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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

“Grow with the Flow” in Arroyo Grande

By Ellen Lindner on July 6, 2021 in Uncategorized

One of the best things about my “Grow with the Flow” class is that the students get their projects completely finished during the 6 hour time frame. And that often includes facing it!

See the results of a recent small class in Arroyo Grande, CA.

"Grow with the Flow" in Arroyo Grande. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

Priscilla chose bright reds and pinks.

That’s Barb peeking about from behind her turquoise and yellow piece. (I think her piece was faced at this point.)

And Gayle showing off hers.

Tommie had to leave early so this photo was taken at hour #5. All she has left to do is to face it. Great colors!

And here’s Susan’s piece, all nicely faced. All it needs is a sleeve!

Aren’t these great? They each did wonderful work and accomplished a lot.

I’d love to teach this class, or a different one, for your guild.

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.

I liked it!

I’ve been traveling and I took my fabrics with me. I made a few more units while away and tried them all laid on my hotel bed.

Definite potential for a quilt design!

And then, I played some more on the flight home. It’s amazing how sharp those little kiddie scissors are.

My plan is to make a lot more units and then to start arranging them on my design wall. Stay tuned!

Ellen Lindner
P.S. I’m just gluing these circles together. Fast and easy!

Fabric Dyeing: Sometimes I Get it Right

By Ellen Lindner on June 25, 2021 in Uncategorized

I’ve shown you some of my fabric dyeing challenges, as well as over-dyed corrections. But, sometimes everything comes out exactly as I had hoped. This little scrap is one such example.

I made it with a two step process. First, I scraped dye through a stencil in a couple places. Then, I cleaned my squeegee and used the same dirty stencil for another couple of pulls with clear paste. The clear paste prints the little bit of dye caught in the crevices, resulting in a ghost image. I just love the delicate effect!

Here’s a detail shot.

Don’t you love the effect?

Ellen Lindner

Over Dyeing Fabrics

By Ellen Lindner on June 15, 2021 in Uncategorized

When dyeing fabric, there are always a few fabrics that don’t quite match my intentions. When that happens, I consider over dyeing them. Which simply means dyeing the whole piece a second time.

The background color on this one was just too pale for my liking.

So, I over dyed it with a diluted red.

Truly. It really was diluted! But, apparently it was stronger than I realized. No worries. I like it better than before and I’ll definitely be able to use it. Maybe I’ll soften it with a subtle stamped design in white.

This green fabric was not bad except for the red lines I had drawn on. They made it really ugly.

I decided to embrace the red theme by over dyeing with orange.

Hmm, well it’s better, I think. Very usable, but not that exciting. I think I’ll draw on some dark blue or black circles.

Did I mention that dyeing fabric requires patience? Yep. Patience to wait to wash out fabrics and then patience when additional steps or corrections are needed. It sure is fun, though!

Ellen Lindner

Updated July 1, 2021:

I used white transparent fabric paint and stenciled a ginkgo leaf design onto the red fabric.

I also used the stencil as a guide for drawing additional leaves with a permanent marker. I really like the effect. I think I’ll be doing more of that.

Dyeing Fabrics in Beet Colors

By Ellen Lindner on June 12, 2021 in Uncategorized

After seeing a photo of a red beet along with a yellow one, I got the idea to make a quilt in those colors. I set out to dye fabrics in a variety of beet/berry colors, along with some dull yellow ones. Thankfully, I had already done quite a bit of color swatching, so I was able to refer to my results as a reference.

These are my final results, and I’m quite happy with them.

I was really thankful for the color swatches. That’s because wet dye always looks different from the washed and dried version. Especially with strong colors.

Take this piece, for example. I was aiming for a variety of beet/berry/grape colors, all in the same fabric. Although it was hard to see the variations in colors, I trusted my swatches and mixed the fabric dye colors accordingly. This is what it looked like. NOT reassuring!

But, this is what it looked like dry – almost exactly what I wanted.

It turns out that my dye mixture was a little thin, so the stencil motif blurred somewhat. But, actually, I like the imperfect effect quite a bit. Here’s a detail shot.

I’m looking forward to using these fabrics!

Ellen Lindner
P.S. The color swatching is an exercise in the book Colour Your Palette, by Leah Higgins.

“And the Band Plays On”

By Ellen Lindner on June 9, 2021 in Uncategorized

Here’s my latest little art quilt, And the Band Plays On.

I made it as donation for a SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates,) fundraiser which required a size of
12″ x 12″.

Fortunately, I had some leftover units from this quilt, which I used as a starting point.

Is it Hot in Here, or is It Just Me?

After that, it came together easily.

I sure have been lucky with leftover pieces lately!

Do you ever use leftover units in new pieces?

Ellen Lindner

“Party Chatter” Complete

By Ellen Lindner on May 30, 2021 in Uncategorized

I’ve been having fun working on my “sour dough” quilt.

First, I decided on the placement of the leftover blocks. I cut a few of them into smaller units.

I’m a believer in this quote from Sally Sellers, “It only takes a little ugly; just enough to make the other colors sing.” So, should I add a little ugly? I decided a small amount of yellow would do the trick.

A nice start. Then, I added even more.

I like it. What do you think?

Finally, I added the skinny dark teal strips. Because they’re so high contrast, they add a lot of drama, and really make the composition.

In the photo above, I started quilting it. I had lots of good suggestions about a title. But, to me, it seemed to represent some sort of social interaction. A lively, happy one. So, the name “Party Chatter” seemed to fit. Here’s the finished piece.

Check out my website for a detail shot and other information.

What do you think about adding a little bit of ugly?

Ellen Lindner

A “Sour Dough” Quilt

By Ellen Lindner on May 29, 2021 in Uncategorized

I’ve never made sour dough bread, but I know that it requires a starter. And also that some of the ingredients are reserved for a future loaf. With this in mind, I think my current project is a “sour dough” quilt.

It all started with these blocks that were leftover from an earlier project. These were the starter. (Each mini composition is held together with glue.)

I didn’t really have a plan, but I put a piece of muslin up on my design wall and started slowly adding the blocks.

I immediately liked the colors and the energy of the oddball shapes. However, it was clear to me that I wouldn’t want to butt the pieces right up next to each other. Doing so would make all the shapes merge together. Instead, I’d need a dark or light fabric separating the colorful shapes.

That made me think of Susan Lapham’s quilts. She often uses white between here blocks and connects them with skinny black strips. I decided to emulate her style for this one.

Initially, I added white blocks as I was creating the composition. But, I realized it would be easier to add the white at the end. The white fabrics are also starters, since they were torn for an earlier project, but never used.

I switched to dark teal strips pretty earlier on. (And I fused the back of that fabric: very unusual for me.)

At this stage, I can see that I need some smaller pieces. Maybe I’ll cut some of my blocks or maybe I’ll add some fresh cut little squares. And what about adding an accent of a new color? It’s all up for consideration.

I’ve really been enjoying this little project. What fun things have you been working on lately?

Ellen Lindner

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