Blog – Page 10 of 63 – Adventure Quilter

MAQF: Landscapes and Such

By Ellen Lindner on March 11, 2023 in Uncategorized

There were many wonderful landscape quilts at the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival.

This is Quiet: Little Stony Creek, by Tina Freudenberger

Check out her amazing waterfall detail.

Hope Wilmarth made this next quilt, called Shoreline Serenade.

This one gave me a joyous response, because about a year ago my husband and I visited the Grand Tetons National Park AND took a balloon ride there. It was the highlight of our trip! Although this quilt depicts a different area of the US Southwest, it really reminded me of our wonderful adventure.

It’s made by Carol Monti and called Quiet Side.

Here’s a detail shot. At first I thought the dark animals were bison, in line with my memory. But, as you can see, they’re cows.

Not actually landscape, but depicting natural vegetation, this quilt by Marianne Williamson, is called Summer Heat #2.

And, I guess my own quilt Florida Native #2 also falls into this nature category. It was there as part of the “Let the Sun Shine In” traveling exhibit.

I really enjoyed the show and hope to go again, sometime.

Did you have a favorite quilt from the show?

Ellen Lindner

Floral Improv in Portland

By Ellen Lindner on March 7, 2023 in Uncategorized

The ladies of the Columbia River Gorge Quilters, in Portland, OR, really excelled at creating Floral Improv pieces. These are just a few of the results.

Tomme Fent used a vibrant palette that really made her flowers POP!

Ginger Hartnett’s poppies were really enhanced by her contour stitching. Don’t they look 3D?

Ronda Griffin’s piece has a lively, happy vibe. Nice!

Beth Harkenrider’s poppies were so dark that we decided to highlight them with white stitching, rather than black. I think it worked well and her piece has a wonderful sense of mystery.

Daera Dobbs’ flowers have a lot of energy!

She liked the process so much that she made a second piece later. I take that as a compliment!

I had a fantastic time with these ladies!

Can you believe we accomplished all of this via Zoom? It worked great. Maybe your guild would like to give it a try. See more info.

Ellen Lindner

Trying a New Scale

By Ellen Lindner on February 23, 2023 in Uncategorized

As I started a new quilt, I looked to my hand dyed fabrics for inspiration. I pulled out a few that I thought might spark some interest.

Uh, no. It all seemed pretty ugly. But, I was intrigued by the large scale black and white piece. Could I work with something like that? It was certainly worth a try.

However, I only had a little of this, so I knew the finished quilt would be small. In fact, this high contrast fabric would comprise the bulk of the piece.

What to put with it? Maybe some red?

But, it needed some additional pattern. On a much smaller scale this time, so as not to compete with the main piece. How ’bout these?

I liked them in the audition (not-yet-pieced) version, but after moving on to piecing I realized that the proportions had changed quite a bit. (Why didn’t I think more about that?) That wide teal line was way too wide. I trimmed it and repieced it. Much better, (below.)

But, that ate into the orange-red print, so I added some more. (This required some fiddly piecing, since I only had scraps of this remaining.) Then, I realized that the solid red was too wide. (Every change affects everything.) I put a tuck in that fabric, (shown pinned for audition below.) That did the trick.

Finally, my little composition was ready for quilting.

I echoed the pattern in the far right fabric and liked the effect.

I’ve named this piece Good Possibilities. You can see the full image here.

I really enjoyed working with this larger scale fabric. I’ll definitely do it again.

Ellen Lindner

“Floral Improv” in Tavares – Part Two

By Ellen Lindner on February 5, 2023 in Uncategorized

More awesome results from my “Floral Improv” students in Tavares, FL. This is what they accomplished in just 5 hours, all with no patterns!

Karen’s dark background made everything pop.

Dawn was getting close to her final composition.

Gail’s was ready for stitching.

Betty was careful about how she used her printed background fabric and it worked out well.

Anita needed a few more stems and leaves, but she was very close.

Alice arranged her flowers first (as directed.) Next she’ll add stems and leaves.

I always tell my students to arrange their flowers first. Afterwards, it’s easy (and forgiving) to add a variety of stems and leaves.

Jeanette will use stitching to enhance and define both her poppies and daisies.

Didn’t they do excellent work? They were all thrilled and I was too. The excitement was contagious!

And here we all are. These members of the Lake County Quilters Guild proved to be both talented and friendly. I hope to visit them again.

Would your guild enjoy this class? It’s available both in-person and via Zoom. Floral Improv info here.

Ellen Lindner

Fun with Floral Improv – LIVE!

By Ellen Lindner on January 30, 2023 in Uncategorized

Oh, I forgot how much fun it is to be IN-PERSON with a group of students. Especially when the class is “Floral Improv.” The students were SO excited with their progress and it was exhilarating! See what I mean.

Nancy’s quilt, ready for outline stitching.