So recently I read a  great post Chris wrote on her blog about classes she took.  Then Joanna followed it up with her take on the topic here.  The same week, a new friend from Timna Tarr's class asked me how did I learn how to make abstract quilts.  It struck me what a big part taking classes has played in my life. When I say big part, I mean life-changing. 

To be fair though, I've always prioritized education and it's been a passion of mine right from the beginning.  So when I discovered quilting why would that be any different. I did take a couple of classes at the beginning on the local level (1995 ish).  One was to learn how to needle turn applique and the other to learn how to bind the quilts that were starting to pile up.  But from reading Quilter's Newsletter magazine, I knew that there was more to quilting and I wanted to learn it! 

So here are some classes I took and why they changed my life.....

Joan Colvin - Nature of Design, 2001

This was the class where I realized that although I had no art background I could make an art quilt.  Artistic ability was something you nurtured not that you were magically born with.  The class started out with me a hot mess...me pouring my heart out on my failures to new friends Philipa Naylor and Christine Fries...and them encouraging me to start over.  So I did and made this

What else I learned: Rough Edge Applique, Free motion quilting, and you can learn as much from your classmates as your talented teacher.

Jeannette DeNicolis Meyer  - Design Essentials,  2005 (I think - grin)

Jeanette taught me that there was a whole set of design elements I needed to learn and why you apply them to make your composition.  She also finally showed me why people like abstract art and what makes good abstract art and not so good abstract art. She taught me the importance of using the right artistic terms when speaking of art. So I started my praise series with this..

What else I learned: That most creative process goes through a rollercoaster of - Wow What a great idea - Oh this is harder than I thought - OMG this SUCKS! What was I thinking? - HolyMoly Did I make that????

Elizabeth Barton, Inspired to Design (2008), Abstract Art Quilt (2013)

If I was being honest, Elizabeth has had the biggest impact on my artist career.  Her methodical method of making art quilts really resonated with me.  I learned how to take my time and plan at the beginning of a quilt so it will save you some heartache later.  I learned how to select a palette and how to edit and critique my work. 

We dyed the fabric, designed it and sewed

From our Masterclass

 What else I learned:  How to dye gradations of fabric, always include a neutral in your quilt

Rosalie Dace - Thinking Eye (Paul Klee) - 2012

I've taken several classes with Rosalie, but this is the one where she taught me that there was a lot to be learned from master artists.  Once I started studying Klee, I then wanted to learn about all other artists and it started a kinda of art history obsession.

Praise Ladies II

What else I learned: When putting together a palette, include all values, saturations, and hues to bring your piece to life.

Vicky Luffman - Silk Painting - 2019

In this class, I learned that I don't like to paint....I mean really don't like to paint.  If I was going to take a class for 5 days I want it to have something to do with textile.  (and preferably nothing to do with a paintbrush).  This is not to disparage this class - it was a great class (for someone who wants to paint!)  I also learned that all the design elements I learned up to this point could easily translate into any medium.

Procion Dyes painted on silk

What else I learned:  Research your class thoroughly before signing up.  (I honestly thought this was a surface design class!)

So those are the classes that had that "Ah-Ha" moment for me.  I can absolutely say they were well worth the time, money, and energy.  Of course, there are honorable mentions - Jane Dunnewold, Complex Cloth who taught me I didn't want to surface design but I now knew how to if needed ...Judi Warren Blaydon who taught me how to college, and Cynthia Corbin who taught me so many things over the years about composition I didn't include her above because it's hard to narrow it down to a paragraph!  

So why do I take classes??  The easy answer is to learn.  The more deep answer is to change my life. 

 I really want to thank everyone for their kind and encouraging comments last week.  It was a clear reminder that we do NOT create in a vacuum.  Life is so much easier when you have people rooting for you!  

As I promised I did spend a Sunday afternoon sewing up the color exercise.  I finally decided that there was no right or wrong answer on how the columns were to be sewn together.  So chunky black columns it is!  It took longer than expected to square up the pieced columns since with that many seams those suckers tend to stretch and shift, but I got it done.  

I'm still playing with a couple of ideas for the framing, but I left that for tomorrow since I took the whole day off to sew.  Yes, now there is a unique idea....take off a day from work to create.  Who knows?!  It might help my general attitude.  

(Not to mention, it's not like I'm going anywhere.  The shores of Lake Erie are under blizzard conditions and it's crazy wintery out there!!)

Hey, I got News!!

The annual quilting conference, Quilting by the Lake announced that it will be running this year, July 18-29th.  The good news is that the lineup of teachers is as stellar as ever.  There is something for everyone on the list of classes.  Of course, there is the usual agenda of activities for after class as well.  Plus, conference fees have not been increased and remain at 2020 prices.

 The bad news (at least for me) is that Covid precautions will be as strict as ever.  All participants will be required to show proof of vaccination plus wear masks in every public space. For anybody who has been to a conference, a public space pretty much means every place that isn't your own bedroom.  Participants are requested to social distance as much as possible.  Oh and wash your hands.

Since I already found out that I don't do well with such restrictions, I am disheartened to say I will be sitting this one out.  It really makes me sad since this truly has been my favorite annual event for over 20 years now.  Honestly though,  with everyone masked and apart, I don't feel connected and that's why I go.  Don't get me wrong.   I totally understand why these measures are put into place.  That said, I feel like everyone has a right to make their own medical decisions (and keep them private) and assess their own risk factors in life.  

Once again...Covid sucking the joy out of life.  

Still, it can't stay winter forever right?!?!

So with that....

What Have You Been Up to Creatively?

It's no secret that I have a tendency to use my creative vacations as fuel for the rest of the year.  I never thought of it as a crutch, but after this pandemic dry spell, I guess it has been.  Without them, I've been totally lost.  That's why when I got the email from Donna Lamb, Director of the Schweinfurth Art Center (and also Quilting by the Lake) announcing a master quilt class taught by Rosalie Dace, I said thankyouLordJesus.  I mean seriously, I could not spend another year piecing together cutesy little girl quilts no matter how much fun it was! So I signed right up.  That was 6 weeks ago and of course i  have not really not given it a second thought.

So now it's less than 36 hours away and it's time to get my act together.  Preparation is weird this year. I didn't have to spend a few hours packing up my studio (which over 20 years of taking these classes, I've become a wiz at).  No!  This year, I had to download Zoom.  Take a crash course on how to use it.  Play with my new web cam which I told my daughter I would give to her when I'm done with the class. Make sure the lighting for the camera was correct and get my studio ready for a new class.  

So in preparation for class or retreat you should....

• Print off two copies of the supply list.  Check one off as you pack things and then pack the supply the list last.  The other copy goes with your general information you have about the class.  As you pack, make sure that your machine is cleaned, extra needles/manual are packed and plenty of extra bobbins are wound.  Make sure your scissors are sharp and include paper scissors.  Also tape has always been helpful  - masking and scotch!
• Check the agenda of the class.  If you have any questions, don't be afraid to email your teacher.  Honestly, unless I've had the teacher before, I always email with questions on the class before and after I sign up.  The more you know about the class the better time you'll have.
• Make sure you do any pre-class homework.  So many times, I've seen students show up with it not being done and not only does it hurt themselves, but it often hurts their fellow students since the class needs to be adjusted for them.  
• Have a general goal what you expect to get out of the class before you start.  Do you want to learn a technique?  Do want to create a project?  Do you want to find a new focus.  I swear my general goal for this class is I want to find a  jumping off point for something new and exciting.
• Set up expectations you want from the class.  As you progress through the class, if you feel that your expectations

  Rosalie Dace teaching from South Africa

  
   are not being met, I encourage you to talk to the teacher rather than just getting annoyed.  So many times, finding joy means finding the courage to communicate.  More than once I've seen  a fellow classmate not speak up and leave the class sour and disappointed.  Don't be that person!
• Finally, come fully rested and comfortable.  Wear comfortable clothes, have you favorite tools around and keep bottle of pain reliever near by.  Many a day was saved by two little advils I swear.  Creating is tough stuff!

15 years ago, I started a piece in a class taught by Cynthia Corbin.  Now we all know that not all pieces started in class merit enough to be finished.  Some are started with bad ideas  and bad design, some are just samples to learn a technique, and some are just techniques that you just don't like to do.  But not this one.  I've  written about Sadie before because more than once I said I was going to save her.  

In the past, people have offered how to save her... change her initial shape since its not realistic
enough, add more thread painting to give her more definition, add shading to Sadie to make her more realistic, take out Sadie all together etc. etc. 

I knew there was something wrong but I didn't quite know what and Cynthia whose work is mostly abstract thought that Sadie just detracted from the great complex background.  But I love Sadie and I wanted to save her and have the great background compliment her.


I think now after all these years I can make my own critique and finally save Sadie. 

• The subject matter....its a woman walking home toward a town on a hill at dawn...after a long night of dancing
• The interesting non realistic shape of Sadie....its not suppose to be too realistic
• The complex background she's walking toward

Things That Need to be Resolved

• The two elements are fighting against each other  - Sadie and the Town
• The over all intensity is the same  - all saturated 
• The focal point is not defined enough and there is not clear path for your eye to move
• There is no quiet space in the piece
• There isn't enough texture and needs a stronger line

Just writing out this list gives me a better idea of what needs to be done.  Most times, when a piece is not working it needs things to be eliminated rather than added. I am still intrigued by Sadie and want to get her home. 

This is from my daily Bible study that popped up this week that got me thinking about Sadie again...It seems just as relevant today as it when it was written.  And yes it is from Ecclesiastes 3 and not The Byrds (grin) ....This is The Message Version

There’s an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth:

Edge of an Instant, 16" by 14" Emily Richardson

So if you haven't gotten it in the last two weeks, my Quilting by the Lake was a pivotal in my life.  Its the kind of time where I'll be saying in 20 years, "It all changed after Emily's Class" .  The more distance from the class the more  ideas are constantly jumping in my head.  I had to start a little journal so I wouldn't lose them!

Last week I left off with my little beginner piece.  The second one I wanted to try adapting the way I create and meld it with Emily's organic approach.  I started with a loose sorting of my fabrics (you'd have to see Emily's studio....it looks like color silk exploded all over while she's designing and then
magically its all picked up while she's sewing).  Then I picked a background piece to set the size.  And it was off to the races!!




Step1:   Just get Stuff Up



At this point I really had no idea where I was going.  I did know that I would set up an underlying value that would help hold it together.

Basically the Before

Ready to Paint!

So the artist/teacher Emily Richardson finally was rescheduled this year to return to Quilting by the Lake to teacher the class Inspiration Through Reflection: Painting Fabric, Creating Quilts. I believe this was her 5th time at the conference over the last 20 years.  Even though I loved her work, I just wasn't in a place that I thought I could confidently be taught what she did.  BUT this year, I was and I'm so glad I did!!  


At QBL, some years I learn just a bit and play a lot; some years I learn a LOT of stuff and play not at all.  I've had a couple really crappy years where I kept waking up each day and think OMG why did I take this class???  THIS year I really had a creative breakthrough and an amazing lot of fun!!  I would look up at Emily and say at least a couple of times a day, "I'm really  having a good time!!"

My OMG why didn't I take up knitting when I had a chance!

Now going in I really didn't have a clear idea  of what we are going to do.  But I did know that I didn't think she was going to show us how she created and show us how to do it!!  BOY was I wrong.  We had a nice range of 21 ladies in class  - some with a ton of surface design experience, some with a ton of design experience, ladies who had made very few art quilts and even a lady who  really hadn't made a quilt yet.  And Emily taught us all....no matter where we were on our creative journey she found us and dragged us along till we got the hang of it.  The class looked like an art gallery when we were done.


On the first day of class, I promised Emily I was going to jump on her train and follow her directions.  This really is  not my style.  I mean I love rules....right up to the point that I think their stupid.  But if you just stay in your little box and never step out,  you will never progress.  (maybe I should send that to the leaders of the two major political parties).

Getting the hang of it

hmmmm, Sorry, I digress....

For the first two days we painted mostly silk.  The supply list came with a relatively inexpensive supply kit that contained all sorts of silk types for us to experiment with. Plus I brought all my silk scraps  too.  We stacked the fabric and just started painting.  I would be lying if I said at this point I had a clue of how I was suppose to paint but Emily said just get some paint on the silk so that's what I did (as you can see from the picture).  But with each following painting session, I had more an idea of how it was going to come out and what kind of effects I liked best.  Really, though all the fabric came out usable.  Maybe not amazing usable, but it will do usable.

MUCH Happier With this one

By  Day 3, we put all the paint away, and started to design. Emily gave us instructions on how basically put the fabric up and fill up your piece. THEN you were suppose to move things around by what you liked and what you didn't.  What bothered you...what you didn't,..she gave us a list of things on how to evaluate your piece so you know when it was done and that was a skill I really needed to work on.  But really not many of us started with a clear idea of how it was going to come out and that's how she does it.  At the end THEN she titles it.  Totally different with how I work.

By the end of Day 3, I finished my first trial which Emily thought was almost there.  She walked up and looked at the piece - looked at my silk pile .... grabbed  the right piece and put it in the right place.  PERFECT....so apparently you get better at this with years of practice.  Although that saved me a TON of trials, I still like to do my own work.  I asked if I could do another one that looked more like me and less derivative of Emily's work.  She gave me a look because normally classes start sewing it down but once mine was basted I thought I could do the rest at home. (Most everyone did more than one...some even did three!  She said she never had a class do that!)

Actually this one came out the best....you really don't know you're going until you iron the out!!

Day 4/5 was spent doing a much bigger piece more in my own compositional style and it went  together  much easier.  By Friday at 2:00 pm, it was all basted and ready for our last evaluations.  I'm leaving that piece for another post but I really love it!!

My first piece ...not super big 14" by 20"

Two weeks later, I still haven't made it back into my studio to figure how how to finish sewing them.  But I will  this weekend.

Now we're cooking....ooops Painting!

So to sum it up....If you ever get a chance to take a class with Emily ... DO IT!!  She has a unique teaching style which is totally her.  She's a lovely lady.  Quiet on the outside but really has a nice dry sense of humor underneath. She's VERY generous with her process.  She's one of the few teacher/artist that doesn't do this to be in the limelight.  In fact, I'm thinking that is the last place she wants to be.  I think she creates to share the beauty of her work with the world.  And yessssss...it was super fun to soak it in all week!

I love this picture!

So What You Been Up to Lately?

So last week was my 17th year at the quilt conference, Quilting by the Lake.  I love going back every year because it seems so familiar and yet there is always something new.  This year was no

Suffrage Quilt, Votes for Women, Ellen Blalock

exception.  In fact, I'm not sure if its because I'm finally truly over my blue period or because I'm in an up swing of creativity but there seemed to be inspiration EVERYWHERE.  I took a ton of pictures and I thought I would share a few.  This year I kept them to the gorgeous campus (which is finally over the major construction its been under the last few years) and the quilt show.  But besides these, there were some great lectures that were fascinating, an amazing show and tell and a super fun mini-mall.

So every morning I got up around 5:15 am and headed to the Family Y which is on campus and open to QBL participants.


When you're in Syracuse you never quite know what the weather will bring!!
The campus was filled with gorgeous wild flowers  - everywhere!





But what was the best was this year quilt show!

Martin Luther King, Susan Robinson

Cabin on a Lake, Cheryl Kosarek

Label Quilt, Carol Boyer

Close Up of Label quilt

Gatekeeper 2, Lily Moebes

Close up of Gatekeeper 2 by Lily Moebes

There are many, many more pictures of the week - it was just one big visual explosion I swear!
Next week, I'll do a post on my amazing week with Emily Richardson.  I want to think a bit more on the class yet.  I still haven't caught my breathe from it all - it was quite the whirl-wind!

So What Have Been Up to Creatively?

Jeannette at work

It seems impossible but another Quilting by the Lake has come and gone.  Taking a class with Jeannette DeNicolis Meyer is always a pleasure and this class was no exception.  What I loved the most about it was that there was a little bit of something for everyone.  We started the week with learning how to paint on silk organza.  From there we learned techniques on how to seam together sheers using the Korean form of pogaji by hand and machine. After that we went into a bunch of
different ways to manipulate the sheers. Quickly we realized that if you didn't like a certain technique that was okay because we were soon onto another one and there were several to choose from.

QBL Artist in resident showing her work

After a few exercises, Jeanette had us choose a direction to do some independent work.  While sitting there thinking of what I wanted to do, I realized that for once I didn't have a big idea.  Really, what had fascinated me the most was how the sheers interacted with each other and how with layering them you got change of colors and value and that new shapes were formed.  All very unexpected and interesting!  So I started working on 4" block little studies.  All the material was provided under our supply fee and there was plenty of colors to play with.  After a couple of days work I had 25 studies done that really did make a kind of grouping in themselves.  I'm not quite sure what I am going to do with them but they are a nice start.

Looking around the room at the end of the class, there was  a very diverse body of work going.  Some people choose to work on the techniques she taught, some worked on big projects, some just played around abstractly.  It was kind amazing all the different directions we took.

Quietly walking back to my room on the last night I marveled at so many little things about the week that make QBL special.....the patience Jeannette showed me when demonstrating how to sew a seam for the third time,,,,how good the hand cut fries were at lunch...meeting up with old friends and hearing that their year went well....the 6 full days of just being with people that understand what I do.

It really was a good week. 

Greetings from Syracuse, NY!!  What an exciting week its been!  Exhausting ....but Exciting!!  I promise I'll catch you up on my class, but before that I wanted to share some of this year's quilt show.  Each year, the conference hosts a juried quilt show asking past and present participants to enter quilts.  Each year it is fabulous. 

Here is some eye candy for you enjoyment!


Don't ask me how I chose which to take pictures of for this blog. It was just row after row of amazing quilts.What I really liked about this show was there were several quilts from past classes (some that I was in).  You can really see the fruits of the students labor!  Plus there was a good range of traditional quilts, modern quilts and art quilts. 

Stay tuned for more on this amazing week!

So What Have Been Up to Creatively?