My Chicago area “Design Your Own Nature Quilt” students brought their artistic courage to class, and made some really great work. (These photos were showing on my computer when photographed. The quality is sometimes low, but you’ll get the idea.)
Sue did a great job with her tree frog. She constructed him with fusible web on some release paper. (See the white outline?) Once she removes that he’ll be a little slimmer.
If I remember correctly Terre had never made an art quilt before. But, didn’t she do a great job? She fully embraced “jagged cutting” the mountain tops, which worked beautifully.
Deborah had never made any sort of quilt before! However, she bravely embraced fusible web, jagged cutting, and abstracted rhododendron flowers. (Don’t they look better than some perfect fussy cut version?)
Deborah’s inspiration photo.
This photo of Susan’s work doesn’t begin to do it justice. She’s working on a rock face, snow with shadows, a lake, and – the missing items – tall evergreen trees. It’s going to be a lovely composition.
Beth took a lot of artistic license with her cactus grouping, which worked really well. She had a pleated scrap that made great texture for one of the plants. See her finished piece in the “Design Your Own Nature” gallery. (Link at bottom of post.)
Cindy also worked on a desert scene. She used mostly solids to capture the austere beauty. She’ll use fusible web to secure the spiky plant. Won’t it be great?
Although Frances’ image was simple in composition, it wasn’t simple to construct. She did an excellent job capturing the subtleties of variation in the sky and snow.
My students always do an awesome job and these were no different. It sure makes it fun for me!
Finally, here is Second Thoughts, complete. I had a lot of fun working on it and I’m quite happy with the results. Did you notice I turned it upside down? That was just the jolt it needed. Here’s a detail shot. Notice that I added subtle squares in the background. I love little things like that which…
Remember this quilt, which I completed recently? It sold almost right away to an artist friend of mine. She says it “nagged” at her for several weeks after first seeing it, so she knew she had to have it. And also that it would fit their new home very well. And boy does it. Isn’t…
Grove Park Inn, in Asheville, NC is an historic hotel which opened in 1923. Although it has many dramatic features, the western view is the star of the show. This view can best be taken in from the terraces on the backside of the inn. Here, it’s photographed from one of the two side wings. …
While working through Jane Davies’ book, “Abstract Painting: The Elements of Visual Language,” my next exercises had to do with pattern. This assignment was to find a variety of pattern scales, which I did with fabric. She talked about how a variety of patterns, in a variety of scales, can really enhance a piece. This…
When making Melting Pot, I was also considering whether I might have time to make a smaller quilt for another challenge. As Melting Pot grew, I decided to make it smaller and to use the remaining parts for this smaller quilt. Diversity is the result. It was made for an exhibit called “1 x 4: Imagination.” As you can…
The quilt I’ve been working on is inspired by a friend’s flame vine, which cascades down her back porch. In the strong Florida sun, it’s especially striking when seen against the dark porch screening. After finishing the orange flowers, I went on to the leaves. Next, I tackled the long skinny pieces. I’m not sure what they are,…
