Friday, December 30, 2016

AHIQ and a Liberated Finish 2016

'Santa Clara Fog' 10" x  13" by Janie.

My 'Liberated Diamonds' small quilt, 12" x 16".

It's still cold and snowy here in New Hampshire!

I'm teaming up with Ann and Kaja working on improvisational, liberated, art quilts.

'Santa Clara Fog' is all done. It's part of my Santa Clara series; working with clear, saturated colors using white as a strong background or contrast. It has a lot of grey but it still belongs in the series.
I started with strip fabric I'd sewn and using a template I cut squares and added white strips to those squares. I squared those again this way and that and then arranged and sewed the blocks together.

My 'Liberated Diamonds' is also in Santa Clara style but has a strong dose of 'liberation.'  It's almost done just needs the binding hand stitched down on the back.
It's put together with 'x's and o's' style blocks.

I love working small I can get a lot of my ideas worked out quickly. 

Hope you're all staying warm and enjoying the season. I'll be by to visit!!

16 comments:

Pamela said...

I love seeing your colorful, inspirational pieces. Happy new year!

Mary Marcotte said...

Liberated and happy! Those are fun quilts that I imagine could take you for a wild ride. Those wonky diamonds look like lots of fun to piece. I'd want to see how weird I could get them! (But I'm quirky like that.) Happy New Year!

Magpie's Mumblings said...

Your work is the type of 'sane' quilting I love! The worst thing (at least for me anyway) is trying to do the matchy-poo points that sane quilting seems to expect - you break that assumption all to smithereens and I love it!!

Ann said...

So interesting when artists work in series. I enjoy seeing what carries over from one project to the next. Then some aspects that were set aside may be reprised later. What a treat to compare your work.
Liberated Diamonds reminds me of Cathy's wonky butterflies. This simple triangle can be set so many ways and the liberated cutting emphasized the movement of the quilt.
Thanks for linking with AHIQ.

PaulaB quilts said...

I really like your Santa Clara fog series, just quirky, but in a Framework. I can't do such tiny things, but do admire them. My hands are too shaky. I used to life in the Bay Area and miss it. I grew up in RI, miss the old,old places. The liberated butterflies are fun. I notice you are working in all solids in these improvs. That's one of my goals this year. Happy New Year!

Kaja said...

I like the balance between the bright, clear colours and the white backgrounds, and, as Ann has commented it is interesting to follow a series and see how ideas evolve.

Janie said...

Thank you, Pamela, Happy New Year to you too!

Janie said...

Thanks, Mary. They are 'liberated' as in the style of Gwen Marston, if you 're not familiar with her amazing work in abstract quilts for sure look her up. She has many books out and a great online class at 'Iquilt'.

Janie said...

Thanks, Mary Ann, you and me both!

Janie said...

Thank you, Ann, for making an opportunity to share, so valuable.

Janie said...

Hi Paula, glad we share in some experiences.
About using only solids; I did sneak some batiks into the 'Liberated Diamonds' and there are some in Santa Clara Fog too. I can't resist using batiks, they have an organic look that I love.

Janie said...

Yes, Kaja, thanks for hosting, with Ann, AHIQ. Sharing projects and ideas is great.

Sharon said...

I like both of your pieces! Good job on the improv! I really like the quilting you did on "Fog". It add a lot of movement without being overwhelming.

I like to sneak some batiks in with the solids sometimes too. I have trouble using all solids sometimes. They seem to be missing some zing somehow. Solids is one of the things I want to focus on this year. I'll be taking the Abstract Quilts in Solids class with Gwen in March, I'm hoping that will help me get more comfortable with solids.

I used to live in Fremont, not too far from Santa Clara!

Cathy said...

Looks like you are on a roll!

Sue said...

I love the bright colors in your Santa Clara quilts. They are like gems in the snow!

Karen said...

Hi Janie...are you still away from home? I hope your family are all well.....love that you are still managing to create. I can't work when I'm not home...