« December 2013 | Main | February 2014 »
The latest issue of Fat Quarterly is available today!
Go get yours, it has lots of great scrappy projects in it, including this one of mine! I am SO glad I can finally share it with you! I worked on this quilt most of last fall.
It's called The Whole Nine Yards because it uses nine yards of muslin!
It took a long time to make but I really enjoyed the process. There are loads of little half square triangles in there and I got to dig DEEP in the scrap bin.
| |
|
It's official, southeast Michigan has had the snowiest January on record. Crazy.
We've had our share of snow, cold, wind, and snow drifts.
B has been enjoying the snow for skiing. He even got Miss P her own ski gear this week. Here she is having her first lesson on Saturday.
I walked the fields with them yesterday.
We came up on a rafter of turkeys. They flew up in the air and landed in the tree tops in the distance. B says he often surprises them when he is out on his skis.
I've been keeping busy but not posting here as often. I'll continue to share the big news here but Instagram is so much easier for quick "behind the scenes" posts. So, if you miss me over here, follow me on instagram - I'm thelittleredhen_lh there.
I've been trying to do some secret sewing but it seems I'm having a hard time keeping up with that too. I do hope to be back here on a more regular basis when the warmer weather hits. For now, I need to go throw a few more logs in the woodstove and do a little stitching.
I hope you are keeping warm (or cool if you are in the southern hemisphere) and doing things you enjoy. What are your favorite winter activities?
| |
|
I just heard from Gwen Marston that her lecture from the Dennos Museum exhibit opening ceremony is online.
Pour a cup of tea and enjoy the lecture.
| |
|
If you happen to be anywhere near Traverse City, Michigan before April 27, you will want to stop by the Dennos Museum Center to see the exhibit Gwen Marston: Contemporary Quilts. I'm kicking myself for missing the opening yesterday. You can see some spectacular photos of the show and opening here.
Here is Gwen's Artist Statement about the show. (included with permission)
Artist Statement
Gwen Marston: Contemporary Quilts
In the mid 70’s I saw an exhibit of fine antique quilts at my local art museum which spirited me on my way to becoming a quiltmaker. I began as most quilters do, by learning how to make quilts from traditional patterns passed down through generations. In 1990 I turned a corner and since then have designed my own work.
When making contemporary, abstract quilts I work almost exclusively with solid fabrics, and by that I mean fabrics that have not been printed with a design. I prefer it for a host of reasons, none more important than the fact the line and form are more clearly defined: solids emphasize the delineation between shapes whereas prints can blur the edges of adjoining shapes.
With much of my work I first decide on the basic form I’m going to use to construct the piece (such as working in rows, or beginning in the center and working outward). Then I think about color and scale and once I have worked out those general ideas, I start building the parts and designing the quilt as I am constructing it in an improvisational way.
I have long used rough pencil sketches as a way to test initial ideas. Then in 2010 I developed another way to make sketches. Instead of pencil sketches I made fabric sketches. I found that making sketches with the actual fabric I intended to use was a great way to work out composition and color.
Because these Small Studies are completely developed, they take on the added significance as small works of art, and indeed made up the featured exhibition at the Taupo Art Museum during the 2013 New Zealand Symposium. The first thirty-seven are shown in my book 37 Sketches.
Resume
Gwen Marston is a professional fiber artist, author, and teacher. She has taught nationally and internationally for over three decades. She has written 26 books, two of which won awards: Mary Schafer: American Quilt Maker – 2005 Michigan Notable Book award. 37 Sketches – 2012 New York Book Show Award.
She has had twenty-five exhibits of her large quilts, seven exhibits of her small quilts and her work has been shown in many group exhibits throughout the United States and abroad.
Gwen has offered a series of five retreats in the fall of the year for students of quiltmaking over the past 30 years.
I'll be sure to make it to this show while its up. Gwen's quilts are always a treat to see in person.
Gwen may have retired from her retreats and cut back on teaching and lecturing but guess what! She has a book coming out this spring! Gwen's new book, Minimal Quiltmaking, is available for preorder on amazon. I ordered mine last month and can hardly wait for it to arrive! Go ahead and order yours now!
disclaimer - The amazon link is an affiliate link. If you click through with that link and purchase I will get a small kick back from amazon.
| |
|
We are back from a week of cleaning out and preparing my mother-in-law's house to go on the market. It's a lovely mid century home in northern Virginia. After all the cleaning and moving there and seeing the house stripped down to just the basics, I'm inspired to declutter my own home. I'll never get it THIS empty unless we move out. Still, I think purging a bit of our own clutter will be good for us.
We took part of a day and rode the metro into DC and did a bit of sight seeing around the Smithsonian.
My pick of the day was to see the "Workt by Hand" exhibit. It was a wonderful exhibit. I only wish they had allowed photography. I did buy the book but haven't read it through yet.
Miss P loves the Natural History museum.
| |
|
I finally finished the quilt that consumed much of my fall. It's a queen size scrap quilt and the full quilt and directions will be featured in the next issue of Fat Quarterly.
Watch for it. The entire issue is on SCRAPS. Yeah, I think I'm gonna like the whole issue. I can hardly wait.
| |
|
Our winter break is fast coming to an end. We have enjoyed our time away from the routine of work and school.
We had a bit of snow, played games, stayed up too late, and slept in a lot. j
I am eager to see where the New Year takes us.
| |
|
