I think I figured out what was going on

Once I started quilting my Charles Bridge quilt I figured out why I was procrastinating so much. I think I was dreading the tedious quilting around all those statues and bridge lights plus worrying about how to quilt the buildings.

I still have a long way to go, but at least I am finally on my way.

Thanks for reading.
Chris

Why am I dragging my feet?

It seems that at every step of this quilt I have been dragging my feet. It took me three days to pin it. I could not get motivated to pin it. Then it has been sitting for 3 more days and I still have not started to quilt it. I did get threads out, but that's as far as I have been motivated to progress. I know once I start it I will pretty much work on it non stop, but getting started has proved to be difficult. I don't know why. It's not that I don't like it and dread finishing it. I just need to convince myself to do just a little to get moving. Have you ever experienced this in your own work?

Last night was the awards reception for Images 2019. There were 6 merit awards handed out among the 59 pieces that were accepted into the show. As is no surprise I did not get an award. Too much competition from paintings and photographs. I did see a young boy really looking at my toxic rusted barrel quilt so that was great. And I did not hear anyone say, "It's only sewing." Last year a young woman commented that my quilt was only sewing.

Linking to Nina-Marie.

Thanks for reading.
Chris

Looking back to see how far I've come

Over the Sea to Skye

When I started art quilting back in 2004 I had no idea where it would lead. It all started with a class that I took in 2004 at Quilt University with Susan Brittingham. That quilt took me until 2011 to finish. I was so stuck on the foreground. I think for years I went to quilt stores looking for the "perfect" fabrics for the foreground rocks and grass. I think eventually I figured out there was not a perfect fabric and just forced myself to finish it. As I look at it now I see so many things that are "wrong" with it. It was created from a photo and if it was in the photo I put it in the quilt. I did not think about editing for good design. I did not think about focal points. Also this was my first departure from traditional quilts so borders were an automatic addition. Now I rarely add borders to my art quilts.

Midwinter Visitor

By 2012 I had improved in my approach to art quilts with my cardinal quilt. This was the quilt I made in Ellen Lindner's class. Now I had a focal point and a much better composition. Also I did not add borders. I still love this quilt.

Gathering Storm

The real turning point came in 2014 when I took a year long master class with Elizabeth Barton. This class was a challenge in that I was still working and had to make one art quilt each month for 10 months. Granted none of these were very large, but each one proved to be a challenge. I did learn a lot about composition that year. This was a big jump forward. The other quilts made that year are here.










I took another master class with Elizabeth Barton in 2018. This time it was an independent study class. My goal was to make several quilts that I had on the back burner for years. With Elizabeth's feedback I finished 4 of them.

When the Dark Night Seems Endless

Evolution?

Taking its Toll

Light in Darkness

Even without Elizabeth Barton's guidance between 2014 and 2018 I did make some art quilts. These are a few of them.

Starry Scary Night

Visions Past

Sunlight in the Forest

Midwinter's Night

Dawn on Charles Bridge (in progress)

In the last year I have actually entered my art quilts into shows (art shows as well as quilt shows) and have been really successful at that. I have entered 4 things and gotten in all 4. Back in 2014 I had no idea where I would be in 2019. As my husband says, "You've come a long way, Chrissy." I'm sure we would all have a similar story to tell about our beginnings and our evolution as artists.

Linking to Nina-Marie.

Thanks for reading.
Chris

"Light in Darkness" is in!!!

"Light in Darkness" 35 in by 35 in

My circle quilt was accepted into the AQS quilt show in Grand Rapids, Michigan from August 21-24, 2019. So now I am 4 for 4 in terms of entries and acceptances. That just blows me away. I never entered anything in an AQS show before. We plan on going to the show in Michigan while visiting my sister who lives there. How much fun will that be?

Here is a close up image of the quilt. This is an original design. This actually started with a photo of sunlight coming into a forest. This photo was pixelated, turned into a gray scale image, and then taken into an iPad app called Fragment to get the circle pattern. It was basically a lot of playing to get the idea for this quilt.

I keep trying to get a good image of my Charles Bridge quilt. Here it is on my design wall. This is pretty close to reality. The orientation of the bridge makes this a morning image so the title will be "Dawn on Charles Bridge." It will be about 36 in by 36 in after it is quilted.

Thanks for reading.

Linking to Nina-Marie.

Chris