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Quilting Arts the

book

Techniques and Inspiration for Creating One-of-a-Kind Quilts

Patricia Bolton

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Contents Introduction

Chapter One: Getting Started

Finding Inspiration Sketchbook Keeping From Sketchbook to Quilt Journal Quilts

Chapter Two: Art and Design Principles for Quilters Unity and Focal Point The Color Wheel Texture, Shape, and Line Scale, Proportion, and Balance

Chapter Three: Ways to Assemble a Quilt Fusing Collage Reverse Appliqué Whole Cloth Free-motion Embroidery Motifs

Chapter Four: Embellishment & Mixed Media Beaded Collage Found Objects Puff Paints Paper Quilting Novelty Fabrics and Media 3-D Embellishment Needlefelting

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IZIZIZ Chapter Five: Surface Design Foiling Wax Pastels Shiva Sticks Stamp Carving Layered Printmaking Discharging Fabrics Altering Fabrics with Bleach and Color Freezer Paper Resists Digital Imaging Image Transfers

Chapter Six: Different Types of Art Quilts

Still Life Portraits Landscape Abstract

Appendices: Art Quilter’s Pantry: Tools and Notions Contributors’ Bios Bibliography of Basic Books Supplies and Resources

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Chapter One Getting Started

Ask any award-winning art quilter how they come up with their original designs for their art quilts, and they’ll tell you that as much as they wish, their designs don’t simply come to them magically in a dream; rather, they spend a lot of time developing and thinking about their designs before they ever pick up the needle. In this chapter, we’ll go over the basics to get you started on your art quilting journey: tips for where and how to find inspiration for your art quilts, why keeping a sketchbook is so important, and guidelines for journal quilting to help hone your skills.

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wywywywywy wywywywywyw FINDING INSPIRATION Laura and Linda Kemshall

The question Laura and I are asked more often than any other is where we get the ideas for our quilts. There is no single answer to this: Ideas can come at any time and in the strangest places. It is true that sometimes inspiration can strike out of the blue, maybe one of those sleepless middle-of-the-night flashes of genius that, when you think about it again in the cold light of day, isn’t always quite as impressive or indeed entirely practical. It would be perfect if we could just dream a great quilt design and wake up the next morning ready to go with it; amazingly that does occasionally happen, but usually it’s much more likely that we have to work a little harder than that. Before we can launch ourselves into fabrics and threads we need an idea to work with.

Take time to think

For us, the initial, creative idea that gets the whole thing going is more important to the development of a quilt than the time that will be spent actually making it; it usually takes longer, too. We call this our “thinking time.” We plot and plan and ask ourselves: what if? We sketch and paint and scribble lists of relevant words onto the pages of our sketchbooks. This brainstorming of words and ideas can happen individually, or we can bounce thoughts back and forth between the two of us. Sometimes it’s a combination; first we have our individual thoughts and then we run them by each other to see the other’s reaction. When you trust another person’s judgment it is such a help. Working on your own can be hard. Whatever happens, it’s an invaluable part of the design development; putting thoughts into words crystallizes our vague intentions, making them seem concrete and realistic. Sometimes just telling someone else about an idea can clarify it in your own mind and help you decide on the nitty-gritty practicalities involved in making the dream a reality. Once all the basic design decisions have been made, thinking time is over and the construction process is usually pretty straightforward. Now that we know how the quilt will look and what we want to achieve, we can relax and simply enjoy working with all 5

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Chapter Two Art & Design Principles

All successful art quilts incorporate basic art and design principles, however, many quilters may not have necessarily gone to art school to master them. Without understanding such things as color relationships and scale, creating art quilts can become a difficult and frustrating task. In this chapter, award-winning fabric artist Lyric Kinard explains in laymen’s terms with fabric and thread, several key art and design principles to help you make your next art quilt a surefire hit.

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UNITY AND FOCAL POINT Lyric Kinard I can’t count the number of times people have looked at my work, then wistfully said to me, “I wish I were creative or artistic.” When that happens, I just take a deep breath, smile, and launch into my favorite soapbox speech: I firmly believe that everyone is creative in some way and that being an artist is something we can all learn. Why do people think that artists are just born, springing like Athena from the head of Zeus, fully formed and ready to go? Do we hand a five-year-old the works of Shakespeare and, when she can’t understand it, do we say, “Well, you’re just not a reader”? No! We teach her letters and the sounds they make. We teach her to put those letters together to make words and then she practices and progresses until many years later she can pick up a Shakespeare play and not only make sense of it but enjoy it. She might even go on to write poetry herself. In the same way you learn your alphabet and eventually learn to read, you can learn the fundamental principles of art. These basic building blocks help you to better understand, interpret, and enjoy

the world of art. They will help you to get that creative vision out of your head and onto canvas, paper, or fabric. You might have already mastered many sewing and quilting techniques, but I liken that to having perfect penmanship without knowing how to read. Mastering the elements of art is like learning to write poetry with that perfect penmanship. Forget that unfortunate incident in second grade when an unkind comment convinced you that you weren’t an artist. It’s never too late to learn your alphabet, put together words, and practice until you, too, can write poetry with your needle and thread. Here I present basic art design principles to help you on your fiber art journey.

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F@ F Everything you wanted to know about art quilts, and more! Learn the basics of art quilting from expert Patricia Bolton, editor in chief of Quilting Arts Magazine, in this definitive art quilting resource incorporating topics from essential techniques and materials to design and inspiration for creating one-of-a-kind quilts. This “art quilting 101” book includes: 3

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 ll the art quilting techniques in one book, including A embellishment, mixed-media methods, surface design, stitching ideas, quilt assembly, and more A variety of top quilt artists and styles Step-by-step photography for techniques Quick, creative exercises guaranteed to get crafters exploring design, quilting, and mixed-media techniques right away

Readers will find the most popular topics, articles, and artists from Quilting Arts Magazine—plus never-before-seen material—for an authoritative art quilting workshop in a book. Beginning art quilters, including traditional quilters and mixed-media artists alike, will delight in The Quilting Arts Book.

Patricia Bolton is the editor in chief of Quilting Arts Magazine and Cloth Paper Scissors and the creator of the highly successful Make-It-U workshops at the International Quilt Market. She is also the host of public television’s Quilting Arts TV.

Paperbound, 8½ x 10¼, 144 pages ISBN 978-1-59668-099-9

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$24.95

250 photographs

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November 2008