Some exciting news is that our group, along with some guest quilters, is having an upcoming exhibit at the Greenville Center for Creative Arts called the Modern Design Lab Quilt Invitational. The show is supposed to start at the beginning of June, but this might be delayed due to the virus. You can see the announcement and all of the quilters here.
In addition to having some of my modern quilts I have made throughout the years on display, we have each made a mini quilt measuring 15" square based on an inspiration photograph of an old Greenville mill. Here was the inspiration photo:
Woodside Mill by Mark Mulfinger
I had a difficult time coming up with what I wanted my mini to look like. My eye was drawn to the lines of the building so I decided to work with that.
The other design constraints were that we could only use white, black, and gray colors along with a grass green color (we were allowed to use prints, but I chose not to).
My first design was this:
It was a paper pieced design I designed in Corel Draw. I did not love the design and found myself procrastinating making it. After finishing all of my book quilts, I needed some sewing that was more free and less precise.
So I went back to the drawing board and decided to create a piece with the same feel, but using improv piecing.
I first creating a number of fan like strip sets:
Then I arranged them in a mostly decreasing size order to help get the feeling of perspective. I will admit that I was not loving the mini quilt at this point.
Then I quilted the mini using matching 50 wt Aurifil thread in a dense switchback design in each of the gray squares and diagonal lines in the background.
After it was quilted and bound I was much happier with it. The mini measures 15" square finished.
I hope that if you are local, the show does open and you get a chance to safely be able to see it.
Love your story on designing this mini quilt. Love the final project. Impressed with your bio and you can fit quilting in to your life.
ReplyDeleteI really love your choice not to quilt the green rectangles, Cheryl. And I hope that the show is able to open and people can safely visit, too.
ReplyDeleteThanks for explaining your design process.
ReplyDeleteThat's very cool! I also love how it is similar to Yvonne's yet she focussed on the water tower! Those quilting lines just did it for me, and for you too I see!
ReplyDeleteI love seeing all the different quilts. I think not quilting the green was a perfect choice. I would have had a hard time too but watching solutions others used helps us learn.
ReplyDeleteI love your mini! It's great how quilting can be so transformative.
ReplyDeleteI have followed and made a couple of your mysteries Cheryl, and it has been an enjoyable experience. July seems like a perfect month to embark on a new adventure with you and others. Thanks every day for what you do.
ReplyDeleteA beautiful mini, I love how you made a new design from the photo!
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