Venturing into the professional art quilt arena

While i cannot speak for anyone but myself, I would like to see the creative process as someone else goes through what I go through. It's gotta be a learning experience for all.

And you will have documented your process, and maybe later look at the finished product and say "how'd I do that?"

G> As some of you know, I lead several lives, one of which is Piano

That's the most interesting part, if you can figure out how to do it. (Lots of my brainstoeming goes on during sleep, so I have no clue how I got from A to B.)

So the pictures up now are of the >As some of you know, I lead several lives, one of which is Piano

Way cool quilt!! I can't believe it's so big!! You're so brave!!

I love seeing the steps of a work in progress so please keep on documenting as you finish this one and move on to the next.

Look> As some of you know, I lead several lives, one of which is Piano

Another of which must be Humilitarian Extraordinaire...

Indubitably. I'm frequently asking questions and/or trying to start good discussions about that and other thought processes related to design. It's almost a hobby/study in and of itself for me, cuz I usually begin from the unenviable position of having no idea what I'm doing, and I'm often (and increasingly) getting stuck.

Doc

Hi Ginger,

I recently learned that every quilt is supposed to have a story. I tried looking around on the web and, while I found lots of mention of quilt stories, I didn't find much useful as to what one actually looks like or what it's supposed to include - i.e. no examples. So begining from the aforementioned lack of knowing what I was doing, I just began relating the story of how a particular quilt came into being, from concept to completion. I still don't know if I did it right, or if it includes what it should, but it wound up being a couple of pages of creative writing. As I was writing it the thought occured to me that if quilts having stories is a common thing, why not sew pockets on the backs of quilts to contain/preserve the physical story? Of course it would be prudent to empty all pockets before laundering (nothing new about that) and the idea might only be practical for quilts that hang rather than get used. So there are probably other ideas for storing stories in such a way that they can be passed along with the quilt. Embroidering the story on a piece of fabric or onto the backing? I dunno - jes spitballin' here.

Does anyone do anything like that or how does this story thing work anyway?

Doc

Hi Roberta,

Have you tried staying up all night and asking yourself? If you do, next time take notes.

Doc

Hi Allison,

Sometimes the internet takes circuitous routes in delivering a post, so just because it doesn't show up right away doesn't mean it didn't go through. I've seen it take up to 3 days in rare cases, but I usually give it a few hours to a day before assuming it might not have taken. No biggie - happens to all of us at one time or another... ;-)

Doc

Sorry folks...my computer was stalling on this end. I was getting messages that my reply wasn't sent which is why I kept trying.

Allison

Roberta - the first blog post is of what I thought would be Rita's quilt. From then on, it's become mine. I might actually get to have a gallery of quilts that I own!!

Musicmaker

Doc, in my experience it's not much different from composing a song, or authoring a book - the creative process begins with "what do I want to say and how do I want to say it?" THAT'S what my tutorial will be about - what questions to ask yourself, and what can a quilter do with the answers!

Musicmaker

I have now posted my 1st tutorial on the creative process - but am skeptical about my ability to communicate/teach creativity. I WELCOME COMMENTS, either here or on the tutorial, that might help me edit this stage effectively.

thoughts, anyone? Musicmaker

All you have to do is come to our Friday Sewing Time and ask one of our members to show you her pictures to realize that every quilt has a story.... grin

Karen, Queen of Squishies

IMO you can not TEACH creativity, you can only let us watch what you do as you create, and for many of us it will spark our own creativity. I haven't read your initial efforts yet, that's just my thought so far.

Karen, Queen of Squishies

Hi Karen,

Mmmmm... no & yes. You're correct that genius/talent cannot be taught, but there are tools & techniques, which if practiced, can help develop (strengthen) one's innate creative abilities. That's somewhat what design schools are about. I know from experience that when starting out in some creative endeavor that is new to me there are two learning curves. One learning the nuts & bolts of the discipline; the other in applying oneself to creating within that discipline (if that makes sense). IME, both get easier with practice. For example, (to pick one that Cindy may be somewhat familiar with) writing music. When one starts out, one must learn the language of music, music theory, and how to play at least one instrument. Then one begins writing pieces of music (or songs). At first, it takes a while, and generally what one writes may not be that good. But with experience, songs & music come pouring out - sometimes at a rate faster than the composer/writer can get them down, and getting better with that experience. I think some quilters here may agree - some may not.

Doc

Doc said "I think some quilters here may agree - some may not."

Doc - using the music example is more appropriate than you could even imagine - I KNOW that Karen will understand that! (eh Queen?)

Musicmaker

It comes somewhat from my own past as well. Many years ago I was a regular contributor to a specific design newsgroup. Someone there was concerned about discussing an idea they had because they were afraid they might not get another one. I explained that that thought never occurred to me because I'm never at a loss for ideas; there aren't enough hours in the day to explore them all. The guy got really upset because he didn't think he was creative enough to have more than one or two ideas in his lifetime, and couldn't believe that ideas came that easily to anyone. Several other contributers piped in agreeing with me, admitting that ideas come quite easily to people who practice. At the time I had about a dozen projects I was working on in various stages, just as I have a score or more quilt designs on EQ right now. Some may get turned into quilts; some may die an ignominious death, but the ideas keep coming...

If I still had the wherewithal, I'd try to get back into writing. My skill is pretty rusty right now, but if I could practice enough I think I could get at least some of it back, and writing is something I've always wanted to do anyway...

Doc

I doubt that I would ever read anything like this. When I make landscapes, I go for realistic. I don't know what the lady had in mind, but the one you show is way off from my idea of a fabric landscape. This shows how important it is to be on the same page when working with someone else. I've seen landscapes where the entire background is pieced blocks or strips, gradating as in real sky, etc. Somehow blocks in the middle don't work for me. Sorry if I'm offensive-it's just my opinion. Gen

Howdy!

I just figured that you really, really, really meant it!

R/Sandy- 'cause some things are worth repeating...

Actually Gen, there is no offense taken. My tutorial isn't specifically about that landscape I'm working on, but more about the process of inspiration, and what to do with the inspiration, for anyone who hasn't had much luck in taking the plunge and trying art quilting. I've met a lot of people who are perfectly satisfied with doing whatever they're doing, which is fine. I've also met a lot of people who want to try something new, or have an idea they can't figure out what to do with, or are just plain convinced that THEY couldn't do an art quilt. So, I thought I'd put together a tutorial of my own experience with getting through that whole obstacle course. (: Musicmaker