Tag Archives | Abstract

Going Back and Making Changes

By Ellen Lindner on March 2, 2022 in Uncategorized

Last summer, I made a quilt called Beet Salad. I put a lot of work into it, including dyeing all the fabrics especially with this quilt in mind. This was the final result.

Beet Salad

Although I liked it, somehow it didn’t quite meet my vision. I wasn’t sure what it needed. Recently, (when I finally put it away,) I studied it again and decided the color contrast was just too harsh. Especially with those yellow circles.

So, I removed them, and this is the new rendition.

Beet Salad

I like it SO much better! It was a little bit of a technical challenge to remove the yellow circles, but I think it was worth it.

What do you think? Do you like it better?

Ellen Lindner
P.S. Have you ever changed something after it’s completely finished?

If You Never Fail You’re Not Experimenting Enough

By Ellen Lindner on February 25, 2022 in Uncategorized

I’m not sure where I heard that quote, but I agree with it. And, I’ve been doing plenty of experimenting lately. Yes, you guessed it: I created a big ~~failure~~ rough draft.

I’ve been doing quite a few abstract quilts in a style I call “Slice and Dice.” As the name implies, I slice into fabrics and rearrange them back together in different – and hopefully more interesting – arrangements.

Like this:

A Little Bit Tart

And this:

On the Road to Home

The fabrics I’ve used have been hand dyed, which definitely add to the design of these busy quilts. So, when friends suggested that I teach the technique I thought I wouldn’t be able to do it because of the unique nature of my fabric selections.

Still, I decided to give it a shot. I bought an ombre fabric with several colors in it and fabrics in all the colors. This was my starting point.

I cut each fabric in predetermined sizes and joined them in pairs. I took meticulous notes so I’d be able to teach exactly what to do.

Each pair was then altered, either by adding a skinny pieced line, or by cutting and rearranging the pieces.

I did that OVER and OVER. And OVER and OVER. After a while I realized that no student would want to spend this long altering the blocks. I didn’t enjoy it either. So much for teaching it.

But, I thought I could at least make it into a good sample in case I figured out the teaching angle down the road. I worked and worked, but the white fabric and the dark colors just stood out too much. I sliced into them repeatedly, trying to whittle them down to what I considered the correct proportion. But, eventually, I had such an abundance of bulky seam allowances that the whole thing was barely sewable.

I decided to cut my losses.

This is where I ended up. It was taking a lot of time and it wasn’t getting better. I just stopped.

Do I have angst or regret about tackling this project? No, just the opposite, actually. I had a question and I needed to work it through to find the answer. Now I know the answer. Plus, I recognize the time I spent problem solving and trying new things will make me more creative in the future. I didn’t waste my time and I didn’t waste my fabric. The fabric served a useful purpose, even though it wasn’t the one I imagined.

I feel strongly about the importance of experimentation, which is why I call myself the Adventure Quilter.

~~Have you “failed” at anything lately?~~ (Actually, I don’t call them failures. They’re “rough drafts,” or “experiments.”) Any recent rough drafts?

Ellen Lindner
P.S. Click the title of this blog to see it without the rest of the blog posts. This will reveal several links below which will take you to several other posts showing high levels of experimentation on my part. Beware: rabbit holes ahead!

Kiwi (?) Quilt Underway

By Ellen Lindner on December 31, 2021 in Uncategorized

I got brave and decided to cut into some of my specialized fabrics. These are hand dyes that have a variety of motifs, scales, or colors. They’re not “yardage” and are a little more challenging to use. These were my starting three.

The left fabric reminded me of kiwifruit, so I began to think of it as “my kiwi quilt.”

I tried out other fabrics to add to the mix. Some dark blue definitely helped.

This was my “final” selection.

It was a little intimidating to cut into that kiwi fabric. Since the motif was so large I didn’t want to whittle it down too much. This was the first cut.

And another.

And another. Taking it from one piece to four.

Time to “Tetris” these pieces together, and to make a few more to get the job done.

It was getting quite energetic and I was liking it.

Ellen Lindner

Slicing and Dicing: Now Where Was I?

By Ellen Lindner on December 27, 2021 in Uncategorized

After starting a new quilt at a retreat, it was time to continue at home. Now, where was I? Something like this.

I studied the arrangement and knew I wanted to change a few things. (Remember the abundance of that favorite fabric bottom left?) While that was percolating in my brain, I looked for areas that needed a little more energy. I altered a few with skinny lines.

Notice the black “horizontal” line on the left of this unit. Can you see it’s been altered to be jagged? All I did was add 2 tucks in the back. That added some character, but also made the unit 1″ skinnier.

What should go where? There never seems to be a RIGHT answer. Just interesting ones. Like this top right corner. If I were to use this piece, which way should it go?

Sometimes there’s a structural reason to do things, for instance if too many seams are coming together in one spot. But, generally, I go with whatever fits best or appeals to me most at the moment. I do study things a lot as I go! (See what I did with this piece in the last photo, top right corner.)

Remember how, at the retreat, I gathered all the brightest fabrics near the center? I liked that, but realized I’d never really considered any other alternatives. Before I got too far along I decided to audition the pieces with blue in the center.

Interesting. But not better. I stuck with what I had.

I continued altering, adding, slicing when needed, and getting things to fit. Here it is nearly complete, with four big units ready to be sewn together. I was quite happy with it.

Quilting soon!

BTW (by the way,) I generally think about names as I’m working on a piece. This one reminds me of light through spring leaves. Hmm, Canopy? Spring? Dappled Light? Your thoughts?

Ellen Lindner

“Beet Salad” Complete

By Ellen Lindner on August 15, 2021 in Uncategorized

Whew! After LOTS of rearranging and trial and error, I’ve finally finished this piece. And I’m quite happy with it.

The finished piece is 36″ x 26″. It’s available for $695.

The yellow in this detail shot looks a little yellow-green, but it will show you the circular quilting pattern, done both on the machine and by hand.

I think it’s well named, don’t you?

Ellen Lindner
P.S. See recent posts about how I dyed the fabric for this, and in-progress construction photos.

An Award Winning Quilt, and Others on the Go

By Ellen Lindner on July 28, 2021 in Uncategorized

It’s great to have my quilts, once again, traveling to real live art and quilt shows. Especially when I win an award! Such was the case with this quilt, Miscommunication.

It won third place at the 2nd Biennial Fiber Arts National Juried Exhibition in Bedford, VA. How nice! This exhibit is on display through August 21st, if you happen to be in the area.

In addition, my quilt Melting Pot is part of the “Floridian Flavors” exhibit currently on display at the Leepa-Rattner museum in Tarpon Springs, FL.

This exhibit features work made by the Florida members of SAQA (Studio Art Quilts Associates,) and will be on display through August 15th.

Floridian Flavors exhibit, piece by Gretchen Brooks. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

Artwork by Gretchen Brooks, admired by viewers.

***A road trip is really worthwhile in this case, because just down the road, in Dunedin, FL, you’ll find THREE more wonderful art quilt exhibits at the Dunedin Fine Arts Center. One of them features work by the Tentmakers of Cairo and I can’t wait to see that!

I also got word that my quilt, Florida Native #2, has been accepted into the exhibit “Let the Sun Shine In.” This exhibit will be virtual, as well as on display in at least one gallery. (TBD.)

I hope you get to see some great quilts in person!

Ellen Lindner

An Exercise in Composition

By Ellen Lindner on July 26, 2021 in Uncategorized

As I worked on my two-colored “beet” quilt, it became obvious that composition was going to be SUPER important in creating a successful piece.

Because the yellow showed up so sharply against the reds and purples I knew the yellow circles would form the focal point of the piece and they’d need to be arranged just so. With that in mind, I arranged them first, even before all the background decisions had been made.

In the shot above, I’ve used a variety of commercial fabrics as place holders for the background (hand-dyed) fabrics I actually plan to use. It was just easier to compose against these dark colors than the white of my design wall.

Then I began to replace the initial background fabrics with my hand dyed ones. Still with just a bare bones composition.

In the shot below, I’ve settled upon the new background fabrics and they’re mostly sewn together.

Time to add some low-contrast beet-colored circles to the background. I knew they’d add interest, and they did.

But, I began to think the space just wasn’t filled enough. Did I need more circles? Or more YELLOW circles – for contrast? I played with this idea on my computer.

Hmm, that certainly filled the space more. Time to consider.

Either way, I’ll add some more low contract background circles.

Ellen Lindner

Quilt Design and Composition: Wonky or Not?

By Ellen Lindner on July 15, 2021 in Uncategorized

I’ve been having fun making units for my current quilt. It features the colors of red and yellow beets, represented by wonky circles. Follow along with my quilt design decisions.

This was an early start.

Initially, I made all the circles very imperfect.

But, as I began to play with composition I began to question this decision. The yellow parts showed up SO MUCH, and I wasn’t sure I liked the off-kilter look.

Like this:

So, I did some experimenting, leaving the interior of the circles wonky, but aligning the outer yellow rings more accurately. Like this.

I think it’s an improvement (even though the color of this photo is off.)

Next, comes composition. Some questions I’m tossing around:
– Is the composition tight enough? Do I need to bring things more to center?
– Should they overlap more? (My working title is “Beet Salad,” so I’m thinking yes.)
– Do I need more circles?
– Do the circles show up well enough? Will I need to add yellow rims to some of them?

I’m moving ahead with this and happy with my progress.

Ellen Lindner

Quilt Design: Playing with Those Fabrics

By Ellen Lindner on June 27, 2021 in Uncategorized

Earlier I showed you the fabrics I dyed in anticipation of making a beet colored quilt. Next, it was time to start the quilt design. I knew I wanted the berry-colored fabrics to be the stars, with the yellows as accents. My first thought was to piece little sharp bits of yellow, but I wasn’t sure that played well with the idea of curvy beets. So, I decided to play with wonky, improvisational circles.

Maybe something like this.