Creative Life Sampler

 The Final Reveal (9 of 9) This is my final post in a series that began March 18th, with the introduction of my fabric choices for this project. But the whole thing really started in January when the gentleman who commissioned this piece gave me a list of qualities inspired by his dear wife: Accomplished Adventurous Athletic Centered Engaging Groovy Joyful Loving Reflective Vibrant. Items that are meaningful to her were chosen for the quilting stage. A presentation board was created to show the clients the layout and color scheme with fabric swatches and an overlay for the quilting designs.  This was a thoughtful process on both sides of the experience. We went through some final alterations after the initial presentation, including the addition of this element in the quilting stage: Can you think of anything more romantic and considerate than your partner compiling a list of your best qualities and honoring you with a piece of art to immortalize them? It is meant to be a tri...

 Modern ABC Sampler Finally finished hand quilting the ABC sampler that was started back in January as I was getting ready to give a workshop on reverse appliqué. It gave me plenty of practice.  For this original design, each block has a letter in a different typeface and is placed in a simple checkerboard arrangement. They were all executed with the reverse appliqué technique, however, the "i" is double reverse and the "x" has two more layers of reverse appliqué. I have called this: “V,M,Q,G & Other Letters” as a tribute to the Ventura Modern Quilt Guild, which inspired me to explore text and lettering in fabric after a prompt to create text for our 2020 charity quilt.  (View the quilt:   https://creativelifesampler.blogspot.com/2020/02/vmqg-charity-quilt-this-is-not-my-quilt.html  )  That group challenge to guild members has led me to create several pieces that incorporate text and type in the design, and generated lots of ideas for future p...

  Progress Report (7 of 9) All the words have been completed for my latest text quilt, so I thought I'd experiment with time lapse photography and show how they all fall into place on the layout grid for this quilt. I've been looking for something to film this way ever since I ran across the option on my cell. (See my effort above by clicking on the arrow.) These words were done by hand in reverse appliqué. Never stopped to consider how long it takes me to create a word before, so I decided to keep track of the process this time around.  I just totaled up the hours I spent on ten words and was quite surprised. Rounding up and down to the nearest 15 minutes, the grand total is 125 hours in about 5 weeks. That is just the hand work on the letters. I haven't even started the quilting yet! Good thing I enjoy this process so much.   Reverse appliqué is the perfect technique to execute graceful curving lines and shapes with varying contours. An added benefit is that there...

Word for the Week (6 of 9) Working on the blocks for my commissioned text quilt, I can't help but ponder the list of words that were chosen.  Some words bring specific images to mind. For instance, when "athletic" was added to the list it was easy to see who that word was defining. It's an adjective that takes form in physical characteristics.  "Accomplished" conjures up a vision of confidence in navigating many challenges and successfully tackling meaningful activities. Some qualities are enormous in meaning, pulling in multiple other adjectives that contribute to its full impact. The descriptive list of a person's qualities doesn't need to include those other adjectives because one word is so robust.  Then there are words we assume we understand because we associate them with life experiences or history.  "Groovy" took an interesting trip to get to the list of qualities for this quilt. It was added after the person making the list consul...

3 Words Added (5 of 9)  This week I'm adding "centered," "loving," and "reflective" to the grid of my wall hanging. With more than half the adjectives finished, we start to get a picture of the person that inspired this word quilt. Even the happy, bright color palette says volumes about this individual. More to come, stay tuned!

The Expanding Adjective List (4 of 9)  This week I'm adding 3 new words to the gridding of this commissioned wall hanging: Accomplished, Adventurous, and Athletic, - all the "A" words.  Six more words to go! 👍

 First Word (3 of 9) The First word is finished!   Part of the fun of working with text is thinking about the best way to convey the meaning of the word. A bursting yellow batik in the background of this vibrant orange fabric seemed a joyful color combination for this block. All the text in this wall hanging will be created by hand in a technique known as reverse appliqué, which is great for the flowing lines and flourishes in decorative type faces. And "joyful" finds its place on the grid, . . . which word will be next?

Beginning Stages (2 of 9) Preliminary sketch of new project Last week I let you know about a new text quilt that has been in the planning stages for a while now. This is a commissioned piece so there have been some extra steps in getting ready to actually create words in fabric.   It will be a wall hanging inspired by the qualities expressed by a special someone in my client's life. Narrowing down the original list of words to ten was a thoughtful, deliberate process. After words were chosen by the client, my first step was to come up with a design and choose appropriate fonts for the words. The preliminary sketch is shown above.  Then a color scheme was established. (Here's the link for my fabric choice post:   https://creativelifesampler.blogspot.com/2021/03/new-project-inspiration-fabric.html  ) Once the details were ironed out it was time to translate the sketch, which fit on an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper, to the actual size of the wall hanging. So, I decided ...

 ... Correction: HER Story! Nothing, I am sure, calls forth the faculties  so  much as being obliged to struggle with the world. Mary Wollstonecraft, Thoughts on the Education of Daughters (1787) I created this pillow as a Christmas gift which was given along with the children's book series  She  Persisted,  written by Chelsea Clinton and beautifully illustrated by Alexandra Boiger. So much achieved, so much more work to do.  Happy Women's History Month. 

Letters are Multiplying The work continues on my updated version of the ABC sampler.  The letters for this wall hanging are all done with the reverse appliqu é  technique, in preparation for a workshop I will be giving in March on this skill. I've got a nice stack of letters completed at this point and it has been a great instruction aid in progress. I'm making mental note of the process and the pitfalls as I go.  Looking forward to sharing this versatile technique with the workshop attendees!   (To see my first post on this project, check out this link: https://creativelifesampler.blogspot.com/2021/01/project-modern-abcs.html )

A Tribute to Maya Angelou This pillow was created as a gift for a family friend who feels a special connection with the poem by Maya Angelou entitled Still I Rise . The yellow lettering is reverse appliquéd on navy and the pillow was backed with a vibrant rainbow stripe to reflect the hopeful, encouraging message of resilience on the front. Poet and activist, Maya Angelou (1928-2014) is the author of 36 books, including her first auto-biographical work,  I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, written in 1969.   Angelou's internationally acclaimed memoir became a bestseller, making her the first African American woman to achieve that distinction for a work of non-fiction.  (For more on Maya Angelou's achievements check out this link: https://www.biography.com/writer/maya-angelou )

Starting a Project with Purpose  First letters of a new ABC quilt Creating words in fabric was a particularly meaningful form of expression for me in 2020. I have been dusting off my early graphic design skills and my love of type/words. I regularly add new ideas and concepts for future text quilts to my idea journal now, and then I'm presented with the problem solving challenge of how best to put these ideas in fabric. As I execute ideas, I'm getting more comfortable with different techniques, like appliqué and reverse appliqué, and my creativity "tool box" has expanded. In December, I was asked to give a trunk show/lecture and workshop for our guild, so I have been planning out a presentation of my work with the theme of text quilts in mind.  When my thought turned to the structure of a class, it occured to me that there are a lot of things that we take for granted, and do automatically, as part of our creative processes. Knowing that sometimes it is hard to verbali...

Message From 2020   Christmas gift with a "Be Still" message in reverse appliqu é . As we prepare to turn the calendar page to 2021, it may be beneficial to take a moment to reflect on the lessons of 2020, and try to find something positive to bring with us into the new year. 2020 was challenging, and often disheartening, to be sure. Stay-at-home orders cushioned us from the outside world, but in doing so it left people feeling isolated. So, to help feel connected to something beyond our four walls, it was natural to search out information in order to "stay informed." After all, the world outside continues to turn.  However, the endless news cycle often felt more like an emotional roller coaster than a source of information. In our home, we began to tune out the sensational stuff, absorb the substantial highlights, and capitalize on the moments of quiet the circumstances afforded us. More than ever, it became important for mental well-being to take time to "Be ...

'Tis the Voting Season!!!  VOTE 2020 This 48x62 inch wall hanging was started in September 2019, just as the upcoming US election was beginning to gain steam. It was finished in September... a year in the making.  Different typefaces were used for the word "vote" and constructed in the piecing, appliqué and reverse appliqué techniques for a loose border. The center text is reverse appliquéd, (except for the circles and letters' centers, which were appliquéd.) There are 51 quilted stars representing the 50 states and Washington DC. For a little nod to history, 13 stars symbolizing the original colonies were quilted in red or blue and form a halo over "You." In choosing this selection of font styles, varying the word sizes, and working with different combinations of the limited red, white and blue color palette, I was trying to bring an awareness of the many voices that make up our nation. Each voter is unique and brings a different blend of background, cultur...

A New Text Quilt Continuing to explore the options for creating text with fabric, my latest project began as a study of one word in different font styles. The word above was appliquéd, the technique of sewing a fabric shape onto the background fabric. In this example, the "O" is constructed with multiple layers: a white oval of background fabric, appliquéd to a red circle, attached to the background white. The word below is traditional piecing; seaming strips of the star blue fabric with straight lined shapes of the navy background. And this last example is reverse appliquéd, shown here in it's final form with outline quilting. With reverse appliqué the background fabric is placed on top of the fabric that will become your shape. Then the shape is cut out of the top fabric and its edges turned under revealing the fabric beneath it. The background fabric it sewn to the shape, in effect reversing the traditional appliqué process where the shape is sewn to the background.  T...

... And Here It Is... Qualities 8/2019-2/2020 I so enjoyed piecing two words to contribute to the Ventura Modern Quilt Guild's charity quilt that I was inspired to keep experimenting with text in fabric. In August, I chose "creativity" for my first word. The last word was "originality." With the final stitch to the binding, a seven month project is finished. To be honest, my "joy" charity quilt block was chosen for it's brevity as well as it's meaning. But, as I worked on it, I started thinking about the joys in my life. That got me thinking of qualities I identified with, qualities I value, and qualities I would like to express more. The list grew quite long and the quilt dimensions kept expanding. Eventually I had to stop at 40 words and leave the rest for another day. This is the most personal quilt I've ever created. Each word speaks to me. As I thought about how to create them in fabric, it was natural to experiment wi...

Before the Final Reveal The joining of the two halves of the text quilt was a success. Yellow topped pins stand out and lead the way on this hem job. With the right sides of the two tops facing each other, they were seamed leaving the batting free. The edges of batting from the two halves were then aligned to lay flat and a flap on the back was sewn in place to cover the batting on the back of the quilt. This is definitely a "sampler" quilt; a lot of experimenting was going on here. Some words are "pieced," meaning pieces of fabric are joined together to build the letter/word: These letters are based on a hexagon. Others are appliquéd, or a combination of appliqué and piecing: Or reverse appliquéd: The wrong side of a reverse appliquéd letter. And there are a few things to note before I show the completed text quilt. I'll start by saying "Mistakes were made." For instance, I thought that these two fabrics would be inter...

VMQG Charity Quilt This is not my quilt, (but I did contribute two blocks to it, as a member of the Ventura Modern Quilt Guild),... VMQG Charity Quilt 2020 and this project inspired me to create the text quilt I am just finishing up now. The theme for the quilt was the "spirit of giving". The prompt for block submissions was to "express what making and giving quilts means to you and our guild" in a word or phrase. It came together beautifully through the creative efforts of the many talented members of our guild. This piece and charity quilts from other guilds will be displayed in Austin, Texas at the annual modern quilt show, QuiltCon, Feb 20-23. When it returns to us it will take on its purpose of blessing a charitable organization in the  community. I'll keep you posted on its journey. Check out this link if you're wondering which two words were my contributions: https://creativelifesampler.blogspot.com/2019/09/new-guild-member-2-of-2-my-fi...

Text Quilt Update I don't know that I will want to make another quilt in the grey scale any time soon, so I've used leftover fabrics for the backing. This project is being quilted in two parts because it is less cumbersome for working on my domestic machine. With easier manipulation of the piece, I can add more details to the quilting designs. The first half is finished now and the second is coming along well. The three outside edges on each half will be trimmed to match. Extra fabric and batting have been left where they will be seamed at the center and, after they are joined together, that space will be quilted as well. I have only done this once before so,... we'll see how it goes.

Originality Letters for the final word in my text quilt Original : belonging or pertaining to the origin or beginning of something               capable of or given to thinking/acting in an independent, creative, or individual manner               presented for the first time               new               fresh               novel I've been thinking about what it means to be "original" lately. Once an artist in any art form has  developed a proficiency with their medium, the desire to create something really unique naturally follows. The urge to express our individuality can be quite a motivator in creating. No doubt the modern phenomenon of viral trend setters and "influencers" began with individuals who just wanted to express their unique style or vision. But few genuine trail blazers have ...