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?

textile curator

I am honored to have some of my recent quilts featured in the most recent blog post by Textile Curator. Thanks so much. http://www.textilecurator.com/latest-art-quilts-by-ann-brauer/

seasons of the marsh--32x72"--Ann Brauer 2017--image by John Polak

more than a quilt--day 31

By now it should be clear that I love making quilts. I love looking at the many wonderful fabrics and playing with them to create wondrous new landscapes that the viewer can linger in. I love making lovely potholders and eyeglass cases, placemats and table runners that can be used and enjoyed every day. Even the smallest scrap of fabric can create an inspiration for me. That is me and how I think.

But recently I have also been experimenting with giving my quilts an even more formal presentation. An existence that takes them beyond the soft and friendly to a place of even more substance if that is a good way of phrasing it.

These are quilts but--and I hesitate to say this--are they also making a statement that quilts can be more than quilts. Or are all quilts something more but we don't always realize this?

I don't know. For me I am like a kid in a toy store with something new to play with. I'm not sure where this will lead. I am not even sure it matters but I am having fun. And isn't this part of what life is about? What do you think?

two mounted quilts--2017--ann brauer

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.

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.

Make Room video

I just received a link to the video that the American Craft Council did of the Make Room exhibit at the Baltimore Craft Show. Yes, that is my quilt--river of green--included in the Water section. I do hope you enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEGIxfqmqJc&feature=youtu.be

river of green--38x38"--Ann Brauer 2015

it's time to finish the quilts

OK--I confess that normally I am pretty good about finishing orders. As you may know, I do like to buy more fabric. In addition, I love the feeling of completion--after all that work, I want to see what the quilt looks like. The possibilities of new pieces dance before me. New colors that I have been dreaming about. 

However, every once in a while something happens and work ends up hanging over me. Such is the case with the quilts for the Springfield District Courthouse. Let me tell you a bit about this project. A new federal district courthouse was being built in downtown Springfield. A gorgeous building designed by Moshe Safdie--an internationally renowned architect. Indeed the building itself has won awards. It was built around two ancient and magnificent trees. An absolutely glorious light building. The other artist was Sol Lewitt.  There were to be four court rooms--each one named for one of the four counties in western Massachusetts. Each court room had a wall designed to hold fiber art. I was honored to be asked to make these quilts through the GSA's Art in Architecture program.

Now this was a HUGE order and of course I was brought in at the last minute--that is frequently what happens with architectural commissions as you may know. I chose a simple rolling design with each quilt reflecting just slightly specifics of the county for the room for which it was designed. For instance in the Hampden Courtroom--which is the county for Springfield, I represented the two large trees. One a copper beech and one a magnificent oak. Hampshire County is known for its fields and meadows while Berkshire County of course has the  Berkshire Mountains.

Each courtroom had three quilts--while the size varied--they were all about 4 feet by 10 feet. A lot of sewing in very little time. Indeed I learned afterwards the only question the persons in charge had was whether I could finish the work in time. Of course I had to prove them wrong.

So I sewed. I went in on my days off--I stayed at work late. I learned every way I could to save time. Since finishing the quilts requires a lot of hand work which I couldn't do all at once without developing carpal tunnel I would finish the bindings while starting a new piece. And I had a secret bit of knowledge--they were not going to build out the last court room--the one for Franklin County for a while. I only had nine quilts to make.

The quilts were all hanging when the building was opened with great ceremony and many dignitaries. I was exhausted. Don't they look great though?

And I was SO ready to move on to other designs that I put the Franklin County quilts aside. I would get around to them later while I enjoyed working in all of the wonderful colors and designs that did not fit into the court house project. I'm sure you can understand.

Finally this winter I got the last of the Franklin County quilts pieced. Again I left the bindings for later. Gradually I sewed on the Velcro for hanging. Almost done. But always just a little bit more to do. After all even if you think of it as just three quilts, there still is a lot of work to do. Three quilts to press and thread pick. Three quilts to sew on the labels. But it is time. They are almost done. And I have heard they are planning to build out the last court room soon.

Do I wish that I had finished these quilts earlier? Sure. I have other quilts to make. Will I be a bit sad when this order is done? Of course.  Maybe that is why it took me so long to finish the last three quilts. I have enjoyed working on it even though the only people who can really see the quilts are the judge, the jury and the defendants.  Will I ever get such a great order again? I don't know--my next opportunity may be something entirely different. Life works that way. But it is time and I will get those quilts photographed and down to their new home.

What do you think? Am I the only one who can sometimes find it hard to finish an order?