Cindy Grisdela ~ art quilter

After several false starts, this is my quilt in progress for the QAWM – Quilt Along with Melody challenge.  I used scraps of the bright novelty fabrics I’ve been collecting for some time–bits and pieces left over from other projects. I made wonky log cabin blocks with black and white centers, then cut them in half and shuffled them. When I laid the quilt out with just these blocks, it was too busy, so I used some of my black and white scraps to make half-square triangles for sashing and borders. It seems counterintuitive, but the busy triangles actually seem to give the eye a place to rest.  I think I’m going to use up some more of the bright scraps and make a piano key border out of irregular strips, but I couldn’t wait to share my progress! Hopefully I’ll be able to post the finished top by the end of the month.

Visit Melody’s blog to learn more about the challenge and see the progress of others taking the challenge.

I found that the blocks I was working on for the Quilt-Along-With-Melody challenge were too regular and predictable for me, so I’ve decided to take another route.

I cut 4.5″ squares of black and white fabrics and dumped out all the scraps I’ve been saving from the bright novelty prints I initially said I wanted to put a dent in for this project. I’m using the scraps to make log cabin blocks with irregular strips. I have 12 blocks going and I’m chain-piecing the blocks, picking up random strips and adding them as I go along. When the blocks are finished, I plan to cut them either in half or in quarters and mix them up. Then I’ll sew the blocks back together.

This is much more “me” and I’m happy with it. I was inspired by a new book, Freddy & Gwen Collaborate Again, by Gwen Marston and Freddie Moran. So I’ve been furiously sewing log cabins in between bouts of shoveling snow, which I hope is over now. Working with these bright blocks is good medicine when it’s so wintry outside.

Visit www.fibermania.blogspot.com to see Melody’s progress and check out how others are interpreting the challenge.

These are my first attempts at the QAWM project – better known as Quilt Along With Melody. At the beginning of the week, Melody issued a challenge on her blog to make simple blocks during February to use up fabric you had laying around. These are novelty prints that I’ve had for a while, but I’m using more batiks and hand-dyed fabrics now, so it seemed like a good idea to use them for something.

I’ve learned something about myself with this project. It’s hard for me to cut up fabric and make blocks without knowing what they’re going to be!

The first two blocks I made were two variations on the pink, green and multi-polka dot blocks. I liked them so much I cut them up and put them into a setting that I think will end up being a pillow. I used up a little bit of fabric on those, but making them into something right away wasn’t the point. So I went back and just started making blocks willy-nilly. And it was hard! I kept thinking about what they wanted to BE. I think this is a good exercise for me to help me loosen up my need to control my designs.

I’m not really happy with the 9 large blocks-they seem too disjointed and well–large. So I’m going to make some more blocks and maybe cut them into smaller blocks like I did with the first set to see if smaller blocks are more appealing to me. Maybe there’s a reason I don’t use these fabrics much any more! I view this project as something to have fun with, not necessarily to come up with a finished product.

Anyway–thanks Melody for the challenge! Click on the link above to read more about the project and see Melody’s progress.

Melody Johnson has challenged readers of her blog to a great stash busting project. Use a simple block she designed to make as many blocks as you can during the month of February with only fabrics on hand in your baskets, in my case.  I chose to use these bright novelty fabrics that I’ve been collecting for years. I used them to make quilts for the babies and children in my life–but time marches on and those babies and children are just about grown up now. So this sounds like a fun way to make something out of these fabrics and free up some basket space in the process for new fabrics. Thanks Melody! Click on the link above to visit her blog and read more about the project.

Summer Breeze 33" x 27"

I just received notice recently that “Summer Breeze” was accepted into the “Creative Threads: From Fiber to Fine Art” Textile Exhibit at Glen Echo Park near Bethesda, MD. The exhibit will run from January 23 to February 28 in the Popcorn Gallery at the park, which is open on weekends. It should be an interesting show.

Summer Breeze is part of the series that happened when I wasn’t looking. I’ve decided to call it my “Windows” series, because that was the name of the first piece. These pieces are constructed with small improvisationally pieced compositions that are arranged into an interesting design like puzzle pieces, usually with a solid or mottled background to set off the blocks. It’s one of my favorite ways to work and the series has been popular, since three of the five pieces have been sold.  The other one that I still have is “Color My World,” which I wrote about on the blog about a week ago. Summer Breeze is set onto a reddish-pink background and mounted on stretcher bars so it hangs on the wall like a picture.

Glen Echo is a fascinating place. It used to be an amusement park and many of the buildings from that phase are still there. They have wonderful puppet shows and a magical merry-go-round where I used to take my boys when they were young, in addition to artist studios, theater performances, and classes in art and dance. It’s also a national park and there are opportunities to learn about the unique history of the place. If you have the opportunity to visit, it’s well worth the trip, especially if you have children to accompany you.

Sometimes when I feel like I’m stuck without inspiration, I do what I like to think of as therapy sewing. I just start cutting fabric and sewing it back together–or I play with my scraps, sewing them into small compositions. It often helps me get back on track. Sometimes these excursions turn into something fun, like the pillows at right. I just started out cutting and sewing wonky log cabin squares and they turned into these happy pillows.

These pillows, plus two others, are available for sale at The Artisans shop in McLean at the Langley Shopping Center, 1368 Chain Bridge Road. It’s a fun shop with lots of great handcrafted items for gifts or a treat for yourself!

Color My World 27" x 20"

You might recognize this piece from an earlier post. In November I was playing with making small compositions and turning them into coasters when I suddenly these blocks leapt onto the design wall and demanded to be turned into a quilt! I’ve used this technique several times, so I guess it’s turned into a new series while I wasn’t looking–I’ll have to decide what to call it. This is the fifth piece in the series.

Color My World is mounted on stretcher bars with a dark purple background. I had fun piecing the blocks out of scraps left over from other projects–each one is individual. I liked the blue batik I used for the block backgrounds because it reminded me of the water on the globe.

Color My World detail

I decided I wanted to try some different quilting motifs on this piece because I had made the little block compositions that draw the viewer in for a closer look. There are wild suns and spiky spirals and smooth spirals with stippling around them if you look closely!

One of my goals for the year is to spend more time mixing quilting motifs in my quilts. I read an analysis somewhere that good art can be appreciated on at least two levels. It’s interesting from far away and gives the viewer a reward for looking at it closeup as well. So it’s important to focus on composition, color, balance in the larger picture and add interesting details for more intimate viewing.

Journal Cover

Well, I had every good intention of getting back to work in the studio this week, but my kids are home and I haven’t been able to string enough minutes together to do anything productive. That’s OK, though. I feel very fortunate that my teenage boys still want to spend time with me every now and then!

I thought I would share the journal cover I made for my husband as a Christmas gift at right. I started making these covers about six weeks ago to sell at my holiday shows and they proved to be very popular. My husband wanted one for Christmas, but they all sold out, so what was I doing Christmas Eve but frantically stitching a new one for him? These are great fun to make because I get to play with small leftover blocks and scraps that otherwise might go to waste–that’s my kind of project! I never know exactly what it’s going to look like when it’s finished, but he was very pleased with this one and I was happy with it too.

Scrap Coasters

I have bags and bags of scraps from my projects–pieces that are too big to throw away but too small to put back with the folded yardage in my studio.  Getting them out and playing with them is a fun way to sort of jump start my creative brain. I’m always amazed at the serendipitous combinations that I happen upon when I’m just sewing pieces together. I’ve had a busy time the last few weeks as my younger son needed supervised driving hours to get his driver’s license, so I’ve been spending a lot of time as a passenger in the car.  This is the kind of project that’s good to get back into the creative flow.

Scrap Quilt

Anyway, this week I had a project and a goal–make sets of coasters from the scraps to offer at the holiday shows I have coming up–and maybe to give as gifts myself!  At right is one of the sets done in bright colors and soft blue. I’m really happy with these.

But I kept thinking what a great quilt these happy squares would make, and before I knew it, there was a new quilt composing itself on my design wall. The idea behind this piece is similar to the process I’ve used in my color block series with solids–I pick a color scheme and get a selection of fabrics that fit–in this case just scraps—then sew the units together fairly randomly. Once I have enough to put up on the design wall, I arrange and rearrange them until I’m satisfied with the design. I haven’t really decided what to call this one, but Coaster Quilt will do for now.

Now I need to get back to the coasters!