Adventure Quilter

I recently got to attend a 3-day retreat with my SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) regional (Florida) group. Oh my, it was SO wonderful! The scenery, facilities, meals, workshop, demonstrations, and CAMARADERIE were all fantastic! I think the recent lock down made us all that much more elated to be together again. We did enjoy it so!

We had a well-lit and large room where all 28 of us had plenty of room to work and socially distance.

This photo shows about 2/3 of the room.

We worked on our own projects and also had several opportunities for learning. The highlight was a 4 hour workshop presented by Bobbi Baugh.

Becoming One with the Night, by Bobbi Baugh

She taught us for 2 hours on Saturday, about the concept or story of our artwork. Something I tend to overlook. The next day she taught us for 2 hours about composition. This was VERY useful, even for those who had art degrees.

As I Have Trusted Morning, by Bobbi Baugh

The slides Bobbi showed were excellent examples of what she was presenting. I can’t recommend her highly enough! (Even though I didn’t take a picture of her.)

We had several short demonstrations: hand embroidery from Laura Parkel, 3D vessels from Joan Engel, and working with tulle from Jan Lipsky. These were well attended and quite interesting.

Joan showing us how to make 3D vessels.

In addition, two people were using interesting techniques which others wanted to learn, so they did “pop up” demos for us. Linda Geiger taught us how to intentionally make fabric pucker and Ellen Nepustil showed us how to make paper shells.

Ellen working on a shell. The one on the table is dry and complete.

While everyone was distracted during one of the demos, I took photos of some of the projects going on in the room.

Becky needle-felted flowers. The dark background MADE them!

Sharon hand stitched hexagons.

I forget who made this. If you know, please tell me.

Marian combined her own printed fabric with scraps.

Laura worked on a bouquet.

Peggy PATIENTLY made bobbin lace.

Can’t you feel the energy and creativity? I’ll show you more in the next post.

Ellen Lindner

I’m just back from Austin, TX, where I taped an episode of “The Quilt Show!” Oh my, it was very exciting.

You’re probably familiar with the two hosts, Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims. Quilting royalty!

If you’re not familiar with “The Quilt Show” you’ll definitely want to check it out. It’s an online quilt show that you subscribe to. What’s great about it is the episodes live online forever, so you have access to an ABUNDANCE of shows.

This episode was shot on location at a luxury home. What’s funny is they ended up taping…wait for it…in the DRIVEWAY!

But, it was no ordinary driveway and the backdrop for the intro session was absolutely gorgeous.

And what about the demo segments? They were all shot in front of the garage! But again, not just any garage. It was a huge two story structure with beautiful wooden swinging doors.

Well, of course this WAS Texas, and it DOES get rather warm in the afternoons, so we had to deal with that. But, no one melted. I kept my fan handy all day and used it quite a bit. (That’s it in my hand, above.)

As I prepped for the fourth segment, I had my tea and fan handy, while I put Mary Kay to work mixing glue.

They wanted a photo of me in front of one of my quilts and selected Crotons. That made me happy, since it’s one of my favorite quilts AND it’s on the home page of my website.

Not a bad photo, I think. My sister served as my “stylist,” loaning me both the shirt and the earrings, and gifting me with the necklace. And my hair dresser came in on her day off to give me a timely haircut. Aren’t they the best?

No idea, yet, on when the episode will be available, but you KNOW I’ll be letting you know when it is!

A very fun adventure, for sure!

Ellen Lindner

After the 9/11 tragedies of 2001, many artists depicted the towers or the Pentagon with poignant and heartfelt imagery. But, I don’t remember seeing any about Flight 93 plowing into a field in Pennsylvania. I began to wonder what that field would look like one year later? Would there be a big scar in the earth? Would the vegetation have grown back? These thoughts were the impetus for my quilt, A Field in Pennsylvania, One Year Later.

I put a black border around it to indicated mourning. But, I allowed one flower to reach past the border, thinking that perhaps one year later the nation would be beginning to heal.

Nestled among the vegetation I included a remnant of police tape.

AFTER stitching it to the quilt, I burnt the edges. I protected the rest of the quilt with aluminum foil and had a spray bottle of water at the ready. Risky stuff!

I don’t normally make quilts with any sort of social or news commentary, but with such a monumental event I found that ideas kept coming to my mind. The quilt WANTED to be made. However, I’m an optimist, so I wanted to focus on future healing, rather than dwelling on the initial tragedy.

I’m proud of this quilt. In part because it was a technical stretch for me at the time, but more for the narrative aspect of it. Isn’t it great that we can use our art to tell a story?

Ellen Lindner