Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Home from Houston


The Houston Quilt Show is a spectacular show every year and this year was no exception. Especially since I got to see the show with Victoria. Funnily enough, this quilt was probably the favorite for both of us. (Great minds think alike.) The maker was Japanese (and I wish I had gotten her name) and it was spectacular! It had the look of an old hankerchief and the hand work was STUNNING. And although this is not necessarily the direction my work is going, I loved this quilt.


Two other quilts that literally stopped me in my tracks were very vibrant and colorful. What's not to like about a quilt that has movement and an "in your face" color palette? Makes my skirt fly up!





This quilt was made by Roberta Horton and hung in a special exhibit. In my opinion, this quilt was just about the best use of fabric I've ever seen. The design was really simple, the quilting was okay (it worked for this quilt but was nothing special), and the fabric did all the work. I LOVED this quilt!



And then there was this antique quilt. It hung in a special exhibit also. I loved this quilt!! (Hey V, how many times did I say I loved this quilt?) I love a quilt that looks like the maker had a great time making it. It made me smile. There's alot about quilting that does that to me.
Happy quilting to you!

Saturday, October 3, 2009

My Process


I'm working on a quilt that is absolutely not "me" and very much "me" at the same time. How can that be? It is the process, my friends. I work like this on almost every quilt I make, especially the bigger projects. It starts very often with a rough sketch on paper. (I have sketched on napkins, backs of envelopes and backs of greeting card.) This particular quilt is for my step-sister. It is much more structured but at the same time I tried to give it movement within the structure.





And then there is her color palette. She is an "Autumny" person. She likes the warm browns, golds, and greens. Not really the colors I work with alot, however when I went to put colors together, the ones I chose look like a collection I would put together. (Am I speaking Greek?)




And of course once this quilt started coming together, it looks like my work. And after I quilt the dog out of this top with some feathers, it will look like "me" but in a different direction. So if you are sewing today, do something that is not "you". It feels really good. Happy sewing!