This week I am going to highlight each of these members so we can learn more about them and their quilts. If you go to the show keep and eye out for Angela's quilt, Kona Color Waves.
Name of quilt: Kona Color Waves
Size: Approx. 60"x60"
Materials: All Kona Solids
You can see more of my work here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/
This quilt, "Kona Color Waves", is the result of many designs and redesigns and more redesigns for the Modern Quilt Guilds' Robert Kaufman Kona solid fabric challenge. It is completely different from the very first sketch I made after receiving the charm pack, but I thoroughly enjoyed thinking about and sketching all the possibilities that the little charm pack held. Having never designed an entire quilt and never having made a quilt entirely of solids, this was quite a challenge for me. I was inspired by the rainbow order that the Kona charm pack came in and I wanted to highlight the fabric in that way. I decided to set the colors off with a black to white gradient. The quilt back (or other front, I plan to use both sides) was heavily inspired by the "Cascade Quilt" by Christina Cameli (and admired by me many, many times on Flickr where she's known as afewscraps'), but instead of just one set of colors, I wanted to highlight all of the color families from the Kona charm pack. It is quilted by stitch in the ditch vertically and with 5 large wavy lines horizontally to play off of the wavy feeling of the colors. This quilt is made entirely of Kona solids: front, back and binding. For me, modern quilting means challenging myself and stretching my skills. This truly achieved that for me. I believe that most quilt designs have been done before and to come up with a new "design" is very difficult, so the uniqueness of a quilt comes from the interpretation of that design and how the fabrics and colors are assembled within that design. The basic layout of this quilt is quite simple, just a number of rectangles, but it's how the fabrics and colors are situated that make it different and modern to me. The different shades of the colors also give the quilt a sense of movement, which I also see quite a bit in modern quilts these days.
I made my first quilt in 2000. It was an extremely traditional sampler throw quilt that I machine pieced and hand quilted. I taught myself the basics through books and much trial and error. After I made that quilt, I made a few simple pieces of clothing, but no more quilts again until I decided to take a beginner class at a local quilt shop in 2005. The rest, as they say, is history and I now have a quickly growing stash of fabrics, a huge WIP and want-to-make list of quilty projects, a very long list of quilting blogs I check in on regularly and I now carry an idea and sketch book with me for when inspiration suddenly strikes. One of my favorite parts of being in the Modern Quilt Guild is the inspiration I gain from others, the openness and willingness of others to show me new tips and tricks and the camaraderie of other creative people.
I think the biggest thing I learned through this challenge is that I am progressing into a bona-fide creative quilter; I'm no longer a beginner. I'm becoming more confident with my ideas, designs, eye for color and skills. I am excited by the possibilities that I now hold as a quilter and I'm eager to try more new things and take on more challenges.
My next projects include my Little Apples quilt, the A-Z blocks for the BAMQG quilt along, the Jay McCarroll Habitat challenge quilt, a quilt containing the fall blocks that I just won at the last BAMQG meeting, a Dia de los Muertos quilt, the Kona Castle Quilt Kit from Fat Quarter Shop, a Fifi and Fido quilt, a Max & Whiskers quilt, some bags and pouches, a novelty fabric quilt in the style of Jaye's Fabric of the Year quilts, some crocheting projects, my art journaling . . . . I could go on for days.
2 comments:
Wow! Beautiful Angela! I'm so impressed! Thanks for sharing your progress! :)
PS! I love that I can keep connected with you all through the blog! :)
Post a Comment