Most quilters have them, tucked away somewhere. Things we started at some point in the past, and just never finished. Some feel guilty that they're there, and feel that the materials used in that UFO were wasted. I disagree. Most of my UFOs were started in workshops or classes that I've taken over the years since the mid-1980s. I took the classes to learn techniques and better ways to do things. No point in re-inventing the wheel. If someone has invented a better way to do something, I'm perfectly happy to pay them to teach me how to do it. So the time and materials have been investments in my quilting education. My tuition, so to speak.
The top above came from Ricky Tims/Alex Anderson/Libby Lehman's seminar. When I got home, I decided to do the Kaleidoscope quilt. By the time I got to the point where 4 quarters of it were done and on the design wall, I realized I didn't like it. At all. So, I decided to combine two of the quarters with some of Ricky's hand-dyed fabric, and turned it into one of Ricky's Convergence quilts. I liked my Kaleidoscope Convergence quilt a lot. I added a narrow red border and the dark blue batik border. Some day I will get it quilted, but there's no hurry.
The second two quarters of the Kaleidoscope were combined with another piece of Ricky's hand-dyed fabric for another Kaleidoscope Convergence quilt, and I like this one better than the first one. It's also a UFO for now. I see a reclining woman in this one, in a vague, Picassoesque way.
Pat when I see work like this, I see "fine art". Did you know ahead of time you had the eye for good design? I would love to be able to design and create; when I see something like this fear grips me and I think I would waste a lot of time and money. Was there anything in your background that let you know you had a knack for putting colors and line together in such pleasing and unconventional ways?
ReplyDeleteNo, not really. I've never taken any "art" classes. I've just worked with what I find pleasing.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry about wasting time and money--less-than-successful pieces can be recycled as baby quilts, LOL.
I can't stop looking at these; I just clicked on one quilt and a much larger picture displayed. I just showed it to DH and we're captivated.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to hear more about how you came at these designs (I never heard of the teachers you mentioned or their techniques.) Do you lay everything on a design board moving things around? Was it all in your head? Did it just happen?
Ricky Tims developed the techniques to make the Kaleidoscope, and has a book about it. He also developed the technique for the Convergence quilt, and did a book on that, as well. They're really not that hard to do, if you have the directions. My only real contribution was to choose the fabrics, and to combine the two techniques, using the Kaleidoscope sections as part of the material for the Convergence quilt.
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