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The Blanket Stitch is perfect for machine appliqué. BUT how do you set your sewing machine? How do you go around corners? Alex has learned to love machine appliqué and shows you her approach to this important stitch. You can learn the lessons you need or use all the lessons on the Sequoia Sampler REMIX pattern and have a wonderful wall hanging when you are done. Get the pdf below the video.
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The Fort Worth Modern Quilt Guild says, "Everything is big in Texas. Especially the sky over the plains..." Take a trip to their rendition of the McDonald Observatory and see just how big that sky is in their quilt, Into the Darkness.
Into the Darkness by the Fort Worth Modern Quilt Guild was featured in the Charity Quilts category, sponsored by the Modern Quilt Guild, at QuiltCon 2020.
Photos by Mary Kay Davis
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Join Alex this Tuesday for a FREE webinar and attend the "Tool School". Learn about quilting products, win prizes, go shopping, and have fun with Alex and Quilters Select.
Register for The Quilt Show Event on May 26th, 2020 at 1PM EST. When you register, you will receive a $10 off shipping coupon! Don't forget to attend the LIVE webinar on Tuesday and you could win 1 of 3 $50 off gift certificates to complete your order!
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The Quilt Alliance is excited to join with five other fiber organizations to present Textile Talks, a virtual lecture series you can enjoy from home.
Textile Talks features weekly presentations and panel discussions from the International Quilt Museum, the Modern Quilt Guild, Quilt Alliance, San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, Studio Art Quilt Associates and Surface Design Association. The programs will be held online at 2 p.m. Eastern (adjust for your time zone) each Wednesday April 29, 2020 through June 3, 2020.
The lectures will be presented live on Zoom with recordings published on each organization’s Facebook page later. Follow each organization’s page for updates on each of these exciting presentations.
Susannah Pullen’s 1863 Civil War Quilt, National Museum of American History
Stills from Go Tell It! the video
Behind every quilt, there’s a story–sometimes more than one! The Quilt Alliance’s mission is to document, preserve, and share those stories. Join Project Manager Emma Parker for a talk about one historic American quilt’s backstory, and why quilt documentation matters. She will share examples drawn from the Quilt Alliance’s oral history video project, Go Tell It at the Quilt Show!, and tell you how to document your own quilt’s important story. Alliance director Amy Milne will introduce Emma and share three key steps that every quilt owner should take to help us achieve this vision: No More Anonymous Quilts.
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Brigitte Morgenroth set out to show the range of the log cabin quilt block. She had a special exhibit at Houston in 2015. Here is a modern interpretation of this traditional quilt block.
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Dynamic, modern and fun, Color Knots is a great quilt from Gyleen and it's "knot" as hard as you think. Star Members can watch Gyleen work her magic in Show 2012: Modern Scrappy Quilts.
You can learn piecing from Gyleen in our Piecing Masterclass Part 1, and in Show 909: Techniques, Tips...and Turning "Trash" into "Treasure".
Original Photo: Mary Kay Davis
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As we dive deeper into our study of color (Lesson 13), we look at the harmonious Split-Complementary color plan. Less harsh, and easier on the eyes than in the previous lesson's complementary plan [review Complementary Plan (Lesson 16)], this grouping of colors offers just as much visual impact, but in a softer more balanced manner. The transition between the colors is gradual, softer, peaceful and very pleasing. Think evening sunsets or morning sunrises, and you get the idea.
The split-complementary plan takes one color, "the lead," a "supporting actor" color, and a "cast member" or two on either side of the lead's complement. For example, on our Essential Color Wheel, Blue is our lead color. Directly opposite of blue is orange-yellow. Our split-complementary will now be made up of blue, golden-yellow and yellow-orange (supporting actors and cast member). This combination allows for contrast without the harshness or vibrations of the complementary plan.
But like any plan, there are a few rules that need to be followed to achieve harmony with all the cast members. It is best to use an uneven number of 3, 5, or 7 colors in your analagous color selection [review Analagous (Lesson15)]. Definitely include the direct complement of blue (orange-yellow) when selecting fabrics as it makes for a softer and more subtle color shift (from Blue to Magenta) as in the example below by Hilde Morin in her quilt Afternoon Glow.
Afternoon Glow by Hilde Morin (Image courtesy of Hilde Morin)
Gloria Loughman's quilt Color Play shifts from orange-yellow to cerulean blue in a much more subtle and softer manner than Mel Beach's Orange You Glad I Got The Blues complementary shift from orange to cyan (turquoise). Both quilts are eye catching and have strong visual interest for the viewer, however, the quilt on the left reads as subtle with a great deal of movement, while the quilt on the right reads as strong, dynamic, and vibrates. The bottom line is, it's all about the message you want to send in your quilt.
Color Play by Gloria Loughman (Show 612) [Image courtesy of Gloria Loughman]. Orange You Glad I Got The Blues by Mel Beach (Show 2112) [Image courtesy of Mel Beach].
Using our Essential Color Wheel, let's put this to the test when selecting fabric from a stash.
Example #1 (below): Using the narrowest of split-complementary plans, in this case the 3-1 combination of Golden-Yellow, Orange-Yellow, Yellow-Orange and Blue, these are the fabrics from our stash that we selected to use. Karen Kamenetzky's stunning quilt, Fundamental Change VI, beautifully illustrates the subtle color changes with that added little pop of blue to catch the viewers attention.
Fundamental Change VI by Karen Kamenetzky (Image courtesy of Karen Kamenetzky).
Example # 2 (below): This group of fabrics is a wider split-complementary plan using a 5-1 combination of Violet, Red-Violet, Purple, Fuchsia, Magenta, with Yellow-Green. If you are not sure about whether a fabric fits in your selected analogous color run, use the Ultimate 3-in-1 Color Tool to help solve the mystery. Each of the twenty-four pages illustrates the pure color, tints, shades and tones of a family, allowing you the opportunity to select from a wide array of fabrics to make a quilt more interesting.
Pink Poppy by Susan Brubaker Knapp (Show 901 & Show 1709) [Image courtesy of Susan Brubaker Knapp].
Let's look at some more examples of quilts using the split-complementary colors
Delightful Spirals by Robbi Joy Eklow (Show 1008) [Image courtesy of Robbi J. Eklow]. Tealorange! by Lynn Carson Harris (Show 2310) [Image courtesy of Lynn C. Harris]
Midday Sky by Lubbesmeyer Art Studio (Image courtesy of Lubbesmeyer Art Studio). Koi by Sarah Ann Smith (Image courtesy of Sarah Ann Smith).
A Passion for Purple by Andrea Brokenshire (Show 1706) [Image courtesy of Andrea Brokenshire]. Namibia View by Gloria Loughman (Show 612) [Image courtesy of Gloria Loughman].
(All images by Frieda Anderson unless otherwise noted)
Frieda Anderson (Show 705) is known for using her own hand-dyed silk fabrics when it comes to creating luscious quilts. She shares her approach when it comes to working in a split-complementary color plan.
Split-Complementary
The split-complementary color scheme is a variation of the complementary color scheme. In addition to the base color, it uses the two colors adjacent to its complement.
This color scheme has the same strong visual contrast as the complementary color scheme, but has less tension.
The split-complimentary color scheme is often a good choice for beginners because it is difficult to mess up.
This is the description of a split-complementary color scheme. This color scheme is three colors spaced in an uneven triangle shape on the color wheel. I often find that if I just open up my eyes and pay attention to nature, it will give me all the color combinations I can ever use. But I certainly use my color wheel as a guide when I am working on my creations.
I knew that I wanted to make a quilt with large green leaves. While I was scrolling through my photos, I came across the image of a succulent plant that I had taken while vacationing in Hawaii many years ago. It was the perfect combination of lime green, orange and fuchsia, which is a triad color theme.
That photo inspired the color theme for my large quilt Shimmering Foliage. I used the one color I like the most, lime green, as my dominate color choice for the leaves. I then used the two other accent colors, fuchsia and orange, to really make this quilt vibrate. This quilt went on to win some awards, and it is still one of my all-time favorite quilts.
The construction of this quilt is made using a freezer paper template to achieve an easy curved leaf shape. This method requires you make a pattern in freezer paper of the shape you are going to piece. You then cut the pattern apart on the lines. Using the template as a guide, cut out each piece of fabric ½” larger than the template. Put starch on the seam allowance and fold the edge of each fabric piece over the freezer paper template, then press with a hot dry iron. Once you have all the template pieces covered with fabric, place the design back together, snugging each section together like it was before you cut it apart. Using a thin line of Elmer’s school glue on the edge of one seam allowance, fold one seam allowance over another seam allowance and hit it with a hot dry iron. You can now remove the freezer paper templates, and the glue will hold the seams together so that you can stitch the two pieces together.
Check out my easy to follow directions for my little Leaf Mug Rug quilt and try this fun technique. I have a larger version too called Falling Leaves. Make the little one first and then tackle the larger version. You can find the patterns on my website on the patterns page.
Use the two provided blocks to try out your own split-complementary color group. Build the blocks using fabric, construction paper or colored pencils.
Click here to download Split Complementary Block 1 pdf.
Click here to download Split Complementary Block 2 pdf.
Click here for more topics related to The Art of Quilt Design program.
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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:
Please enjoy the tenth quilt from the exhibition by Tim Harding.
Title of Quilt: Artifact #22
Quilter's Name: Tim Harding
Photos by Mary Kay Davis
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Tara Faughnan wanted the focus of her quilt, The Spaces in Between, to be between the snowball blocks, not the blocks themselves. It forces the viewer to take a look at the other shapes that are formed as the blocks overlap and separate.
The Spaces in Between by Tara Faughnan of Oakland, CA was featured in the Improvisation category, sponsored by Gotham Quilts, at QuiltCon 2020.
Photos by Mary Kay Davis
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Medallion Sampler was designed, machine pieced, and hand quilted by Sally. It's in a traditional medallion style with multiple blocks and borders enhancing the center design. You can learn about the quilt in Sally's book, Borders, Bindings, & Edges and you can learn piecing from Sally in our Piecing Masterclass Part 1, and in Show 1602: Secrets for Precision Piecing and Template Tips.
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