JWD Publishing Blog

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

My New Year’s wishes to you:      Have an uplifting, colorful, and creative  2012!  

Also—–May you challenge yourself to at least one new idea or medium to explore this year.  

Today I am sharing a challenge I made to myself several years ago. I hope my sharing will give you the impetus to begin your own new creative journey in 2012. It doesn’t matter how you challenge yourself or in what format. The important thing is to make a commitment to yourself to explore an idea or subject that will excite you and expand your horizons—-or take an idea or subject that you are enthusiastic about to the next level.

My New Year’s Wish to myself a few years ago:      Rather than the usual New Year’s resolutions I had made in the past, a few years ago I challenged myself to learn photography. I took the plunge by signing up for a one-week workshop across the continent. I was like a duck out of water with almost everyone else in the class being professional or very serious amateur photographers. What an eye-opening experience it was! The week was invigorating to say the least. It charged up my creative battery and it  forced my brain to activate in new ways. Without a doubt, it expanded my creative horizons. Ever since then, I’ve been going on yearly photographic workshops to learn more and to further challenge myself.

This New Year’s Eve I am posting a selection of photographic images. Some were taken during my maiden-journey workshop. Others have been taken since then—-one, Almost Home, was taken decades ago. Admittedly, they are not quilts, but I hope they will inspire you to take your own challenge.

Almost Home

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It’s a beautiful time of year with the anticipation of all that December has to offer. I am madly attempting to finish a project by Friday noon. I assume all of you have your own deadlines and seasonal stresses to deal with too. Recognizing that we are all maxed out on time and energy, there will be no color lessons this week or next.

In this post I am featuring another  group of quilts that caught my eye at the Houston IQA show this fall. They are each amazing in their own unique ways. Whenever possible, I have added links to the quilt artists whose works are shown. I hope you check out their pages when you have time. (Again, you’ll find black stands with white papers, ribbons, and other distracting objects in front of some of these quilts, which couldn’t be helped. Photos are informally taken with my little Nikon point ‘n shoot.)   Enjoy!

Summer Fantasy by Joanne Baeth, Susan Massini, Dona Ford, Cheryl Carbone, and Louise Page

I absolutely love this quilt.  When my eyes fell upon it, it reminded me so much of a delicate watercolor painting. Later I learned this quilt was a recreation of a watercolor painting by Bev Barmore, Joanne’s cousin.  Summer Fantasy was created by a five-member art group from Oregon. A photo of this painting was divided into five sections. Each member completed one section. Joanne pieced together the sections and then quilted the artwork.

I find this a fascinating group quilt, as it’s not an easily divisible image at first or second glance. Without a doubt, this art group is both talented and skilled. Perhaps this quilt will entice others to create a different group quilt—one that is both challenging and fun.

Now for those of you who love pieced quilts based on traditional roots, this next quilt is a real delight!

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It’s a busy season and much of our energy and time are taken up this month with the holidays, family, special friends, and the celebration of Christmas and Hanukkah. So this is a good time to share a few more photos of quilts from the 2011 Houston Quilt Festival.  No doubt, the actual quilts are more beautiful in real life than what you see in my informal snapshots. The colors shown may not be true to the quilt, but I think the quilts still look great. Enjoy!

Autumn Splendor by Noriko Endo from Tokyo, Japan

If you have been in the quilt scene for a few years, then you will be well aware of Noriko Endo’s glorious naturescapes. They are filled with exquisite textures, subtle colorings, and enticing imagery.  Autumn Splendor fills the bill. It is amazing. Standing in front of this quilt brings you into the scene. The realism is extraordinary.  This particular quilt really speaks to me, as it’s a scene reminiscent of many years of woodland walks. This original design is created with cotton, tulle, and luminescent fibers. If you would like to create your own woodland scenes filled with textures, or if you just want to be inspired by Noriko’s beautiful creations, consider purchasing her book Confetti Naturescapes.

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When Alex Anderson designed her Holiday Lights quilt many years ago, she designed a winner. It’s been extraordinarily popular with people of all ages.  This year has been no exception. The pattern keeps selling and Holiday Lights quilts continue to brighten the homes of people during the month of December.

This year The Piece Corps and Friends chose to make Holiday Lights their selection to raise funds for the Sutter Hospital Quilt Auction to benefit breast cancer research and patients.  The Sutter Cancer Center holds their auction every three years at the Sutter Hospital in Sacramento, California.

The Piece Corps and Friends named their auction quilt Trees of Hope. You can see their finished quilt (above) with several of the fourteen-member group:  Sally Scholz, Barbara Wexted, Martha Flanagan, Della Goss, Connie Seale, and Donna Bays. They enjoyed making this quilt and were extremely happy with the results.

Below are several in-progress photos that you will enjoy seeing. Also, if you are part of a quilting group that might want to make a group quilt for an auction or any other purpose, you’ll be interested in reading how this group organized themselves and how they worked on this quilt.  At the end of this post, you can see Alex’s latest version of Holiday Lights.

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