Blog – Page 24 of 62 – Adventure Quilter

Studio Expansion!

By Ellen Lindner on July 19, 2020 in Uncategorized

After my son vacated his bedroom I took over! Check out my new photo set up. The white pinnable board lives behind the wardrobe and all the gear lives in the closet. (Or, I can just leave it up if I want to.)

And, not only that, but I’ll also be using this space for recording videos. Here it is set up for table-top shots. What a joy to do this with more space, so I’m no longer tripping over things to get to my chair. I’m calling this “Studio B.” (How indulgent!)

The wardrobe came from my studio and is loaded with supplies. However, these are things I use less frequently, and they’re only steps away.

Back in “Studio A”, the relocated wardrobe left lots more room. The ironing board came out of the corner and landed where the wardrobe previously stood.

Which means my two tables got to move FOURTEEN INCHES closer to the back door. Hallelujah! I now have much more room for dying and can fully access my second design wall, as shown below.

No glamorous magazine shots here, just an artist thrilled with more space! I’m kinda giddy about it.

Ellen Lindner

Reworking a Small Piece

By Ellen Lindner on July 16, 2020 in Uncategorized

Remember the quilt I cut up? I’ve been reworking some of the smaller pieces.

This is one of the ones I tackled – BEFORE:

I could see that the pieces were too large and too similar. I knew I’d need to layer on many smaller pieces to add variety and to visually shrink some of these large ones.

I took photos as I went and made a short video showing my process, along with my thoughts at each stage. Take a look.

And here’s the result, “In My Humble Opinion.” It’s 11.5″ x 9″ and is available for $79.

It’s fun working with this small size. All the fabrics are my own hand dyes. Double fun!

Ellen Lindner

INDEPENDENCE Day!

By Ellen Lindner on July 3, 2020 in Uncategorized

My son is moving out! On July 4th. His Independence Day! I’m so excited for him.

And I also admit to a little joy at the prospect of reclaiming his bedroom for my own purposes! Yahoo!

I got to use his room a few years ago and it was so great. Once again, I have big plans for it. I’ll use it for photo and video shooting. Which will be MUCH better than my current set up, which takes place in the dining room or cramped studio.

Maybe I’ll even be able to keep the light stands up most of the time! I also plan to have a packing station. I can’t wait!

But, I WILL miss having my son around! Thankfully, he’ll be close.

Ellen Lindner

Eight Leaves Later

By Ellen Lindner on June 30, 2020 in Uncategorized

Well, I think maybe I’ve finished making croton leaves for a while. This is where it stands now.

Numbers 2-8:

I really like the way they look together, don’t you? I think I’ll submit them as a collection to some exhibits. All the fabrics are my own hand dyes, except for one.

I have one more leaf, number one:

It needs a couple of companions in rust, etc. But, I think I’ll hold off on that for a while.

These are a little tricky to photograph, so I’ll be adding them to my website slowly. See these two: Number One and Number Two.

Several people have asked for a demo on how to make these. My short answer is “Be careful what you wish for, because it’s a little complex.” However, I will share the main idea, in case you want to experiment. I used a wire mesh inside each leaf. This is the kind of pliable mesh a sculptor might use to start a piece. It gives each leaf rigidity, but it’s also malleable enough to allow me to shape the leaves. This is the especially wonderful part of using this mesh: you can quilt right through it! For the first leaf, I quilted the leaf front and again the leaf back before hand sewing the mesh inside. But, for the second one, I just sandwiched the mesh in between TWO layers of batting and went for it. It worked beautifully!

I’m giving myself points for experimenting! What have you been experimenting with lately?

Ellen Lindner

A Gold Star for My Students

By Ellen Lindner on June 29, 2020 in Uncategorized

How do you reward students in an online class? I’ve decided on a digital gold star. I wanted to make a special fabric star as my starting point and a friend loaned me a 3D pattern from Fabri Flair. Perfect!

First, fabric selection. I wanted to use my hand-dyed scraps and for each piece to be different. Could I get away with a little yellow-green too?

I decided on just one yellow-green. I really liked this combination!

It began to take shape.

And here’s the finished star. I love it!

I’ll take a better photograph of it and add it to some sort of digital plaque. I think it will be a fun addition to the class interactions.

What online class you ask? Why THIS one: Double Reverse Appliqué. Check out my teaser video.

Ellen Lindner
P.S. Wondering about the blue tape on my table? It’s leftover from video recording online lessons. It showed me the edge of the video frame.

Now Teaching Online!

By Ellen Lindner on June 28, 2020 in Uncategorized

Whew, I’ve been working hard to get my class, Double Reverse Appliqué online. And I’m SO proud of it! It features a ton of short videos. They make it easy to understand and also easy to work in steps.

And check out the killer class project.

In this class you not only learn the Double Reverse Appliqué technique, but also how to make your own patterns. As an online class, you have immediate access to ALL the class content – for as long as you like! And you have access to me, too!

I think it’s going to be an awesome way to learn. I’ve made a preview video. I hope you’ll check it out, along with the other class details.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Ellen Lindner

Cuttin’ Up

By Ellen Lindner on June 5, 2020 in Uncategorized

I’ve you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you know that I’m not shy about cutting up a quilt. Sometimes I rearrange the pieces and create a new, more exciting composition. Other times, I use the new smaller pieces as the start of new little works of art. Such was the case with this COMPLETELY FINISHED quilt, Autumn Skyline.

There’s a lot that I like about this quilt: the colors, the fabrics, and parts of the design. But, it ultimately wasn’t exciting me. Therefore, I cut it into six different pieces.

I’m really liking this one. I think it’s begging for some hand stitching.

What if I turned it upside down?

I like all the grids in this one.
Here it is upside down.

Hmm, I’ll have to study these. They’re each about the size of a large place mat or small poster. Easily portable. So, maybe that hand stitching would be a good way to go. I seldom have a hand project at the ready, so these could be a nice change.

Here are some other examples of me cutting things up. Urban Sprawl.

Jubilation

Jubilation

Ellen Lindner

GEARING Up for Online Teaching

By Ellen Lindner on May 31, 2020 in Uncategorized

I’m really excited to be gearing up for online teaching! And when I say “gearing up” there’s emphasis on the gear itself.

The lights, which my husband had to repair.

The camera, which I had to learn to use properly. (Thank goodness for YouTube!)

And the set ups. This one for standing was pretty straight forward. (Although I had to move some furniture.) Of course, I’ll add a back drop.

Figuring out the table shots took quite a bit more finagling. It’s like a Tetris game in that corner!

It’s a little tricky dodging stands, etc. to get into my chair.

I’m jumping through all these hoops in order to prepare high quality videos for my classes. The first one will be Double Reverse Applique and I can’t wait!

Ellen Lindner
P.S. I didn’t mention audio. It has been problematic, but the new microphone arrives soon and I plan to record right away!

Tour My Studio

By Ellen Lindner on May 30, 2020 in Uncategorized

My studio isn’t that big, but I make it work hard. I made a short video about it. (I even had to climb on the table at one point to get the proper view.)

Check out all my videos here.

What studio tricks and tips do you have?

Ellen Lindner

I’ve Been Sewing

By Ellen Lindner on May 24, 2020 in Uncategorized

I haven’t done any garment sewing in ages, but all my luscious hand-dyed fabrics have had me thinking about using some in this way. This is the fabric that started it all. Isn’t it gorgeous?

Although I’ve been dying to use it, I wasn’t sure how to use it in combination with other large scale fabrics. But, I had smaller pieces that I thought I could use with it if the project was smaller in scale. Thus, the idea of a simple shirt came to mind. SIMPLE because I wanted to preserve the pattern of the fabric without a lot of seams or darts.

For the pattern I decided to mimic a ready-made shirt that fits me well (and is past its prime.) How’s this for simple? Only 4 pieces total: a simple T shape with a horizontal seam front and back. I thought it could work.

I used the shirt to create muslin patterns. (I didn’t take the shirt apart.)

Here’s the pattern for the front. I made the bottom portion bigger, just as it is in the inspiration shirt. The extra fullness is eased in when the two parts are sewn together. (Yes, I’m short and wide, as the pattern shows.)

And here’s the back.

I basted the muslin pattern together and was happy with the fit. On to fabric selection!

My plan was to use the prettiest part of the fabric as the top of the front. After that, I knew I’d need to patch other pieces together.

The photo above shows my auditioning of fabrics. The top piece is cut to size, but the others are folded as I pondered the best puzzle of pieces. (This ended up being the winner.)

On the back, I had to fiddle, rotate, and speculate before finding the best way to use my remaining fabric to its fullest. I was pretty happy with this layout.

And here it is finished! I love it!

And the back.

This was a fun project and I’m very happy with the results. I think there will be more pieced tops in my future!

Ellen Lindner

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Adventure Quilter

Studio Expansion!

Reworking a Small Piece

INDEPENDENCE Day!

Eight Leaves Later

A Gold Star for My Students

Now Teaching Online!

Cuttin’ Up

GEARING Up for Online Teaching

Tour My Studio

I’ve Been Sewing

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