Author: courageousquilting

Working in a series:  Negative Space

One quilt informs the next, by technique, color combination, or style or something else.  Here are four recent quilts and the story how one led to another.

I love wedges, especially improvisationally pieced wedges.  And I love lots of negative space.  My loves came together, see quilt #1.  Quilted with white thread in an edge to edge quilting pattern called “Eye.”

I have a friend whose favorite color is teal.  I’m still loving negative space and improvisationally pieced blocks and that led to quilt #2 and the pattern by Alexandra Ledgerwood @teaginny from the book Improvising Tradition #Improvisingtradition. Quilted with white thread in an edge to edge quilting pattern called “Surf.”

Another friend’s fave color is purple, which led to quilt #3.  I was playing with value and using prints mixed with solids, exploring some of the fun that purple has to offer.  Same pattern, this one was quilted with white thread in an edge to edge quilting pattern called “Ribbon Candy.”

Still having fun with negative space and not done with teal, I modified @teaginny ‘s pattern to change the height of the pieced blocks in quilt #4.   This one is quilted with white thread in an edge to edge quilting pattern called “Basket Weave.”

The beauty of working in a series is you can come back and explore another facet whenever the creative momentum drives you.  I’m probably going to have to revisit negative space sometime soon.  Have you ever worked in a series?  What did you learn?

Let me know what you think, I love to read your comments.

#wedgequilt #improvisationalpiecing #modernquilt #modernquilters #modernquilting #courageousquilting #quilt #quilter #quilters

I  have *really* wanted to make a New York Beauty for a long ime.  My problem was, I don’t foundation paper piece so therefore, I didn’t have on a New York Beauty.  And the thing is, if you don’t work on it, it doesn’t get done.  Funny how that works.  Time, sometimes lots of time, goes by and you still don’t make the quilt you want.  It’s like the “I don’t want…” gets in the way of the “I want….”  Well, when you put it that way, it’s kind of silly.  So stop that.

Set aside the time to do hard things.  To make challenging quilts.  It’s ok if your first block stinks.  It’s ok if it’s upside down and backward, because let’s face it, paper piecing *is* upside down and backward.  When you keep doing it, it gets easier.  You make fewer mistakes and spend more time sewing than with your seam ripper.  You get faster and better.   You finish a block and it looks pretty cool.  You finish another and it looks pretty cool too.  Pretty soon you’ve found some momentum and the blocks start piling up.  Work that momentum and you’ll have enough blocks for a whole quilt.  Will the finished quilt be perfect?  No, but you’ll have grown in the process and you’ll be a better quilter for it. That’s cause enough to celebrate.

#NYB #NewYorkBeauty #longarmquilting #modernquilt #fmq #fremotionquilting #hobbs batting #courageousquilting #quilting

Sometimes you need to have a conversation with The Girl In Your Head and remind her to be nice to you.  You know her, she’s the one who tells you things like:  the points don’t match, the quilt doesn’t lie flat, that block has a mistake, you should have finished this project like <<enter date long, long ago>>, you don’t have the right fabric for this project, you have too much fabric, too many projects, you don’t know what you’re doing, you can’t quilt that yourself because you might wreck it, blah, blah, blah.

You are going to be a lot more creative in your quilting if you tell The Girl In Your Head to be nice.  Be nice, or be quiet.  She needs to realize her place is to be supportive in your quilty journey.  If you’re not *yet* the quilter you want to be, you can get there, but only if just let yourself try.  Try new techniques, new tools, new designs, new colorways.  Take classes and meet other quilters.  Buy or borrow a new book or pattern.  Then evaluate what worked and what didn’t and learn from that and celebrate the lessons.

If she forgets and starts to bring you down, sit her down and remind The Girl In Your Head to be nice or be quiet, you have some creative work to do and she’s getting in the way.