Recent Workshops

I've taught a number of workshops over the last several weekends, but have been a bit neglectful in posting. Today I'm sharing some pictures from these workshops.

Two Sundays ago I taught  Part 4 of The Art Quilt Series at The Running Stitch. We lost a bit of momentum due to having to cancel a class in December because of bad weather. I finally had a chance to see some of the hand-dyed fabric students dyed at the previous class in November. Here are some pictures. Suzan went a step further and created a colourwheel from her colourwheel of bright fabricss. Below that is a stack of fabrics from the earthy colourwheel dyed by Kristi.

A few of the multi-colours:

Barb, who has taken my dyeing class before, dyed these with friends while vacationing beside the pool in Nevada :-) Lovely!

 

Some students completed the first design exercise, which was a "seat of the pants" construction. I gave them certain parameters, like a) choose an orientation, b) choose a compositional style, c) have one of the elements and principles of design dominate, d) pay attention to what you've learned about colour. Here are just a few of the samples brought to class.

This is Barb's forest scene. Love the little complement of blue against the oranges and pinks. Although it did not appear in the original photo that was the inspiration for this piece, Barb improved upon the photo by making this addition.

Kristi tried her hand at a couple of landscapes. Love how the curve running from lower right to upper left moves your eye through the piece, and the sky on the second version is absolutely stunning.

Monique's flower seems to be rising like a balloon floating upward. A very nice airy composition that will probably be enhanced by removing the dark border that seems to be boxing in that lovely floating flower. Love the touch of the little yellow petal, which helps to balance the larger and heavier flower.

Ruth's still life has a nice use of different values, giving the fruit bowl lots of depth.  A really interesting feature is the smaller art work hanging on the wall of the scene.

Mary placed her focal point in the sweet spot ... the golden mean position. The eye moves around the piece nicely from there, along the curved stem and around the leaf on right.  The stitched feathery edges she has added using a decorative stitch adds an interesting texture.

The next design exercise is to design a small pattern and create with a more planned approach. Again, I gave the class parameters, which will include working with a 5-7 step value gradation.

Last Saturday I taught my In Full Bloom class for the Ottawa Valley Quilters Guild. Students were very patient given the challenges with the new fusible product I'm using while Steam a Seam is out of production. One thing I have discovered is that the new fusible (Pellon Lite EZ Steam II) is stronger and tougher, making it possible to trace on the sticky side instead of the paper side. The good news about this is that it alleviates the need to have a pattern in reverse and think in reverse. Everyone was very pleased about that. However, the product is a bit inconsistent. Sometimes the parchment paper side comes off easiest and sometimes the heavier freezer paper comes off easier. 

Sue's tulip was coming along splendidly.

Bev's poppy was off to a good start.

Today I taught In Full Bloom to the Common Thread Quilt Guild, on the east side of Ottawa. We had a wonderfully large and bright classroom.

Cheryl brought along the tree she created in my Tree Collage class a few weeks ago, when I taught for the "Frayed Edges" group in Ottawa. Her classmates are convening here to give feedback on her background. She sewed a wonderful grey sky of diamond shapes. 

Here is a better shot of the tree, but I was using my cell phone camera, and shooting on the table from above, so I completely cut off the roots she added. The colour combination is really nice with purples.

The class was ever so patient again with the fusible challenges, and I think everyone was grateful to not have to think in reverse.  I took just a few photos near the end of the class.

Carole used one of my variegated hand-dyed green velvets for the leaves on her rose. 

Jeannine's rose:

Kirstin got a good start on a tulip in warm reds and oranges.

Of course it takes more than one day to build one of these flowers. I look forward to seeing photos of the finished pieces.

A couple more local workshops at the end of February, and I start travelling again in March. 

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.  

New Workshops in Ottawa

I am pleased to share that I will be teaching a series of workshops this Fall/Winter at The Running Stitch Quilt Shop in Kanata (west side of Ottawa). I am also pleased to let you know that one of these workshops will be my five-day Art Quilt Series. It's been two years since this series ran in Ottawa, so don't miss out!

The dates (all Sundays) are:

September 22
October 27
November 24
December 15
January 12, 2014.

Here's the class description:

In this five-day workshop, the focus will be on ways to inspire you and jumpstart your creativity so you can produce original works of art in the quilt medium (even if you think you are not creative!). Throughout the class the instructor will share her own process for making an original art quilt from beginning to end. Instruction and exercises on colour and the elements and principles of design will give you the background to make more visually dynamic work. You will be introduced to two methods for designing your own quilts:  1) seat of the pants design, or 2) creating your own pattern.  Learn how to dye your own fabric, techniques you might need to construct the quilt itself, and how to finish your work.   

I'll also be doing a trunk show at The Running Stitch on the evening of Friday, September 13, as well as teaching my "Reflections" class on Saturday, November 23.

You might also be interested to know that The Running Stitch was the site for a wedding this past Saturday. Read about it here.