Quilting Arts Blog

QA TV Series 200 Sneak Peek

We’ve started taping for Series 200 of QA TV and I thought to give you a special, behind-the-scenes sneak-peek at how we put this together.

It all begins months in advance when Kathie Stull (owner/producer) and I discuss the themes for each episode. At minimum, I’m typically responsible for a three-minute segment per episode, and in theory, I’ve got them all “stepped out” days in advance. Alas, that didn’t happen this time around since we have a bit going on at QA headquarters, so I did as much as I physically could before I left Boston, then finished the rest in my hotel room. While people were dancing the night away at Singles Night in the hotel bar downstairs (yikes, what a scene), I was safely ensconced in my hotel room and sewed my heart out whilst watching a kazillion shows on A & E...

The next morning I taped all of my opens and closes (that's 13 wardrobe changes in about two hours). Over the course of the week, we tape multiple segments from each episode every day, depending upon guests' schedules. I’m not so good at remembering what I'm supposed to wear each episode, so I have a little help via a visual aid on the studio set door...

Guest Taping

Katie Pasquini-Masopust (affectionately known as Katie P-M) is not only a founding Rock Star in the art quilt world but she—as we Bostonians like to put it—has a wicked sense of humor! I am SO honored to kick off the season with her!

And Judy Coates Perez (soon-to-be Cover Girl of Cloth Paper Scissors) was back to tape a cool segment on painted batting.

While the rest of the taping was taking place, the ladies of Sulky of America were busy in industry, knitting outside the green room. I cracked up when I saw them and had to snap a shot...

Okay, one may ask, what's up with the rubber fish fetish on QA TV (many an r-rated joke took place before the segment). As our features editor, Cate Prato (former Boston Globe writer) likes to say: It takes an x-rated mind to produce a g-rated paper. The same thinking can be applied to TV...

Here's Jane Davila, the artist extraordinaire who uses the fish. If you watch next season of QA TV, all will be explained to you...

Here we have Rayna Gillman and Claire Fenton. Not only highly talented artists but girls who know how to par-tay...

Look what they brought Helen Gregory (managing editor) and I the next day:

Question: What time of the day do you think this picture was taken?:

a. 5:00 PM
b. 12:30 PM
c. 8:24 AM

If you answered C, you'd be right!

If you want more behind-the-scenes info check back Super Bowl Sunday when I will be back home reminiscing on the taping, and watching my Patriots kick some Giants you-know-what.

If you have not gotten QA TV in your area yet, there's still hope! A number of cities are picking it up beginning in March, so check your local listings in early spring.

It's a Wrap!

We just finished taping the first series of Quilting Arts for PBS, and I have a few more pictures to share with you...

The queen of complex cloth, Jane Dunnewold. She'll appear in our very first episode and I'm feeling pretty lucky that she'll be setting the tone!

Speaking of Lucky...

We have Susan ("Lucky") Shie, too, in this series. She'll be showing us how she gets copious amount of writing onto her diary quilts.

Jeannie Sumrall Ajero demo'd a neat digital technique to create her beautiful landscape quilt that celebrates her trip to the far east.

Since I was a bit shorter than many of the guests, want to know how I appear so tall while sitting down?

Check out the yellow pages next to the printer. My very own high-tech booster seat!

Quilting Arts will begin airing the very end of this year. Check your local PBS stations the end of December to see when/if it will air in your area. At this time I don't have information on Quilting Arts airing in international markets, but if that changes, I'll let you know. When DVDs become available I'll also share any information I have from Kathie Stull Productions--owner/producer of the show who will have them available.

In gratitude, I'd like to thank the following people for making Quilting Arts TV a reality:

First and foremost, Kathie Stull (owner/producer). Thank you for all of the hard work you did on every facet of the production, and for the faith you had in Quilting Arts Magazine and its community. I'd also like to thank Kathie for being so supportive of me as a host, my first time out of the gate.

Interweave Press-- Also for having faith in a girl like me. (We did it!)

My editorial  and design staff: Barbara, Cate, Helen, and Larissa.  For being such a supportive sounding board as they listened to me natter on and fret before I left. Also for helping collect props for the set and design board, for shopping for vintage items (and I know that was painful), keeping me organized, stitching those adorable quilt blocks, and for holding down the fort while I was away.

Mike Murphy (director) and the video-editing, sound, and camera crew. They were all so kind, funny, and patient with me--no matter how many takes it took to get some of those closes.

Katherine (Kathie's assistant)-- For always being such a calm, assuring presence, for making sure I was hydrated, and double-checking I didn't goof on wardrobe changes.

Karen, the talented make-up artist. She made us all feel and look like rock stars, and every day she left us presents in the make-up room so we'd stay fresh throughout the day. (Photo by Pam RuBert)

All of the wonderful underwriters who made this possible, many of whom came to the set and shared funny and candid conversations in the green room with me. (And I promise, what happens in the green room, stays in the green room.)

The quilt artists who enthusiastically said yes when I asked them if they would want to join us for the first season. You all made this so much fun. Thank you!

John-- For taking Saturday afternoon to fix all of the toilet dispensers in the house and for cleaning out the fridge. I honestly didn't realize we had salad dressing in there...from 2002.

And last but not least, our animal children for giving me a laugh when I got home. I landed late last night, went straight to bed, and woke up to this site this morning (it's wonderful to be home):

QA TV Becomes a Reality!

We're mid-way through taping Quilting Arts TV so I thought it would be fun to share my journey with you thus far. Let the pictures do the talking...

I had to chuckle when I boarded my flight to the taping and saw this on the back of the seat in front of me. We've all seen this critical, life-saving tip a million times before, but it's one I never really considered until now. Having never hosted a TV show, never seen the set before, met the crew, etc., I think subconciously I was hoping for some sort of life line.

The first hurdle: The Set

Kathie Stull (owner/producer of the show) invited me to be a part of the design process for the set and I was honored to be asked. She and I consulted with my friend Bette Troy who is a world-renowned photo stylist and has styled TV commercials as well as some of the fashion catalogs we all love. Since Bette knows me well and she's also a fiber artist, she came up with a clean, invigorating look that she presented to Kathie and me. Fabrics, paint colors, accent pieces, furniture…we all wanted them be fresh, fun, artful––something that would be indicative of Quilting Arts and also my dream studio. However, when you talk about concepts and colors over the phone, you don't have that visual sense for how things will come together on the set. And I'll admit, I didn't get much sleep the end of August before I left for the taping because it was so important to me how the set looked.  Imagine my delight when Kathie created this set...

The walls are apple green, one of my favorite colors. And there's bead board!

And a hutch!

And a window accented with nine-patch blocks my editorial staff made (thanks Cate, Barb, and Helen).

This is my studio with my design wall before I clutter it with all the things that inspire me. I was so overjoyed when I saw the set, I started to tear up. It was exactly what I'd want for my own quilting studio. (John, you'd better be taking notes...)

Day Two

I've just completed taping all 13 openers. (I'm smiling because it was my first task and I lived to tell about it.) I love this jacket (lots of hand stitching on in). The morning after I purchased it, I saw Meredith Vieira wearing it on "The Today Show." Hey...if it's good enough for Meredith, it's good enough for me!

The next day the fun began because I have guests/friends with me. Every single one of them did a bang-up job on camera and we created quite a raucous in the green room.

Here my friend from St. Paul Wendy Richardson (Quilt Tapestry Studio) and Michelle Muska from Wrights realize they have a connection  from the past (this pin cushion has quite the story behind it). When it dawned on them they knew each other, they screamed so loudly, we heard them in the sound-proof studio. Leave it to quilters to make so much noise...

Laura Cater-Woods, Pam RuBert, and Wendy Richardson glamming up for the camera. They all did so well in their segments, these are smiles of jobs well done!

Laura Cater-Woods and I after the end of a hard day's work.

From left to right: Me (obviously having a bad hair moment), Judy Coates Perez, Frances Holliday Alford, and Lesley Riley.

 

 

Here's Frances and me getting ready for her segment. Check out all of the bead/found object mixes Frances has on set. You will NOT believe what she'll put on a quilt. (I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you. It's top secret until the episode airs.)

Here Lesley Riley is talking to herself as she practices her segment. Isn't she cute?

Shelly Stokes from Cedar Canyon Textiles. You would never guess she hadn't been on TV before. Total natural...

The only shot I have of me with my good friend Beryl Taylor. I swear I'm not about to punch her.

Alison and Tracy Stillwell, the ArtGirlz. They NEVER fail to make me laugh. They promise me that when I'm ready, they'll give me a mohawk, which they'll happily do in their own backyard. "It's so freeing," Tracy told me. After all of the hair problems I've had on set, I'm looking forward to it.

But what really had me laughing was what the ArtGirlz gave me. Tracy, Allison, and I have had many deep, philisophical discussions about...well... the reality show, "Survivor." I have a handful of TV shows I'm obsessed with--"Sopranos" for one (:::cough:::cough:::) and also "Survivor."  Imagine my glee when Tracy and Allison gave me my very own Survivor buff! How many quilting hosts can boast they've been gifted their own Survivor buff?!

This Survivor buff will most definitely make a cameo appearance at Make It University next month (preview night of Quilt Festival begins on Halloween, after all).

We've been having so much fun and we've still to tape such art quilting celebrities as Jane Dunnewold, Susan ("Lucky") Shie, and others that will bedazzle you.

Direct blog links for guests who have blogged about their Quilting Arts TV taping so far:

Pam RuBert

Lesley Riley

Judy Perez

Natalya Aikens

Elin Waterston

Frances Holliday Alford

Laura Cater-Woods

Will report back when we're finished!