2019 Quilts

New flash: I like making quilts! Here are the ones I made in 2019. You can also review the quilts I made in 2018, 2017 and 2016.

Three tiny floral embroideries.


Tree Lines, 30x80 This is quilt is currently part of SAQA's Connecting Our Natural Worlds exhibition. Process and inspiration pictures here.


Pondering, 5x7ish -- My donation to the Spotlight Auction at the SAQA Conference in San Jose.


Two 16x16 workshop samples for me new class Cups, Vases and Bowls. I'll be teaching this workshop at Craft Napa in January and at Quilters Affair in July in Sisters, OR. You can invite me to teach it at your guild too.



Day Break, 40x40


Spring Forth, 12x12 -- My donation for the 2019 SAQA Auction.


Grass Made It Possible, 50x30 -- You can read about the creative process and unexpectedly wonderful connection I discovered while making this quilt in this blog post.


Uprising 50x27 -- This quilt will be part of SAQA's Aloft exhibition through 2022.


Beach Exploration 15x75. I didn't blog about this piece, but you can read a bit more and see more photos in this Facebook post.


Vessels: Heartland 26x16x2 -- Lots of pictures about the process of creating this piece here.


Dusk Breeze 40x40 -- This piece was "finished" much earlier in the year but there were some things that I didn't like about it. Eventually, I went back and re-worked some areas.


Through and Through, 60x40 -- Peeks of this piece have shown up in my social media over the past few months, but I haven't shared the finished piece until now. Look for more details soon.


Right at the end of the year, I got busy preparing for Craft Napa and finished these 7x5 collage for the Vendor Fair night. (Unless you'd like to buy one now, that'd be super. $65 Email me.)They are all mounted on 8x10 mat board ready to frame.

Encouragement


Sprout and Soar


Sheltering


Sprout and Shine


Enduring


Good Times


Dusk and Dawn


Breath


Hillside


Tiny Blossom


Possibility


Warmth




That's 24 quilts not including the tiny embroideries. I consider seven of these major works -- which seems like a lot. I'm eager to make more in 2020.

Personal Symbols for Art Quilts Workshop at Craft Napa

I'm super excited to be teaching one of my favorite workshops at Craft Napa! It's Personal Symbols for Art Quilt Collage on Thursday, January 16, 2020. (Register here!)

We create small art quilt collages and mount them on mat board so they are ready to frame.



Check out these amazing students from some past workshops who literally left with finished pieces of original art.







I provide a kit of fabrics that are carefully curated so every student has a great selection to work with. Plus, the fabric is all pre-fused so everyone gets straight to creating rather than fussing with applying fusible. I always offer a few different kits so everyone finds something inspiring.



We work on a series of six small art quilt collages in the workshop. Here is my workshop sample series.



Here are some AMAZING in-progress series from students in past workshops.







Each so unique and original! That's what I try to make possible in my workshops. I offer a framework and set of step-by-step instructions, but there is opportunity for each student to make their own creative decisions along the way.



We talk about how personal symbols can inform the creative process. It's interesting to think about what that can mean to the artist -- and to the viewer. My own set of personal symbols are just simple shapes.



Some people don't find the idea of personal symbols particularly inspiring. No problem. Lots of students just work with interesting shapes that they like -- hearts, leaves, tea cups, or abstract designs like swirls or arrows.

Here's one of my original art quilt collages framed and hanging in our entry way. (Cheap Ikea frame!)




Curious about that fractured landscape? You can see more about that here.

Still want to know a bit more about the Personal Symbols for Art Quilts workshops? Here I am chatting about it.


Want to join me for this workshop at Craft Napa? I'd love to see you. Register here.

Another amazing thing about Craft Napa? Afternoon coffee and treats. So delightful.

Stickers!

As I was preparing for my five-day workshop at Hudson River Valley Art Workshops, I thought it would be fun to create some kind of "marker" for each day. I love check lists, passport stamps, and gold stars so I decided to make a sticker to give the attendees each day.

I started by creating five small art quilt collages that could be nicely cropped into circles. I used a 4" circle cut from a piece of paper to help me visualize the size and shape as I worked. We'd be talking a lot about personal symbols during the workshops, so each design includes one of the symbols I use regularly in my work.



Here are the five finished collages.


Next, I took photos of each and imported them into Canva, a free online graphic design platform. That allowed me to crop them into circles and add some text. I was sort of planning to include text, so I had left some space in each collage where I could drop the text. Some ended up more easily accommodating the text than others.

Finding the quotes was tricky. They needed to be short. They needed to fit the meaning of the symbol. I didn't want them all to be quotes from white dudes. During the week before my workshop when I had a lot of planning and packing to do, I probably spent too much time searching for just the right quotes. (It was worth it.)

Monday's quote reminded us to explore every possibility during the week.



Tuesday's quote is one of my favorites -- and reminds us to celebrate complexities... in the creative process and in ourselves.



For Wednesday, I chose a quote that would encourage us to keep going!


On Thursday, the quote suggests that taking a moment to reflect is important.


On Friday, we began to think about returning to our homes and the places in a creative life where we are most fulfilled.


These Canva images were also perfect for posting on Instagram, which I did each day of the workshop.

I picked up a pack of Avery sticker labels to print on my home printer. These are the ones I used.


The Avery website provides downloadable templates for all their labels, making it easy to import the image and get it sized and placed just right to fit on the sticker page. Finished stickers.



We kept all our exercises, handouts and worksheets in a plastic binder through the week. Here's my binder on Friday.



This was such a fun project! The students seemed to get a kick out of them too. I hope to have more opportunities to teach multi-day workshops and will definitely print up more stickers for the occasion!