Things I think I've learned over the years...

I have been art quilting since 2004 when I started my Isle of Skye quilt. It was started in an online class at Quilt University with Susan Brittingham. Quilt University has not existed for years and Susan is no longer with us. You can see that I loved buildings even then.

My second art quilt was "Grandma's House."

So what did I learn many years after making these quilts? I've learned that borders are not necessary.  I rarely put a border on a quilt now.  I also usually face the quilt instead of binding it these days. If you want it to look like art rather than a quilt you should skip the borders and the binding. My Amsterdam canal houses at night which is shown below would be an example of a quilt that has no borders and has facing instead of binding. So why did these first 2 quilts have borders and binding? Well I was a traditional quilter and always "slapped" a border on a quilt. That's what I was used to. At least I mitered the borders!!

The other thing I learned was to use an inspiration photo that had an unusual perspective rather than taking one that looks at the subject straight on. The one of my parent's house was the only photo I had at the time so that's what I had to use, but now I would take the photo at an angle to get something more interesting to work with. The canal houses are taken from an angle looking down a street. That's better in my opinion than a straight on view. The other thing I did with the photo was to stretch the vertical dimension to make the canal houses look tall and skinny. I've discovered how to manipulate a photo to make it more interesting or to fit the subject better. Tall skinny canal houses call for a tall skinny quilt.

Looking up or down at a building is also a great view to find something interesting. Looking up at the ceilings of a cathedral is a great viewpoint.

The other thing I discovered over the years was to use unusual colors rather than the actual colors in the photo. In other words skies don't have to be blue or buildings don't have to be brown.

My original idea for the canal houses was to go with the actual colors in the photo. I did a sketch and painted it in with those colors. It evolved into a night time scene with all blues and the yellow orange windows after I played with it in Electric Quilt software. So the other thing I learned was to play with things before I even start making the quilt.Some times I play for years before I commit to something.

 

I've learned that colors can create a mood. If you look at these 2 energy quilts you can see they have very different moods based on their subjects. You can utilize that to your advantage.

 

So what about how big to make a quilt?  Sometimes the size I choose is based on what fabrics I have to work with. Other times it's dictated by the subject and what I want a viewer to feel. My Boston quilt is a good example of that. I wanted the viewer to feel like they were standing there looking at a city scene so it is very large. That of course has been stressing me out while I've been quilting it. It is approximately 50 in by 80 in.

 

I’ve also learned to simplify things, leave things out, add things, or move things around. I guess one of the last things I've learned is that I have to be patient and learn to deal with plenty of tedious things in this process. This process is not for the faint of heart.

What have you learned over the years that I forgot to mention?

Linking to Nina-Marie.

Thanks for reading

Chris