**This is long......grab some coffee or take my preferred "bubbly" hydration break while reading.
Several recent comments I've received have generated this post. I'm so thankful for the loyal and growing readership on both my Facebook and Blog accounts which amazes me since I do very little in the way of growing my social media presence. I'd rather be sewing!
Followers are either quilters themselves or simply interested in art quilts and hopefully they are collectors too. It's necessary to sell work in order to keep producing (and avoid having our offspring figure out what to do with them when the time comes. Haha)
So, let's get to it. I'm guessing most of you are well aware that creating one-of-a-kind art quilts is a different process than following a published pattern or making a quilt from a kit. Selecting fabric doesn't take a short period of time. At least for me it can take not just hours but sometimes several days to hit the right combo of design, color, scale etc. Where do my ideas come from? In short, everywhere. Visual surroundings, a comment or phrase, striking color combinations, and most often the fabric itself. I 'shop' for fabric in my own stash.
My style has changed a lot over my career. From whimsical, highly embellished, & whole cloth hand quilted creations, then morphing into nature inspired after our move from WI to the mountains of NC. Asian themed pieces have popped up fairly frequently too after inheriting a very large stash of fabric from a dear friend.
The later has been my biggest challenge and happily often those smaller pieces sell the quickest. With age I've noticed my art reflects a preference for living with simplicity, focusing on minimalism, using earthy but not totally muted palettes, and leaving unadorned spaces.
I've had a preference for working with whole-cloth (rather than pieced backgrounds). In fact one of my books was titled "The Whole Cloth Garment Stori". I began making traditional patchwork quilts in the mid 80's, but VERY soon tired of repeatedly sewing identical blocks. My pieces are always original designs, never duplicated. That takes time!! I may start with an idea, in this case a piece of fabric for the background and some 'fussy cut' circular motifs from another piece. These fabrics are 'auditioned' on my large flannel wall. They are added, subtracted, perhaps added again until the right combination comes together. This could mean hours of pulling piles of fabrics from shelves, standing and staring at them on the wall, sometimes knowing it's not right, but not how to fix it. Time...it takes time, experience and a stick-to-it attitude.
Okay enough...you get the idea. Here are just a few of the many design options I tried while creating my current small art quilt. I'm so fortunate to wake up every day excited to CREATE art quilts! Perhaps this explanation will shine light on my process; creating work to sell. I encourage you to follow your passion, whatever that may be. The finished piece is coming soon..... quilt motif decisions are still being made.
Circles are too big and overpower the design.
I knew I needed a vertical element, yet hadn't hit on just what that was yet.
Back to those darn circles.
Notice, I keep wanting to use those circular motifs......sometimes it's very hard to give up on an idea, even when it's not working!!!
The shifts in design may be small....like the placement of the birds....but necessary to obtain the right balance.
