Tag Archives | Techniques

Hanging from One Nail

By Ellen Lindner on January 21, 2024 in Uncategorized

I’ve been entering my textile pieces in more mixed media shows lately. I love that fiber arts are now often included in the category of fine art!

The hanging mechanism is a little tricky, though. My pieces have wide hanging sleeves on the back, to accommodate the requirements of traditional quilt shows. However, these mixed media venues are used to hanging pieces on a single nail or some other hanging apparatus. To deal with this, I’ve been inserting the hanging slat into the sleeve and stapling a hanging wire across the back of the sleeve/slat. This worked pretty well, but the quilts never seemed to hang quite flat.

Like this. The slat tilts in the roomy sleeve. As a result, the lower part of the slat rests on the wall, but the top portion protrudes forward.

Thankfully, a friend’s engineer husband noticed the issue and came up with a solution. He realized that a sleeve that fit the slat snugly, got rid of the problem. See the difference, below?

Of course, the issue is that I still want a wide sleeve for traditional shows. So, I decided to hand sew a temporary bottom for the sleeve, sizing it to fit the slat. I stitched through the backing and batting, but not into the front. This worked beautifully and when I need the full sleeve width, I can easily remove those stitches.

Ellen Lindner
P.S. I need this trick because I have quilts heading to several gallery/museum shows coming up. Yippee!

Cutting Up Again

By Ellen Lindner on March 29, 2023 in Uncategorized

Once again, I decided to cut something up. This is where I started, with an already quilted quilt.

I liked it, but realized I liked the left side better than the right.

So, after some folding and auditioning, I cut this quilt into two pieces. I set the left portion aside.

And started work on the right portion.

My plan was to slice into it diagonally and then join the two portions back together, using a loose satin stitch. I was surprised by how easily this technique worked. Even on curved shapes! I added some skinny stripes and continued slicing and reassembling until I got something along these lines.

It definitely had more energy! I sliced into it some more.

It was obvious that the overall shape would not be rectangular. I began to think about what those edges should look like. Should I make them even more irregular? To audition this idea I used pieces of muslin to obscure and reshape the edges in places.

Yes! I was liking the spiky nature of these edges. I decided to pick out some stitching and cut new nooks and crannies.

I had to use my sharpest tools to slice away the loose zigzag without cutting the fabric.

I wasn’t sure how to finish the edges, but I decided to try the same loose zigzag I’d been using for joining, and I liked it.

In the next post I’ll show you the finished quilt. I like it.

Ellen Lindner

I Ruined It

By Ellen Lindner on March 28, 2023 in Uncategorized

If you’ve been following me for a while you know that I’ve occasionally cut up quilts and rearranged them. So, when I decided this quilt needed some revision, I decided to give it a go.

The starting quilt, Beet Salad. Certainly not terrible, but it wasn’t exciting me either.

Beet Salad

Usually, when I cut something up I do it with great intention. I aim for diagonal cuts that will show off the best parts of the quilt. This time, however, I cut it up into approximately 5″ squares. That’s probably where I went wrong.

This photo shows an early rearrangement. It doesn’t look that different, right?

Soon, I decided to use only the pieces that had two colors. This is what I came up as my piecing plan.

I wasn’t sure that it was better, but it did have more energy and I planned to add applique here and there. But then I got confused as I was piecing and created something different.

It was really too hideous for me to even take a photo. But, above you can probably tell that I added a border using those singe color pieces. And I stitched over it with a lot of black thread. It was all UGLY!

I briefly entertained the idea of trying to improve it. Which is the only reason I took the photo above. In it I was auditioning some lighter versions of pink and purple. Ugh! By now I had lost my interest in this experiment and was a little bit mad at the result. I didn’t want it hanging around any more and decided to toss it. (Actually, I saved it just for free motion quilting practice.)

Oh well, on to the next project.

Have you ever cut anything up?

Actually, I did it again, recently. I’ll show you that soon.

Ellen Lindner

Sassy Women in Tavares

By Ellen Lindner on January 23, 2023 in Uncategorized

I just taught two classes in Tavares, FL, and we all had a blast!

It didn’t take me long to figure out that this group was a little different from most. In the first class one of the students had just had major dental work. So, she was wearing a proper name tag, but also this:

Oh, the poor thing! But, wasn’t it sweet of her friend to make her this extra tag?

This group meets WEEKLY. As a result, they all know one another well and have a wonderful camaraderie. So, maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised, during the IMPROV class, when I caught one of them using a paper cup to draw her circle “by eye.” And even after I caught her she kept using it! As I was playfully reprimanding her, someone pointed out this student:

Yes, that’s a compass. WHAT was up here?!?

And, before I could recover from that shock, the students pointed out what another student brought:

Really? For an IMPROV class???

It was all quite comical. What a sassy, fun bunch of women! Thankfully, they did loosen up and I can’t wait to show you their excellent work.

Ellen Lindner

A Little Bit of Black

By Ellen Lindner on December 13, 2022 in Uncategorized

A little bit of black can often add just the right touch to a quilt. And in the case of this piece, I NEEDED to add more black to go with what was already there.

I liked the idea of playing up the sharp little lines on the left. But, how to best accomplish that? I tried stitching with a double pass, using 30 weight thread.

It showed up well on my sample so I drew out a pattern and started stitching on the quilt.

But, it didn’t show up that well on the quilt. Up close it was fine, but it pretty much disappeared from a distance. What else could I try? Maybe hand couching?

Here it is, with about half machine stitching and half overlaid with couching. It shows up much better, right?

Here’s a detail shot, again in-progress. What a difference!

I was loving this effect and couldn’t wait to finish it up!

Ellen Lindner
P.S. BTW, I used 6 strands of embroidery floss as the laid thread and regular black sewing thread as the working thread.
P.P.S. See other quilts with hand couching: Wishes on the Wind, post about couching, Back Yard Beauty.

If You Never Fail You’re Not Experimenting Enough

By Ellen Lindner on February 25, 2022 in Uncategorized

I’m not sure where I heard that quote, but I agree with it. And, I’ve been doing plenty of experimenting lately. Yes, you guessed it: I created a big ~~failure~~ rough draft.

I’ve been doing quite a few abstract quilts in a style I call “Slice and Dice.” As the name implies, I slice into fabrics and rearrange them back together in different – and hopefully more interesting – arrangements.

Like this:

A Little Bit Tart

And this:

On the Road to Home

The fabrics I’ve used have been hand dyed, which definitely add to the design of these busy quilts. So, when friends suggested that I teach the technique I thought I wouldn’t be able to do it because of the unique nature of my fabric selections.

Still, I decided to give it a shot. I bought an ombre fabric with several colors in it and fabrics in all the colors. This was my starting point.

I cut each fabric in predetermined sizes and joined them in pairs. I took meticulous notes so I’d be able to teach exactly what to do.

Each pair was then altered, either by adding a skinny pieced line, or by cutting and rearranging the pieces.

I did that OVER and OVER. And OVER and OVER. After a while I realized that no student would want to spend this long altering the blocks. I didn’t enjoy it either. So much for teaching it.

But, I thought I could at least make it into a good sample in case I figured out the teaching angle down the road. I worked and worked, but the white fabric and the dark colors just stood out too much. I sliced into them repeatedly, trying to whittle them down to what I considered the correct proportion. But, eventually, I had such an abundance of bulky seam allowances that the whole thing was barely sewable.

I decided to cut my losses.

This is where I ended up. It was taking a lot of time and it wasn’t getting better. I just stopped.

Do I have angst or regret about tackling this project? No, just the opposite, actually. I had a question and I needed to work it through to find the answer. Now I know the answer. Plus, I recognize the time I spent problem solving and trying new things will make me more creative in the future. I didn’t waste my time and I didn’t waste my fabric. The fabric served a useful purpose, even though it wasn’t the one I imagined.

I feel strongly about the importance of experimentation, which is why I call myself the Adventure Quilter.

~~Have you “failed” at anything lately?~~ (Actually, I don’t call them failures. They’re “rough drafts,” or “experiments.”) Any recent rough drafts?

Ellen Lindner
P.S. Click the title of this blog to see it without the rest of the blog posts. This will reveal several links below which will take you to several other posts showing high levels of experimentation on my part. Beware: rabbit holes ahead!

“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

Double Reverse Appliqué at Road at Home

By Ellen Lindner on February 16, 2021 in Uncategorized

Last month I taught three classes for Road at Home, a large quilt show type online event. The first was the ever popular Double Reverse Appliqué. We had fun and the students did excellent work!

First I’ll show you Cindy’s apple, because she was my college roommate! How cool is that? She lives in Minnesota and I’m in Florida, so this was rare interaction. She’s very new to art quilting, but she had no trouble at all.

Trudy’s bright colors pop nicely!

Susan used more muted colors, which gave a completely different effect. (These photos are via Zoom, so the stripey computer effect isn’t really there on her fabrics.)

Kami made very bright and colorful choices!

Of course, not everyone chose a red apple. Doesn’t Chris’ green one look great? And the purple background color is perfect!

Irene’s green apple was almost complete. (Yes, we do the background last with this technique.)

Keitha’s near-solid fabrics really let the value changes do the work. This is what makes it look 3D.

C.J. won a free seat in class and put it to good use. I love the way her apple stands out against her blue-green background fabrics.

Bonnie worked all day with power from a generator. That was a new one for me. As you can see, it didn’t slow her down at all. Nice, right?

Grace missed a large part of the day but still managed to make a good start on her apple.

The class also includes a pattern for a pear. After finishing their apples a couple of students made a good start on their pears. Check out Kami’s BRIGHT colors.

And Cindy made good progress on a gold pear. We worked from light to dark, so we started with the highlight spots: not too exciting. It doesn’t look much like fruit until after about 8 pieces are added.

Another fun and productive class!

Ellen Lindner
P.S. Would your guild like this class? Find out more here.

I Almost Forgot

By Ellen Lindner on November 28, 2020 in Uncategorized

My raw edge collage techniques involves lots of layering. Sometimes perfectly wonderful fabrics get covered by something else later. However, I don’t typically rescue those underneath fabrics. Instead, I tell myself that I bought the fabric to use and if it’s function is to support later fabrics, and to give me flexibility then it has served me in a useful way.

But, on my current quilt, there’s a large shape that landed on top of the background. See what I mean?

So, I decided to rescue the red section underneath the largest turquoise shape. Both the red and turquoise sections were built on – and glued to – muslin, so I knew I could easily separate them.

But then I forgot.

Meanwhile, I started quilting the background, even though there were still foreground elements to be added. This was a logistical decision, since it will help me avoid all the starting and stopping that would otherwise be necessary to dodge all the things I intend to add.

About halfway through I remembered my earlier plans. So, I pulled up the batting as best I could on the lower portion. Some of it was already stitched down.

As you can see, I cut away the red portion, where able.

And I found two pins still stuck into that fabric! Good thing I did. I’ve had to cut them out a few times in the past.

But, since I was cutting from the back, I didn’t judge well and I actually cut into the background in the area I wanted to keep. Gulp!

But, since I work in raw edge collage, and quick patch took care of that.

Back to quilting!

Ellen Lindner

Why is There a Bow on the Doorway?

By Ellen Lindner on November 22, 2020 in Uncategorized

This is what I see as I exit my studio.

A bow. Right at eye level. It’s to remind me to turn off my mini-iron, which has no auto shut-off.

It’s a very useful tool, though, since it can get into tight spots. Recently I’ve been using it to erase lines I’ve drawn with a Frixion pen. The marks come off with heat, and the mini-iron has been able to easily access the tight turns and dips I had drawn. It erases those lines beautifully.

Do you have one of these irons? If so, how do you remember to turn it off?

BTW, I store the bow, with attached painters tape, with the iron.

Ellen Lindner

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Navigation

Tag Archives | Techniques

Hanging from One Nail

Cutting Up Again

I Ruined It

Sassy Women in Tavares

A Little Bit of Black

If You Never Fail You’re Not Experimenting Enough

“Grow with the Flow” in Arroyo Grande

Double Reverse Appliqué at Road at Home

I Almost Forgot

Why is There a Bow on the Doorway?

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