When quilting my latest piece I decided to mimic the swirls/curves in the background. In addition to machine quilting, I also added some hand stitching around several of the curved shapes. My main reason for doing so was to add contrast to the white curves in the light areas. I intended to stitch around all the…
I recently added paint to a quilt! Gulp! This is something I’ve only done once or twice, so I definitely had to get my courage up. It helped that I had done a bunch of painted exercises a few months ago. So, I did some practice samples, held my mouth just right and gave it a…
After getting so much out of Jane Davies’ book about abstract elements I decided to take an online “class” with her. I put class in quotes, because this was not interactive. You just download the content and do the exercises on your own. More like a book – although she does have interactive classes, too….
Continuing with my abstract exercises, I focused next on line. (Although I’d been using it since the very first exercise.) What kind of line(s) did I like? What came naturally? I’m still trying to figure that out. On the grid above, my favorite line is the one top right. The next assignment was to use…
After many distractions, I finally got back to working on my Red Bud quilt. I decided to name it “Spring Forth,” because I was captivated by the way the Red Bud blossoms pop right up out of the trunks. I got lucky with the background fabrics. Many of them had colorful dots which worked…
While working through Jane Davies’ book, “Abstract Painting: The Elements of Visual Language,” my next exercises had to do with pattern. This assignment was to find a variety of pattern scales, which I did with fabric. She talked about how a variety of patterns, in a variety of scales, can really enhance a piece. This…
Well, now I’ve done it. I’ve dipped my toes into learning more about abstract design and have become – what is it the Borg say? – ASSIMILATED! At least for now. I “blame” Jane Davies. She wrote an excellent book, which got me going. It’s called “Abstract Painting, The Elements of Visual Language.” It was…
My classmates at Quilting by the Lake worked hard and did some amazing work. I somehow missed final images for most of them, but these few will give you an idea. Rosalie Dace, our teacher, circulated around the room almost non-stop. She gave one-on-one advice to each student. Barb worked late each night and almost…
One of the great things about taking a class is that you get to learn from everyone around you. In my class with Rosalie Dace, she was very good about going around the room and coaching everyone. And she didn’t mind eavesdropping, so I overheard quite a few good tips. I thought you’d enjoy seeing…
Are you familiar with the work of Rosalie Dace? She’s a fabulous art quilter from South Africa and a highly sought-after art quilt teacher. I’ve been wanting to take a class with her for quite some time and I finally got to at Quilting by the Lake a couple of weeks ago. It was very…