Archive | July, 2017

Should I Make it More Abstract?

By Ellen Lindner on July 24, 2017 in Uncategorized

I’m really happy with the way the background of my Red Bud quilt is turning out. Here it is before quilting.

This image shows the heavy quilting I did on the tree trunks.

But, about the time I finished quilting the background I had a sort of disturbing thought. That is “would it look better if it were more abstract?” Hmm. Making something abstract isn’t disturbing at all to me. But, doing so this far into a quilt seemed daunting.

Still, I began to sketch options on my computer. First option: what if I cut the background into three pieces and added to each of those to complete three different quilts. The idea was intriguing, but the work load was not. (You may remember that I’ve done a bit of this lately on a smaller scale.)

Next thought: what about leaving the center as is, but changing the two sides dramatically. Maybe painting over them and continuing.

Or maybe I should just leave the background as it is and do all the abstraction with the flowers. Since I had no idea how I was going to make the flowers, anyway, this was pretty appealing. Maybe something like this.

For now, I’m going to experiment with this last idea. I really like the idea of abstracting the flowers. The question is whether the background will need something, too.

Have you noticed that I take a lot of detours? It would definitely be faster is I just went from point A to point B. But where’s the fun in that?

Ellen Lindner
P.S. UPDATE – Shirley asked “I am interested in how you use your computer to play with your designed especially in abstraction. What program do you use? I would love to see/hear how you so it.” In case you’re also interested, here’s my response.

I use Photoshop Elements for photo editing. It gives me the ability to work in layers. That way I can use different techniques on different layers, showing and hiding them as I choose. For instance, look above at the image with the clear center but the faded sides. The sides are a different layer, below the one with the in-focus center. I reduced the opacity of the side ones to give a painted-over look.

The bottom image is completely (and quickly/sloppily) drawn. It was easy to do. I created a new (invisible layer) on top of the full image. I kept the full image layer visible. Then, I used the brush tool, picked the color from the original photo, and drew on the new layer, right over the original image still visible below. The paint didn’t “stick” to that layer, since I was painting on the invisible layer above it. As though I was painting on glass with the photo underneath. I hope that makes sense.

I don’t have a great deal of “go to” tricks when it comes to abstracting, but I generally try some version of simplifying the image. In this case, I used the same painting technique described above, using a very fat brush. This kept me from focusing on details and about all I could do was depict the direction of the petals.

But before drawing the petals as described above, I first used a skinnier brush to draw some big open loop/petals. Just because I thought they’d look cool. I used them a few months ago and liked them, so I guess they were still in my head. See this post.

PSE is great software and commonly used. However, there’s a definite learning curve involved. If you want to try it, I suggest a good tutorial book or online class. I highly recommend the “Teach Yourself Visually” series for any new software purchase. At $30, these books are awesome!

Good luck with it!
Ellen Lindner

Hand Stitching Hexies

By Ellen Lindner on July 20, 2017 in Uncategorized

Although I seldom do any hand stitching on my quilts, I like to have a hand project available for traveling, etc. I’ve searched for something that will hold my interest – for years. First I tried yo-yos. Then small collages. Finally, I decided to revisit hexies (or hexagons.)

These are traditionally used in English paper piecing, something I learned WAY back when. I wasn’t sure I wanted to hand join the hexies together, but I found that I quite liked making them. And don’t they look pretty when grouped by color?

After making a few, I began to experiment with how to easiest join them. They’re created on templates of card stock /”paper,” which is generally not removed until after they’re sewn together. I wondered if there was some other way to stiffen them, so the card stock templates could be removed. I tried heavily starching them, and they had plenty of body. So, I gave it a try, appliqueing the hexies onto a plain background, and securing them with a zigzag stitch worked in invisible thread.

It worked really well, although all those passes to catch every edge took longer than I expected.

I did a lot of stopping and starting to avoid double passes with the stitching. Next time, I think I won’t worry about that and it will be much more efficient.

Eventually it occured to me that since I wanted a hand sewing project, I should at least try hand joining them.

And, sure enough, it worked fine. Templates are removed only after all the surrounding seams are in place. The holes help when removing the “paper.” You just stick a chop stick or dull pencil in there and pry it out. I made my own templates and used a hole punch to make the holes.

So, then I wondered if I could hand stitch them without the templates, if I starched them heavily again. I’m still working on the sample for that, and I think it’s going to work just fine.

I’m not at all sure what I’ll be doing with these. I’m pretty sure I’ll use them in coordinating colors, perhaps as a background for a future design. In the meantime, making them is a fun way to dip into my scrap collection.

This little project came in handy on a recent flight, (even though the tray table was TINY.)

Just what I needed.

If you want to try your hand at these, here are a few tutorials and tips:
– An easy to cut template (that I used.)
– Making hexies
– Joining hexies

Ellen Lindner
P.S. I also tried making hexies from circles. The technique is easy, but I found that they weren’t very accurate, which made joining them unfeasible. They’d still work well for applique, however.

Starting My Red Bud Quilt

By Ellen Lindner on July 18, 2017 in Uncategorized

After coming up with a design for my quilt, it was time to select some fabrics.

My computer generated sketch is shown above. I decided to fracture the sky quite a bit in order to give the impression of busy twigs, etc. The lower part would be mostly one fabric, though.

So, I dug into my stash of blues, to see if I had what I needed.

I crack myself up. Of course I did!

Next, I put a piece of muslin onto my design wall and drew in the desired dimensions. Then, I drew in the tree, along with some dotted lines for fractured sky pieces.

When the first piece went in I was so excited! I got quite a little Adrenalin surge!

Ellen Lindner

Designing a Red Bud Quilt

By Ellen Lindner on July 16, 2017 in Uncategorized

After viewing blooming Red Buds in Virginia in April, I was inspired to make a quilt. I thought I’d have a difficult time depicting them from a distance, so I decided to feature their blossoms close up. To that end, I took a bunch of photos.

Gorgeous, right?

I think it’s so interesting the way the blossoms pop directly out of the bark.

I spent quite a bit of time merging and resizing photos on the computer and finally came up with this as a sketch.

The sky and branches should be pretty straight forward, but what about those blossoms? I think some experimenting will be in order.

Ellen Lindner
P.S. Check out some of the other flowers I’ve created in this gallery.

Elliott Museum Exhibit: Part Two

By Ellen Lindner on July 8, 2017 in Uncategorized

More images from the Elliott Museum in Stuart, FL with an exhibit that showcases the heritage of quilts, as well as the current genres.

This piece by Louise Hall was mounted on black.

This octopus by Pam Post attracted lots of attention. The suckers were 3D.

Linda Ludemann’s cranes were also very popular.

And here I am with my piece Ti Plants A-Glow-Glow. There was a very interested docent who asked me lots of questions about it. Among other things, I told her how I jagged cut many of the pieces to give an unpredictable organic feel.

In addition to fabric quilts, this exhibit includes several pieces that reference quilts and quilt designs. Like this miniature quilt store.

And then there’s this. A nice historical quilt, right? Well, yes, but that’s not the artwork. The bed is!

On closer inspection, you can see that Angela Scozzari, the artist, has stacked five rusted box springs for this piece. The quilt is merely staging.

Another of her pieces was made up of rusted panels arranged on the floor in a grid. She was also invited to show several other works.

As you can imagine, the fiber artists in the group were of mixed opinion on her pieces. However, everyone agreed that they were very interesting.

This is a very nice exhibit, but it only runs through July 15th. If you want to see it don’t delay! Need more reasons to visit? The museum includes a large collection of antique cars and other vehicles and machines. Plus, it’s RIGHT AT the beach. There’s something for everyone.

Ellen Lindner

Elliott Museum Quilt Exhibit

By Ellen Lindner on July 6, 2017 in Uncategorized

I recently attended the opening of a quilt exhibit in a very nice museum, the Elliott, in Stuart, FL.

The exhibit shows the progression from traditional and utilitarian quilts to art quilts and even includes some pieces that PUSH the definition of quilt.

The exhibit space is pretty large. Here, you can see about 2/3 of it.

The exhibit runs loosely chronologically from left to right. These older quilts are either owned by the museum, or submitted by the relatives of the makers.