Archive | Uncategorized

Empty Spools: Lucy, Ellindale, and Phyliss

By Ellen Lindner on March 12, 2024 in Uncategorized

Here’s another report on my awesome Design Your Own Nature Quilt students, at Empty Spools.

Lucy was a delight. Like Katie, her only quilting experience was with simple piecing. The design concepts and construction techniques were completely new to her and she was very willing to learn them. Her inspiration photo was one she had taken herself. We talked about simplifying things by omitting a few trees and IMPLYING the distant foliage. Busy prints did the trick.

Since she added a dark border, Lucy added a narrow blue inner border on both the left and right. This kept the border and the left tree from merging together. The photo below shows the colors better. Can you tell that it’s quilted and faced? AND, it has the hanging sleeve already attached.

You can tell from her face that Lucy was very happy with her quilt!

Ellindale sent me a photo of a monarch butterfly, asking if it would work as a good inspiration photo. I said yes, but that I thought she should add one or more additional butterflies. She found a copyright free image of a butterfly with folded wings and added it to her sketch. She constructed the butterflies separately, so she’d be able to audition placement later. That really paid off, because she eventually turned the entire composition 90 degrees and came up with this.

She made a lot of progress in class, completing the quilting on the background (with added stems, butterfly antennae, and legs.)

Late on the 4th day, Ellindale started playing around with a poppy photo and very quickly came up with this. Isn’t it striking? The photo only had 2 flowers, but she wisely added a third. She also enlarged the flowers quite a bit, which filled the space very nicely. Another great example of being INSPIRED by the photo, rather than controlled by it.

Phyliss had a photo that really spoke of a particular place. Where do you find prickly pear cacti and blue doors? That’s right, the American southwest. But, again, Phyliss altered some things from the photo.

She left out some of the cactus paddles and suggested the door with just a colorful shape. Also, Phyliss brought some lacy textured fabrics from home that she used for “flowers” (insects) and other details.

She added some detailed quilting and soon had a completed quilt. Like some of the others, she got hers faced and added a hanging sleeve before the end of class.

I’m so proud of what these ladies accomplished!

Ellen Lindner
P.S. I’ll be teaching the same class next year at Empty Spools, March 7-12, 2025. I’d love to have you in class!

Empty Spools: Alex, Terry, and Katie

By Ellen Lindner on March 10, 2024 in Uncategorized

My week teaching Design Your Own Nature Quilt at Empty Spools Seminar was excellent and my students were fantastic! They brought their creative courage and tried lots of new things – with amazing results.

This was Alex’s board for the classroom walk-through. She did the little plant on the left first. She played down the contrast in the rocky foreground and increased the contrast with the leaves. Alex also enhanced the plant’s “body language” and removed some distracting details. As you can see, she had it all pinned and ready to quilt.

Next, Alex switched gears to the Joshua Tree photo. I thought it was more complex than she would enjoy, but I was wrong! She enjoyed hunting for the perfect fabrics and cutting all the little “pom-poms.” She has more to add when she gets home, but she quilted the foreground in class. (By the way, I had never seen a Joshua tree before and thought her photo was actually a drawing when I first saw it. My students were very good at educating me about them.)

Alex was also quick to help. She solved my Power Point issue and gave Lucy a great lesson on cleaning her machine. ALL the students had a great sense of camaraderie and cheered each other on. I loved it!

Terry was experienced at creating landscapes and it showed. Her first piece is the large one at the top of her board. She switched gears when she realized she had the perfect fabric at home. (Isn’t that always the way?) Check out her gray/black mountain in the top left of her composition. It’s a perfect example of letting the fabric do the work. Terry needed a black and white striation. She found it on the back of a printed fabric with palm fronds. Good eye!

I forget the name of Terry’s orange flower: some sort of lily. She did a great job of capturing the delicate petals. And just look how much the dark background has improved the composition! The additional contrast it provides really lets the flower SHINE! Terry plans to use a border and let the top part of her flower extend into it. I think that will be very effective. And she has some leaves to add, too.

Katie definitely brought her CAN DO attitude. Her experience was limited to simple piecing, so this was all new territory for her! She trusted the process, though, and forged ahead. There were times when she thought it was terrible, but she trusted my direction and eventually ended up with something she loved. Me too!

Here’s her inspiration photo. We talked about her favorite parts and how she could apply our class motto, “Be inspired by your photo, not controlled by it.” She decided to focus on busy flowers, the strong blue sky, and the arcing stems.

And this is what she got. I’d say she definitely hit the mark. AND this is completely quilted, faced, and has a hanging sleeve attached!!!

As I told my students, “they made me look good.” And we had so much fun, too!

There’s more to come. Keep and eye out.

Ellen Lindner
P.S. See more student work.

100% Pure Florida Exhibit

By Ellen Lindner on March 9, 2024 in Uncategorized

I have quilts in THREE shows right now and I almost forgot to tell you about the latest one. It’s 100% Pure Florida, in Melbourne, FL.

My piece, Exuberance, is on display in a prominent spot.

100% Pure Exhibit, Melbourne, FL. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

This is a mixed media show, as you can see. Didn’t they do a nice job of combining these pieces? I love having my work in mixed media shows, since it’s a way to show off quilts as art to a new audience.

Here are some other exhibit pieces that I particularly like. Sunrise Sisterhood, by Lisa Roberts.

100% Pure Exhibit, Melbourne, FL. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

From the Heart, by Lynn Morgan.

100% Pure Exhibit, Melbourne, FL. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

String Theory #6, by Diane Stapleton.

100% Pure Exhibit, Melbourne, FL. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

The show runs through March 30th. It’s worth a visit if you’re in the area.

Ellen Lindner
P.S. The other two shows are Dirty Dozen Fiber Artists, at Osceola Arts, in Kissimmee, FL (near Disney) and Cover Story: 3 Perspectives on Contemporary Quilt Making, at Museum of Florida Art and Culture, in Avon Park, FL

Empty Spools: Carol, Larsja, and Barb

By Ellen Lindner on March 7, 2024 in Uncategorized

I’m just back from teaching Design Your Own Nature Quilt at Empty Spools Seminar, in Pacific Grove, CA. It was fabulous!!! The beach side setting was lovely, complete with historical architecture, wind-swept trees, and the sound of the surf.

But, of course, the real excitement was occurring in the classrooms. I had nine fantastic students who followed the supply list and packed their artistic courage. They worked outside their comfort zones and created very dynamic quilts. Each student brought one or more inspiration photos from which she designed her quilt. We often reminded one another of the class motto, “Be inspired by your photo, not controlled by it.” Wait till you see what they did.

Carol had a dramatic photo of a red flower. Single color flowers are often tricky, but Carol was able to work loosely, which helped immensely.

For her second quilt, (yes, several students made TWO,) Carol chose an image of what we think are box fish. In her inspiration photo the two fish were on a black background. As you can see, she improved upon that quite dramatically, and energized the composition with more fish.

Scaling up from the sketch to the quilt is a little bit of a hurdle at first. Carol spent time making mock up fish shapes to help her get it right.

Students used cardboard L shapes to help them decide on cropping.

One day the students toured around the classrooms to see the various projects. Most of my photos will be the display boards from that event.

Larsja had a great tulip photo to start with. She wisely omitted several flowers and leaves to better show off the remaining ones. And to make the background (negative space) more interesting. And then check out that border! Don’t you love the “drawn” black tulips?

Larsja really wanted to make just one quilt so she could get is mostly done. Sure enough, it’s almost completely quilted.

Like Carol, Larsja did a collage exercise with magazine pages. I’ll show you those images more clearly in a later post.

Barb used a photo of a Bird of Paradise blossom as her starting point. It was actually a double blossom, which made the distinction between petals hard to make out. Like Larsja, she omitted quite a few blossoms and did the same with the leaves. (She just scribbled over them on her photo.) She also cropped her inspiration photo quite a bit. (It’s folded on her board.)

She finished quilting it in class. Isn’t it striking?

It was all very exciting! More photos in the next few posts.

Ellen Lindner

What to do with Scraps?

By Ellen Lindner on February 21, 2024 in Uncategorized

All quilters and textile artists face the question of what to do with their scraps. I mean, they MIGHT come in handy one day, so it would be good to keep them, right? But, that requires not only space, but some sort of organizational system so the scraps can be seen and used. And what size should be saved? Only yardage or tiny bits?

(I’ve visited some quilt guilds which collect tiny scraps and use them as stuffing for dog beds which they donate to a local shelter. A pretty good idea, I think.)

When I was using commercial fabrics I didn’t feel the need to save very small pieces of fabric. But now that I’m dying my own fabric those little scraps have become much more precious to me. Alas, I end up saving a lot of small bits. But then, what should I do with them?

Recently, I’ve started stitching these little pieces together, with no thought about color or matching. I just find two pieces that are approximately the same length and join them together. After a while I’ll have units that will fit each other and I can proceed with a little trimming and pressing as a go. Still without a plan.

These little units were pieced with scraps from Happy Family, so they automatically had shared colors.

I put them next to one another just to see what it looked like. Interesting, I think.

In the midst of the scrap sewing I decided to participate in a fund raising activity for SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates.) Hey, some of these little units could be used for that!

This call for art was rather unusual in that it called for art of one size, but with plans to display the pieces matted to a different size. That kinda threw me, since I felt like I had to make the composition look good at both sizes. Here it is full size, a whopping 6 x 8. (Note that we were not supposed to finish the edges.)

And here’s what it will look like when matted. (4.5 x 6, if I remember correctly.)

Not bad, I think. I hope it will generate some bidding.

More recently, I decided to make a “prayer”/art flag. At only 5 x 8, I knew my scrap units would once again do the trick. And they did.

My scrap units are now looking rather picked over. But, I now know they’re worth having around so I’ll be making more of then. Every now and then.

And it just occurred to me that these could be pieced by hand, too. So, I could use them as a hand project, too. (Now I’m cooking.)

Ellen Lindner

Cover Story: An Upcoming Exhibit

By Ellen Lindner on February 16, 2024 in Uncategorized

I’m very excited to be in a 3-person exhibit opening next week!

The show is called Cover Story: 3 Perspectives on Contemporary Quilting. The other two artists are Gabriele DiTota and Sue Robinson.

This exhibit will be on display at the Museum of Florida Art and Culture, on the campus of South Florida State College, in Avon Park, FL. It will run February 21st through March 29th, 2024.

And the opening reception will be Wednesday, the 12st from 12:30 to 2:30. We’ll all be there and we’d love to see you!

The image above is the cover shot for a 13 minute video interview with the three of us. Link to video
It’s nice to have a detail shot of my quilt, Happy Family, used here, but that piece is not actually in the show. Kinda funny.

This piece WILL be in the show. Detail shots and more.

Adrenaline Rush

In the coming days I’ll be showing you other pieces that I have in the exhibit, as well as some by the other two artists.

Did I mention I’m excited?

Ellen Lindner

When it Comes to Hanging Artwork Size Matters

By Ellen Lindner on February 6, 2024 in Uncategorized

I have a new favorite app: ArtStage (available for iphone only.) The app allows me to digitally hang my artwork in various spaces. What fun!

Don’t you love this little setting, above? What makes it perfect for my purposes is that it’s a good size for the size of Happy Family, the quilt. Can you see how it comes close to filling the space, but without being crowded? That’s exactly what you want.

Or, this one works, too. (And all our houses look this great, right?)

And here’s a third scenario.

I love the opportunity to preview my artwork in these various spaces. (With the app you can even upload images of your own space, but that version is not free.)

Need some new art for your space?

Ellen Lindner
P.S. Happy Family is available for purchase, at $1100. Use the link at the bottom of the page to email me if you’re interested.

“Happy Family” Complete

By Ellen Lindner on January 30, 2024 in Uncategorized

Here’s my latest quilt, Happy Family

I’m REALLY happy with it and I hope you like it, too.

As you can see, I added three loose circles, to add interest. Since there are three members of my immediate family, and because the colors are so upbeat, I decided to name it Happy Family.

I got carried away when taking detail shots. Again, because I just love what happens when these busy prints interact with one another.

As usual, I printed 99% of these fabrics myself (with dye.)

This quilt is 32″h x 35″ w.

It’s available for purchase, at a price of $1100. If you’re interested in buying it contact me via email with the link at the bottom of the page.

Ellen Lindner
P.S. I really like the loose circles. I think I’ll use them in a future quilt.
P.P.S. I can’t wait to get started on the next quilt!

Abstract Design

By Ellen Lindner on January 26, 2024 in Uncategorized

I continued working on my latest quilt, using lots of trial and error. This is where I left off in the last blog post. I decided against the strong stripes in the lower left.

This closer shot shows how I first, fold the fabrics to audition placement and size. I cut into them when I get confidant with my plan, but I don’t do the piecing until near the end.

Compare this next photo to the one at the top of the page. I decided I needed some more blue. And I also wanted to enlarge the yellow area near the center. (And to do so with an irregular shape.)

Here, the background is completely pieced, although I’m auditioning a few little spots of color which I intend to fuse on.

Time to assess what I’ve got. Is it interesting enough? Does it have enough energy? Does it need something else?

What about some skinny and loose black circles? I auditioned the idea on my computer.

Well, I liked the circles, but not the black. What about yellow?

Yes, I think that will do!

I should have this finished soon and I’m looking forward to showing you the finished project.

Ellen Lindner

The Measuring Spoon Epilogue

By Ellen Lindner on January 24, 2024 in Uncategorized

After my husband gave me TEN sets of measuring spoons for Christmas we all had a good laugh. And I figured I’d be giving them away as party favors.

But, he had other plans.

Is this brilliant or what? I LOVE having these spoons already sorted and easy to spot. And no more tangled spoons in the crowded drawer. It pays to have an engineer for a husband!

Ellen Lindner

← Previous 1 … 3 4 5 … 63 Next →