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…
One of the great things about taking a class is that you get to learn from everyone around you. In my class with Rosalie Dace, she was very good about going around the room and coaching everyone. And she didn’t mind eavesdropping, so I overheard quite a few good tips. I thought you’d enjoy seeing…
Are you familiar with the work of Rosalie Dace? She’s a fabulous art quilter from South Africa and a highly sought-after art quilt teacher. I’ve been wanting to take a class with her for quite some time and I finally got to at Quilting by the Lake a couple of weeks ago. It was very…
I’m really happy with the way the background of my Red Bud quilt is turning out. Here it is before quilting. This image shows the heavy quilting I did on the tree trunks. But, about the time I finished quilting the background I had a sort of disturbing thought. That is “would it look better…
After viewing blooming Red Buds in Virginia in April, I was inspired to make a quilt. I thought I’d have a difficult time depicting them from a distance, so I decided to feature their blossoms close up. To that end, I took a bunch of photos. Gorgeous, right? I think it’s so interesting the way…
Remember the “project that wasn’t?” After sketching it I decided not to proceed with it. My issue was that it looked too jumbled, and therefore didn’t accurately depict the plant that inspired me. My inspiration photo: The initial sketch: However, I was slow to put the sketch away so it lived on my design wall…
Every so often my small art quilt group, Dirty Dozen Fiber Artists, likes to have a group challenge. Frequently, we use a photograph as our starting point. We select something with lots going on so different people can respond to different elements. This is the photo we selected for our recent challenge, “Welcome to Provence.”…
Have you ever lost steam on a project part way through? This happened to me recently, only I lost interest before I even got started. After the FUN and success of Bush Berries, I was excited to try another “cut and paste” design. I started with this photo of a Flame Vine. Pretty awesome, right? I decided…
In my last post, I showed you how I abstracted a photo to create a new design. This was my computer-colored sketch, although I knew I’d kick up the colors a good bit. Soon, I was on to fabric selection. I spent a good bit of time on this, since I knew the value contrasts…
I’ve been having SO MUCH FUN working on my current quilt! It’s an abstracted design, which always pushes me outside of my comfort zone. But, I love the way it’s coming together. First, I needed a design. I took my cues from a Quilting Arts TV segment featuring Pat Pauly. She suggested cutting up a…