Heather G. Stoltz

An Honor from The Jewish Week

Heather — Wed, 23 May 2012 15:13:38 +0000

I am truly honored to be chosen as one of this year’s “36 Under 36″ in The Jewish Week. Read the article here.

Congratulations to my friends and colleagues also included: Symi Rom-Rymer and Miriam Leah Droz.

Special Inspiration

Heather — Fri, 11 May 2012 11:35:05 +0000

As some of you know, I’ve been coaching Special Olympics gymnasts since 1995. Ever since I discovered fiber art, I’ve been wanting to create a piece that captures the magic of the Special Olympics, but never quite found a way to express how I feel about the athletes. On Sunday, after a competition between my athletes in NYC and my former team in CT, I wrote about this tension on my SAQA Visioning Page. SAQA (The Studio Art Quilt Associates) offers members an incredible opportunity to set a goal and post regularly about progress. Other members then write in to guide each other and provide advice. Jean Judd responded to my post encouraging me to think about expanding the Special Olympics piece into a series, perhaps even an installation piece like Temporary Shelter.

And then the heavens opened. Of course! I don’t have to create one piece that captures everything wonderful about Special Olympics and its athletes. I can make several – each capturing the story of one athlete. All of a sudden, I have too many ideas and I can’t wait to get started with the design!

Below is the NY gymnastics team at the competition earlier this week – the starting point for my inspiration on this series!

Peace Corps Progress

Heather — Wed, 09 May 2012 22:46:22 +0000

Today, I was able to make some progress on the Peace Corps piece. I had some of the larger photographs printed by Spoonflower and they came out great! I backed all the images with Steam-a-Seam 2, cut them out, and started laying them out on the background fabric. The layout isn’t quite right and I need a few more smaller pictures to fill in the center, but I think it’s going to work. Now I just need to decide whether the women in the front right work as is or if I need to make them a little bit smaller. (The image is a little pixelated blown up this much.) I’m going to live with it as is while I choose more pictures and then decide.

See Me 3

Heather — Sun, 06 May 2012 16:05:46 +0000

While I’m waiting for the fabric I need to work on the Peace Corps piece, I decided to take some studio time to work on a piece I started before the move. See Me 3 features a news story from last May about the end of rent subsidies for families at risk of homelessness. Behind the article is an image of a homeless New Yorker in conversation with someone walking by. Quilted over the article and image are the words “See Me”, a reminder that real people are behind the new articles and governmental policies.

A New Piece in the New Studio

Heather — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 13:31:04 +0000

I am thrilled to be starting an exciting new piece in my new studio. Commissioned by Maria, whose daughter Katie is in the Peace Corps, the piece will represent the important work that Katie is doing in Senegal (see Katie’s blog at http://kpinthepc.blogspot.com/).

The sketch below shows the concept for the piece. Streams of water flow out of the well Katie helped to build and images of her life there are connected by that water. The background fabric is a beautiful batik that was made in Africa and purchased there. Now that the sketch is complete, it’s time to get started with the sewing!

New Etsy Shop!

Heather — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 00:08:03 +0000

I’m excited to report that some of my Judaica items are now available on Etsy. Visit my shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/heatherstoltz to see some of my tallitot and challah covers.

Finally Unpacked!

Heather — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 22:25:50 +0000

It took longer than I expected and not everything is in place, but the sewing machine is out and I can’t wait to get sewing again! See the studio unfold below.

First, the furniture was moved into place and boxes were identified.

Next, the design wall went up. It’s made from the rubber flooring often found in weight rooms or machine shops, covered with batting. We’ll see if the horizontal line becomes problematic as I start working with it, but that can always be fixed with a larger piece of batting.

Then the shelves went up and the fabrics for my next piece were pinned to the design wall.

And finally, out came the sewing machine! I think we’re both eager to start the new project.

New Studio

Heather — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 19:57:11 +0000

Well, we’re all moved into the new place and pretty much everything is unpacked except for the studio. That had to take a backseat to the other rooms and cooking and cleaning for Passover. We’re now ready to host our first seder and next week I can tackle the mess that is my current studio.

I can’t wait to get into those boxes and set up my sewing machine!

Moving Time

Heather — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 01:17:37 +0000

On Monday, we’re moving out of NYC to White Plains. I have mixed feelings about leaving the city, but I am excited about having an actual studio in the new place – a room with a door. (Right now, my studio is a corner of the living room that we partitioned off using bookcases.) For now, it’s packing time. Here’s the “studio” before:

And here it is (almost) all packed up.

Next stop, White Plains! Stay tuned for a look at the new setup…

Interview on Blog Talk Radio!

Heather — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 16:16:27 +0000

Yesterday, Cyrus Webb interviewed me on his Conversations LIVE. We talked about my journey as an artist, my Temporary Shelter piece and how to balance life and art. Listen to the interview below!

Listen to internet radio with middayconversations on Blog Talk Radio