explorations--do I have enough fabric?

Some of us are very lucky. My favorite fabric store--The Textile Company in Greenfield, Massachusetts--is still in business. Indeed it has been selling fabric for three generations in an old baby carriage factory. (The wooden floors are themselves worth the trip.) Of course I have a secret fantasy--what if I could just set up my sewing machine and cut bits of fabric as I need it to get just the right color combinations.

Of course I know that is totally impractical. Can you imagine running up and down the aisles comparing fabrics just to get that one snippet? There actually is a phenomena of too much fabric. Seriously. Even for me. It can take too long to sort and compare. Sure I could purchase lots of fat quarters but my theory is that if I like the fabric enough to use it I want to learn to know it. What are its interesting undertones and stories? How does it work when cut into strips? What are the hints of stories within it? How can I combine the different fabrics to make a quilt that represents my artistic vision.

So I purchase my fabric a yard at a time. Then when I am working on a new quilt I often sketch out the colors by sorting through and creating the sweep of color that I think might work.

explorations--quilt--ann brauer 2018

Plum is such a complex color. Red and blue, purple with a touch of grey and brown. The manufacturers never make a lot of it in any given year. Instead I know I will be searching for snippets of fabric. Plunging deep into my fabric drawers for just the right color. Still this arrangement gives me a start. A reference point.

I begin cutting. I always tell myself to start with what I know. Just like with the fabric selection, I could cut too much fabric and spend too much time searching through the pile to find what I want and test it as I sew. So I make a small pile of wedges.

explorations--quilt--ann brauer 2018

And start to stitch each to the quilt. One strip at a time. Stopping frequently to ponder what comes next.

explorations--quilt--ann brauer--2018

How do you start a quilt? Do you ever have too much fabric? Have you ever worked with the color plum? And do you know any great fabric stores?

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.

stumped--the refrigerator chronicles

Guess what? I was stumped. I had been making a wall hanging for a lovely couple for their anniversary gift to each other. The room is light and airy but intimate. There is a lovely piece of glass on the coffee table--ivory and lavender. Shades of pink and plum. Rich colors that sweep and swirl. The brown and rust quilt I took down looked perfect but brown is not the husband's favorite color. As I wrote in my last blog post, I made one quilt--gorgeous piece but I think it is too brown, too dark for the space. Ugh!!!

What to do? The anniversary is coming up soon. I want to get it done. I have lots of other orders to do. I remember that they also liked my quilt rainbows of summer. Obviously it is too bright for the location. The blues don't work in that room at all. It needs more browns and gold, more reds and plum. There is a soft Oriental carpet in the space. I review the pictures I took of the space.

Hmm. Time for a trip to The Textile Company, even though their sale doesn't begin for a week or two. I pull out so many fabrics I have to apologize to the staff--of course they don't really mind. Carol says she has never seen me so puzzled about a quilt. There are a few fabrics that are the right color--some of the reproduction fabrics are in very interesting combinations. Taupe and gold. Wonderful mauves. There are some wonderful new fabrics with great swirls of color.  I buy anything that I think will work. Keep looking and find a few more bolts that will do. Still not sure exactly how I will make the quilt.

When I'm stumped  I tell myself--make what I know. I know the yellow. Actually the couple wants it a bit more gold. A little less intense. This I can do. Then the next row. I cut lots of fabric and start piecing. I don't want it too bright. Try to avoid the blue lavenders. I listen to The Splendid Table on the radio--a fun show that I enjoy. They have a frequent challenge--list five things in your refrigerator and see if the hostess--Lynne Rossetto Kasper--can create a dish that you would actually want to eat.

Yes, this is what the answer is. I will go through all of my fabric--pull out anything that might work. The refrigerator challenge. A bit of gold, a little pink. Hints of mauve and taupe. What does it look like?

I come in early. Barely eat lunch. Get the colors for a row together--spend time on getting that palette right and then I sew.  Of course I have to look through almost all my fabric piles to get the ones I want. Go through the tiny strips I have previously cut--will this one work? What about this one? Check out the drawers of browns. The piles of reds. Even go through the blues.  This seems to take forever. Then I sew--this is the quick part. Keep going and repeat until finished. Now it just needs the green at the bottom. There is a bit of green in the room. A bright green plant. I don't want to be that bright. I pin up pieces of fabric, step back, squint.

Keep sewing. Try to include lots of colors in the green. Some browns, hints of rust. Remember this quilt is for a space above a sofa. It will be viewed from up close as well as a distance. I want it to be interesting.

Wow--I love the colors. They do almost glow. Up close so many different fabrics. Several used only once. Now to sew it together. Oh not my favorite part. Lots of seams. Long rows. Sometimes I fool myself. As I sew I think--what five items from my refrigerator would I try to stump Lynne with--peas, eggs, lemon, yoghurt and orange juice. Parmesan, bacon, bread, milk and humus. What about the orange marmalade? Lynne said that cooking schools use this approach to get students out of the ruts we all tend to get into. I like this concept.

And you--what do you do when you get stumped? How do you make the quilt? And if you had to choose five items to stump Lynne Rossetto Kasper what would you choose?

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?

fabric shopping--again

OK--so the blue quilt is almost done. Just a bit of tweaking and finish work. It's time to start a new wall hanging. Now I do have another large wall hanging to work on. It is also blue. But first I need to work in some other color. After all, I will be doing the Washington Craft Show in about a month and my selection of work is a bit limited.

So it is off to The Textile Co again. You may remember this wonderful fabric store--in Greenfield. I have posted about it before. An old buggy factory. In the same family for 3 generations. No web site. No credit card but a wonderful selection of fabric.

I make sure I have a bit of extra time. I am not sure exactly what I am looking for. I think I want to make another quilt like desert hills only in different colors. It is a good size. Sells well.

At first nothing is leaping out at me. Some fabrics just seem too familiar. Too much like the blues I have been working on. Then it hits me. I see a fabric I just have to work with. It is a green--rather soft in color but with so many other interesting fabrics on top of it. I am not sure what to do with it. Maybe that's why I like it. Also it does remind me a bit of feed sack cloth. It could be a reproduction fabric. No, it is from 2009. But still that is what it reminds me of.

I keep looking. Grab another fabric that could be a reproduction. These prints seem to conjure up memories.

Look at all these designs. I grab another--this one a bit more brown. But again a pattern that looks old.
I start to think of prairies. Dry fields and endless skies.

I grab some others--a Civil War reproduction. A fabric called Simpler Tymes. An olive green with wheat enclosed in a hoop. Oh this is getting interesting.

I put them up on my design board trying to get inspired. Hmm.

What interesting colors. I decide I have to make a test piece first. I need to get a feel for how the colors are going to work together. I don't see them as potholders, but I could make some placemats. Get used to the colors. I arrange the fabrics for the placemats. It is hard to get the order right. Which fabric is darker? How do the prints work?

There is something haunting about these colors. The placemats are soft. Maybe a bit greener than I might have thought they would be. I like the bits of pink and green though. The undertones of gold.

Should I make another test--or will the quilt be too studied if I do. I want to plunge in. I remember in grade school my sister and I took swimming lessons at the city pool. Now since we were country kids our lessons were always at 8 am. The water was still cold from the night air. There was a high dive--this was a long time ago. And we had to jump in from the high dive. Now I was not a great swimmer. The dive scared me. The fall was long enough that I can still remember the feeling. The water when it hit you was cold and deep and startling. But I soon learned that it was even worse if I stood up there and thought about it. Much better to hold my nose and just jump in. Get started.

That's what I think I will do with this quilt. I have so much I want  to do before the Washington Show. I think I should just start. I do know what a couple of rows will look like. Maybe the other rows will then follow. If not I can always make more placemats while I am thinking. Hopefully then the questions will become more obvious.

And you my reader--how do you start a quilt or any other project?  Do you just look and begin and do you fret about the quilt? Any hints?

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?

confessions of a fabricholic

OK--I admit it. I love to buy fabric. You know the famous saying--"She who dies with the most fabric wins." There's the other bumper sticker: "My husband said he'd leave me if I brought home more fabric. Too bad. I'll miss him."  Luckily for me, I have a great husband and my own studio space--but that's another story.  Sometimes though I think I make quilts just so I can buy more fabric.

Now, if truth be told, when Threads magazine came to visit my studio back in 1999, they said I had one of the most "restrained" collections of fabric they'd seen. We figured it's just because I use it.

But I do love to buy fabric. Indeed while stuck in traffic on the NJ Turnpike recently, all I could think about was my trip to The Textile Company on Tuesday. You must admit--I'm lucky. This store is just 10 miles from my studio in Shelburne Falls. Set in an old mill factory in Greenfield, MA--they used to make baby carriages there--it has been in the same family for three generations. Indeed they still keep mill workers hours--open until 5:20 (8:20 on Friday) so the workers could shop on their way home. Always closed on Sundays. Closed all holidays and Mondays during the summer.

The building itself is about as unpretentious as it comes:

It's tucked away on Power Square--do call them at 413 773 7516--for directions.  Inside, the wooden floors are worn into patterns from endless walking-- the wood is even slightly raised around the nails.

 

And the fabric. Bolts and bolts of fabric tucked into every nook and cranny. A couple years ago they tried to count it all--last I heard they were up to 4000 and still counting.

Sweeps of color. This is where I stand while getting my fabric cut. I start a pile and then add to it as they cut the fabric.  There's another row or two beneath this also. It's so hard to decide.

Do I have a project in mind? Will the fabric inspire a quilt? Am I short on this particular color? What about the design?  Just look at those colors. Don't you want them all?

For instance this mauve and electric blue fabric--such an unusual combination. What will I do with it? Have I seen it before. Hmm. A challenge.

Of course I got it. Though I can't capture the blue in the camera. Oh well. I'm still not sure what I'll do with it but I knew I would dream about it if I didn't get it. I do love a challenge.

And a few fun fabrics--great for the evening skies I love to make. In wonderful new designs and colors. Irresistible.

I want everything but restrain myself. I really can have too much fabric. More importantly I wouldn't  need to go shopping again next week when they will have another great fabric.

Besides, there is another fabric store near my studio--different fabrics, different colors, a different feel. But I'll save that for another day.

And you--how do you buy fabric? Do you have a favorite store? Or is there something else that you just have to buy?