In April the last small/medium art quilt I made was Abstract Landscape 32, 19.5″ x 17.5″. I followed some of my more typical design approaches, using dramatic curves and varied fabrics. I like to experiment with free motion stitch designs, often using the fabric itself as inspiration for the stitch design I use. I’m also trying to use thread colors for my quilt stitching which have more contrast and are more easily seen on the quilt so the stitching becomes more a part of the art of the quilt.
I am getting quite a collection of what I call my “mountain colors”, gray greens, gray blues, more muted colors for the furthest away mountain or hill in the quilt. The use of these different colors creates depth in an art quilt similar to the way a painter uses color to create depth in a painting. The surprise fabric in this quilt is the flower print on the right hand side, sort of a “hey, here I am, something that actually looks real!” After I finished this quilt I realized I like using small prints like this so I spent some time looking for more fabrics similar in design for future quilts.
You can see my quilt stitching is quite varied. Often I decide what to do as I sit down to stitch a section. Sometimes it is just a vague idea which has to be worked out on the fly, as the walking foot or darning foot is stitching!! Finding these creative expressions for my art quilts is what makes this fun!!
I love your quilts and am curious about the technique. Do you teach any classes on how you do your quilts?
Thank you! I don’t teach classes. I am self taught, mostly through books. Often in my blog on this website I have talked about my piecing technique and my designs. I know I’ve done some blogs about how my trees quilts are designed and pieced along with some blogs on curved piecing.
Sharon