Tag Archives | Abstract

Finally, a Quilt

By Ellen Lindner on September 29, 2016 in Uncategorized

Gee, I haven’t shown you a new quilt in a while. But, in the midst of teaching, exhibits, and TV shows, I’ve still been able to (intermittently) work on my latest abstract quilt. When I last showed it to you, the background was complete and I had decided to add some white squares. I auditioned that idea with some computer sketching.

And then I began to add the white squares.

Hmm. They didn’t show up that well. Would blue-green be better?

I tried it out with fabric scraps and decided this was the way to go.

Yes, much better. That took A LOT of pins.

I began to consider where to add the large flower.

Maybe something like this.

I made some marks, but then lifted it in order to add some other things.

What about a ghost flower? (Top left.) It didn’t show up very well, so the jury was still out.

I added a navy line for contrast. I think it helped a lot.

I put the flower back (in a slightly new location,) removed the ghost flower, and made a few final additions. Among them, I added subtle squares in the background, and subtle X shapes in the large rust/orange shape. Just a little repetition, texture, and interest.

Finally, I trimmed it, and began to prep the facing fabric.

But wait. How would this look upside down?

Ellen Lindner

So, I Whacked the Corner Off

By Ellen Lindner on August 21, 2016 in Uncategorized

In my previous post, I showed you a big orange/rust blob on my current quilt that needed to be dealt with. Eventually, I decided just to whack it off. Like this.

Knowing that I’d need to attach new batting before continuing, I put the batting under my quilt before cutting into it. That way, the batting had exactly the same edge shape as the portion removed. I butted it up next to the quilt and hand basted them together.

Then, I recollaged the corner and was MUCH happier with it.

Finally, I stitched all the squares in place. (Did you notice the ones in the background too?) I also did some undulating stitching around the flower petals.

And this is where is stands: completely finished except for facing, etc. I started doing that and realized it’s TOO SMALL for the exhibit I had intended to enter it in. Oh no! So, I quickly switched gears and started on the next quilt, leaving this one to wait for my attention.

Oh well. I’m just thankful I have time to do another one!

Ellen Lindner

Exploration and Detours

By Ellen Lindner on August 17, 2016 in Uncategorized

I guess it’s a good thing making a quilt takes a while because I find that I often get new ideas while implementing the previous ones. Such has been the case with my current abstract quilt.

I left a large orange/rust shape in the top left corner, planning to balance it with something large and orange in the lower right. Maybe something like this.

But first, I wanted to get my flowers into place. I had planned to use one large open flower, but that turned into two. In the photo below, I was putting them in place.

They blend in with the background more than I had hoped, so I’ll add some orange outline stitching, or something along those lines.

While working on the flowers, however, I had time to think about that big orange shape and I thought I could do something more interesting.

I’d been noticing that I really liked paintings with lots of tiny squiggles and shapes in them. I wondered how I could get that effect with fabric. I decided I could just cut shapes and sprinkle them about. So, I tried a few to get the effect.

I really liked that, so I went for broke.

Oh yes! I love it!

But, this definitely doesn’t balance the big corner blob. I’ll have to do something about that.

Will I need to completely remove that big rust shape, or can I just shrink it? I auditioned the latter in this next photo.

I’m not sure yet. But, I’m having fun exploring options and taking detours!

Ellen Lindner

New Abstract Under Way

By Ellen Lindner on July 25, 2016 in Uncategorized

After having so much fun on the last abstract quilt, I’ve started on another one. I’m allowing the first to inspire the second, but making LOTS of changes.

This was my starting sketch.

I thought I’d probably ROUGHLY copy the background, but with plenty of alterations as they occurred to me. Right off the bat, I knew I wanted to add some undulation to the central vertical shape, and I also thought it would benefit from the addition of some yellow. I spent a little time studying the background, then I put the sketch away. After all, I didn’t want to copy it!

I started construction by using scraps to create the central shape. I left all the odd points in place, thinking they’d help me decide where to take the undulation.

That was just the start. Next, I added more fabrics – this time very purposefully – to create the undulation I wanted.

MUCH more interesting, don’t you think?

Next, came the left background. I used a couple of print fabrics to create a sort of soft/fuzzy edge where the two orange/rust and blue-green met. (Sorry for the pathetic focus.)

After making progress on the left side, above, I auditioned some additional elements as well as color placement for the background. The skinny navy line and the orange squiggle near it did not make the cut! I was doubtful that they would, but you have to make visual decisions visually. You HAVE to do some trial and error!

I added white and yellow and worked on the background on the right side. It was coming along nicely.

I finished the background, but wanted to add some little squiggles of color.

However, the orange above took over. Not a good choice.

How about yellow?

Ah, yes. That’s much better!
Did you notice that I changed the shape of the yellow on the right, too?

At this point I considered the background complete. It was time to consider the design elements. Clearly, I’d need to repeat the white and orange. Per the sketch, I thought I’d need a good bit of orange in the bottom right corner, to balance that in the opposing corner.

Ellen Lindner
P.S. Just for kicks, scroll back to the top of this post to see how much I deviated from the sketch. But, that’s FINE! As a matter of fact, it was my plan. The sketch – especially with abstract designs – is meant to be the starting point only. All of this is very fun.

Taking Detours

By Ellen Lindner on July 8, 2016 in Uncategorized

When I’m in experimental mode, my plan is to take every creative detour that pops into my head. What an Adrenalin surge that is!

After completing Brainstorm I wanted to continue to work in the loose, experimental way I had when creating it. First, I wanted to play with colors. I figured I’d probably use the same ones I’d used in Brainstorm, but perhaps in different proportions. Hmm, how to best audition my options? Since my Brainstorm fabrics were still strewn all over my work table, I could have easily pinned them to my design wall. But, I decided to do some coloring on the computer, instead. (I used Photoshop Elements, but you could do lots of this with colored pencils and paper.)

I opened a picture of Brainstorm and digitally “sampled” the most prominent colors. That is, I copied them. I loaded my digital paint brush with each one in turned and slathered them onto a plain sheet of digital paper. I tried to do it without a lot of thought. I used the same size brush throughout and my only criteria was to spread the colors around.

Well THAT was fun!

As you can see I also drew on a few motifs that I thought I might use at some point.

I was pretty floored at this point, because either of these could be tweaked a little and turned into a wonderful quilt background. Wow, what a concept!

Next, I decided to make blocks of color in a computer file that I could fill in with the colors. I didn’t intend to make a blocky quilt; I just wanted to play with proportions.

Woah, another good result. What’s going on here? I like these proportions a lot.

But, as I said, I didn’t want a blocky quilt, so I did some digital magic. I “liquefied” the above image.

Also very cool. But, I don’t want to make a quilt with that much action in the background. No worries. I’ll go back to that recent exercise where I found small compositions within the larger piece. Now, doesn’t that sound like fun?

All this play would be more fun with some playmates. Would you like to join me? You could do something similar with one of your favorite quilts as a starting reference. Or, I tell you what: I’ve made the image above copyright free. You can print it and play with it to your heart’s content! To find compositions, use two L-shaped pieces of cardboard to create a frame. Move them around, adjust their size, and tilt them some too. You’ll find many intriguing little designs. Draw them on your image and cut them out. I suggest cropping way in and getting 3 or more compositions from this. But, that’s up to YOU. I sure hope someone will join me. My enthusiasm is getting hard to contain!

Preview: Of course, after finding a composition I like I’ll take some more detours. 🙂

Ellen Lindner
P.S. If you want to work with a larger version of this image, go here.

“Brainstorm” Complete

By Ellen Lindner on July 4, 2016 in Uncategorized

This is one of the most enjoyable quilts I’ve ever made. I cut loose and experimented and embraced lots of
new-to-me ideas. And I love the result!

Brainstorm

Brainstorm

Here are some detail shots.

I was kinda proud of the title, too. Doesn’t it look like a brainstorm? Certainly my process involved some brainstorming.

You can read about my process in the blog links below. I hope you like it as much as I do.

Ellen Lindner
P.S. Would you like to audition this art in your home?

Copyright Free Image

By Ellen Lindner on July 2, 2016 in Uncategorized

Please use this image with my compliments. See the July 8, 2016 post for some ideas about what to do with it.

Ellen Lindner

Abstract Fun: Adding Elements

By Ellen Lindner on June 30, 2016 in Uncategorized

After altering the background of my quilt, so it didn’t completely copy the sketch, I took a different approach as I added the various elements. I decided to copy them fairly closely, but to give myself PLENTY of latitude when altering them. This is the sketch.

And this is the background.

I added the two large flowers, my favorite of the elements.

Then the brown semi-circle. I wasn’t too sure about using it at all, but I thought I had to at least audition it.

My first brown cut was too skinny, so I added another line beside it. But, I HATED the shape of it! A change was definitely needed!

Back to a single line, with a shorter shape. And another partial circle nestled in. As you can see, I also added some orange shapes on the right. I thought that color needed to be repeated somewhere, so I let the sketch suggest the location.

I really disliked the hash marks, especially since they were done in a muddy olive-green color. But, again, I felt like I had to at least try them.

I made mine skinnier and more irregular. Perhaps they weren’t so bad, after all.

Looking back at the sketch perhaps you can see a faint whitish circle in the lower left corner. It was made with a white paint stick, which served as a resist to the wet paint added later. I wanted to add something similar to my quilt, but decided to alter the location.

I like the faint sketchy character of it.

Finally, I shrunk the size of the right orange shape and added white lines to the flowers.

I’m really loving this! Next will come some hand stitching and quilting.

Ellen Lindner

Abstract Fun: Background

By Ellen Lindner on June 28, 2016 in Uncategorized

Oh boy, have I been having fun! Remember my “Paint Mojo” exercise and the three sketches it produced? I loved one of them so much I had to immediately ~~try to recreate it in fabric~~ use it as the inspiration for a quilt. (Did you the notice the shift in my thought process there? I want to produce work LOOSELY. If I just copy a loose sketch it’s still copying. Not what I want.)

Here’s the sketch I was working from. (The yellow-orange is more orange in real life.)

Since I wanted to work loosely I set some limitations for myself, so as not to accidentally copy. First, I studied the sketch closely and selected fabrics that exactly matched my colors. I also studied the composition, knowing that I wanted to emulate it, not actually copy it. And then I put the sketch away.

Working on a muslin base, I began to arrange and layer fabrics.

I knew I was deviating from the sketch and I figured that was a good thing. I switched the center shape to orange. I love orange with blue-green. (Although the orange is much softer than it appears in these photos.)

Once I had the muslin covered it was time to do A LOT of tweaking. I spent a good bit of time on the shape of the central orange element. I thought it was important for it to undulate and for the width to change in an interesting way. I also added a thin yellow line to the edge of it, in places.

I completed the background without ever looking at the sketch again. And I was very happy with it. In my next post I’ll show you the addition of the graphic elements.

Ellen Lindner

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Tag Archives | Abstract

Finally, a Quilt

So, I Whacked the Corner Off

Exploration and Detours

New Abstract Under Way

Taking Detours

“Brainstorm” Complete

Copyright Free Image

Abstract Fun: Adding Elements

Abstract Fun: Background

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