Fibermania

A trip down memory lane

Because I was 'forced' to employ a backup laptop while my regular laptop is being repaired, I had to load the new one with my photo files. I found a bunch of really old stuff, taken with my really old digital camera. While the resolution is poor, the ideas grabbed me and got me thinking about new possibilities.

2 for 1 quilts 18x24" each, fused silks

Sometimes I think I have a great idea which I can turn into a great workshop exercise. These 2 for1 quilts were just such an idea. The workshop part never really happened and these sample quilts are buried deep in my closet somewhere, only to be resurrected when we need to sell our house and move. However looking at them now, I see that cross layouts were forming long before I realized it. You understand that the concept was to cut two blocks at the same time and end up with two quilts. hmmm. Is this like working in a series? Not exactly.

I found this old slide too, and added the caption for my lecture. It is the inside-out version of the Escape Hatch Finish. I explain in the lecture about pillowcasing the quilt top and turning it right side out through this escape hatch, which is already afixed with a strip of Wonder-Under, thus enabling me to close it shut afterward and fuse the backing to the quilt back.

When I found this picture of a small quilt block, I thought about how much fun it was to make these little compositions and how I could bring back this part of my workshop this weekend when I teach in California.

And I will throw in this part too.

These two are some examples of the great work from this past weekend's workshop in Wisconsin. I am adding this to my California class too.
My teaching goal is to open up possibilities for the participants. To help them loosen up and experiment in a safe environment. Perhaps this taste of no-rules-quilting will translate into original work from them somewhere down the road. Or not.
I have recently faced the fact that most of the time I have only six hours with my students and may not have any influence on them after that at all.
When one goes back to the guild setting and shows the work done in the class, they may or may not be supported by their peers, and that could be the end of it. Or they could catch fire and take a giant leap into the unknown and become the hot new artist in the guild. One can hope!