Crazy, Busy, and Lots of Fun!

Imagaine a Christmas holiday with eight adults (including two sons in law), two 3 year olds, a 3 month old, a 6 month old Labrador puppy and a very timid cat! That's what our house has been like for the past week or so! But it has been a wonderful holiday. The dinner table was a little crowded, the washer and dryer have been working over time and I've not had much time in my studio.....
I got to do this:

 And finally this:

The studio time will happen and that will be good. I have been snatching bits of time to read, walk and swim. And also plan some great new things for 2015. New products, new workshops and new ideas..... stay tuned!

Under Your Feet!

Do you spend a bit of time looking down at what you are walking on? Sidewalks, carpets and grating all have some awesome designs to inspire us....
Check these photos out that I took in my travels:









What have you seen under your feet?

Enjoy, Susan!

Give & Take Applique Design Class

Are you excited about starting the new year? Maybe searching to learn a new technique or expand on your design skills?
Then join me at www.quiltuniversity.com and learn how to create exciting designs using a unique positive/negative design concept. The class begins this Friday, January 4th!

I like to call Give & Take Applique the “no waste” appliqué technique. You will have fun trying out Give & Take Appliqué with some easy exercises and then begin creating your own shapes. You do not have to be a designer; some of the most effective appliqué designs use simple basic shapes. Have fun and play with your fabrics.

Here are just a few of the many designs that are possible with this unique concept. I hope to see you in class!

 

 

Learn Give & Take Applique - the No Waste Technique

Registration has opened for my new class at Quilt University! Starting January 4th you can learn about designing with positive and negative shapes for unique layout and value combinations.
In this class you will begin with simple paper and glue stick exercises and then move onto creating your own unique blocks with endless layout combinations. Join the fun at Quilt University

Learn how to use shape and value to create interesting layout combinations.

 

Discover what positive and negative shapes can do when placed together.

 

Combine applique and pieced blocks for many design options.

Why don't you join me in class!

Books on Sunday

Since I've been working on soy wax resists lately and choosing designs I would like to use on my fabrics, I pulled out a favourite title to look through.
1000 Patterns - Design through the Centuries edited by Drusilla Cole has been in my library for a few years and has proven to be an excellent reference book.

Divided into two sections of pre-industrial and post-industrial, the book is then further divided into geographical regions such as Caspian, Japan, Celtic and such for the pre-industrial whereas the post-industrial section is divided by time periods and style.
Image content ranges from textiles, ceramic tiles and other decorative surfaces, every colour and combination imaginable is shown and further enhanced by historical and ethnographic explanations.
I would recommend this book for any serious designer or artist interested in pattern design.
ISBN 9780811839792

Using L Frames

Many of you may be familiar with using L Frames when designing art or quilts. They are used to isolate areas of interest and cut down on the distraction of the surrounding picture or design. You can see from the pictures below how important that can be:

 

If you have a large area and want to crop out or trial different areas, these simple frames are indispensable! They are simple to make from matt board or construction paper. You can make them in several sizes and you will definitely need several of them. Use an art knife and straight ruler for best results. Be sure to use black as it will further help to isolate the areas.

 

 

I've also heard of buying inexpensive matt frames and cutting them in half diagonally on two corners, how clever is that!

More about Sketchbooks

Size is important to think about if you work in a variety of styles, media and locations. I like the large 16" x 20" for working in the studio. I can paint the papers, move pages from book to book and more. for that size I like the coil bound ones, and Aqua Bee are my favourite with rich, firm 93 lb. paper.
Check these out here: http://www.beepaper.com/paper/classic-super-deluxe.asp

But I also like a 6" x 9" or so for carrying around from place to place....very portable and the pages are large enough to get lots down. For that size then a hard cover is important to take lots of punishment. I prefer a bound book with a heavy weight paper so it can take water media as I tend to use my watercolour pencils a lot with that size.
These are yummy! http://www.dickblick.com/products/hand-book-artist-journals/

Then there's the little ones, perfect for fitting into my purse, pulling out in restuarants or on the bus, easy to take notes or make a quick little sketch....and I love the Moleskine three pack that are about 4" x 6", some have a pocket at the back for keeping love letters and more.... paper quality isnt as important as I'm using mostly pen and markers, but Moleskine does have good quality paper in their books.
Here's some to tempt you: http://www.moleskine.com/catalogue/classic/cahier/

Design Decisions

Yesterday I had a wonderful time in my wet studio playing with plain and coloured discharge paste. I'm preparing more samples for my workshops at Quilters Dream in Edmonton next month. I made some fat quarter sized circles on black:

I then layered them on top of one another, cut them into quarters and schuffled the quarters around.

I pulled out every thread I could find that would work on the discharged circles and quilted one of them heavily all over:

The other one awaits the sandwiching and quilting. Now, here's my dilemma---I like the uneven outer edges, maybe trimmed down a little bit. I'm thinking of leaving the edges like that, perhaps putting the piece on a deeper red or purple backing, perhaps quite narrow. What do you think?

I like this technique and could see doing lots more of these, perhaps larger and smaller blocks in a "sort of" mosaic. Options?