Venturing Into Unknown Territory
I feel like I am teetering very close to the edge of Burn Out and that’s a dangerous place to be. I’ve heard of this place from other artists and quilters and I had no desire to go there. So what to do? It’s not like I want to just go veg in front of the TV-I still want/need to sew and create. I decided to get outside of my box and do something fun, free and new-I need to just let go!
I’ve been wanting to get more improvisational, more loose. So my first thought was to work from Victoria Finley Wolfe‘s book “15 Minutes of Play”. I can do 15 minutes right? And her quilts are just divine-I was excited. Spend a few moments on her site and you’ll see what I mean.
If you know me well, you know that I can’t keep anything simple. I skimmed the first few chapters and selected the “Made Fabric” method of piecing-it’s very loose and improvisational with little to no editing. I got out my scrap bin and just started piecing. Oh dear, that was not easy for me!
And I got wonky blocks with huge protrusions-virtually useless-obviously I was not a good student. I was really trying to not edit my decisions, to be intuitive, go with the flow. The book is so inspirational-what was amiss with my attempt at improv?
So I got out Kathy Schmidt‘s “Rule-Breaking Quilts” book. I’m Facebook friends with Kathy and I love her work! For good measure I also got out Rayna Gillman‘s book. The piecing method I eventually evolved into was a mix of all 3 books that I can’t possibly explain here. I learned from each of these author/artists but somehow I was still missing something.
Okay, so maybe I needed to add a few rules-that made it a little better. But it still wasn’t fun yet-it was hard work! The only fun part so far was mixing my luscious silk pieces in with the matte cottons and hand dyes. Something was still amiss.
I whined to my Facebook friends and they were wonderful-“keep going” they said. So I persevered and got these “shards”. Okay this was better, but I was internally pissing and moaning about my pathetic product. I realized that a bunch of tiny little pieces made for some really tough quilt blocks. I also realized I had to choose a very simple block to work with.
Soooo, finally I began to cut into the shards and this was my first block. It was okay, but it didn’t make my heart sing. Everyone still said just keep going. And that’s exactly what I tell my students to do too-HATE it when I need to take my own advice-grrrr. I love the Cherrywood hand dye that I used for the background and I especially like this mustard colored piece. But it was not making my heart sing.
So I dug into my abundant stash of Radiance (silk/cotton blend) and pulled out the gold. WOW! Look at the top two blocks pieced with Radiance-they just GLOW! The Cherrywood piece is at the bottom. I LOVE what the Radiance did to the block-I’m on fire to do more! Just goes to show that the most fabulous fabric put in the wrong place can bring the whole piece down. I am in love with the sheen of the Radiance next to the matte of the cottons with bits of glow from the other silk fabrics in the piece.
One unfortunate drawback-this improvisational/scrappy piecing method creates what I call “Fabric Explosion” (FE). FE can take over your sewing area and create a mess. I despise clutter and chaos in my creative area but I am just going to have to get over that one!
These two are the starter seeds for my next project. Wendy Richardson hand over dyed these pieces and I purchased them last year at Houston IQF. Oh they are gorgeous! I want to do something with them to highlight their beauty.
Look what I pulled from my stash to go with them! The pile is primarily silks and the photo does not do the fabrics justice- it is a gorgeous group of fabrics. My current project is really a mere warm up for these fabrics. Oooooo-can’t wait!
Jenny,
I applaud your venture into the unknown. Sometimes when you are planting a seed the first thing to come up is more dirt. Be patient and don’t try to force it into a known quantity too soon. I know you know this already, but it is hard to live with the ugly first attempts. I have a piece called Crazy Quilt that I made out of scraps. The only rule I had was that I had to like all the fabrics together before I pieced it. Check it out if you like: http://roxanelessa.com/GalleryMain.asp?GalleryID=133653&AKey=KA2JMVA5
Thank you for that encouragement Roxane-I really do need it! And it’s great to experience that inept feeling and remember that ‘s how my students feel too sometimes! I love your Crazy Quilt-that is very encouraging also. I just need to keep plugging along on this one.
I have no words for that overdye fabric!!!!! WOW!!! Doing improv would go against my “control nature”, too! Hugs…..
Yes Doreen no matter what I do with that overdyed fabric, I already started with a work of art! And yes, letting go of control is mighty hard.
You’ve been working very hard Jenny. The improve, the messy studio, the ‘loosening up’…just play time with no intended results or deadlines is good for the soul.
Thank you Laura! I think I am getting to the other side of this and beginning to feel the filling of the soul part. The ramp up sure is frustrating!
Jenny, again your pursuits are amazing to follow. My creative side is currently on hold, so I follow you with envy.
Thank you Marcia-I am glad you enjoy them! I sure hope YOU get to be creative sometime soon-you just can’t go too long.
You know, I’m not a big fan of the whole “improvisational” thing, but I like what you’re doing so far. Is your method similar to crazy patchwork? Could you sneak in any decorative stitches or beading with this to get a traditional/contemporary hybrid? About the piecing challenges with your created fabrics — have you tried trimming and/or grading those seams to reduce bulk?
And I know how you feel about Fabric Explosion. I spent most of the day yesterday straightening up and organizing in my studio — AGAIN — so I could get a fresh start.
I’m REALLY looking forward to seeing what you will do with the quilting on these experimental blocks that you’ve been working on! :-)
Really I only did the piecing thing to get away from my normal thing. I like the work of those who do this well but I never thought I would try it-and I am liking it! I don’t see a lot of decorative stitches or beading-yet anyway. And FE is a continuum-I’ll clean up then FE, clean up, then FE-ugh! I do like these blocks and when you put them on the design wall they actually go pretty Modern Quilt Movement. I can’t possibly explain how I’m piecing them but it’s similar to what the book says but with a bit more control.
So glad you are exploring improv…and that you are combining methods. That’s the only way to be successful with it. There is not only one way to go with it! And I encourage you to just keep going with it. You will find a technique combo that you can get really comfortable with and I’m sure you will turn out beautiful quilts. That’s just what you do! Looking good so far!
Thanks for the encouragement Kathy! You were my first inspiration to head into the unknown. I enjoy your blog a lot and watching your quilts evolve. I have to be taught to be improvisational! It’s not natural but I am slowly getting my wings and enjoying the process. And the product is coming along nicely too!