Tag Archives | Design

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 16-21, 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.

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

“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

Maybe a Grid This Time?

By Ellen Lindner on January 8, 2024 in Uncategorized

If you’re familiar with my design process you know that I often end up with a challenging “Tetris”-type assembly at the construction stage. To get around this, I decided I’d work in a grid this time. My plan was to cut my selected fabrics into squares of the same size and then to move them into an easy-to-assemble composition.

This was my very early start. You’ll notice the black and white polka-dots in the center. They all came from the same starting fabric, but have been cut – into squares – and rearranged. I thought that was rather promising. I liked the way they interacted in a new pattern.

But, I quickly deviated from plan. See that gap, above? I shifted that piece down because it was JUST TOO ENTICING to line up the dark/light diagonal section with the similar one to the left. Do you see that I mean?

I tried to piece things together into squares of my selected size, but then I encountered some great blue fabrics. I DID slice into the stripe one near the right, but why would I mess up the pattern of the blue grid one just to adhere to the square sizing rule? That’s when I pretty much abandoned the grid idea. I left the blue fabric intact.

I was happy with the center and was slowly auditioning new fabrics around it.

Above and below, I was sort of enamored with the way the big stripey black/orange piece interacted with the piece above it. Mostly because of the diagonal line between the dark stripy-ness and the white edge next to it. I could see that additional sections of dark stripes would add a lot of energy and interest.

But, I could see that the dark stripes were drawing attention away from those little black dots. Could I put up with that? I decided no, and tried different fabrics. This one certainly had potential.

Not bad. Lots more consideration needed!

Can you say “trial and error?” I must be the poster queen, but I do so enjoy it!

Ellen Lindner
P.S. Those dark stripes have a lot of energy and you’ll definitely see them again!

I Think I Learned Something

By Ellen Lindner on December 22, 2023 in Uncategorized

After making each art piece I like to study it to see if I can figure out what works and/or what does not.

I was particularly happy with this recent quilt, Exuberance, so I studied it a bit. My question: “what makes it successful?”

Exhuberance, an art quilt by Ellen Lindner. AdventureQuilter.com

Exuberance

I think it has a strong composition, good use of colors, and effective use of value variations. What about the white circles in two corners? How critical are they? They certainly add interest, but is there something more?

To help me figure it out I also looked at this quilt, Raking Season. It has rust and black circles made with same stencil as the blue and white above. While I think this quilt is very successful, it doesn’t have the sparkle of the first one. I think maybe it has to do with the color of the circles. The light ones add sparkle.

Raking Season

Hmm, something to think about. Maybe all my quilts need some light spots to add that sparkle.

To test my theory, I made sure to select some light fabrics for the quilt I’m currently work on. These were my “definite” fabrics when I first started moving them around. As you can see I’ve got some white and black areas in several places. I know they’ll attract attention, so I’ve got my eye on them as I add more fabrics and move things around.

Slowly creating and enjoying it.

Ellen Lindner

Twigs of Teal and Red-Orange: Getting Started

By Ellen Lindner on October 23, 2023 in Uncategorized

I dyed this fabric last year and it’s one of my favorites.

I was really happy with the way I had a viable design without doing anything more to it, but HOW do you design with that? I had a false start last year and am now trying again.

These are the collection of “featured” fabrics I thought I might be able to use. I call them featured fabrics because they have high amounts of contrast in them, which will draw the viewer’s eye. When working with such fabrics, I try to put them in place early on and then fill in with less dramatic fabrics, as needed.

Next, I pulled out every fabric I thought might work. As you can see, I like these colors and found that I had quite a collection.

But, maybe it needed something unexpected. What about accents of yellow?

Hmm. Maybe.

I liked the large twig (center right) on the dull orange print. But, I didn’t like the background fabric. So, I stenciled on a couple more using paint.

These should be usable.

I had my fabric decisions (mostly) made, so it was time to start moving things around on the design wall. (The challenging, but fun, part!)

Ellen Lindner

Finishing Up the Red and Yellow Quilt

By Ellen Lindner on October 6, 2023 in Uncategorized

After finishing up the left 2/3 of my red and yellow “bean” quilt, it was time to tackle the right yellow portion. It came together pretty well. (Still in -progress below.)

During these final stages I also considered added some skinny lines, for energy. (See them pinned on at the top in the photo above?) I eventually decided against them, however, because I thought they’d attract too much attention. I wanted the other contrasts to be the attention getters. (And those bean shapes, of course.)

From early in the design phase I thought I’d probably want to applique on another couple yellow beans. (If you look back at the first post, you’ll see that I had one little piece of yellow fabric sitting on the red – near the top – as a place holder.) I auditioned that idea further near the end.

I also considered adding some red ones. That’s what the red blobs are for in the photo above. I decided I just needed one. I made it a partial bean, like the other red ones.

And then I cropped both sides. (But, I later added some of the red side back.)

Finally, I had it all put together and quilted. As you can see above, I added some more bean outlines during the quilting process. I really like using a double black line for emphasis.

Then, it was time for photography.

You can see the full finished quilt here. I’d really appreciate your thoughts about it – especially what you think about these two colors together. Yay or nay?

Ellen Lindner

Red and Yellow Abstract

By Ellen Lindner on September 26, 2023 in Uncategorized

Historically, I haven’t been a fan of red and yellow combinations, but for some reason, I now find myself drawn to them. I still think they’re a little jarring, but it seems that I now like that. As evidence, I recently dyed fabrics with these colors.

I created a variety, hoping I could use them together. As you an see, I repeated a bean shape in several colors. I was happy with how they worked together and was anxious to get started.

I realized some of the lightest fabrics wouldn’t fit well into the mix. But, I had some other fabrics I thought I could use. I pinned everything together on the design wall. And I loosely arranged them: a good starting point.

Knowing the contrast of red and yellow, as well as the contrast of different values, would attract attention, I placed them (above) in approximately “sweet spots.” These are considered ideal locations for focal points. They’re easy to identify: picture a tic-tac-toe game overlaying the overall shape. Where the lines cross are sweet spots.

I immediately thought the red fabric with yellow beans was a little too “regular.” (See above) That is, the beans were spaced too evenly. I thought the composition would be stronger if they were “messed up” a little bit. So, in the photo below, you can see that I sliced right through the red bean fabric, and scooted things out of alignment. Better, I thought.

Next, came A LOT of auditioning as I folded, rearranged, cut (only once I was sure,) and pieced.

It was like a giant game of Tetris. Eventually, I had the left portion pieced and began to work on the yellow fabrics on the right.

It all went more slowly that I would have liked, but I was definitely having fun!

More next time.

Ellen Lindner

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Tag Archives | Design

Empty Spools: Lucy, Ellindale, and Phyliss

Empty Spools: Alex, Terry, and Katie

Empty Spools: Carol, Larsja, and Barb

“Happy Family” Complete

Abstract Design

Maybe a Grid This Time?

I Think I Learned Something

Twigs of Teal and Red-Orange: Getting Started

Finishing Up the Red and Yellow Quilt

Red and Yellow Abstract

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