Glass for the Day

This is the beautiful result of a day of glass play in my front yard. Friends Anisha, Sonya, and my daughter in law Shiloh and I made our stained glass creations after being inspired by a Canadian teacher that I saw on fb. We had a few moments of hairy, gusty winds that compromised our shelter from the sun, but we recovered.

We used stained glass purchased from a friend, Paulette, and flat back glass beads, and glass epoxy. Thank you to my guy, Mike for finding old panes that he saved in the shed.

Fun day.

What Am I After When I Create My Art?

My simple answer is depth. I've been in love with creating layered fiber art quilts for years. My art has changed in that time from some simple layering of a few fibers, to a more complex layering using many fibers to create an almost fuzzy composition until it is quilted. Using these different fibers has allowed me to make the illusion of depth with the more dissipated fibers blending and disappearing into the background and the more detailed solid fibers behaving as if they are close to me. My chosen base fabric also plays a factor. I prefer batik or batik like fabrics that are a bit blurred. And yes, the way I choose to quilt it helps to create an organic movement. Think of the wind gently ruffling the flowers and leaves.

It's really not rocket science. I just love to play.

I love a bit of Salmon

Today was a lovely day to stay inside while the 4 inches of snow outside melted. Yes, it is April 30th and we had more snow. I know it is a tired subject, but I really have to say...enough already.

I finished organizing for the class I'm teaching this weekend in  Elkhorn, WI at The Quilting Connection. Saturday is a Lecture and Demo for the Great Lakes Professional Quilting Machine Association Guild and Sunday is a hands on fiber art class. 

As a professional procrastinator I felt it wouldn't be a great idea to wait until the last minute to pack. So as a totally wonderful side effect of doing things on time, I was able to quilt on another sample. The batik I chose for this was a bit ugly and I think it came out of some stores sale bin. Sometimes the things that you may feel are going to be unsuccessful will smack you around a bit reminding you not to over guess your art. Salmon was successful. I brought in soft subtle colors to compliment the contrast in the flowers and leaves.

Tonight will be a time to finish the binding and admire a new favorite. Tomorrow, I'm breaking out some of my rust dyed fabric and some distressed odd colored silk leaves to quilt up a more organic looking runner.

I feel refreshed.

Fabric Ramblings

Why do you need so much fabric? What could possibly make you want to buy fabrics you might not live long enough to use?

Such silly questions pumpkin. If you want to ever receive a quilt from me you might want to keep such personal questions in check. I make quilts because every fiber of my being says I have to create or I will explode. I make so many that they need a home when I'm finished with them. Yes, that might be your home if you are nice to me and suck up to me a little bit. I also need that much fabric because I don't shop for a project outside of my home. I shop from my shelves. Always have and probably always will. It could be a throw back from my poor frugal years. I have a huge stash and I'm pretty proud of it. Because I'm a longarm quilter I also need big amounts of backing fabrics. Because I'm self employed and my income is limited I also sale shop looking for the best that I can buy at the best price for me. I'm proud of that also. So, I'm not a fabric snob needing the newest, best, or brightest. I don't purge myself of old fabric unless it is really inferior in quality and then it makes it's way into a bag for the local churches to make charity quilts that usually get sent to some foreign country. I'm okay with that. I also make as many charity quilts as I feel I have time for. I hate the thought of making something out of bad fabric so I make them out of the good stuff I got at a good price. It's an all over win-win for me and those that get them.

So, what am I getting at? I quilt because I have to, and I give because I can. My stash makes me feel good, and the riot of color brightens my day. I look at it all the time and I don't hide it in boxes. I don't hide it from my husband, even though he hasn't a clue as to how much I spent or it's value. That means I don't have to sneak anything into the house, or hide it in the car until the time is right. The fabric is a clean vice and one of the few that I have. I have something intrinsic when it's used to make something. And if I play my cards right the thing that I made with it can brighten the day of someone else or night if they sleep under it or hang it on a wall. I have "quilts" all over my home, in many different states, and in several countries. Some of that fabric has made it into award winning quilts that have a very big monetary value. But, most are just for the bed because that is what makes me the happiest.

There you have my answer. I plan to maintain this healthy stash and burden my survivors with having to deal with it when I'm gone. I should probably warn them.

Reload and Refresh

Retreats are a time of quilty companionship, power sewing, and recharging my quilt energy. We have a about 24 hours to go and I've gotten so much finished already. As usual I did manage to bring more than I could ever hope to finish at retreat. But what I have finished would have never gotten done at home. I tend to work on others things and neglect my own work. So far I've made 5 baby quilt tops, 1 lap quilt top, a tote purse from a breakout group demo, 1 finished (quilted and bound) baby quilt, 1 table runner and next I'm going to play with some curvy piecing. Wish me luck. The retreat is always done too soon. I promise to not stay up past 2 am.

Classes at Country Loft Quilt & Design

Classes at Country Loft Quilt & Design

Email me if you are interested in the classes at fancyquilter@hotmail.com

Blue Garden

 

Fiber Layering on the Longarm

 

All day class, Confident Beginner to Intermediate Level

 

Just in time for spring. Come join us in a fun and creative class learning how to layer and quilt at the same time on the longarm with   Norma J Riehm, award winning art quilter and national teacher.

 

Students will make a fiber layered art quilt with silk flowers, yarns, Angelina, crystals, and other fun fibers. They will learn techniques for layering, McTavishing, applying crystals, and making a perfect binding. This all day class will spark your creativity and you will have a finished art quilt when you leave class.

 

There will be a small trunk show of Norma's layered art quilts to let you see the possibilities of using this technique. This is a very fun class that inspires fresh ideas using the longarm.

 

What you need to bring:

 

Reading glasses if you need them for hand work, a notebook and a pencil, a camera if you wish to take pictures. There is a kit fee for this class of $25. The kit will contain everything you need to make the table runner including embellishments and it is due the day of the class.

 

 

Background Fillers Gone Wild

 

Freehand Overall Class

 

All day class, Confident Beginner to Intermediate Level

 

This fun freehand overall class is just what you were looking for. Students will be making a wholecloth using many fun refreshing designs without a rigid class format. I will help you learn to relax when you are quilting and think about quilting like drawing on a paper. We will cover the 35 designs on the class sample but I will encourage you to think beyond my designs and take what you quilt best to the next level.

 

What you need to bring:

 

A notebook and a pencil, a camera if you wish to take pictures. There is a kit fee of $10 which includes a handout for the class and the fabrics for the wholecloth and is due the day of the class.

 

 

Making a Fresh Class Sample

Today I prepped for a class I'm going to teach this month. The class sample is a sweet spring table runner named Blue Garden. I'm super pleased with the fibers I chose for the layering. It makes me feel good on this blustery snowy first day of May. When the snow started I was just plain angry with the weather. This pretty piece made my temper go away and now the end of the day feels all the sweeter. I've attached cobalt blue crystals on the flowers and the binding will get stitched tonight. Then I need to take a final "good" picture for the kit instructions. Kits will be made in the morning. So if you've thought about taking one of my classes, this is a good opportunity. The class will be at the Innova Dealer, Country Loft Quilt & Design in Forest Lake MN the middle of this month. 

Next I need to work on the class sample for the 2nd class for overall background designs. These are both classes on the longarm. If you want more info you can email me at fancyquilter@hotmail.com.