Archive | July, 2021

A Fun Class with Pat Pauly

I had a really fantastic opportunity last week. A friend was unable to attend a 2-day Pat Pauly class and gifted it to me. How wonderful! Pat is one of my favorite teachers and I knew this class about using skinny lines and settings would be fun, educational, and challenging. And I was right on all counts.

We started by learning how to make skinny lines. They’re lots of fun and easy to do.

Next, Pat taught us how to set in blocs and a variety of other shapes.

Soon, I had a hodgepodge of wonky blocks growing on my design wall

Pat encouraged us to slice into our shapes, insert new lines, put things back together off-kilter, etc. Plus, we used the same five fabrics everywhere, so there was a good amount of “cross pollination.”

She gave us some pointers about composition and mine slowly started turning into something other than “fruit salad.”

In the shot above you can see about what mine looked like at the end of the class. By then I couldn’t put it down! I was having too much fun putting this fabric puzzle together!

A Fun Class with Pat Pauly. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

I worked on it fairly consistently for another couple of days. I did a lot of folding fabrics to audition ideas, plotting, and planning.

A Fun Class with Pat Pauly. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

Eventually, I had to design little pieces to fill in various gaps.

Then, it all came together! This is the quilt top ready for the next step. Although the colors are a little more jarring than I usually select, I really like them. (All the fabrics are my hand dyes, except for the black ones.)

A Fun Class with Pat Pauly. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

See the finished quilt, A Little Bit Tart.

Ellen Lindner

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An Award Winning Quilt, and Others on the Go

It’s great to have my quilts, once again, traveling to real live art and quilt shows. Especially when I win an award! Such was the case with this quilt, Miscommunication. Miscommunication, an art quilt by Ellen Lindner. AdventureQuilter.com

It won third place at the 2nd Biennial Fiber Arts National Juried Exhibition in Bedford, VA. How nice! This exhibit is on display through August 21st, if you happen to be in the area.

In addition, my quilt Melting Pot is part of the “Floridian Flavors” exhibit currently on display at the Leepa-Rattner museum in Tarpon Springs, FL.

This exhibit features work made by the Florida members of SAQA (Studio Art Quilts Associates,) and will be on display through August 15th.

Floridian Flavors exhibit, piece by Gretchen Brooks. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

Artwork by Gretchen Brooks, admired by viewers.

***A road trip is really worthwhile in this case, because just down the road, in Dunedin, FL, you’ll find THREE more wonderful art quilt exhibits at the Dunedin Fine Arts Center. One of them features work by the Tentmakers of Cairo and I can’t wait to see that!

I also got word that my quilt, Florida Native #2,  has been accepted into the exhibit “Let the Sun Shine In.” This exhibit will be virtual, as well as on display in at least one gallery. (TBD.)

Florida Native #2, an art quilt by Ellen Lindner. AdventureQuilter.comI hope you get to see some great quilts in person!

Ellen Lindner

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An Exercise in Composition

As I worked on my two-colored “beet” quilt, it became obvious that composition was going to be SUPER important in creating a successful piece.

Because the yellow showed up so sharply against the reds and purples I knew the yellow circles would form the focal point of the piece and they’d need to be arranged just so. With that in mind, I arranged them first, even before all the background decisions had been made.

An Exercise in Composition. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

In the shot above, I’ve used a variety of commercial fabrics as place holders for the background (hand-dyed) fabrics I actually plan to use. It was just easier to compose against these dark colors than the white of my design wall.

Then I began to replace the initial background fabrics with my hand dyed ones. Still with just a bare bones composition.

An Exercise in Composition. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

In the shot below, I’ve settled upon the new background fabrics and they’re mostly sewn together.

An Exercise in Composition. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

Time to add some low-contrast beet-colored circles to the background. I knew they’d add interest, and they did.

An Exercise in Composition. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

But, I began to think the space just wasn’t filled enough. Did I need more circles? Or more YELLOW circles – for contrast? I played with this idea on my computer.

An Exercise in Composition. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

Hmm, that certainly filled the space more. Time to consider.

Either way, I’ll add some more low contract background circles.

Ellen Lindner

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Quilt Design and Composition: Wonky or Not?

I’ve been having fun making units for my current quilt. It features the colors of red and yellow beets, represented by wonky circles. Follow along with my quilt design decisions.

This was an early start.

Quilt Design: Playing with those fabrics. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

Initially, I made all the circles very imperfect.

Quilt Design: Playing with those fabrics. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

But, as I began to play with composition I began to question this decision. The yellow parts showed up SO MUCH, and I wasn’t sure I liked the off-kilter look.

Like this:

So, I did some experimenting, leaving the interior of the circles wonky, but aligning the outer yellow rings more accurately. Like this.

Beets: Composition and Fine Tuning. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

I think it’s an improvement (even though the color of this photo is off.)

Next, comes composition. Some questions I’m tossing around:
– Is the composition tight enough? Do I need to bring things more  to center?
– Should they overlap more? (My working title is “Beet Salad,” so I’m thinking yes.)
– Do I need more circles?
– Do the circles show up well enough? Will I need to add yellow rims to some of them?

I’m moving ahead with this and happy with my progress.

Ellen Lindner

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“Grow with the Flow” in Arroyo Grande

One of the best things about my “Grow with the Flow” class is that the students get their projects completely finished during the 6 hour time frame. And that often includes facing it!

See the results of a recent small class in Arroyo Grande, CA.

"Grow with the Flow" in Arroyo Grande. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

Priscilla chose bright reds and pinks.

 

"Grow with the Flow" in Arroyo Grande. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

That’s Barb peeking about from behind her turquoise and yellow piece. (I think her piece was faced at this point.)

 

"Grow with the Flow" in Arroyo Grande. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

And Gayle showing off hers.

 

"Grow with the Flow" in Arroyo Grande. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

Tommie had to leave early so this photo was taken at hour #5. All she has left to do is to face it. Great colors!

 

"Grow with the Flow" in Arroyo Grande. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

And here’s Susan’s piece, all nicely faced. All it needs is a sleeve!

Aren’t these great? They each did wonderful work and accomplished a lot.

I’d love to teach this class, or a different one, for your guild.

Ellen Lindner

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