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My fall schedule is filled with all sorts of fun and challenges. This summer was supposed to be a respite from all the chaos-and it has not been. Even though I have deadlines and lots of things I need to do, I knew I needed a break. By “break”, I mean a day or maybe two, not a week! So I pondered the possibilities: staying at one of those austere sanctuary places “up the hill” from me-some require complete quiet. Nah, I don’t think I could go from 100 to zero in 2 days. Maybe just a long visit to…
I shouldn’t expect every month’s piece in Elizabeth Barton‘s Design Master Class to be spectacular. I have to remember that the whole point of this class is to learn what I don’t know, to experiment and feel free to play. I really loved the whole process this month of working from a piece of music, using rhythm to create a quilt inspired by that piece. You may recall I created my piece from Dave Brubeck’s Take Five that you can listen to here. You will find this piece very familiar if you don’t know it by name. The funny thing…
I focused on value for June’s assignment in Elizabeth Barton’s on-line Design Master Class. Even though my finished quilt does not really show it, I did learn a lot about value. It seemed like all the quilt artists that I follow were posting new work with high value contrast-what a huge difference. I think much of my learning happened after my quilt was finished. You may recall, I started from this photo: In my last post I showed my blocked out quilt: It was not bad, just needed some tweaking here and there. As it turned out Elizabeth was without…
July’s assignment for Elizabeth Barton‘s on- line Design Master Class was to make and design a quilt based on one of 3 pieces of music. Now THAT was a challenge that has taken me way outside of my comfort zone! The three pieces of music and their links are: the first four bars of the Bach/Marcello Adagio, Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring (especially minute 3.4-4.4 and Dave Brubeck’s Take Five. At first I was completely at a loss-how do you do that-create a quilt design from music?? In my distant past I played the French Horn quite well and played through…
I’ve had several requests for a tutorial on how to quilt strings of pearls. This is a beautiful and useful motif to add to your bag of tricks. Pearls are probably not for the beginner, but it’s not a difficult motif either. Here’s how I’ve used pearls in some of my work: I love pearls as a divider-I do this a lot. How about to fill a border? Or to fill a feather’s spine? Before you even start, make some mindful choices: -Thread-I usually use a low contrast thread for pearls-their real beauty is in their puff, not the stitching…
Oh I love to alliterate! I am simple to please sometimes. This week I have been working on many things at once by necessity. I am trying to get a new piece started, possibly in time for Pacific Int’l Quilt Festival, I’ve figured out some ways to make quilting more comfortable and even made time for some play. I seem to be in a black and white series-I still have more to say on my grasses and drought tolerant plants. I love them: their texture, their movement, their shapes. I hope to capture my favorite grass, Stipa Gigantia, in its…
Every month of Elizabeth Barton‘s Design Master Class I get excited about the new challenge. June’s assignment was to revisit a previous month’s subject and tackle it again. I chose January’s subject of value, something I definitely need to learn more about. Again, it all started so well…. When I visited my son in Tucson I was particularly intrigued by the giant agave plants that are so abundant there. I chose this photo to work from. It’s not the greatest photo but it does show off the margins that appear on mature agaves and I found the shapes interesting. Also…
I know many quilters are reluctant to have their work judged. I want to actually encourage you to consider having your work judged. Some quilters will bristle at this, but I have found that I have learned a lot from having my work judged. There is a belief by some that judges are evil Quilt Police whose job it is to squish self expression. And most of us have experienced or heard stories about quilts that have been unfairly judged. And sometimes you look at a quilt show and wonder, “How did that quilt place higher than this one?” etc.…
“The function of the overwhelming majority of your artwork is simply to teach you how to make the small fraction of your artwork that soars….even the failed pieces are essential” Art and Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland This month I did not soar! May’s assignment in my Design Master Class was another “learning experience”. I am committed to showing the breadth of my personal art making journey and sometimes it’s pretty humbling to show it all. I’m thankful to have “Art and Fear” as one of my guiding voices to help me understand the roller coaster of making…
I am passionate about teaching free motion quilting-I really want anyone interested to know that they CAN quilt their own work! I am always looking for motifs and projects that help beginners feel competent and to put them on the road to loving free motion quilting. Ferns are surprisingly easy to quilt, definitely in the realm of possibility for anyone with a bit of free motion quilting experience. I’m going to walk you through the process of how to quilt this delightful motif. But first, here’s why you might want to learn: I added a fern to my “Morning Breeze”…