rolling hills--my view

Yesterday as I was sitting on my walkway doing some hand sewing, a passerby noted:
"It looks like you are where you want to be." How true that is.

The views from my new studio are so much more spectacular than I had remembered.
The mountain stands there benevolent and green protecting the river.

View from my Studio in Shelburne Falls, MA--Ann Brauer--2014

Upstream, the river winds into the green. And behind my sewing machine the windows promise more green and the chirping of birds. I spend far too much time just looking and absorbing my surroundings.

And of course I must make quilts.

I create a pile of fabric.

And start sewing.

I must capture this green. The gentle hills. The water flowing. The look.  The mood.

This quilt just comes together like it was made to happen.

No need to write much about it. The quilt speaks for itself, doesn't it?

rolling hills--summer days--Ann Brauer--12x39"--2014

detail of rolling hills--Ann Brauer 2014

And soon, the view will change. The clouds and mist will shroud the mountain. And probably I will need to make another quilt to commemorate the scene.

View from my studio--Shelburne Falls, MA--Ann Brauer

Yes the Grand Opening is this Saturday June 28 from 4-7 but I am open most days except Tuesday. I hope to see some of you there so you too can check out the view. See my new work. Celebrate. And for those who can't make it, there is my Good Night Irene sale on Etsy. http://www.etsy.com/shop/annbrauer

The Quilts of Ann Brauer--June schedule

A monthly post on my schedule for the month of June.

Wow--can you believe it is June already? The year is absolutely flying by. Already the iris are blooming in my garden and I have the first of the day lilies. My tomato plants have started flowering.

For me, June will be a month of getting ready for shows later in the summer. This is good since it means I get to spend a lot of time in my studio in Shelburne Falls as the village gears up for the summer season. There is a lot going on this month. The Bridge of Flowers is in full bloom with new flowers opening almost every day.

On June 12 the Village becomes alive with the annual Riverfest. This celebration of the Deerfield River is a family event with sales, activities along the river and a wonderful parade of "critters" from the river. http://www.shelburnefalls.com.

For Father's Day the Trolley Museum just up the hill from me will be offering free rides to all fathers accompanied by a child of any age. The next week there will be a Civil War Re-enactment will be part of the annual Trolleyfest with many special activities. http://.www.sftm.org/events.shtml It should be fun.

In July I was selected from more than 100 quilt artists to have a show--The Landscape Quilts of Ann Brauer at Landmark at Eastview in Tarrytown, NY.This show which runs through October 1 may be viewed in person by contacting Wendy Kelley of Artworks at wtko@mindspring.com . I will be posting pictures of the show in July.

Then July 31 and August 1 I'll be participating in the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftspeople show in Wilmington, Delaware. I am very excited about this craft show which is indoors along the Riverfront in Wilmington. I will post more information about this next month. http://www.pacrafts.org/

Whew--I'm exhausted just thinking of this. I do continue to write posts to my blog a couple times a week. As you can see, I am also working on other social media. Feel free to join me on Facebook or Twitter. Or if you are near western Massachusetts, do drop by my studio--I am there most days except Tuesday--though call or e-mail me if you are coming from a distance.

Here's a picture of my most recent quilt.

Yes, this was the quilt that I've been working on--what do you think?





Ann Brauer
2 Conway Street
Shelburne Falls, MA 01370

E-mail me:  ann@annbrauer.com

Web: http://www.annbrauer.com
Blog:  http://annbrauer.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://facebook.com/annbrauerquiltstudio
LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/annbrauer
Twitter:http://www.twitter.com/annbrauer

413-625-8605

Contemporary landscape quilts.

color--mauve, Massamont and spring

It's spring and one might think that a quilt maker's fantasies would turn to the bright yellow of daffodils and forsythia, the fresh green of new grass, the purple of crocuses or even the blue of April skies. But instead this quilt maker is fascinated by mauves and taupes, dirt browns and sage. The colors of rain and earth and grey grey days.

One person called these the colors of rain. Perhaps. I know I recently visited my local fabric store--The Textile Co in Greenfield, worth the drive from any place in western New England. I was going to get some wonderful bright blues, perhaps a cheerful fuschia or rust brown and instead I fell in love--head over heels--with a collection of these colors--and I NEVER shop by collection.

Now I have purchased many of these colors before--it is not just a passing fantasy--I'd even bought a couple of the fabrics--but this time I had to work with them. Almost compulsively. 

First a small piece to explore the potential. Look at the subtle warmth in this piece-- views from the desert.Doesn't it capture the feeling of desert in New Mexico. So many wonderful fabrics that create the effect.

And there is the piece. The complexity and richness in colors of the rain--a quilt so new it hasn't been sewn together yet--as you may well know, this is NOT my favorite part of making a quilt. But I had to create the colors.

So the question in why?  Is it because spring teaches us to look closely at the newly unfolding woodland to see lovely little flowers that seam to spring almost from nowhere.

Or maybe it's the benevolence of Massamont the mountain that looks down on my studio every day and gives me a daily blessing. I must confess I spend more time than I should looking at the hints of red and green on the twigs as spring progresses up the hill. Look at the reds against the roof.

I don't know--do you find yourself compelled to colors in the same way? Do you have a theory? Can you believe that is the view from my sewing machine? What do you think?