Liberated Medallions- International Exchange

One of the pleasures of attending BIQR is meeting people from all over our country and from other countries, too.  Last year two lovely ladies, Joes and Isabeau,  from the Netherlands, attended.  They brought with them a little surprise for each of us.

front

back

These little dolls are made in one part of the Netherlands where wearing the traditional dress is still an everyday custom.   As clothing wears out, some of it is recycled to make these little souvenir dolls.  (The orange dress is worn on National Holidays, while blues, blacks, and other colors are worn on other days.)

On the last day of that retreat (the theme was "small studies") I made a block of 0.25 inch squares and bordered it with some bright solids. I decided to surprise Joes and Isabeau, extending a hand in friendship on behalf of all of the American retreaters there, by giving them some "homework" in preparation for the medallion quilt retreat the following year (;-).  I asked them to take this center and have some of their friends in the Netherlands add to it as a kind of distant participation in making a medallion quilt that originated at BIQR.   They did so (probably twisting a few arms in the process) and brought back this wonderful rendition.  Many thanks to Joes, Isabeau, Ans, Lucy, and Ellen.

close up of the original center(3"x3.5") and three "rounds"

Medallion made by our friends in the Netherlands (24"x24")

At the end of this year's retreat, Isabeau presented me with a center to continue the process. (What goes around comes around - and I gave her permission to do so!)

(6"x6")

 I am looking forward to passing this along to the women who have volunteered to grow this quilt.  We will give it back to Isabeau and Joes next year.

Liberated Medallions 2

For my liberated medallion project (at the Beaver Island Quilt Retreat with Gwen Marston), I chose to challenge myself with solids.  I have not used solid fabrics often and wanted to begin feeling more comfortable using them.

Here are my two efforts:
Number 1

30" x 30"

I made the center prior to the retreat.  I showed it to you in this post.  I added a few more skinny strips to the original block.   I also had to resort to using marbles, because I ran out of truly solid grays.

Number 2

Here the challenge was to use a HUGE (for me) center block (the ochre center) and go from there.  I had several consults with Gwen during the process, trying to find a focus for what I was doing. First I thought I'd try for harmonious colors and found myself back to using relatively skinny strips.  So I started focusing on shapes.   It took a lot of effort to insert fabric wider than 1.5 inches and make it interesting!   The little inserts and color changes (not clearly visible here) help.  The renegade red square was suggested by Elisa, one of my buddies at BIQR.

Gwen said "working big is not easy".   She is right.

20.5" x 20.5"

Going forward, I'll be doing more solids work!

Liberated Medallions 1

Liberated Medallions was the topic for Gwen Marston's 2012 Beaver Island Quilt Retreat.
One of the neat things about this style is that there is no formula. These quilts are built one row at a time.  The resulting quilts were as varied as the attendees.  I did not get capture photos of all the quilts, but I'll show you some I did get. I apologize in advance for any blurriness.  These were taken during the last day's show and tell.  There was hardly time to photograph or get close enough for a good shot- hence the angles.  Enjoy the show. (These are from the 5th week of the retreat.)

Sally's Zebras

Jean's Parrot Tulip

Sylvia's Blue on Black

Denise's Baskets

Charlotte's "Spot"

Sue's Portrait

Elisa's Lady of Guadalupe

Kyra's  Framed Applique

Sue's Kaffe Medallion

Pat's Cherrywood Beauty

Karin's  curious Kitty (made from floor scraps)

Close up of Karin's Kitty

Leftovers

In my sewing room, fabric leftovers rarely get thrown away.  I usually find a use for them in some fashion.

Here are two more small studies that were made from leftovers.

Gimme an A!

'Gimme an A' was made from two hand pieced sections (above and below the orange line).  When I made them I really didn't see a way to put them together effectively, so I stuck them back in the box and took them with me to the Beaver Island Quilt Retreat.  While there I realized that all I needed to tie them together was to introduce some diagonal lines.  Taken with the orange line those diagonals make an "A"!  The A became the focus and the chopped up pieces of fabric make a background. It was one of those quilts that just happen.  No pre-planning here.

Bright Lights

This small study, also made at Beaver Island Quilt Retreat, started with a preconceived notion.  Bright colors against black, hence Bright Lights.  The chartreuse and green strips were the left overs I started with.  I decided not to piece any new color combinations, but to use striped or patterned fabrics to achieve the appearance of pieced fabric.

I like the black and white dotted triangles. Gwen actually suggested that fabric to me.  She has an eye for the unusual.  I wasn't thinking Christmas, but they do look like a row of densely lit trees with a few gifts tucked beneath.  Surprises!

Small Studies with Gwen Marston

The week before last I went to Gwen Marston's Beaver Island Quilt Retreat (week 5).   Each year Gwen generously shares her skills over a five week period,  each week working with about 30 quilters, many of whom return yearly for their "Gwen fix".  This year the topic was small studies.  It focused on  practicing techniques for make various elements and subsequently using those elements to design small quilts, or sketches as Gwen called them.  Gwen recently published a lovely book, 37 Sketches,  showing her small quilts and the thought process behind their creation.

During the retreat, we played with color and sewed skinny curves, spikes, free pieced log cabins, overlapping curved strata, inserts of tiny specks of color, checkerboards etc.  We learned not to be afraid of using little pieces of fabric and to let ourselves experiment with abstract designs. We explored colors we don't often use in quilt making.  We were challenged to think out of the box.

I had a wonderful time exploring and trying new things. I made the following small quilts:

Color Study:  Blue and Green

Color Study:  Brown

 Trees and the shore - made with spikes

I made one more piece, but it isn't quite finished, so I'll save it for another day