Ellen Lindner: Art & Creativity

After creating the sky and tree line of my farm quilt, I was ready to tackle the fields.

I drew the main lines and the road directly onto the muslin base with a permanent marker.  After LOTS of fabric auditions, I got started cutting and placing.

Click any image for a larger view

I used some great green fabrics, plus a little bit of yellow for interest.  As originally planned, I used much darker values on the sides.

Lots more auditioning.  Knowing that every decision affects every other, I often tried out a bunch of fabrics at once.  I couldn’t decide seeing just one in place.

I made a few changes.  (Compare the photo below to the one with the red pin cushion above.)

Finally, I was happy with the fields and road and ready to consider the barns.  To do so, I placed tracing paper on the quilt and drew the barns onto it.  This made it easy to get the scale and placement correct.

I used a LOT of trial and error during this process and I made a lot of changes.  All of which slowed me down.  But, it kept me fully engaged and I enjoyed it.

Ellen Lindner