Ellen Lindner: Art & Creativity

Talking about my quilts is one of my favorite things to do and I get to do it for the Sunstitchers on January 16th.  Can’t wait!

I’ll show many quilts, tell about my inspiration and process, and answer questions.  I’m not sure which quilts I’ll be bringing, yet, but I’ll definitely include this large favorite.

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Crotons

If you’re in the Melbourne, FL area, you’re invited to attend.  The fun starts at 9:30 AM.  For directions, leave me a comment and I’ll send you a private email.

Ellen Lindner

While most people are busy making resolutions for the new year, I prefer to look back at the accomplishments of the previous year.  So, I put together a compilation photo of (most of) the fabric collages I made in 2014.  They’re shown in approximately the same scale, with sizes ranging from 7 x 5 to 51 x 33.

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I think it’s pretty clear that I like vivid colors and strong contrasts!  Still.

I know I’ll have just as much fun making quilts in 2015 and I can’t wait to get started!

Ellen Lindner

See all of my quilts

EVERY one of the 19 women in my first “Grow with the Flow” class completed the bulk of her quilt in class.  (With just the facing remaining for home work.)

All the students worked with the same pattern, but because they chose different fabrics, there was a great variety in the room.  Even when the fabrics were identical!

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L: Barbara’s quilt, and R: Brenda’s quilt made with the same fabrics

Above, Barbara and Brenda shared a “Jelly Roll” pack, but used the fabrics a little differently.

The instructions suggested one color for the entire background, but with a variety of values.  Most of the ladies chose accordingly.

Linda with her quilt

Barbara chose muted tones

Carol’s soft green quilt

Several students varied their background colors somewhat.  Like Judy, Ann, and Jo-Ann, below.

Made by Judy.

Ann with her quilt

Jo-Ann chose prints of rust and green, with accents of purple!

Two of my students really cut loose and “disobeyed.”  They did their own thing with the color selection and I totally applaud that!

Pat selected a wide variety of bright colors for her background.

Melinda reversed the colors, using the bright accent color for her plant, and black and white for the accents.

Didn’t they do a great job?  I think so, and they did, too.  A success, all the way around.

Ellen Lindner
P.S.  I’ve got an online version of this class coming up on January 23rd.  I’d love to have you join me!

May you and your family enjoy all the festivities and joy of the season.

Merry Christmas from my family to yours!
Ellen Lindner

Drum roll please.  Check out the fantastic quilts my students made in my first “Grow with the Flow” class.

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Carma chose hot colors

Terri with her quilt

Sharon’s pink piece

Sandy’s Florida colors

Patty’s orange accents go well with her complementary blue

Lynda’s quilt

I think I know Jody’s favorite color.

Aren’t they cool?  These are completely stitched at the end of a six-hour class.  I was so proud of them!

But wait.  There’s more.  I have a bunch more to show you in the next post!

Ellen Lindner
P.S.  Find out more about the Grow with the Flow class.

Nineteen women took my first “Grow with the Flow” class, and boy did we have fun!

First, I showed them how to create the background composition.  Because they arrived with their fabrics arranged by value, this went very quickly.

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Little strips of “zippy” fabrics were added as accents.

After composing (but not stitching) the backgrounds, we set them aside in the back room.

Aren’t they pretty?

Next, I taught them how to “fussy fuse.”  This is a technique which is very efficient when composing lots of little fabric pieces into one larger shape.

All of that before lunch!

After lunch, everyone top stitched their compositions in place.

I had to laugh because, with everyone sewing, it looked like I was running a sweat shop!

The results were great, though and I’ll show them to you in the next post.

Ellen Lindner
P.S.  I’d love to teach “Grow with the Flow” for your guild!

As I was wrapping gifts today, I came across a somewhat nostalgic scrap.  It was left over from a particularly stressful Christmas a few years ago.  That year, I decided to make the best of our circumstances, and to look for small blessings at every turn.  So, I decided to buy the most absolutely gorgeous gift wrap and ribbon I could find.

Oh what fun I had wrapping gifts that year!

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 Isn’t that paper beautiful?  The black and white one is flocked.  No bows, since everything had to be shipped.  (Here’s a tip:  don’t ever buy paper with glitter unless you want it EVERYWHERE.  For weeks!)

I admit to getting a little “wrap crazy” that year, and my husband had some interesting surprises on Christmas morning.

Coming across that scrap of paper today made me thankful for many things:
– The initial joy I got from my silly wrapping activities.
– How God blesses me in so many small, but  significant, ways.
– A greatly improved situation, that’s now mostly stress free.
– The “reason for the season.”

What a blessing it is to recognize our blessings!  In the midst of this crazy time of year, I hope you’ll be able to focus on your own blessings.  And maybe to even discover some new ones.

Ellen Lindner
P.S.  Were you able to identify the wrapped items above?  A toothbrush, toothpaste, laptop, and mouse.
P.P.S.  That same year I received probably my best gift ever.  Read about it here.

My latest quilt, Carefree, is now complete, and I’m VERY happy with it!

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I’ve heard it said that your favorite quilt is your most recent one, and that’s definitely true for me with this quilt.  For me, some of the appeal is the subject:  my son and two of his cousins skipping down the road on my parents’ farm.  I think it captures that universal moment of cousins being playful, as well as the personal story of my own family.

I’ve really enjoyed working on this piece.  It was a good reminder of the power of fabric.  The people were originally just printed on the background fabric, (as is the rest of the background,) but they really came to life when I collaged fabric on top.  I love the effect!

Ellen Lindner
P.S.  You might enjoy scrolling back to see more of my process.

As I studied the inspiration photo for my current quilt, I realized that caucasian skin is WAY more diverse than just tan!  As a matter of fact, since the people in my quilt are backlit, their skin looks pretty dark.

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After increasing the contrast, this was even more true.  Therefore, these were the fabrics I auditioned for skin.

And here’s the first neck with the pieces pinned in place.

It works, I think.

I’m really having fun with this quilt!

Ellen Lindner

Do you know about deconstructed screen printing?  Well, it’s a little hard to explain.  Basically, you apply thickened dye, in a random design, to a screen and let it dry.  (Yes, let it dry.)  Then, you print with a release agent.  It picks up the color from the screen in a variety of unexpected ways and is very cool!

Kerr Grabowski developed this technique and she was the teacher at a workshop I recently attended.  I think you’ll really enjoy seeing a demonstration from her on this YouTube video.

I wasn’t very good about taking photos in our workshop, but here are a few.  This was Kerr’s sample screen.  For texture below the screen, I think she used a tea bag, the lid to her tea/coffee cup, and a squiggly sort of stamp.

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She brought beautiful samples with her.  These delicate lines were made with a syringe filled with black dye.  Even though the dye didn’t print on these passes, an interesting shadowing effect was achieved.

More of her samples.  Again, the most delicate lines were done with a syringe.

Now for my results, which were QUITE humbling, (and out of focus.)

The red swirls were made with a syringe of BLACK dye.  Clearly, that black had a lot of red in it.  Detail below.

Although my results were marginal, I bet they’ll make their way into future quilts.

I doubt I’ll use this technique again, but I definitely enjoyed a day of learning and play!

Ellen Lindner