I love this guy! I finally convinced Mark Lipinski, to stop for two and a half minutes and give me a quick interview…I happened to email him at about 2 a.m. one night last week with a question and he happened to be sitting at his desk and he answered.

I was shocked, not that he answered, but that he was actually sitting down.  I don’t think I have ever seen him sit.

 
This talented quilter (and author, editor, producer, father, designer, etc.) guy has an incredible spark for life and for the quilting industry.  I convinced Mark Lipinski to tell us more about his recent happenings.

 
He has a new fabric line, Katmandu for Troy’s Riverwood Collection (to debut at Quilt Market in October). His magazine, “Quilter’s Home” will soon be available by subscription, so you will no longer have to hunt for this “sassy” magazine at your local grocery store, book store or Wal-mart.

 
So here’s the Buzz on Lipinski:

 
Well, what do you know; Mark Lipinski’s Quilter’s Home magazine is finally going to subscription!   Those little magazine insert subscription cards will start to appear in the Quilter’s Home November/December issue (shown here is the cover you should be looking for starting the end of October),  and internet users will be able to subscribe online on the Quilter’s Home website  in November.

At last, Quilter’s Home readers will be able to have the magazine delivered to their doors rather than having to drive for miles on the hunt for issues, which seem to sell out as fast as they’re displayed.     

 
Quilter’s Home has been a big hit right from the start and has created a lot of buzz in the quilting world because of its sassy sense of humor and varied content rather than just pattern after pattern.   And believe it or not, the magazine’s international success has all been through word of mouth as there has been no formal promotion of Quilter’s Home since its debut in June 2006.  You can thank the internet for that kind of advertising.

(Note from Gina: QuiltersBuzz got a mention in an early issue in an article about quilting blogs—which resulted in a big traffic boost and more loyal readers!)

 
But, that’s not all that’s happening at the Lipinski Compound in Long Valley, New Jersey.   Mark’s new fabric line, “Katmandu” from Troy’s Riverwoods Collection, will be formally unveiled in Houston at Quilt Market at the Troy booth (but I have a very tiny sneak peek for you here, on Quilter’s Buzz).

Why Troy?   “They were the first ones who asked, “says Mark. “Plus they were always really nice to me before I had a magazine!”

 
Designed by Mark and his partner, Jeff Turner, Katmandu is a fabric that was designed to be embellished.  Even the background framework on some of the blending fabric is a 28 count cross stitch grid.  The fabric is perfect for beading, painting, foiling, cross stitch and traditional embroidery techniques, crewel work, punch needle, and well, you name it. 

All you have to do is let your imagination run wild and literally fill in the blanks.   The gorgeous  focus fabric, inspired by mendhi, the ancient art of henna skin painting, are combinations of lush, deep jewel tones in garnet, emerald, amethyst, orange diamond, and imperial topaz.

 
“I wanted to design a fabric that allowed both the traditional quilter, the art quilter, the sewer and the needleworker to have a hand in the final outcome and design of the textile they’re using for their quilts and projects rather than it being dictated to them,” says Mark. 

“A great many of us began our quilting journey with some other kind of needlework before we took the piecework plunge.  I was a cross stitching madman.  I also loved embroidery and rug hooking and beading and needlepoint. 

This fabric allows me the choice to construct a plain pieced quilt in the traditional method using traditional patterns or let’s me take off into that little creative corner of my brain to design beaded appliqué, or whatever I like with this fabric.”

 
“Embellishing this fabric is also very portable, which is something that we desperately need in these hurry-up-and-wait lives of ours. While the fabric can easily and beautifully be machine embellished and embroidered, it’s perfect as a take along project.

 
 “After all,” he observes in the irreverent style we have come to know and love, “I’ve yet to see a quilter sitting at her son’s soccer practice with a machine strapped to her back!”

 
I look forward to catching up with Mark at Quilt Market, see his “KatManDu” fabric line in person and of course, be entertained and inspired by this talented guy.

(Photos and graphics thanks to that "Kat-man-du Quilt-man-do".)