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?

messy work table

In this age of decluttering and neatness, don't we all want to keep our work spaces in order? Isn't that what we are told--a clean, neat area is more efficient. And who knows, maybe it is. But as my friend Lynn Krawczyk  of Fibra Artysta wrote, work tables are by their very nature messy when you are working. Isn't this part of the creative experience? Let's share images of our own messy work spaces, she suggested. Here is the blog: http://fibraartysta.blogspot.com/2012/03/messy-work-table-photo-collaboration.html  After all, it is an artist at work. Let's all share images, she suggested.

Could I resist? Nope. Now, it's not that I don't try to be neat. I do. After all in my new studio the mess is one of the first things you see as you walk in. And I do clean it up regularly--seriously I sorted it last week.

Yes, that is my cutting board that you can catch glimpses of. I have to keep that area moderately clean. It is after all, also my counter for selling.  But then there is the pile of fabric--some has been cut for the new quilt. Others may get used--and isn't it easier to have it out if you want to audition a fabric?

A bit of a mess, isn't it? Actually I do keep most of the fabrics stored in plastic drawers. The studio is so tiny that I bring out the drawers one at a time to sort through to find the right palette for the quilt. The drawers are loosely arranged by color. Greens and browns, rusts and greys. All have their separate drawers.

You can also see the piles of fabric that I keep right by the sewing machine. Those are pieces I may use on the block I am making. First I move the fabric onto the cutting board and make some wedges. Usually I leave the fabric out until I finish the block in case I need another size or color. And yes, I can cut too much fabric to have by the sewing machine--then it takes too long to find.

But still I always cut too much. Bring out too many fabrics. It is much easier and quicker that way. Then I save the extras in the pile next to the cutting board. Why throw it away?  I do go through it to see if there is anything I can use for the quilt. Great inspiration there. Some of the fabrics are the last little bits of fabrics that I have loved.  I can't throw that away, can I? Although once or twice a year I go through it and recycle strips that I know I won't use. I am even considering getting some plastic boxes to store the extras--would the pile grow too large if I do? Would I use what I have already cut?

And as I work I do stash in the drawers the colors that I am no longer going to use. See, these peach colors are ready to be put away. I told you I do try.

 But I guess this is how I have to work. After all, just look at the range of colors in just one block of the new quilt. The rusts, greens, browns, taupe and even a bit of grey.

And you--how do you create order out of chaos? Is your work space neat or messy? Does it change? What do you think? Can you be too neat or too messy?

and the answer is....

My blog follower Jennifer recently wrote me asking how I resolved the quilt: words for the dawn which I had written about in my recent post--Is simple as easy as it looks?

She's right--I did leave everyone hanging. And yes, my devoted readers do need to see what I did. So without further ado....

What do you think? Did it work?

musings on what is modern?

This week-end a couple of ladies came in to my studio. One loved my work. The other said she "loved" my work--maybe she was just trying to be polite because she then added that famous word but..alas..her house was "Modern".  Oh I am sure you have heard this conversation before.

Now obviously this woman was not going to purchase. She was just coming up with one of those excuses. Understandable--don't we all do it every day. But it did get me to thinking--what is modern? Why are my quilts considered not good in modern locations? Yes, I've heard this conversation before.  But after all, my quilts are contemporary abstract landscapes and even a Modern home does require an attention to detail, style and color no matter how much metal and stone you use, doesn't it?

I mean just look at this wall hanging--first light--in its very simple setting. Doesn't it make the room?

Or consider colors of my garden in a very modern office building--drawing you down the corridor and echoing the colors of the steel.

Or light on the ocean in the same building?

Isn't even this version of dawn on the hill modern even if it is set in a more "country" style room?

So what is modern? Recently there was a fascinating discussion on Interior Designer Chat as to what is "modern". Obviously the meaning can vary with when you are asking the question. For instance, at one time the style of Louis Quattorze was considered modern if you know what I mean. So was the Victorian style, Art Deco--I could go on. Remember "everything's up to date in Kansas City". But modern can also refer to a specific design period--mid to late 20th century. Lots of metal and steel. Glass. Simplicity in design. Not cluttered. You know the look.

So wouldn't quilts work in a modern home--especially my quilts? I got to thinking. Certainly modern can include works with patterns and textures--just think of Jackson Pollock. Can't really get more patterned than that can you?  Quilts can be considered modern--think of the traditional Amish quilts--don't they look great in a modern setting? What about the quilts of Gee's Bend? The wonderful complex patterns and designs are modern, aren't they?

Maybe the issue is that I love to use commercially available quilting fabrics with all the associations they include. Is that the reason? But the quilts of Gee's Bend also can include fabric with design. Andy Warhol's Campbell soup cans include references to commercial patterns. Maybe they don't stop and think of the references to traditional fabric in my quilts.

Certainly I have had designers say that my work is "too busy" for them. Now up close there is a business to it--but not from a distance.  Maybe the issue is presentation. Maybe it is just a matter of taste. Or what is considered stylish by others? Maybe I should write something profound about the associations that my quilts have to the quilts of tradition. Or maybe it doesn't even matter--just something to muse about in the slack hours of the day? After all I really don't want to sell my quilts to those who don't truly love them.

What do you think? How do you define modern? Does it even matter?



Or maybe the issue is that woman really just did not like my work

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.

questions, questions, questions and pillows

OK--I bet you are wondering--how can pillows actually be a question? After all they are just pillows.  Soft splashes of color--a decorative finish to the room. I wake up at five in them morning and envision a new design for a pillow--lots of small strips of color so that the whole becomes a color field.  Almost woven in effect. Using the commercial cottons that I love but with pieces so tiny the fabrics almost disappear into the whole.

Now I used to make pillows years ago--silk and wool pillows that were a changing color field. They were great pillows, plumb and friendly,  and I still have customers coming back years later asking for more. But I got bored--after all I am a quilt maker and not a pillow maker. And the silk would easily disintegrate in bright sunlight. Not a good marketing plan.

I need new pillows for my studio--the display spaces are there and they make the showroom more inviting. It would be nice to have another item for customers when I do a craft show. I have a friend who could sit at her booth for days just to sell a few large quilts. Endlessly opening and displaying the quilts, listening to the dreams of her customers while waiting. What patience. What confidence in her work. How exhausting!

Oh that is not me. I like my instant gratification. I want to have sales--people in my booth buying.  That's why I make potholders and placemats. Table runners. I have been playing in my mind with the concept of really tiny strips to create complex color fields. There is so much I could do with it. Simple statements in fabric. I can see them if I can make them. However, I don't want to spend time making pillows when I could be creating quilts. I feel that I am closer than ever to having my quilts taken more seriously. I almost blush to recall being told that my quilts are indeed art by a critic I respect. Will pillows cause me to divert my attention or are they the next step forward?

But I am getting ahead of myself. First I have to try to make the pillows--see if they work. See if I want to make them.  I cut many strips of thin fabric. The color palette.

Sew them onto the back with a layer of cotton batting. There are oh so many seams--it takes forever. Can I speed this up?

Square it off, add a zipper and finish the pillow. I wish it was as simple as it sounds. I remember how many steps there are to making pillows.  Show it to a friend of mine--she is polite. Nice she says, good color field. Maybe I need more. I think of other colors. I do like it better with a binding that accents the colors.

Hmm. Need to work on the piecing. It tends to go askew. What will it look like when I add more colors? Is that the key? Will that be the "fun" part of making them?  Can I make them at a price I can sell them?  Should I have the binding of a consistent color on color print? Would that tie the series together?  I think of other designs in this series--is that what I should do? Oh so many questions. And I don't even know if I want to make these yet.

I remember a conversation I had with a friend of mine years ago. David Bacharach--a wonderful metal worker. He said that if you start selling a new product as a mature artist you have to have confidence in it. Great point. I'll have to think about it. Luckily I can make some for the studio and just stop there if I want. They do look great against the wall hangings.

So what do you think? Do you like the pillows? Am I wasting my time?  Will having more colors make it look like a more complete idea? Should I work on other ideas for the pillows? And you--how do you create new designs?

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?

my design board--making it work

Now don't get me wrong--I love my studio. Sure it's a little squat building slightly off the beaten path. I painted it pink so people could find me. But I do have the best view in town. I can watch the colors change on Massamont. I can admire the graceful arches of the Bridge of Flowers upstream. Isn't that gorgeous?

Inside though the ceilings are short--maybe seven feet tall.  It had been a video store. Before that a fire equipment supply warehouse. It began life as a garage.  But the space is much bigger than it looks. I have my sewing machine in the corner right by the windows--north by northeast light. Can an artist ask for better than that?

Positioned so I can see it from the sewing machine--and also the cutting table--I have my design board.

It was just an old office divider in a solid gold color that I picked it up at a tag sale for $2--couldn't beat the price. I worried that the gold color would be distracting but actually it is a nice contrast to whatever I am working on. The best thing about it is I can just pin the blocks up as I make them. If I want to rearrange them, I can easily move them. If I am thinking which fabric to use, I  drape it over the edge and step back. And it does help divide the space between the finished quilts and the one I am currently making. Such focus is useful.

Now recently I have been working on a big quilt--and by big I mean BIG. 105x105 inches. Much bigger than my design board. This is not the first time I have worked so large so of course I have a strategy. Actually my strategy changes a bit with the design of the quilt.  For this quilt, there is a central focus so I centered the quilt on the board and started working.

As the quilt got too big for the board I wrapped the pieces around to the back. It keeps everything in order. If I need to double check the work, I can easily move the blocks.

Since the colors are logical progressions I can keep in mind what I am doing. When I run out of room at the top I sew the rows together. This means I am not forced to do all the hand finish work at the end--there is only so much hand-sewing I can do in a day anway.  It is easy to take a row off and move the remaining blocks. This is the quilt after a couple of rows have been sewn together.

 This is fine for me--but it does sometimes confuse others. For instance in this case the customer was worried that the contrast between the two halves was too pronounced.  She wanted to make sure there was a lot of blue. After realizing that of course she could not understand my thought process, I showed her a picture of the first three rows pieced together.

Yes I had to put the quilt on the carpet to get a picture of it. But it did give her an idea of what was actually happening and she did think it was wonderful.

Is this ideal--probably not. But it works and I am familiar with it. It does make me want to finish the quilt so that I can finally see it as a whole. Frequently this happens first when I have its photograph taken.  And you--what do you use as a design board? What interesting adjustments have you made to your work space.

yes, I am a fabricoholic

Yes, I confess that I am a bit of a fabricoholic. Now I do actually use the fabric that I purchase so maybe it is OK that I also really enjoy purchasing it. But when I can find a fabric store--I do have to "visit" it. Ahh--if only I could "visit" it and leave my check book in the car. Of course such is not the case.

Recently I was  down in Pennsylvania doing the Long's Park Art and Craft Show in Lancaster, PA. So after the show was over, I just HAD to go to the People's Place Quilt Museum in Intercourse, PA. Now for those who don't know, this area is the center of the Amish quilts in the area. Indeed you pass a lot of buggies on the street. Some of the young Amish men even use bicycles or those little push scooters--I am not sure what they are called--to get around.

Most of the quilts now are made for commercial sale. There is a definitely a "country" look to many of them.  But still I do have to check them out. Besides, I do have an excuse for stopping by. Walking up the stairs to the Museum Shop there is a familiar look to the landing. Hmm!!

Yes, that is my quilt in the picture as well. I chat with Carol Martin the wonderful manager of the Museum Shop. We compare notes about comments that customers make about my work. The questions are usually the same and our answers are just variations on the same theme. My favorite story is when I was doing a presentation to a local quilt guild. At the end of the talk I was taking questions. One woman raised her hand and explained that she had seen work very similar to mine down in Pennsylvania--was this the inspiration for my work? I told her it was my work. Carol and I both smiled at that story.

Indeed the Shop has a selection of my quilts for sale as well as some other pieces.

Look familiar? But then I must go into the Museum itself. There are some wonderful quilts there--some traditional and some more contemporary. Again there is a familiar look to the Museum.

This quilt is distant trees. Nice location, right? Isn't that ribbon quilt in the background fascinating? There are some wonderful tumbling blocks pieces also. Here is a contemporary piece that I like. I am not sure who made it but if you visit you can find out.

Another favorite is the display areas with the miniature quilts. For instance look at this tableau. To me who works in a larger format, I am constantly amazed by how tiny and perfect the little blocks are. Sweet isn't it?

But I cannot linger. I must go down stairs and shop until I drop. There is lots and lots of fabric here.
This is just part of the store.

I am here on a mission.  I pile up all that interest me. I grab what interests me--even get a few bargains--which I pull out and then take to the table for cutting. The ones on top are mine.

I know I need lots of teals, turquoise and sea greens for a quilt I am making. These are hard colors to find so I grab all that I see. Here is a selection.

Two big bags of fabric and I leave--my check book quite a bit lighter. My stash pile much much bigger. Now I can start the big quilt. What fun. It is probably good that I only visit once a year. Maybe there is such a thing as too much fabric. Not sure about that though.

And yes, I do make a quick trip to Zook's while I was in town. However, you should be proud of me--I did drive by several other fabric shops. Even I had reached my limit. And you--do you have a limit as to how much fabric you need? Do you have any favorite fabric shops to share?

thoughts on potholders--why not?

Yes, I confess I make potholders. Have for a number of years. Except for the one year when I got all sorts of fancy fellowships and grants. Quite frankly I couldn't sell a thing that year. Everyone would walk by my booth and not even look at my work--how disheartening.

So after thinking about it and realizing that there was nothing in my booth that I could afford, I brought back the potholder. And my sales rose immediately. At the first show, I sold a large wall hanging to a woman who had come into my booth to "look at the potholders." Her friend bought a smaller piece as well. Besides which it kept me in my booth talking with customers. I don't do well not selling.

At one point I used to make a lot of potholders--in my hay day I could sell a couple hundred at a craft show. Now this was back in the good old days. It was also when potholders were a significant portion of my income. One of the factors to figure in when calculating the price of an item is turnover rate. If you sell out of potholders several times a year you are making more money than if you have an item for the same price that you sell only once a year since you can re-invest from the potholders to make more money. Think about it.

Now you must realize that I do take great pride in my potholders. After all if you are going to be associated with an item, you want it to be well made. Of course there are many different theories as to what makes a good potholder--I want it to be a usable size with enough cotton batting to actually work and I want them to have a fun element. Both for me to make--I get to use all those wonderful prints that wouldn't work in my quilts--and fun for the customer to choose. I need to have enough selection to make shopping fun. I also want to respect all the people who look at my work knowing full well that many cannot afford most of what I make. That's just me.

Yes, I do get weary of making them sometimes. I only sell them to a few very select galleries anymore.  But they are great for those days when I just don't feel inspired. I rarely feel like I don't know what I am going to make next because I can always pull out a set of potholders and start sewing. Soon I am working with fabric and plotting something new. Then there is the problem of pricing--after all, how much are you willing to pay for a potholder? Seriously. I recently had a customer who had purchased from me in 1996 want to replace her potholders. (See --they do last.) Anyhow, she wondered why I would not sell them to her for the same price as I did in 1996. Seriously.

That being said, I looked at my stash recently while getting ready for the Long's Park Craft Show. I need a few more colors and styles. I had been thinking of using up the last of the dog bone fabric--great colors and a great gift for dog owners. I always follow certain rules I have established--I want them to always work together. First I play with the fabric to get the colors right--I want the center to be lighter than the other rows. Think of them as a take-off of Josef Albers with a yellow center. This dog bone fabric has certain challenges since it has a dark background with lots of lighter designs.

Then I cut and sew and have to choose a fabric for the back. I want the fabric to feel like it is the back for the potholder. That one is too light.

The brown is too dark and the wrong color.

The brick red is actually interesting. OK. A bit of a stripe that actually echoes a stripe in the fabric. I even take time choosing the color of the loop.

Now I need to make something for cat lovers. Meanwhile I am thinking of a new smaller item that I can add to my collection. What about you? Do you have smaller items? Do you think its OK to make potholders?