mixing it up

I don't know if this has ever happened to you, but recently when I walked into one of my favorite quilt stores--A Notion to Quilt in Shelburne, MA--I was thinking of certain colors that I knew I needed. Then a fabric popped up and seemed to say, "Take me. Please."

I look at it. It really doesn't look like fabrics I usually buy but there was just something about it. So many possibilities. I have been into greys recently. OK--I had to try it.

And why not this one too. It was too fun.

Oh I do like to shop.

And some fabrics to co-ordinate. Enough though that the staff--who does know my quilts--mentioned that the stack did not look like me. How true. How exciting.

Luckily though this is the time I need potholders. I do have the Paradise City Arts Festival in Northampton in October. The holidays are coming and kitchens do deserve art. After all not everyone can afford a large quilt--and certainly not all the time. Plus making a potholder will let me experiment with the fabric. What can it do? What can I do with it? A win win. Not bad huh?

potholder--quilt--Ann Brauer

And a co-ordinate.

potholder--quilt--Ann Brauer

They do go together. And what about an eyeglass case or two. Another good way for me to experiment.

eyeglass case--quilt--Ann Brauer

Can you find one of the fabrics? And another colorway as my confidence rises.Yes, it took forever to choose the colors for this one and I did worry if the chartreuse would be too much but as I told myself, these are eyeglass cases and I needed to try it. It works though, doesn't it?

eyeglass case--quilt--Ann Brauer

Oh this is too much fun. I could spend hours playing with these fabrics. Though after a while I confess that making smaller items gets to be a bit much and it just may be time to start a larger quilt. Hmm--could this be the inspiration? How many of the new fabrics can I use?

And you--do you ever buy fabrics just to play with them? Which ones are your favorites? How do you learn what the fabrics can do?

green, it's green I say

Oh the color green. How much it surrounds us--how important it is to us. How hard it is to work with. There are so many greens. The olive greens and drab greens. The mint greens of spring and the dark greens of spruces in winter. The bright chartreuse greens of new growth. Such a natural color but so hard to find. So many greens clash with each other. Strange isn't it--since they don't clash in nature? We want our grass green but our rooms are usually celery at best.

But I digress. After all as you may remember I am trying to make a wall hanging based on rainbows of summer. The first time I made this quilt,  I thought the greens should progress from lights to darks just like the reds did. Oh so discouraging when I realized that this was wrong. Wrong. An entire row of blocks that had to be tossed. Ugh!!!  It needed to be a color way progressing in rows not a constant sweep of color. I did not forget this.

A good start but that still did not make it easier. After all, I still needed to get the colors right. Did not want to have to toss another row, if you know what I mean. The bright greens and the yellows. The hints of teal and blue. What is the flow of the colors? What is the feel of the palette? I study the original quilt and pull out the fabrics that I have. Make a test block.

I try to imagine a whole row of this. But it doesn't seem bright enough. The color changes too harsh and dark. I look through my stash again and still don't have the right colors. Instead I tell myself to make what I know. The changes in the pinks and sherberts. The tangerines and roses. How does this affect the greens?

 Still wrong, isn't it? Too dark and yellow.

Time to head off to A Notion to Quilt--you remember that wonderful fabric store on Route 2 in Shelburne only a few miles from my studio. You can check out their website here: http://www.anotiontoquilt.com They will have some wild bright greens--that I know. I grab what may work. Lots of bright colors. Some interesting designs. Yes, this may work.

A few more test blocks to make sure I understand the palette. It is never as easy as it looks in a blog, is it? Then I piece the row. Doesn't it look better?

Oh so much more to piece. I try not to think about it. But at least it is a start. Nice to have that resolved. And you--how do you work with greens? Are they also a hard color for you? Have you ever made a green quilt?

the quilts of Ann Brauer--still standing edition

What a whirlwind of activity the last month has been.  As you may remember my beloved studio at 2 Conway Street floated down the Deerfield River while I was doing the American Craft Exposition in Evanston, IL at the end of August. Fortunately I had my best quilts and my craft fair display with me. The building floated and then got held up by two maple trees just before it would have gone into the River--my DH managed to rescue my sewing machine, the two quilts my grandmother made and some items stored up high. Most of the quilts in the building, much of the stash and supplies and many of the furnishings were lost--sigh--but it could have been worse.

No,  I did not have flood insurance--why should I?--the home nearest my studio had been standing for over 160 years. Unfortunately the water pressure at the Harriman Reservoir built up to the point where the utility company had to release water from the flood gates or risk having the entire reservoir go. Certainly if they had not had to do this release my lovely building would still be standing. Could they have drawn down the water level more before Irene? Could they have provided sufficient notice that this was even a possibility so more could have been save? Questions that haunt me in the wee hours of the morning. And no, FEMA does not help small businesses.

Meanwhile so many people and organizations have been so kind. I can't thank them enough--although I try.  CERF+ has been truly outstanding. I must also give shout outs to the Mary Lyon Foundation, the Shelburne Falls Area Business Association and A Notion to Quilt. There have been donations of time and money from friends and even strangers--all much appreciated, quiltmakers who managed to give me priced donations of stash--usually managing to choose just the right fabric I needed for the particular project, customers who made purchases to help me, suppliers who waced fees and of course my wonderful DH who has born more than his fair share of helping me deal with these events. Oh so many people--I appreciate each and every thing that has been done. I could go on--but if you want to follow my progress more--I usually post about it on my Facebook Page--
http://www.facebook.com/AnnBrauerQuiltStudio

My studio is now usually open at 6 Bridge Street in Shelburne Falls--just across the river from where the darling pink building was. This week-end I will be at the Paradise City Arts Festival in Northampton, MA. I love this show--there is so much wonderful work there, as well as great food and music as well as plenty of free parking. Have you ever visited it? Definitely worth a trip or a visit while you look at the leaves changing into their autumn splendor. I am Booth 837. Do stop by. For further information or discounted tickets--their web site is http://www.paradisecityarts.com Note--when I do a craft show, the studio is closed.

Meanwhile I still cannot do a quilt of the month--I hope you will understand--but I did want to share an image of a new quilt I just finished that does show reflections of Irene. I call it "above the river".  What do you think?

simple but not easy

Recently I received this e-mail from a reader.

I *love, love, love your quilts!
I want to make one.  A small piece of one......  More than one square....  I know that it has probably taken you years and years and years to develop your technique and style.  I also know that an eye is not easily developed, but takes lots of practice.  I'm not even pretending to think I can create the art you are creating, but I would love to learn the technique...  I understand basic quilting as you go.  It appears each smaller block has *both* batting and backing attached before they are connected to the next.  I can possibly envision the vertical piecing of the smaller blocks.  But the horizontal blocks I am struggling to understand how they are attached.  Is this a trade secret?  Is it just best, for me, to just jet off and see one in person?  LOL!  If nothing else, I just *need* to know!!!!
You do beautiful, beautiful work, Ann.  I love it all!

Sweet isn't it?


Now the author is right--the style has taken me years and years to develop. However, the technique is actually very simple.  I even wrote about it last year. Now if I was an organized blogger I would create a page with the directions--and maybe I will. But for now let me just reference the blog posts.

First of course I design the quilt and make sure I have fabrics that will work for the piece. My two favorite fabric stores are The Textile Company in Greenfield, MA which I wrote about HERE in my post Confessions of a Fabricoholic.  Since writing that post they have changed their closing time to 5 except on Friday when they close at 8. The other store is A Notion to Quilt which I wrote about HERE. And yes it was called More Confessions of a Fabricoholic--can you relate? Of course if I am doing a show in another location I do check out other fabric stores--can one actually have too much fabric?

Then I begin piecing the quilt using a method I call "quilt as you go." HERE is an illustrated blog post of how I pieced the quilt desert hills.

I piece the quilt in blogs--and then join the blogs together. HERE I wrote a blog post with more pictures as to how I finish the quilt.

As you can see, the technique is simple--but not necessarily easy. This is not a pattern but directions for a technique that you can make your own. Certainly care is required throughout--create a design that interests you. Practice working with the colors to figure out the effect that the colors and fabrics have on each other. Keep your sewing machine clean and in good working order--after all, you will be seeing the back of the block so you want it to look good.

And perhaps most importantly--have fun!! After all life is too short not to have fun. So what do you think--does this answer some of your questions? Have you tried this technique--I would love to see pictures.

black and white and grey--or is it gray

I don't know if it is the weather or the stark contrast between light and dark these days. Maybe it is the fact that with no leaves on the trees. Or maybe it is the fact that my DH and I have been bringing in some 16 inch firewood for our new little wood stove, but right now I just want to work in black and white with lots of greys thrown in.

A couple of weeks ago I made this quilt--reflections on the night to celebrate the change in seasons. Dramatic. I loved working in those colors.

But still I wanted more.  When I go to the fabric store--whether it is The Textile Company or
A Notion to Quilt, all I look at is the greys. The mauves, the taupes, the blue-greys, grey greens. I want them all. Dark and light grey--I buy at this time of year. I don't know why.

I start a new quilt. Not sure what I am going to do. There are a couple of projects that I have in mind. I need to make a table runner. So I make a few test pieces and glance at one of my books of old Amish quilts. Now I do love the traditional Amish quilts--the repetition of the patterns so bold in the plain colors. The intensity of the work and the humanness of the result. I think of the rail fence pattern. Try it with my pieces.

Ugh!!!  It just doesn't translate.  Time to try again. Sometimes it is important to play--to stretch oneself.

Interesting. A possibility. A landscape that needs something more.  The colors are compelling me though to keep trying.

Why? I do a bit of research. What is grey? Or is it gray? Supposedly the combination of black and white.  Why is it that my black and white tuxedo cat is black and white and not grey--even where she has just the tiniest bit of black or white. I get a bit deeper into color theory. Is black a color? Is white? It all depends on how you are seeing color. My head swims. I check the web site http://www.greyorgray.com and learn that GrAy is how it is spelled in America and GrEy is how it is spelled in England--get it? But that many people also  believe that grey is a silver grey and gray is all colors in between. Interesting.

I check on Wikipedia and learn that we can see the tiniest changes in the color. That is why there all those wonderful shades of grey. I also learn that artists sometimes use grey as strictly the combination of black and white while gray may be all the other colors. Interesting.

And what mood does grey convey--is it the calm and mystery of mist? A grey day? A grey mood? Grey matter. Grey suits. The power of an Ansel Adams photograph or an old black and white Hitchcock movie. What is it?

I don't know. I just keep sewing--right now not even knowing for sure where it will end up. This is the first of the grey trees. Maybe I'll make another one for CraftBoston this coming week-end. Do you ever feel the need to work in a particular color? Can you figure out why?

inspiration--the history of a quilt

What fun I had giving a presentation to the Mohawk Trail Quilt Guild at A Notion to Quilt in Shelburne the other night. What a great group of ladies--chatty as any quilt guild I have come across. There was Liz and Liz--but who is Liz 1 and who is Liz 2. Beyond me. I promised to keep them "under control". And the Sue's- how many were there really. I lost count. Becki had just won Homemaker of the Year at the County Fair--although she said it was only because Kathy had not entered. Congratulations all around.  There was news of the Shop Hop, blankets for Linus, pillowcase covers in many sizes and the heavy canvas--how could they use it?

Then time for my presentation. I always get a bit nervous doing these talks--no matter how friendly the group and how well I know my material. Probably it comes with the territory. This time I had decided to add a new section to my talk. As you may know, my method is as simple as can be--quilt-as-you-go--that should take me a few minutes to explain how to do it.  Being a local group, I assumed that some had heard me talk before. So I decided to add a new section on the inspiration and development of my design from quilt to quilt to quilt. I wanted to show them that one quilt can be inspiration for the next quilt. But where to start?

Of course I couldn't show all my quilts. That was what I was trying to get beyond. So I eliminated all the early log cabin quilts, the silk pieces that won all sorts of awards.  I had to start somewhere.  I had the quilt I was going to make in mind. It is an order for a wonderful, sophisticated couple. I figured that way the thought process would be fresh in my head.  So I decided to start with rivers of autumn--a quilt that will be in a show at the National Museum of Quilts in Paducah, KY--(just a bit of bragging there I confess).

Clearly a quilt based on the log cabin pattern straight furrows.  I do love the straight furrows setting from the log cabin quilt--so simple with so much possibility. This piece was a simple color statement--I told myself to start with what I know and work from there.  The trick was creating the color palette for the row that came next. Some warm and some cool but all with a certain zing to them. Some of the hardest color ways to determine were in the corners. Just that little bit of color to tie it all together. I like how the black defines the colors with the white sparkles providing life for the piece.

Then the quilt--hills and shadows. Yes, I have blogged about the process of making this quilt back in March and April. Oh I had many doubts about this piece. After spending all this time on it--would the colors hold together. Would there be the wonderful rolling look that I wanted? (If you want to read about my struggles start with this post and then move forward.)

I love this piece--though unfortunately the rolling effect is not as obvious as I would like unless you can see it from a distance. And of course the ladies of the quilt guild wanted to know what inspired my desire for the rolling effect. Actually this was a concept I had been thinking about for years. I love those landscape scenes that artists can paint. I have been sketching it roughly until I figured out how to do it.


 This is similar to ocean waves. Another favorite subject matter. I tried the quilt in blues and greens. Called it blue shadows. Sometimes my work progresses by making small changes. Sometimes I take large leaps at once. Stephen Gould claimed the same process happens with evolution. Sometimes it is the little adaptive changes and sometimes there is something totally new that works. I don't know if it's true--but I love the concept.

Not bad--but a bit choppy looking and maybe too quilt-y--if that is a word. By now I was in discussion with this wonderful couple. I knew they had very sophisticated tastes and this was also inspiring me.


What about a simple color progression without the crutch of the blacks and the sparkle of the white splashes. A much harder quilt to make since every piece is important to the whole. There is the light-dark progression as well as the yellow to purple-blue progression. Oh it takes forever.

But what a wonderful result. But for the couple I needed to simplify it further. Oh this is getting difficult--but I do love a challenge. This piece is called blue rainbow.

I explain the thought process and the struggles to the quilt guild. They follow along and seem to enjoy the process. How long the process seems to go--I much care is needed for every strip of fabric. But that is a discussion for another day.

Right now I am hoping that I could convey to my audience just a bit about how one quilt really does inspire the next one. I wanted them to see that colors and ideas can be shown in quilts. Maybe extend just a bit their perception of design as something they can do.

Will I do the presentation a bit differently the next time--of course. One good question they asked me was other quilt makers who inspire me. Now truth be told, while I do spend a lot of time looking at the quilts of others--and I do love lots of them--I also like to look at other art--painting, photography, ceramics. They can all give me ideas and design solutions. I need to show them a bit more how I sketch out work and then how the quilt takes hold. I can also show how I choose colors a bit more.

I know I get inspired by giving these presentations. I do hope the guild members got something from it also. And you--do you give talks about your work? How do you explain what inspires you? What do you want to hear when you attend a presentation?

more confessions of a fabricaholic

OK--as you probably figured out. I love to buy fabric. Indeed as you may know,  Tuesday is my day off--which means it's the day I go and buy more fabric. Just don't tell my DH--he's still not sure that is what I should be doing on my day off. How can I explain to him that it's fun? And I do need more grays for the custom quilt--desert hills--don't I? Of course. At least it's a good excuse.


So last Tuesday, I got to spend an hour at A Notion to Quilt, the other fabric store within 10 miles of my studio. Didn't I say that I'm a very spoiled quilt maker.  Two fabric stores in 10 miles. This store  has two to three thousand bolts almost all of which are different from those at The Textile Company. Located half way between Shelburne Falls and Greenfield on Route 2, they're in a renovated office building--one of those strange modern places you pass and wonder what went on in there--I heard it was the American headquarters of a brush factory from Switzerland-though don't quote me on that one.

Inside it is very light and airy. Becki--the owner--knows exactly what's happening.  Actually this is also a family affair-- Becki, Lenny and Nancy--I just usually deal with Becki.   I swear she recognizes voices from a distance and remembers exactly what project everyone is working on.  Even the entrance--which is around back--is very neat and modern. They actually share the space with Metaphor Yarns in case you need even more color and fiber.

Rows and rows of fabric. Some wonderful grays here with the browns.

Lots of fun prints. No, Ann, not this time. Don't look. Step away from the fabric. I do need an excuse to come back soon, right?

And if you want ideas how to use the fabric--quilts hung all over the store. More traditional than my work. But still gorgeous. See how high the ceilings are.

So hard to choose. Have you noticed how gray is frequently filed with other colors--the gray green, the taupe, the gray blue? A search in itself.

Well, I was successful. Now I have no excuse not to get this quilt done.

For those who want, there is a long arm machine that can be rented. Lots of classes, get-togethers, time to sew. I don't know how she gets it all done. And you, do you have a favorite fabric store or two?  Maybe another place for me to visit on Tuesdays? After all, I do need more fabric, right?