Creative Life Sampler

  Unrestrained Energy This is my last finish of 2024.  The inspiration for this quilt was a wonderful spotted fabric I acquired a couple of years ago from a guild member who was getting rid of her stash. I don't know that it would have caught my attention in another environment but in the context of her collection it called to me. I really appreciated her color sense and quality fabric choices. This small fabric cut inspired me to incorporate it in an improvised composition. It began in a modest way, with the cut away scraps in a cream solid. We were going on an extended vacation and I wanted to take some work to keep busy. There were so many scraps that I split them between two patterned fabrics and basted them in place so I could stitch them down at liesure. The two resulting quilts are quite different from one another. The first of the two completed was Shifting Contour : (See this link for the original post :  https://creativelifesampler.blogspot.com/2024/10/a-follow-...

 My Christmas Sampler, circa 2009 Reaching back into the linen closet to share this Christmas creation that was started in September 2008 and finished in January of 2009. It is a king sized sampler quilt, - each square is a star themed block in golds, dark greens and burgundies.  I still love this quilt, it makes me smile. I remember being so excited to make it.  But it feels like it was made a lifetime ago, in a different era, or maybe even created by somebody else. It's so foreign to what I make now.  In reality, I suppose I'm not the same person I was when I conceived of this quilt and put needle to fabric.  For one thing this quilt is all machine pieced and quilted, not a bit of hand work.  At that time  I was just beginning to explore Hawaiian appliqu é.  I had no idea how transformative developing skill in  appliqu é and reverse  appliqu é  would prove to be.   Back then, I had no desire to spend "too much time" on hand q...

  Blue Improvised Silhouette I worked on this piece over the summer and finished it time to enter it in a juried show at the end of August. It didn't get in, . . . oh well. This is a good time to reveal this quilt. Its icy palette of blue and aqua is really appropriate for the winter season.   This year I've focused most of my creative energy on improvisational appliqu é. The remnant cut away blue scraps from an earlier  appliqu é project were rearranged on a solid white for this composition. I wanted to see if I could change the nature of the white fabric through dense stitching which would add a second color. The silhouette of the blue was rotated and outlined so white shapes emerge against the compressed subtle aqua texture. My hope was that the blue contour would appear to hover over the white contour and they would both pull forward visually to float over the delicately tinted background. View of this quilt back      

  And a Spot of Red Haven't had the time to post this quilt before, so here it is now,- "And a Spot of Red." Hand appliquéd and hand quilted, it measures 82 x 61 inches; much larger than I've worked in a long time.  In 2023 I found myself expanding my horizons, exploring opportunities to show my work at unfamiliar venues. This open attitude led to new encounters and new inspiration for me. Really that shouldn't be a surprise, but sometimes I'm amazed at how often I need to be reminded that exposing ourselves to different experiences and influences helps us grow and feeds our creative impulses. And it's so exciting when that happens. During one of these adventures, I was at a show and fell into a conversation with a fellow quilter, sharing perspectives, exchanging ideas. At one point she casually offered "You need to work bigger!" That was the encouragement I needed to finally get to work on an idea I'd been contemplating. I pulled out the sc...

  The first weekend in November was the opening of the annual Quilts=Art=Quilts show at the Schweinfurth Art Center in Auburn, New York.  Q=A=Q Opening Night The show includes seventy quilts created by fifty three artists from around the world, including  Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Hungary, Kuwait, Switzerland, and the US. This is the second year that I've been honored to be juried into Q=A=Q.  It requires a bit of effort to get to upstate New York on opening night; there are no direct flights from our location. So I'm doubly grateful for the support of family who joined me to take in the experience.  This is very different from a large quilt convention. While you can get up close to the work at any kind of quilt show, the more intimate setting of a gallery brings a unique perspective. The environment elevates a quilt to the status of art. I love that there are so many ways to present my work. I know this is a relatively new phenomenon and it reflects c...

Interactive color exhibit at Huntsville Museum of Art-  movable  wheels show color combinations  We've gotten into the habit lately of visiting art museums in whatever city we happen to be in, big or small. What we're finding is there are some real gems all over the place! On a recent trip to Huntsville, Alabama we took in Huntsville Museum of Art . It was just the right size to be able to fit in a visit between other scheduled activities. There were a couple of things that stood out to me. First, with this size museum, they have the advantage of being able to present their collection in easily digestible portions. In other words, the displays are not overwhelming because many pieces are grouped in smaller settings. This conveys a sense of intimacy with the work.  I actually enjoy that kind of staging because it creates a feeling of adventure as well. You instinctively know you're going to be presented with a different art movement, theme, or medium as you move throu...