FINDING MY VOICE, FOUR

And we continue with Finding My Voice quilts. . .

Is It Modern?

68" x 89"

Original Design

Quilted by Jo McCluney

The new technique was the Dresden plate blocks started for a traditional quilt.  Two years later, I decided to try a modern traditionalism layout with asymmetry and expansive negative space.  Does it work???

And One Fell Off

52" x 58.5"

Original Design

Quilted by Sandi Suggs

Finally, a jump into modern quilt design.  A few de-structured blocks, some bold color, and expansive negative space created a design I love!  Yes, my quilts are talking!!  And, of course, you must have a sense of humor!

Opening the Door

36.5" x 36.5"

Design by Jacquie Gering and Katie Pedersen

Quilted by Sandi Suggs

Slice and Insert with improv piecing was leading me more into letting go of the rigidity of look-alike blocks.  Using a printed fabric for background made the batik units shine.  This wall hanging makes me smile!  Opening a door to many possibilities!

Lawn Chair Quilt

63.5" x 71"

Pattern by Moda Bake Shop

Quilted by Sandi Suggs

Welcome grey to my quilting palette.  I love how it sets off the print fabrics.

Roy G. Biv

24" x 35"

Original Design

This quilt was a "sketch" piece using the rainbow colors in an asymmetric setting with expansive negative space.  The organic straight line quilting adds another design element.

Just a Streak of Blue

25" x 20"

Original Design

Using quarter-square triangles and some improv design created this fun little "sketch" piece.  Love the organic straight-line quilting.

Springtime Gardens

44.5" x 39.5"

Inspired by Bonnie Hunter

My Grandmother's Flower Garden of hexagons turned into Springtime Gardens using bright colors.  It took three years to hand piece the table topper.  Another traditional pattern singing my tune!

My Texas Two Step

32 inches square

Design by Jean Ann Wright

This is a modern version of Courthouse Steps block using narrow and wide opposing strips.  The experiment in this quilt was using Kona solids in bright colors.

Still a few more quilts to come . . .

-sandi

FINDING MY VOICE

I started quilting a long time ago.  My first little pieces were quilt-as-you-go place mats in a log cabin style that I found in a Woman's Day magazine.  The next ones were some pillow covers in another women's magazine in the early 1980s.  I did not think I could attempt a really big quilt then.  It wasn't until the late 80's that I made a bed size quilt for my daughter and son-in-law from Eleanor Burns pattern called "Love Knot".  This quilt was queen size and I quilted it in straight line quilting on my home sewing machine.

I am a self-taught quilter and it wasn't until sometime in the 1990's that I finally took a class or two to learn what it was I had incorrectly taught myself. (smile)  I have continued quilting since then.  I was a hobby quilter for about 5 years and then decided to expand this into making a little money and I began teaching classes.

Recently, I was invited to do a special exhibit for AQS QuiltWeek Chattanooga and share about 30 of my quilts in "Finding My Voice".  It was a wonderful experience and I was thrilled to meet so many great quilters who came by to see my work.

In the next posts I will show the quilts from my exhibit.

-sandi

NEW CURTAIN

I like to make home dec items using my quilting skills.  Recently we were discussing Gwen Marston's technique at my Modern Quilt Guild.  Gwen makes these small pieces of works that she calls sketches.  Sometimes they are complete in themselves and at other times they lead to a larger piece of work.

I love the rainbow colors and I use Kona solids a great deal.  I love how the quilting shows up so well on the solid fabric.

I decided to make a sketch piece using Kona medium grey for the background.  I called this little piece:  Roy G. Biv #1

This was a piece to practice on and then I increased the size and changed the design a little bit and made a larger piece called Roy G. Biv #2.

This became the curtain for the small window (24" x 36") in my Powder Room.

The two pieces hang together.

The room is so small it makes it difficult to get a really good picture.

I love how this looks in the daytime with the sun shining through it.

The recycled stained glass window pane hanging above it has the same colors.  The yellow in the ellipse does not photograph very well.

My DH and I found a stack of these windows about 25 years ago on Factor's Walk in Savannah, GA.  We bought several and have enjoyed them in our homes over the years.

-sandi