dancing in the moonlight

As I was researching ideas for a custom order, I came across an image of this quilt and had to share it. I called it "dancing in the moonlight" and loved all the grasses swaying in the wind with the moon peaking through. At least that's my story. What's yours?

dancing in the moonlight--40x40 inches--quilt by Ann Brauer--image by John Polak

tales of sunrise--the courage of designing

Have you noticed that sometimes quilts just have a mind of their own? This time it was a quilt I was making to test colors for a custom order. I knew what the customer wanted. I knew where it was going to hang but I wasn't sure about how could I get them to work just right. After all, these customers seem like really special people and I wanted to do my best.

The quilt was to be based loosely on "gentle morning" but with a golden sun and slightly warmer colors that are more alive. The bottom perhaps a glowing tan to echo the sky.

gentle morning--40x40 inches--quilt--Ann Brauer 2017--image by John Polak

Sometimes the best thing to do is just start. I knew I could make a wonderful happy quilt for them but I wanted to learn about the colors and the design.

tales of sunrise--work in progress--ann brauer 2018

tales of sunrise--work in progress--ann brauer 201

tales of sunrise--work in progress--ann brauer 2018

Yes, I am loving this quilt. I have learned so much. Which colors work. How to get a wonderful progression. I can't wait to start on the next one with a slightly larger sun. This quilt though deserves to be finished.

I keep coming back to my recent quilt "view from my window."

view from my window--99x99 inches--ann brauer 2018

This requires so much nerve and steadiness. I don't think about it but just cut slowly and steadily. Courage yes. But design takes courage, doesn't it? Then I sewed it back together. I still have to add the bindings which will finish it off and give the quilt a nice polished look. Don't you love how it tells a story. Don't you love the dreaminess of the golden tans at the bottom. Then I get to start on the next one with the larger sun and slower progression of the colors.

view of sunrise--30x55 inches--work in progress--ann brauer 2018

What do you think? Do you ever have to cut apart a quilt to get the right detail?

finishing the quilt

I don't know about you but sometimes I find it hard to finish a quilt, especially if it is a custom order which means I must send it off to its rightful home. After all, I have spent a lot of time working on the piece--I have to figure out how I am going to make it. What tweaks will make the quilt just right for its location. After all, the customer usually wants specific colors and sizes. They have honored me by wanting me to create their vision for their home. Think about it for a moment.

Sometimes as is the case with this quilt, the customer the customer liked the colors of an existing quilt but it was not the right size. Since I was going to be remaking the piece, they also wanted me to change the bottom of the quilt to incorporate a design element from another quilt of mine.

OK--I could do this. Of course this meant I had to think about just the right colors and proportion for the new size and design element. I wanted the quilt to sing and be more than the sum of its parts. And I did learn something when I made it. That is the fun of custom orders. They push me to see my work in just a slightly new direction. Now I want to make another in this series--different colors, different feeling. But a quilt that I am curious to see. I should start it as soon as I get to the studio today. That is the best way to get the quilt done.

another fine day--24x60"--quilt--Ann Brauer 2017

I did it!!!!--day 36

What better way to celebrate 36 years supporting myself making quilts than to post 36 images of quilts I had made, I thought. Sure the number seemed large--would I have 36 things to say? Would I actually manage to post every day for 36 days? That is a commitment. While I had written a blog for a number of years, it had fallen by the wayside  as I created a new web site, worked on my Etsy shop and posted on social media. Still I liked the concept of writing about my quilts so I decided that it was worth a try.

The only way to do it was to start and then keep carrying on. I wasn't going to worry if people would read it. This was an exercise for myself. I could do it. Some days I confess I had little to say. A lovely picture, a few words. Other times the quilt had a story I wanted to tell. When I make a quilt, I tell myself to just keep going. If I can do just a bit of what I know every day then eventually the quilt will take on its own life and get done.

That was the story of these three pieces. It was an order that came on the phone. It seemed like it wouldn't be that difficult. Three quilts, each 32x72 inches. Each designed to look like marsh grasses with the light sparkling through them. I had made smaller variations on this theme and so I took the commission. My schedule was full and I couldn't start right away.

When I did begin, I realized these were going to take a lot longer than I had anticipated. Size does matter. I was working with one very large piece of fabric. The sheer volume of the piece meant that adding the fabric was more labor intensive. I had to remember what I had done previously since I couldn't see the whole as I worked. Still I kept going forward. Piece by piece. A bit every day.

Even getting one of the hangings done didn't feel like progress since there were three of them.  Still the only way out was through. Finally. Finally. They were finished. I could have their images taken and send them off.

Now the studio seems a bit empty. There are walls to fill. New quilts to make. And as to my blog posts, I do intend to keep creating them although not every day and not always about my quilts. The celebration itself will continue with cupcakes on Saturday July 8 from 2-6 during Second Saturday in Shelburne Falls. So mark your calendar. Stay tuned. Thank you for reading.

scenes from the marsh--96x72"--Ann Brauer 2016, 2017--images by John Polak

the hills are alive--day 29

Let's face it--some quilts are just hard to make. Each piece has to be carefully chosen to fit exactly where you want it. The blocks are different sizes and different colors. There is a different hue as the quilt progresses.

It is hard to believe that I created this quilt in my old studio using my old design board which was just an office divider--maybe 3 by 5 feet. I had to remember the colors and adjust them as I worked then I had pin each block as I made it into place so I could see the whole.

What was I thinking? Did I mention I love my new studio with its large design walls? Did I mention that I have no intention of ever making this quilt again?

blue hills--96 x 108"--quilt--Ann Brauer--image by John Polak

from little mug rugs-day 24

Once, many years ago I won a couple of very nice grants.  A regional grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and I was runner-up for a Massachusetts Artist Grant. It was about the same time I made quilts that got into Quilt National. I was "hot". The sky seemed to be the limit. Of course I shouldn't be taking up my time making any of the smaller items--the potholders and placemats, the table runners and mug rugs that would sell at almost any craft show I did and keep me going.

There were certainly arguments to support that point of view and maybe if I had gone to Art School I could have developed a career teaching. Or maybe I could have pushed the quilts until I  sold them at a high enough price to not need the smaller items. I don't know. Could have? Should have? I knew though that I did not enjoy sitting at a craft show as the masses walked right past my booth realizing that even if they loved my work, today was not the day to purchase a more expensive quilt. I am not always a patient person.

But I also realized that there was nothing in my booth that I could afford. So I returned to making potholders and placemats. It wasn't my main business but of course if I was going to make them, they had to be well made and distinctive since they were part of my reputation. They had to be fun for the customers and for me. It was a balancing act to not get too many orders that I didn't time to make the larger more intricate quilts that I wanted to make.

For me it worked. At the studio I even sold small bookmarks and mug rugs. And in a round-about way, one of those mug rugs resulted in the order for all 12 quilts for the Federal District Court House in Springfield, MA. You just never know.

Quilts--Federal District Court House, Springfield, MA--Ann Brauer--photo by John Polak

Quilts--Federal District Court House, Springfield, MA--Ann Brauer--photo by John Polak

Do I still have those internal debates? You bet. When I get into that creative flow, when I get inspired and I just don't have time to make all the quilts I can envision, it is hard to finish an order for potholders. But then I get tired and need a break. Or the quilts are being a bit ornery and there is nothing like the quick satisfaction of a set of potholders that are DONE and will create a bit of joy in someone's life.

high class worries--day 14

Sometimes I work with a customer and together it seems we push the design until it becomes more than I thought it might when I started. That happened with my triptych "notes on twilight". Don't you love the purple grasses with the gold circles dancing through it. Isn't the quilt free and graceful but also restful and calm? One of those pieces that I could study and always find something new?

This quilt does have a presence. It is large--the center piece is 40x40 inches and the two smaller ones are each 20x40 inches. I have it hanging on the back wall of my studio and love looking at it as I pass by.

But alas--as I told you--this was a custom order and the customer wants it. Of course this is what I wanted to happen but still I will miss it. Such a hole on my wall. I remind myself, paraphrasing Alice B Toklas, if I didn't need to replace the spot on my wall, I would not have room to hang another quilt. (Well actually she said if her uncle had not died, someone else might not have been born, but you get the idea.)

Or as a friend of mine would say, "That's high class worries."

notes on twilight--quilt--Ann Brauer 2017--photo by John Polak

detail--notes on twilight--Ann Brauer 2017--photo by John Polak

what an honor--day 8

One of my proudest moments was when I received a call from a woman who had purchased one of my large quilts over 30 years ago. She had only a small glimpse of it in hanging in their living room in a picture of a gathering she had held but still I recognized it as mine from the days I did color studies of log cabins.

The customer told me she cried when she realized that the old familiar quilt was removed. But it was time to redecorate and they wanted me to make a new quilt for the updated space. Stop for a moment and think about that--after living with my quilt for 30 years and it was a large piece--they trusted me to make a new quilt to fill the space and give them the same sense of joy and home.

prairie sunrise--quilt--Ann Brauer 2016

It does look good there, doesn't it? Don't you love the modern but friendly feeling of this quilt with the red in the sky echoing the red in the rug?  Doesn't the room look like it will host many more gatherings for the next 30 years? What do you think?

no more excuses

Sometimes you know--you just have to start. Sure I have memorized the images of the space until I know the colors and the angles by heart.  I have played with fabrics shopping for new ones and more of those I know want to use. Thinking about what will work in those wee hours of the morning as I think about getting up. Sketching designs in my mind as I drive to the studio or finish some hand sewing. 

But now--the holidays are over. I have deadlines and no more excuses. I need to begin.  There are so many possibilities. So many questions of scale that I need to address. Sometimes though for me that best way is to just start. See what I can learn by working at this scale. Will it be like I anticipated? Are the colors going to be right? Will the shape and movement be right? What will I want to do differently? What are the technical issues of this scale that are different from smaller quilts?

Sure I have made quilts that are this size before. "Sunrise" was 30 x 80 inches. I know I can do that.

sunrise--30x80"--quilt--Ann Brauer 2015

My quilt "distant flame" was vertical and also about the right size at 36x80 inches although I fear that three of these quilts would be too busy for the space.

distant fire--36x80"--ann brauer--2015

There is also my quilt "blue dream". I love how organically the "grasses" stretch to the sky but I wonder how it will translate when each panel is three times as wide. Three panels with three separate grasses could be too much for the space. What will happen when each panel becomes wider and shorter. Will it still have the same grace or will it look boring as a block of color?

blue dream--38x100 inches--ann brauer--2015

This time the mission is to create three matching wall hangings in three different colors in my "flame" or "marsh grass"series to hang in an entry way. The colors of the space are soft and floral but also sophisticated. I don't want it to be too busy. There is a lot of subtle design in the space. But I also don't want it to be too subtle that it fades into the background. The three quilts that have been ordered are each to be about 32x72 inches. Size does matter. It will be important to get the flowing grasses within this concept and have the three quilts look unified together.

What about "marsh moon"?  I love the glimpses of light peeking through the grasses? If I use the same feeling of light in all three panels will that tie the work together? Granted it will need some work to get the size right? But what will happen when I make three of them in the colors of the rug? Like three versions of the day? Will it be too busy or will the detail work perfectly to complement the rug.

marsh moon--work in progress--about 36x60 inches--ann brauer--2016

Hmmm. Well sometimes the only way to find out is to start. There is a lot I will learn by actually making the quilt and seeing how it works. After all, the worst case is I have a finished quilt that is not quite right for the space but that has taught me how to think this big. Nothing wrong with that, is there? And I do want to get this order done before the Baltimore Craft Show in February. Oh so much to do, isn't there?

Now before I begin this blog series I want to alert my readers, this will not be a how-to post. My goal in this post--and indeed in all of my blogs--is not to show how to make a quilt just like mine but instead to suggest how I think when I am making a quilt--the questions I ask and how I muddle through to get the right finished product in the hope that some of these same questions and methods will help you make the quilts that you imagine and want to create.

it is what it is..

Ah Baltimore. The grand behometh of shows. The show where dreams come and go. The place of so much hope and anticipation for here is the possibility of magic. Some shows have been for me amazing. The year the couple could not decide which quilt to purchase and bought both. That was sweet. The year I couldn't wrap orders fast enough--I thought I might sell out. That was sweet. The year I received one of their awards--they only give out a few each year. Oh, that was indeed sweet.

Of course I forget the year of the blizzard. The city was almost shut down. An interesting adventure. Or the year I was tucked off in never never land. A break even year. The year of the first Gulf War. Sure people came and numbly walked the aisles. Not a year to remember though--the customers just wanted to forget the War.

As I get ready every winter, I try not to remember the more painful years. After all, this is my chance to get inspired. To make a statement. To see how my work measures up to the best of the best (and all the rest.) Don't you just love that rhyme?

I envision my booth. Plan it in my mind's eye again and again. What pieces do I need to make a statement--as strong as the other booths around me. I dream of the public being amazed by my work--why shouldn't they be? But even if they are not, I know this is just the start of the year. There is so much to learn--so much tweaking to do. So many questions to ask. This is not about me but about them. I am asking them to spend their money. To live with my work in their home. It is a privilege to respond to their questions. To listen. I am humble by the experience.

I love how light and airy my booth looks. The new flame series seeming to stretch toward the sky. I love the colors. The dance of the the flames. Doesn't it look good?

Baltimore booth--Ann Brauer

Well perhaps not as good as it looks in the studio. The studio is gorgeous and complete. The walls are real and clean. I do not need to have all the soft walls and light stands. I don't need to push everything together. There is a place at the studio and everything is in its space. That was the first warning.

The second was the little mumblings I heard in the distance. The ones where people whispered--this is work that is in transition--as though this was a bad thing. Maybe it was. Now I did want to show even more flames but there were just too many snow storms. Too many distractions. That I will give myself a pass on--I tried. I aim to stretch my work every year. That I think is a plus. I don't want my work to be static. I will give myself a pass there also. Although I could have presented the whole better. I push my work and sometimes it takes a while for me to find the whole amid the possible. Yes, I could have done better in retrospect--why do I always have more to learn? Sigh.

The third was not me. A snow storm. On Saturday. Normally the best day of the show. And Sunday was just Sunday. Those who had to see everything. I give myself a pass here--the weather is out of my control.

Still there was something to learn. Something I can do better for my next show. Paradise City Marlborough in March. My customers told me repeatedly that they wanted quilts that were five feet long instead of 80 inches. Eighty inches is too long for all but the largest tables. While I love the larger hangings, most walls are only 8 feet tall and so there is not enough room to hang a quilt that is 80 inches long.

That is a good idea.  So I start my first wall hanging. Grey just like the one that I sold but not quite as long. This one will have gentler colors just because.  I can make a couple for Paradise.

Flame wall hanging--Ann Brauer

I start with the colors and outline. Add more colors. I want it to work either as a table runner or a wall hanging. Practice is always fun.

Grey flame--Ann Brauer

And keep adding, one row at a time, the colors slightly different from the one I sold but such a good color. I need to make a couple more so I can make them in the colors people want. Enough so I can make custom orders in the color people need for their home. Yes, I wanted to make more anyway.

As for the booth--yes, I want to improve the booth but first I want to make more wall hangings. See what will happen. After all the best way to not have my work look transitional is to make more pieces so customers can feel reassured I can make a quilt just for them.

And you, do you find you learn something new every time you do a show or finish a new piece of art? What are your lessons? How do you make new work but still stay consistent with the market?

the mission

The mission--which I chose to accept--is to create a special quilt for the office of a client of mine. They loved this quilt--rivers of green. Just the right size and shape. Just the right amount of motion. But are the colors ones that work for them? Is it too "cold" for their space?

river of green--36x36"--Ann Brauer 2014

After all, it is a quilt that will be in the office of the administrator. She will be looking at it every day. The clients will be coming in and associating this quilt with the office. It must be just right. They send me the colors of the office and a link to their web site. So helpful. This is a custom order so I should get a feeling for the space.

I suggest that since they use the concept of an olive branch in their work, maybe the quilt should reflect an olive branch. Great idea. But they can't quite visualize it. Can I send some colors? Sure.

What is the color of a black olive? Look at it. Sort of a combination of reds and purples, browns. How to add just the right amount of sparkle to the olive? There wasn't a good fabric I could find that was just "olive". I add snippets of fabrics to give them an idea.

Ann Brauer

Then I start to worry. (I do that a lot with a custom order anyway.) Are these the right colors? Even if they are--will the customer be able to visualize that this will really result in an "olive" river?

Well, there is only one good way to test it. So I decide to start.

Ann Brauer

 Is this too busy? How do the colors work? Again I know the quilt will change as it grows.

Ann Brauer

 Yes, I do like how the colors are beginning to flow.

Is blue the right color to surround the quilt? Again I am not sure. There is blue in the office. Well, I might as well make it. This quilt is not for them anyway. But for me. Certainly these are colors that will sell. And I do need lots of quilts. Next month I am doing the Berkshire Craft Show at Monument Mountain High School August 8-10 and then the American Craft Exposition in Evanston August 22-24. Yes, I will be busy.

Ann Brauer

And now I wonder. What if I used a lighter tan to surround the quilt? How would that look? Or maybe switched up the colors all together. So many possibilities. What if the olive were more purple and the outside more beige? How would that look? Don't you love how one quilt can inspire others? Does this happen to you? And what will the clients think?

For those in the area, do check out the Berkshire Craft Show--now in its 41st year. http://www.berkshirecraftsfair.org  and the American Craft Exposition at http://www.americancraftexpo.org. Hope to see some of you there.

so close and yet....

I don't know about you--but sometimes I just wish there were some magic elves that would come and finish the quilt while I was asleep. There it sits on the design board. I know it is going to be glorious. And yet, there is so much work to do on it. I just want it DONE. Finished. I am ready for a new project.

Oh never let it be said that I am a patient person. Truth be told--I am not.

This was the case with the custom order I have been working on. You may remember. The custom order of the quilt--rainbow of dawn. Same colors. No green and little orange. Smaller. And more a horizontal quilt. Yes, it took me a while to get it to this point. I had a bit extra time and even started sewing it together. Doesn't it look so much more polished as a unit. And then it sat there.

rainbows of dawn--30x40"--quilt--Ann Brauer

Ugh. Well, there was nothing to do but work my way through this. It was a rainy day. The perfect day for such a project. So I pinned the next two blocks together.

rainbow of dawn--quilt--Ann Brauer

Sewed a preliminary seam.

rainbow of dawn--quilt--Ann Brauer

And then added the binding. I use strips of cotton fabric. Which I cut width of fabric. Although any thing you can needle easily will work.

rainbow of dawn--quilt--Ann Brauer

And press open. Then I check to make sure I have caught everything just right and whip stitch the binding in place. How nice it looks on the right side doesn't it?

rainbow of dawn--quilt--Ann Brauer

Sounds easy. Just repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

As an aside, I do get to play with colors and thoughts along the way. What would happen if I did not use the yellow, for instance. Something to ponder as I sew.

rainbow of dawn--quilt--Ann Brauer

Then I finish the bindings. Press again. Sign the quilt.  Sew on the Velcro. And finally hang it up.

Sounds easy, doesn't it? And truth be told, it is not hard. Just long. But one must keep going.

I guess that is part of life though, isn't it? Aren't there always some chores that just must be done in order to move on the next one?

rainbow of dawn--quilt--Ann Brauer

rainbow of dawn--quilt--Ann Brauer

Here's hoping the lovely customer likes the quilt half as much as I do. What do you think? How do you get through the more tedious tasks?

that certain something

Now for those who follow my blog, I have been working on making a custom quilt for a wonderful collector of my art. It is a smaller version of rainbows of the dawn. Unfortunately for me, smaller does not always mean--easier. Because it is smaller, each wedge of fabric gains further importance.

Think of it. If one piece in a large quilt is not quite right--close but just a little off--it is not going to stand out. But if one piece of a small quilt is off, it will stand out.

This is especially true when I am adding those fabrics that add the "life" to the quilt. That certain je ne sais quoi. On a large quilt, I add lots of those fabrics and they fit in. But too many of them in a small quilt and they take over. Still I need some. After all I want the quilt to have a life. A bit of zing.

As always I tell myself to make what I know. So I add the purple at the bottom. Looks good doesn't it?

rainbow of dawn--Ann Brauer 2014

And the first row of magenta. Again it helps complete the quilt.

rainbow of dawn--Ann Brauer 2014

But look carefully. Because I did add a couple of prints to add sparkle. Can you tell?

rainbow of dawn--Ann Brauer 2014

Sure the colors are off in this image. But there is the pattern and the hint of yellows that help tie it together. And just a hint of blue "sky". Yes, the fabrics need to be used carefully.

Another row. And more hints. Not too much.

rainbow of dawn--Ann Brauer 2014

And so it continues. Do you see how the patterns add just that right amount of life to the quilt?

rainbow of dawn--Ann Brauer 2014

What do you think?  How do you add that zest to your work?