quilting

Color by Contrast and Cast: Adjusting Your Tone

| ellenanneeddy

Whenever I work in beiges, I get in trouble. Perhaps I’m not in well enough with St. Kim the almost-virgin martyr, who is the patron saint of beige. It’s off my map. Perhaps I should light a candle.

When we think of color, we think of hues. Red, blue, green, yellow.

But color is so much more complicated than that. Which is the frustration of kindergarten crayons in a box. Too simple to be of much use. Hue alone is only a starting point.

Color is defined by many factors. What matters sometimes is not the hue, the raw color itself, but the contrast between the other factors. Extreme contrast sparks our interest and makes the definitions clear.

There’s a quilters’ tradition for this. Log cabins and shade and shadow quilts have always been built on a dark side and a light side. You separate your fabric, not by color, but by value, how dark and how light the fabric is. This quilt is divided dark and light, but the cast of the colors is a soft beige. It’s defined by what they left out as much as what they included.

This trick works for a million and one quilt designs. But all color is color. It works in thread work as well.

I’ve been working on the next octopus, which is striped in black and white. I could have done that. But it’s dull past hope. Shading black and white is a great exercise, but I didn’t want it for this piece.

Here’s where I got myself into trouble. Those somewhat pink tentacles are a bit disconnected from the sand-and-gravel colors of the octopus’s outside. Pretty but wrong.

The background surprised me too. I had been looking at some murky colors. But when I put up this piece, it was it. I didn’t even pin up something else. But it was loud.

I quieted it with some soft elemental seashells in neutrals. Pretty, but not enough.

I dulled down the yellow fish. I stitched several colors of purple over them to give them some depth and to dull them. Again, not enough.

I made some fish to match the under tentacles.

Of course, I missed the idea of changing the octopus. I gilded the octopus. This odd green-gold thread has become a favorite shader lately. It shifts the tone of the piece. Big change.

Anytime you go off your map with a piece, you’re in for an adventure.

I have high hopes for this piece, but it’s taken a bit of maneuvering to get there. We’ll see how the pieces go together.

Hummingbird Commission 4: The Background and the Applique

| ellenanneeddy

You would think that the background doesn’t have that much impact on a quilt. Something pretty to showcase your basic image, right?

Not my experience. The background sets several things in place. It sets the time of an image. And each background tells a different story. The images tell you the who and what. The background tells you how, why and where.

Here are the backgrounds we chose preliminarily for this piece.

They’re all good choices. They tell a different story. Is it daytime or night? Is the flower alone, or is it in a garden? Size tells you different things as well. Smaller pieces are more intimate and look more intricate.

Since this is a commission, it’s the owner’s choice. She wanted the soft background with lots of flowers.

I love these oil paint stick rubbings! I usually overstitch them to accentuate the texture. I did that here as well

Lately , with paint stick backgrounds, I’ve been stitching the whole background, rather than applying my image and stitching the background around it. It makes a smoother piece, and it blends in better.

These are stitched from the top with polyester Neon Madeira. Since I’m following the rubbing, I need to have it on top where I can see it.

Buto it’s still worth looking at it from the back. You can see the unstitched part that will be covered by the flower.

Here’s where the flower fits in. I edged the flower with an angled zigzag stitch, echoing the colors I used in the petals.

For the hummingbird, I wanted him to pop. So he got outlined in black. It sounds unoriginal, but black always has more impact and leads to a more defined edge.

We’re ready to back and bind here. Thanks for taking this journey through this quilt with me!

A Hummingbird in the Flowers: A Commission

| ellenanneeddy

Part 1: The Drawing

I have a commission that I want to share with you.

I don’t do these often because commissions are hard. Commissions demand a lot of communication that sometimes doesn’t work as well as it should. It’s hard to talk about something that is strictly visual.

But this is for a friend. And it’s a small piece. We’ve talked through what she wants. It’s a 7×10-inch ruby-throated hummingbird with a flower. I’m pretty confident it will be what this lady desires.

Because it’s a small piece, I’ve decided to do a series of articles and videos about making it. It covers different skills and processes. For you, it’s a look behind the scene to see how quilts are made. For my owner, she has full documentation. You can all watch step by step how this quilt is created.

She wanted a red-throated hummingbird.

It all starts with a drawing. I draw out sometimes just my subject. Because this is a commission I drew out a number of birds so my owner could choose. These drawings are on Totally Stable, which is an iron on, removable stabilizer that has a good drawing surface. I use it for all my patterns.

This is the bird she chose. I need that bird flying left to right. But because the pattern goes into the back side, the face side will be left to right.

I also need to zone my pattern. She has a green body, grayish wings, and a red throat. Zoning reminds me what threads to use in the top of my machine. Each zone will have several colors within that range that go on the bobbin side. Since we’re upside down, that’s where they’ll show.

What’s next? Stitching in. And figuring out how to make the video program work better. Next week

Want to see this completed? You’ll find the whole project on my Patreon Page.

Thermal Shock: Eye Opening Color

| ellenanneeddy

One of the hardest things in embroidery work is to get over the match instinct. After years of perfectly matching thread to my project, I’ve had to learn to pick out the highest contrast threads to make an image that really shows up.

In embroidery, contrast is everything. If it all mushes together color-wise, then you have a very mushy image indeed. Smooth color exchanges that are analogous and sit next to each other on the color wheel are pretty. But they don’t have much punch. So what you want is color that builds not on similarities but on differences. There are several kinds of contrast: color, tone, clarity, and temperature.

Today we’re talking about color, which is simply the hue and temperature. Is it red, blue, or yellow? Or an odd shade of green? It’s not as simple as it looks. There are a million reds, blues, and yellows. They are not the same.

Thermal shock is about the temperature of a color. Every color, no matter whether it is a cool or warm color, leans either towards having a cool or warm cast. It doesn’t matter if it’s a cool color or a warm color. There are cool yellows, there are hot blues. If all the colors are either cool or warm they’ll flow into each other like analogous colors. But if they’re not? You get thermal shock. It’s like standing in a cold-water sprinkler on a steaming, hot day. The effect is kind of visually electric.

Blue and Yellow Don’t Make Green is an excellent book explaining thermal variations and how that creates differing colors. It’s set for watercolor, but it applies to all color theory. It’s a worthy book.

So along with the different hues, there are shade and sun versions of primaries. I’ve been playing with them on this phoenix.

I wanted this bird to jump off the surface. I’d decided to outline with in a yellow that leans into the sun to give it some definition. But I wanted it showy. So the colors I picked, cool orange, cool and warm yellows, cool and warm blues left it shimmery and gave it impact.

So here’s another contrast. All that bright sky and bird against misty grey clouds.

For a final contrast, I put small trees up and down the river, to have that clear cool green against all the soft clouds and the fiery bird.

Always look for contrasts. Blending is beautiful, but to give a piece impact with something as small as a line of stitchery, you need heavy contrast, either in hue, value, or temperature. It creates a pathway through your quilt. But it also makes your stitching shine.

I Need Your Help

| ellenanneeddy

I’m starting a Patreon Page.

Many of you have probably had classes with me. God bless you for that!  I love my students for their enthusiasm, their creativity, their generosity and their company. We’ve all been on this journey together. I’ve watched us reach for stars, and sometimes catch them too. We grow with our art, by our art,  and through our art.

But time catches up. I don’t really teach at guilds anymore. The travel is too hard. That doesn’t mean I’m not growing through my art. I’m still finding new things to do and new ways to do them. ‘And I always want to share them with you.

There’s another downside to not being able to travel. I’m in danger of losing my studio. Because I’m not teaching on the road, I don’t have a steady source of income.  I understand it. We’re in a tight economy, and there isn’t always money for art.

So it seems we need to find new ways to do that. I do have a blog. I share on Facebook and Instagram, but I want to give you access to more. I want a place where you can get class booklets that are currently unavailable. Or look up a technique and see it demonstrated step by step. I’ll offer small projects that make a big difference in your skill level. I’ll feed you lots and lots of eye candy. I want to welcome you to where I live, in my studio.

If you’re unfamiliar with Patreon, it’s a platform where you can support me and I can share with you. You become my patron in whatever level is comfortable for you. There is a free tier as well. It’s a small and more regular way to keep art going and to be part of that art.

I’m currently working on a book called In The Studio, which is about the process of creating fiber art. Not the cleaned-up version. I want to show the zigzag process of design and creation. I’ll be offering this book live as I write it so you can see it first.

As a community, quilters have supported me in ways that still stun me. And when I come to you with a need, you’ve all responded so kindly. I would not have become the artist I am without your kindness, care, and support.

So what would you like to see? I need to know. I’m offering books and articles that have become unavailable, project and technique articles and videos, early access to In The Studio, my current book project, live question-and-answer sessions, mentoring, and quilt points where you can purchase a quilt with your Patreon contribution.

I want to honor that support by starting a quilt point program. Every dollar you send me through the Patreon Soar tier goes toward any quilt you wish to purchase. In love with a special quilt? Tell me, and I’ll hold it for you.

Are you interested? What can I offer you? Will you join me?

Join Now!

1211-26 Drifting

| ellenanneeddy
1211-26 Drifting
44” x38″
$ 4,080
Materials: Hand-dyed cotton, felt, stabilizers, commercial sheers, polyester, metallic, nylon threads, oilpaint stick
Techniques: Machine pieced, machine embroidered, embroidered appliqué, quilted, texture rubbing,  hand dye, cord binding, direct appliqué

Purchase this quilt on Etsy!

Am I Biased? Making an Angular Border

| ellenanneeddy

In working on the Octopus Roclets. I’ve felt a need for angles. They just do’t stay still. And the easiest way to make something feel like it’s in movement is for it to be at an angle.

Which angle? They do read differently. I want to try an isosceles triangle, made from an elongated rectangular strip. I think it will add to the movement of the piece.

Angles mean bias. We talk about fabric being on the straight of grain. If you tore a strip off the fabric, that strip is the straight of grain. That’s a fairly stable piece of fabric. It will stretch very mildly across the width and not at all in the length.

Here’s the definitions of bias from ai on Google.

Fabric bias is any diagonal direction across a woven fabric, while the “true bias” sits at a precise 45-degree angle to the lengthwise and crosswise threads. Cutting or binding on the bias gives the fabric natural elasticity and a fluid, body-hugging drape. [1, 2, 3]

Understanding Bias

True Bias: The diagonal 45° cut between the two; this is where the fabric is most stretchy and flexible. [1, 2, 3, 4]

Lengthwise Grain: Runs parallel to the finished edge (selvage) and has almost no stretch.

Crosswise Grain: Runs perpendicular to the selvage and has slight give.

If we cut our borders across at an angle, that edge will stretch because it’s bias. We really don’t want that. Bias stretches out and makes for wavey borders and seams.

Controlling Bias

Accurate cutting will help. I need to square up my center and use my rotary cutter to make clean edges. But the secret weapon is starch.

Starching your fabric makes it stitch better. And it makes it stretch less.

Here’s the mock up I did to try this out.

Making angled borders

I used:

A center rectangle or square.
A strip of fabric twice the size of your border and a bit longer than your center piece

Liquid spray starch,I’m using Linet Starch.


Tools:
Rotary cutter, ruler and mat
Sewing machine with straight stitch and quarter-inch foot
Iron or rolling seam presser

I starched the two fabrics with a solution of 1-1 starch and water

I cut the yellow strip in half and then cut the strips fro corner to corner diagnally.

For more information about starch, see Getting Fabric Straight.

I pressed my seams with a rolling seam presser

I trimmed my edges square to make

a slightly angled background.

I’ve added shell and rock rubbings to the bottom

Here’s where we think the octopuses will go.

I’m still deciding about that. But I’m happy I tilted the background. It creates the motion I wanted.

Popping Up: The Pop Art Element

| ellenanneeddy

I’m not a very abstract person. I’m not good at reducing forms or working without a visual reference. Of course, I’m not always wedded to reality either. I believe that when we stray from a photographic reality, who we are, what we mean, and what we see have a way of coming out to say, “Hi!” And a lot of other chatter as well.

For a long time, reality was the task of art. Up through the Renaissance to modern art, we’ve lauded the ability to make something that looks real. I find that wearing as an artist. If you want complete realism, you probably want photography. You’ll see your image just as it is. Once we had photography, realism stopped being a goal and became something accomplished.

Photography works for the surface. It fails me for movement, for mood, for expansion off the canvas, and for the feeling it gives me. I have nothing against photography. But it usually leaves me a little cold.

So once we left realism as the only goal, there was room for all kinds of experimentation.

One of the experiments was Pop Art. There were many versions of this. One was to repeat an image in rows or patterns in bright colors. This is Andy Warhol.

Andy Warhol, Converse Tennis Shoes

I’m not interested in tennis shoes, but I do want to see what happens if I put repetitious octopuses in bright colors together. This is the first octopus. The plan is to put four together. I’m not sure if I’ll use rows or weave their tentacles together.

The colors on the octopuses echo the hand-dyed fabric I’m using. They have a light source that shifts the colors through the tentacles.

Here are three more in different states of completion. When we’re done, we’ll see what pops up.

Going Straight: Stretching into Different Stipple Patterns

| ellenanneeddy

I’ve been working on the octopuses for around five months. There are seven in all, five finished. I’m pleased to say they make a good start for a show.

But I don’t want quilts that look like the same pieces, only in different colors.

What defines a work? Certainly subject matter. Certainly color. But textures also make pieces stand from with each other.

I’ve leaned heavily into oranges and blues on this collection, but I think there’s a good range of colors. The background is always the color of your sky, the mood of the piece, and its definition

The octopus’s garnet stitch texture connects the grouping.

Something more subtle separates them.

The stipple treatment establishes the movement of the water, but it also visually separates the pieces from each other.

Confession. Left to my own, I have three stipples I use. I really felt I needed to stretch a bit here, particularly because I want the quilts in this series to stand up as separate works.

Version 1.0.0

Leah Day’s book, 365 Free Motion Quilting Designs has become a go-to reference for me. I don’t feel a need to copy her designs, but it’s full of a lot of stimulating ideas. It’s one of the few books I store right by my machine. It’s a worthy resource. I turned to it for some different stipple ideas.

I almost never do straight lines in my work. I’m not very good at them. But I love the bubbles and stripes here. It’s almost like wallpaper for the quilt.

Here are details of the other quilts, showing the different stipples.

Leah’s book is a lovely springboard into other possibilities. It’s available on Amazon

So I went straight on one of them and survived. Maybe I can do straight lines.