Adventure Quilter
Ellen Lindner uses fabric the way a painter uses paint, with extraordinary results
Have you been following along as I’ve used my “Tetris” skills to put this quilt together?
I’m calling it Adrenaline Rush.
Adrenaline Rush
It was challenging at times, but I’m quite happy with the results.
I dyed/printed all the fabrics myself!
See full details for this piece.
UPDATE: This piece got one more radical change. See it here.
Ellen Lindner
P.S. I’ve got a pretty collection of scraps. I’ll have to do something fun with them.
After trying several temporary background colors, I decided to make one side white and one side red.
I started with a new temporary background. The purpose of this is so I don’t have to compose against my pure white design wall. It helps me visualize.
This was first stab at a new composition. I could see that I’d be able to create lots of energy, thanks to the sharp angles and high value contrasts.
But again, it seemed like the green squares against the white were, once again, taking over.
I removed them and liked them better. (Note: most of the green shapes are just folded and pinned in place. This works well for auditioning ideas. I’ll delay cutting fabrics until I’m convinced about what needs to happen.)
I removed all the squares. That helped immensely in the top half, but I thought the bottom portion looked a little naked.
I added some squares against the red and I liked the effect.
Art quiz: why did I previously decide to remove green squares from a red background, but here I’ve just added them back? Answer in P.S.
Next it was time for actual construction. It was time to remove those temporary background fabrics and switch in the ones that I’d need. In this photo I had just finished the first few red seams in the lower section.
I’ll need to go slowly, select the right fabrics, and figure out how to “tetris” this whole thing together. I imagine it will be a little challenging, but I think it will be fun too!
Ellen Lindner
P.S. Answer to art quiz: It goes back to the fact that contrasts in value always attract attention. In my last post I showed you how the green squares were taking over against the red. That’s because of the value contrast between them. But, in this post I added those greens squares right back to the red bottom. That’s because everything affects everything else. When I change the background to white I created VERY strong value contrasts between the sharp red shapes and the white background. Therefore, they attract attention. The contrast between red and green is now secondary and not as noticeable. Remember, when you make one change you often need to make another.
I was excited to work with the red and blue-green fabric I had recently died. I pulled out all my other dyed fabrics in those colors and began to explore my options.
This was the starting fabric.
As you can see above, it was missing a chunk on the bottom right corner. So I evened that up, giving me a nice horizontal slice from the bottom. I intermediately looked to see where I might use it. What if I joined it back into the larger fabric at an angle? I auditioned the idea, below, and liked it. (Can you see how the red areas taper together?)
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After a few more manipulations I was ready to see what happened on the design wall. Since I didn’t want to compose against a white background I put up a temporary red background and marked the proposed perimeter with tape. (The dimensions were determined by the width of my design wall, 4′, and the height of the primary fabric, about 42″.)
First “throw” at the design wall:
Then, with a little more intent:
I was liking the energy, but I thought the red was actually disappearing. To confirm my suspicions I looked at the composition in grey scale.
Yep. The blue-green squares were taking over.
So, what if I made part of the background white? I changed the temporary background in order to try out the idea.
Ah, yes. Now THAT had potential!
It was time to lose the temporary background and to start fresh with this new idea. I was excited to move forward!
Ellen Lindner
These were the fabrics I selected as I started on an abstract quilt with NO plan.
Although I didn’t have a plan, I did have a goal. I wanted to use the last of my favorite fabric, the navy and yellow grid, and to let it be the star of the show.
BTW, can you see how the scale of that one print greatly affects the scale of the overall piece? I wouldn’t want to cut it into tiny pieces, for instance.
I had two lengths of the favorite fabric and I wanted to cut it as little as possible. I cut one piece into about a 1/3 – 2/3 split, so I had 3 pieces.. Since this fabric has the highest value contrast (light vs. dark) of all the other fabrics, I knew it would attract a lot of attention. Which was good.
Therefore, I moved everything else out of the way and created the first part of the composition with just these 3 pieces of fabric.
Because this fabric had a diagonal aspect to its design, it created a lot of energy. Plus, as you can see, I made sure to offset the pieces. I really liked this starting point! I knew I’d have to pay attention to the value contrasts that developed throughout the rest of the design, making sure that none of them drew attention away from it.
In the photo above you can probably tell that the left fabric is folded under at the bottom. I cut that off and added it to my starting composition, (see below.) I wanted to break up the large expanse of grid on the left piece and inserted a skinny orange strip (shown in the next photo.) I liked it a lot.
I let the fabric lead my next few decisions: adding more yellow and orange in their respective areas.
As you can see in the photo above, I didn’t have large pieces of orange, so I knew I’d have to piece those together. I thought I’d probably repeat the orange in the lower right, as well. Adding navy would be tricky. It would automatically create a very high value contrast, attracting attention. I’d have to consider it very carefully.
And what about that white in the top center of the photo above? Although I liked the fabric in the mix, it was right next to the navy grid, creating exactly the problem I was hoping to avoid. I did add some navy just right of center and I thought it worked there.
Next round. Navy top left: too strong!
Navy at the bottom: maybe.
White at the bottom right: maybe
Next round. Replaced top left navy with yellow-orange: MUCH better! (Low contrast, right?)
More navy at the bottom: probably. The navy is visually weighty which gives the piece some stability.
This hodge podge of scraps pinned to the design wall evolved only slightly as I began to figure out how to piece all of this. See the finished quilt in my next post.
Do you think about value this much? I find it very helpful, although sometimes I get seduced by a color or some such and forget to pay attention to the contrast.
Ellen Lindner
Remember that ugly exercise that I’ve been considering? This is the portion of my ugly painted which I selected as my inspiration for a small quilt.
I played around with the individual elements in the computer and, at one point, accidentally colored the background red. Which I liked!
So, I started pulling fabrics and got to work. Actually, I got to work in a hotel room. This was my set up. Construction on the coffee table and Netflix on my laptop. With the iron at the perfect height, of course.
Once home, I stitched the background and fused up a bunch of fabrics for the background squares. (I fuse very seldom.)
I noticed that some of my lovely squares were attracting a lot of attention. I knew that wouldn’t work in the end, so I had to swap them out.
Eventually, I was happy with the background and started with the part I DID want to attract attention: the wonky open squares. This is a detail shot.
I added a little hand stitching, but that was difficult through the fused fabrics.
Here’s the full quilt, Toast and Jam, 24″ x 24″.
This was fun to work on, but I think I’m ready for something other than red!
This piece is available for $195 US. Contact me if you’re interested.
Ellen Lindner
After making Potager Garden, I had quite a few scraps left over, so I decided to use them to make a small quilt. This is what I had to work with.
I began to move them around to see how they might fit together. I didn’t like this first version, though. I thought it needed more yellow, if I could find some in my stash.
Plus, the colors in the first version (above) were pretty evenly scattered about. That works for wallpaper, but not always for art. I remembered what I had recently learned about massing a color and switched things to this.
Much better! And I didn’t change it much after that.
This is the finished quilt, I Hope You Like Peppers.
Here’s a detail shot.
See larger images and purchase information.
Ellen Lindner
I was really impressed with the “Stitched, Stamped, and Sculpted” exhibit opening, which was recently held in Ormond Beach, FL.
The pieces were hung nicely and lit beautifully. And, in most cases, all the work by one artist was shown together. This made for a lovely and interesting display.
Here I am with a couple of my pieces, Bounty Down Under and Croton Trio.
Plus Cantilever.
This was my view as I posed for the photo above: two more of my pieces in the far corner. And don’t you love the Temperature Quilt by Audrey Butler? What a colorful room!
Here I am with my remaining two quilts. This one is called Indian River Fruit.
And A Little Bit Tart.
There were MANY interesting pieces in this exhibit. Stay tuned and I’ll show you more in upcoming posts. (Or go see it in person by August 14th.)
Ellen Lindner
There’s a textile exhibit coming up in which I’ll have SIX pieces. I’m super excited!
The exhibit is called “Stitched, Stamped, & Sculpted,” and it will be at the Ormond Memorial Art Museum and Gardens, in Ormond, FL, starting this Friday, June 10th. The exhibit will run through August 22nd. And, if you’re in the area, the opening reception will be this coming Friday, June 10th, at 6 PM. This is also the first reception/exhibit to be held in the newly renovated gallery! I think it’s going to be wonderful.
What will I be showing, you ask? Check out these six abstract(ed) pieces.
Croton Trio. Although this triptych has three components it’s considered one piece of art.
I’m looking forward to seeing these pieces hanging together!
I’ll also have my piece She Looked for Blessings and Found Them, as part of a group display called “Measure of a Woman.” You can read more about that and see all ten pieces here.
She Looked for Blessings and Found Them
(A self-portrait)
I hope you get to see this exhibit sometime this summer. If you make it to the reception on Friday, please introduce yourself!
Ellen Lindner
Slowly, over the course of a couple of months, I began to notice the same group of colors.
First, was a Croton plant.
What pretty oranges and greens!
Then, I noticed the mess on my table, which had the same colors.
I decided to work with green, yellow-green, and orange. I pulled out all the hand dyes I had in those colors and noticed that one dark green fabric had yellow circles. What about adding yellow-orange?
Yes! I dug a little more and selected the fabrics you see above. This was getting exciting!
Ellen Lindner
P.S. Where do you find your color inspiration?
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?
