The Art Quilt Series at The Running Stitch

Not that many more weeks left before autumn, and the start of my Art Quilt Series class here in Ottawa at the The Running Stitch. Dates of the series appear near the end of this post.

Who is this class for? Anyone who would like to design their own art quilts. That might be someone coming from a traditional quilting background who wants to move away from using patterns or someone who wants to move into making art quilts without any quilting background. There is no sewing knowledge required for the designing and dyeing portion of the class. Eventually you will need to have a reliable sewing machine that you are familiar with to finish your work.

What will we do in this class?  We'll learn about the following topics:
1.  Creativity and Inspiration
2.  Composition, Design & Colour
3.  Turning your inspiration and ideas into original quilts.
     a)  Seat of the Pants Design
     b)  Designing Your Own Pattern
5.  Fabric Dyeing
6.  Edge Finishes

To see more about what my class at the Haliburton School of the Arts did this summer go to this link.

Here are a few design exercise samples I whipped up during demo's in my previous Art Quilt classes. The two small pieces below are done using a "seat of the pants" design method.

They are loosely based and inspired by this photograph I took at a ruin site in New Mexico.

Here's another seat of the pants design (all cut free-hand).

This abstract design is based on a close-up photo I shot of a glass fish on my windowsill, with the sun shining through.  You can see the composition I isolated below.

The following two small designs were created using a pattern I made from a sketch of mine (the sketch is immediately below the designs). 

Here's an example of a more substantial piece I made by creating a pattern from a sketch.  This piece is called "Heartbeat of the Earth".

Here's my original sketch.  Sorry about the quality. I could only find my enlarged sketch, which had to be scanned in two parts.

This small design was inspired by the photograph that appears below it, taken during a visit to the Bonnechere Caves.  This design was traced rather than sketched.

Here is a more substantial piece ("Red Stool") inspired by a combination of three photographs (in the second photo).

This quilt, "Moon Over Naikoon" was created using both methods: seat of the pants construction for the wind, waves, and trees, and making a pattern for the moon face.

You'll learn how to dye your own fabric to use in your original designs. You choose either an earthy or bright palette.  You'll be introduced to colour mixing as well as a more free-form method of dying multi-coloured fabric.

Earthy Palette

Bright Palette

Dates of the workshops (all Sundays) are as follows:

September 22

October 27
November 24
December 15
January 12, 2014.

Contact The Running Stitch to register.