The smile meant she has either started working on something she loves, has figured out something that stumped her, or finished something and is proud of it.

It turned out to be the latter. She’s been working on this quilt for weeks now, and it was a tough one, I could tell. She goes up and down about the things she makes and only sells them when she is up.

She finished it this afternoon, just as I came walking by.

She is very up about this quilt, and she should be. It is beautiful. She calls it “home,” and it was sold before it was even finished.

7 February

New From Fiberland: The Peasant And Dove Quilt. It’s Already Sold.

by Jon Katz

After weeks of scarf painting, Maria has eagerly and happily returned to her first love, quilt-making. She wrote about it on her blog today.

She hasn’t named it, but I call it the Peasant and Dove quilt because of the vintage doves and “peasant” sketches along the perimeter. It has a soft and reflective feeling to me. It’s already sold and not on sale. A piece of the quilt has been hanging up on her studio wall for a while, and a follower of her work bought it on sight weeks before it was finished.

She plunged right into it and is very happy to be making another quilt. But then, she was also pleased making those scarves. I should be the first one to break it to her. She is always delighted to make her art.

 

31 July

Sneak Peek, Maria’s Studio: New, A Koi Pond Quilt, And Inner Wolf Potholders

by Jon Katz

My weekly visit to Maria’s Full Moon Fiber Art studio was delayed until this afternoon, and I got to see the new quilt she has begun working on, a Koi Pond quilt to celebrate the idea of swimming upstream, as we all in often do in our lives.

The quilt is not yet finished but close. If there are any questions about it, you can reach Maria via e-mail at [email protected]. I don’t think it’s been sold yet.

I also got my first look at her very evocative Inner Wolf potholder, now on sale in her Etsy Studio for $20 plus $5 shipping. The wolf inside of us inspired this.

These went flying. I think there are one or two left.

I often think I hear strange sounds and howling in the night from that studio.

15 February

The Blessed Mother Quilt: Almost Done And Already Sold. A Work Of The Heart

by Jon Katz

Maria’s close-to-being-finished Blessed Mother quilt is an act of love, not really an act of faith. Maria is deeply spiritual, but not conventionally religious, and t

his quilt was inspired by our friend Sue Silverstein, the wonderful and dedicated theology and art teacher at Bishop Maginn High School.

As it happens, a reader of the blog is buying the quilt and has asked Maria to give it to Sue, who worships the Blessed Mother and is a devout Catholic.

Sue has a statue of the Blessed Mother in her classroom and Sue often asks her to carry some of the heavy weight that falls on her.

This became intense labor of love for Maria, she has worked long and hard on this quilt and thought a lot about it.

Maria has been teaching sewing to Bishop Maginn students, she has only one more class to go, but I’ll be there every week, profiling some of the students and figuring out ways to help the refugees.

Zinnia will be coming along with me.  It’s beautiful work, it will be finished in a week, and we will both bring it to Sue. No one deserves it more.

Bedlam Farm