Daily Blog

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Karen Stabile discovered her latest quilt design appeared to be based on choices she was making for her new house. She'd been doing research on new windows and doors when inspiration struck.

Windows and Doors by Karen Stabile of Bastrop, TX won Third Place, Fabric Challenge, sponsored by ME + YOU, at QuiltCon 2020.

Photos by Mary Kay Davis

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Here's a great project from Art Galley Fabrics and WeAllSew. All you need are scraps of rectangles, squares, and strips to put this table runner together. Decorative stitches and a new finishing technique finish up the design.

Click here for full tutorial.

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Kaleidoscope is a combination of Kaffe Fassett's fabric and Alex being "forced" to write a book. It resulted in one of her favorite quilts. Never say never, when it comes to a new quilting process.

You can learn piecing from Alex in our Piecing Masterclass Part 2, Show 309: Trick of Hand - It's all in the Technique, and Show 908: Wedgies, Danglers, and Funkies...Oh, My!

Original Photo from Alex Anderson

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Three Easy Steps To Save This Lesson As A Pdf:
-Make sure you are logged in.
-Click on the small triangle next to the tool wheel in the upper right hand corner of the page (you'll find it above the Like button).
-Select the pdf. option. Wait a few minutes. It's a large file due to the number of images.
-Your file should appear with the title of the lesson.

One is never too old to learn something new. That is certainly the case with our The Art of Quilt Design program. We too have found a number of ideas that WE just LOVE and want to incorporate into our personal work. Check out the tips that made the top of Lilo's and Mary Kay's things to keep in mind when creating a quilt.

Pillow by Jacquie Gering. (Show 1202). [Image by Lilo Bowman]

Lesson 2: Elements of Design - Line Part 2

Understanding the way different types of lines give visual cues can help you as the artist communicate a message that can impact the viewer in a subtle, or not so subtle, manner without a great deal of dialogue. Learn the words that we often associate with different types of lines here.

Flowered & Feathered Frenzy by Susan K. Cleveland (Show 109, Show 1001, Show 2308, Show 2510). [Image courtesy of Susan K. Cleveland]

Lesson 4: Creating Visual Texture

Susan K. Cleveland's suggestions for adding visual texture:

"Background quilting can create a rich, elegant texture or something wild and crazy. While machine quilting creates a flat line and contours between the lines, hand quilting creates texture within its broken line. Or, add visual texture with embellishments such as beads, ribbons, buttons, etc." See more ideas from Susan K. Cleveland here.

Lone Star Explores Space by Peter Hayward (Image courtesy of Peter Hayward)

Lesson 9: Form

Understanding space and form allows the quilter to manipulate patterns to create stunning effects. British quilt artist Peter Hayward shares how his love of optical illusion led him to create a unique interwoven design that combines color, shape, and form using a traditional quilt pattern. The resulting Lone Star Explores Space is truly a fool-the-eye experience. Learn more about this stunning quilt here.

Curious Duck by Ann P. Shaw (Show 2006) [Image courtesy of Ann P. Shaw]

Lesson 10: Space

Think of depth in a quilt as the ingredient that makes a grilled cheese sandwich so delicious. What's not to love? The sandwich is crispy, chewy, creamy, and salty all in the first bite. The basic ingredients are white bread, a cheese that melts easily, and butter or margarine. This works and probably makes for a good sandwich. But, what if you swapped out the bread for a sourdough? What if you included a mixture of different types of cheeses? How about adding a piece or two of bacon to the mix? Now the sandwich is more interesting on a whole new level. It is still a grilled cheese, but something that stands out from 'the usual."

By incorporating a variety of different key elements to create depth and space, your quilts will be both interesting and appealing to viewers. Learn more ideas about space here.

Honeycomb by Kelly D. Young. (Image courtesy of Kelly D. Young)

Lesson 14: Elements of Design - Understanding Monochromatic Color

The trick to keeping a quilt from becoming visually flat is to use as WIDE a range of Tints, Tones, Shades and pure Orange as possible. Hand-dyed fabrics, with their subtle nuances, offer the quilter the widest range when it comes to working in a monochromatic plan. The old addage, "If five fabrics are good, then ten are even better," is a good thing to remember when building a fabric grouping. Learn more about Monochromatic color here.

Blue Maze by Cindy Grisdela (Image courtesy of Cindy Grisdela)

Lesson 15: Elements of Design - Understanding Analogous Color

The Analogous color plan uses either three, five, seven, nine, or half of the colors along one side of the color wheel. However, you need to be careful to not go too far astray. "If our color wheel were a delicious pie (mmm, pie!), then an analogous color scheme would be a fairly large slice. The key to creating a good analogous scheme is to remember that your eyes are bigger than your appetite. As a rule of thumb, avoid having a slice that’s bigger than one-third of the whole, or you’re bound to make users sick." (From Sitepoint) Learn more about working within the analogous color plan here.

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We continue our feature on quilts from the Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) exhibit, Layered & Stitched: Fifty Years of Innovation, as featured at the Texas Quilt Museum. The exhibit is described as:

Studio Art Quilt Associates presents Layered & Stitched: Fifty Years of Innovation at the Texas Quilt Museum in Galleries I and III. These studio art quilts, dating from 1968 to 2016, represent the extraordinary range of talented artists working in contemporary quilt art. Featuring a balance of abstract and representational styles, Layered & Stitched includes several foreign artists, with a wide geographic distribution of makers in general. The curatorial vision of this exhibition embraces diversity and excellence, including three-dimensional works. Juried by Nancy Bavor, Director of the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles; Martha Sielman, Executive Director of SAQA; and Dr. Sandra Sider, Curator of the Texas Quilt Museum, who says, "Jurying this spectacular exhibition was one of the highlights of my career! It is an amazing show of historic significance."

The exhibit has also been collected in a companion book as well, titled Art Quilts Unfolding: 50 Years of Innovation by Nancy Bavor, Lisa Ellis, Martha Sielman, and edited by Sandra Sider. The book is described as:

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Christine J. Yi's quilt, Wildwood, was inspired by the Wildwood Trail in Portland on a foggy morning. Working with light and value, she created a forest that appears even more dense when viewed up close. Take a look.

Wildwood by Christine J. Yi of the Portland Modern Quilt Guild won Second Place, Fabric Challenge, sponsored by ME + YOU, at QuiltCon 2020.

Photos by Mary Kay Davis

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"Scrap Addict" Bonnie Hunter put together her Carolina Chain quilt in no time as she'd already been saving 2" strips of fabric as leftovers from other quilts.

Carolina Chain by Bonnie Hunter is available as a free pattern C&T Publishing (click here).

You can learn piecing from Bonnie in our Piecing Masterclass Part 2, and in Show 1410: You Can Have It All - Modern Day Quilters Mix Old and New.

Original Photo from C&T Publishing (ctpub.com)

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We continue our selection of quilts exhibited in 2019 at the Houston International Quilt Festival as part of their 45th Anniversary, the Sapphire Anniversary. The Sapphire Celebration exhibit is described as:

"Quilters have long used the color blue to symbolize trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven. Sapphire is also the chosen gem to celebrate 45th anniversaries—which International Quilt Festival is doing this year (2019)! These new and antique blue and white quilts will be suspended from the ceiling in a spectacular and unforgettable display."

To be a part of the exhibit, quilts had to fit the following criteria:

• Entries may be Traditional, Modern or Art.
• Entries must have been made between 1974 and 2019.
• The minimum size is 50” x 50”

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We love the title of this quilt as we have all tried to maintain beautiful gardens and houseplants. Fortunately, Emily Watts was able to create beautiful healthy plants in this quilt and they will never die.

To All The Plants I've Killed Before by Emily Watts of Santa Monica, CA won First Place, Fabric Challenge, sponsored by ME + YOU, at QuiltCon 2020.

Photos by Mary Kay Davis