morning, Sept 20
Hotel coffee is not normally the best, especially in a styrofoam cup. But this morning's is just hitting the spot. I need it, too, as I am trying to put some order into the class I just finished teaching. Twenty-two students of all varieties, from a total newbie who had never stitched two pieces together to a prize-winning quilter; from art quilters to dyed-in-the wool traditionalists.
Some students had already played around with my book and had found their own path. Marlene brought in a quilt she had made. The added black and yellow strips pull it together and just make it sing, don't they?
Some of the students brought in leftover pieces from other projects that they wanted to get rid of. These triangle pieces fell into that category. Jean combined them with strips, some green fabric, and then auditioned them on a maroon background. Uh - no.
What if we put them together without the background? Aha - now she was getting somewhere - but they needed space and Jean needed to make some more blocks. Her dilemma was that she didn't have any more of the triangle motifs.
"Fudge it," I said. And she figured out how to make it work with a couple of trimmed-off bits and the extra green background fabric. This is how Jean's piece looked when she was done. :-)
I was really happy to see that the students were working with my process but making it part of their own aesthetic. Thea brought in a piece she had printed, with the goal of using it as the centerpiece (so to speak) of a quilt. This was in the works as we finished up and almost done.
Eleny got to work almost immediately and created this free-form landscape.
late night, Sept 21
Oh, dear - 24 hours later and I am finally finished with the post I started yesterday morning. Well, better late than never. Quilt Company East Guild - thanks for the fun!
Rayna
6 comments:
How exiting to see these things develop! Yes I think the triangle strips are such a strong signal, they will cover larger areas with their dynamic effect. Your students must have experienced wonderful hours of inspiration.
One more time, your magic happened! You do a great job of helping your students find new directions... nice!
The student's work is wonderful. I found myself that it takes time to learn to be fearless and just go for it! Michael Symons is from my neck of the woods, Ohio, Cleveland to be exact. My son's cousin works for him and was going back and forth to Pittsburg from Cleveland to get the place open at the airport.
You never meet a problem you can't deal with!
When are you coming to New Zealand Rayna? Please? Pretty pretty please?
Love seeing the students' progress!
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