Adventure Quilter
Ellen Lindner uses fabric the way a painter uses paint, with extraordinary results
Here’s my latest little art quilt, And the Band Plays On.
I made it as donation for a SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates,) fundraiser which required a size of
12″ x 12″.
Fortunately, I had some leftover units from this quilt, which I used as a starting point.
Is it Hot in Here, or is It Just Me?
After that, it came together easily.
I sure have been lucky with leftover pieces lately!
Do you ever use leftover units in new pieces?
Ellen Lindner
I’ve been having fun working on my “sour dough” quilt.
First, I decided on the placement of the leftover blocks. I cut a few of them into smaller units.
I’m a believer in this quote from Sally Sellers, “It only takes a little ugly; just enough to make the other colors sing.” So, should I add a little ugly? I decided a small amount of yellow would do the trick.
A nice start. Then, I added even more.
I like it. What do you think?
Finally, I added the skinny dark teal strips. Because they’re so high contrast, they add a lot of drama, and really make the composition.
In the photo above, I started quilting it. I had lots of good suggestions about a title. But, to me, it seemed to represent some sort of social interaction. A lively, happy one. So, the name “Party Chatter” seemed to fit. Here’s the finished piece.
Check out my website for a detail shot and other information.
What do you think about adding a little bit of ugly?
Ellen Lindner
I’ve never made sour dough bread, but I know that it requires a starter. And also that some of the ingredients are reserved for a future loaf. With this in mind, I think my current project is a “sour dough” quilt.
It all started with these blocks that were leftover from an earlier project. These were the starter. (Each mini composition is held together with glue.)
I didn’t really have a plan, but I put a piece of muslin up on my design wall and started slowly adding the blocks.
I immediately liked the colors and the energy of the oddball shapes. However, it was clear to me that I wouldn’t want to butt the pieces right up next to each other. Doing so would make all the shapes merge together. Instead, I’d need a dark or light fabric separating the colorful shapes.
That made me think of Susan Lapham’s quilts. She often uses white between here blocks and connects them with skinny black strips. I decided to emulate her style for this one.
Initially, I added white blocks as I was creating the composition. But, I realized it would be easier to add the white at the end. The white fabrics are also starters, since they were torn for an earlier project, but never used.
I switched to dark teal strips pretty earlier on. (And I fused the back of that fabric: very unusual for me.)
At this stage, I can see that I need some smaller pieces. Maybe I’ll cut some of my blocks or maybe I’ll add some fresh cut little squares. And what about adding an accent of a new color? It’s all up for consideration.
I’ve really been enjoying this little project. What fun things have you been working on lately?
Ellen Lindner
What fun! At the invitation of QuiltFolk magazine, I showed up for a beach photo shoot, along with six other quilters and our respective bundles of quilts.
The first request was for us to show the photographer our quilts – IN THE PARKING LOT. Talk about a trunk show! It was almost comical.
They asked us to bring the chairs, too, as potential props.
Doris Hulse, left, and Karol Kusmaul, right.
And then, Carole Lyles Shaw showed up with her COLORFUL quilts. Eye candy everywhere!
Linda Hoffmeister admiring Carole Lyles Shaw with her quilt.
Once we made it onto the sand most shoes were kicked off as the photographer got down to work. Although the temperature was perfect, the wind quickly dashed any hopes of a good hair day!
L-R: Karol Kusmaul, Carole Lyles Shaw, me, Linda Hoffmeister, Doris Hulse, Regina Dunn, and Bobbi Baugh
Regina’s husband, Michael, was great about taking lots of behind-the-scenes shots for us. Here I am with Jubiliation. (This is the photo which had the quilt waving the least!)
I’m hoping this next one doesn’t make it into the magazine. Both hairdos and quilts were out of control!
We had a great time socializing and “oohing” and “ahhing” over each person’s quilts.
Additional photos were taken with quilts staged on the chairs, boardwalk, etc. I’m looking forward to seeing which photos they use.
Ellen Lindner
I’m really happy with my latest quilt, Indian River Fruit.
With the exception of one piece, I hand dyed all of these fabrics. As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve found it somewhat challenging to use these high-contrast fabrics together. This time, though, I think I hit the sweet spot. I love the contrast between the large circles, the near solid sections, and the grids.
I quilted it to show off the various fabric designs:
I’m looking forward to working with my hand-dyed fabrics some more!
Find more details about this piece.
Ellen Lindner
My latest quilt has been coming together nicely, even though the fabrics are a little bit diverse. The colors, patterns, and values of the fabrics have dictated what looks good where and the fabric sizes have determined what will actually fit where.
Things evolved on the design wall as I folded and auditioned fabrics in different locations. I didn’t cut them until I was pretty sure about what I was doing!
As you can see, I was trying to move the colors and patterns throughout. I was getting close, but I thought the two yellow fabrics on the right, below, needed a darker spot between them. This is one of the fabrics I auditioned as a solution.
You can see that I decided to use it, but in a much more narrow piece.
And the big surprise: I decided I liked the quieter parts of the quilt the best, so I removed the busy patterned piece that was on the far left.
This is the final version, before quilting.
BTW, the construction time on this quilt was very short, due to the large pieces of fabric. But, it’s taking me quite a while to quilt it!
Ellen Lindner
Lately, I’ve been really concentrating on using a “variety of scale” in the patterns and compositions I’ve been using. First, in a collage course I took with Jane Davies. After making and cropping small collages she directed us to add details with markers. (I never asked for her feedback on these, so they’re MY interpretation of what might work.)
With each one I asked, “Where is there a big spot that needs some interest?” I thought this first one looked pretty good without any additions, but I thought a tiny line would add interest. And it did!
Next question, “Should the additions emphasize what’s already there, or should I add an entirely new shape or color?” You can see that I’ve used both.
I often let my new elements extend over two different pieces. This worked visually, since the small scale of the new items didn’t obliterate the larger pieces.
Sometimes I followed Jane’s example of changing marker colors as the background color changed.
Some compositions needed very little added. But, it does make a difference, don’t you think?
I’ve also been thinking about variety of scale as I’ve been trying to use several favorite fabrics together in the same piece. Most of them were large in scale, so I found myself matching them up with near solids and quieter neutrals. Early progress is shown below.
I was liking these together. They were a challenging, but fun, mix.
Ellen Lindner
I’ve finally done it: I’ve cut into some of my favorite fabrics.
This is where it all started. I wondered if I could successfully use some/all of these hand-dyed fabrics together.
The one with the large orange circles is my favorites. Because of it’s scale I knew it would have to be used very purposefully. I looked for other fabrics with the same colors and threw them up on the design wall. I could see that the top fabrics provided nice “clean” lines and could probably add the needed contrast. I was less sure about the busy ones a the bottom.
(These fabrics are mostly 44″ long, larger than I’m used to working with. As you can see, they pretty well took over my 5′ x 4′ design wall.)
At any rate, I was confident enough to make the first few cuts, and to begin arranging things on the design wall.
Ooh, I was immediately loving it! The central fabric with the navy (by Pat Pauly) added needed value contrast. I knew I’d need more of that, but I didn’t have any other dyed navy. No worries: I own A LOT of commercial fabric!
Gee, I’ve been having fun with this. Stumped on what the name might be, though. Any ideas?
Ellen Lindner
After making small collages our online instructor, Jane Davies, asked us to visually crop them and to pay attention to negative space. Well, I’m sort of “known” for cropping things, so I was right in my comfort zone!
Before:
After:
As expected, everything looked better when cropped. There were several reasons for this:
– Due to the sizes of the backgrounds and the added shapes, there was just too much blank background in some of these.
– When an element runs off the edge of a composition, it engages the viewer more. The viewer subconsciously realizes that the shape continues and this holds their interest.
– *The background (negative) space becomes more interesting. Look at the example above. Initially the background was one large sort of doughnut-shaped piece of white. After cropping, it became 4 different, and more interesting shapes.
Here are some more examples:
They’re all better after cropping, right?
As a painter, Jane advised us NOT to physically crop our work, but to get comfortable with filling the size of the canvas, instead. As a fabric artist, I think I can safely ignore that advice. (Let’s hope so, because I’ve been cropping for years!)
Have you ever considered cropping your work? I find it to be a very useful design tool.
Ellen Lindner
P.S. See my most dramatic crop.
P.P.S. If you liked that article, you may be interested in others.