After admiring the arch and curl of a Croton leaf, I decided I wanted to make a quilt with those same lines. And because I thought it should roll up for shipping (or lay flat) but still be malleable for display, I knew I’d want to put wire into it. Which is what plunged me…
My primary objective during a recent dying session was to improve many ugly or high contrast fabrics. This photo shows about half of the fabrics I intended to improve. Some of them look fine, but have a lot of contrast in them. Now that I’ve been working with these hand dyed fabrics for a while,…
My recent dye session was devoted almost exclusively to improving ugly prints. That generally meant over dying with a solid color, or stenciling on a new one. Take this little piece, for instance. It was originally an ugly yellow-green that I didn’t think I’d use. But, I knew that if I mostly obscured that color,…
I’ve always wanted to see a koala and I got several chances to do so in Australia. They are so adorable! They sleep about 20 hours each day, so of course, all the ones we saw were doing just that. However, we got to get super close to them at the Sydney Zoo. We weren’t…
I recently went on the vacation of a lifetime, to Hawaii, Australia, and New Zealand! My favorite thing was the scenery in Hawaii and New Zealand. Here’s just a sample. The beach in Kona, Hawaii (on the big island.) The turquoise water, white waves, and black lava rocks created a wonderful contrast! Much of New Zealand…
I’m thinking about turning my “Notes for a Friend” concept into a class. To try out the idea I did an informal class with two friends and it was a huge success! Cindy had never worked abstractly before, but she jumped in and finished her note in no time flat. Didn’t she do a great…
Since I had collected quite a stash of hand-dyed scraps, I decided to use them in a new series of “Notes for a Friend.” These super small pieces are only 7 x 5 each, but I think they pack a lot of punch. When making them it’s easy to be distracted by the excess fabric…
After making a hanging sleeve for your quilt it’s time to make the slat that will go in it. The slat should be made from lightweight but sturdy wood. My husband cuts strips of luan door skin for me. I can then cut them to length with a utility knife. You can also look for…
My latest quilt, Autumn Skyline, exclusively uses fabrics dyed by me. Initially inspired by fall trees, it evolved into an urban park. It has extensive quilting throughout. Isn’t it amazing what quilting adds to the final product? See purchase information Ellen Lindner
After trying a pastel blue sky on my piece inspired by fall trees, I tried it with dark blue instead. I actually liked it pretty well, but I didn’t have enough bright blue to do it justice. So, I tried white. And also auditioned the idea of more twigs. The verdict: YES to the white…