Demo Day

This is a day of remembrance in America. Despite the political turmoil here and abroad, I think most of us hope to coexist peacefully. We need to work towards that end harder than we merely hope. Everyone we've ever known or heard of has lived on this one small, blue dot in space.

Democracy is not only a form of state, it is not just something that is embodied in a constitution; democracy is a view of life, it requires a belief in human beings, in humanity.... Democracy is a discussion. But the real discussion is possible only if people trust each other and if they try fairly to find the truth. 

- Tomas Garrigue Masaryk

I'll be at the workshop all day and hope my demonstration goes well. I plan to show how to use the Value Finder, discuss print scale and density, and get everyone started with their own Chinese Coin quilt.

I've tagged and bagged samples and demos for the various steps. Planning to teach a technique is quite different than making a quilt. I've stopped at each small step, scratched notes, tried to figure out how and why I made each decision, and made more tops than I ever expected to try to include all these points. Each highlights some but none is perfect. Well, we all know nothing ever is perfect.

Since the participants say they are most interested in how I put fabrics together, one simple layout - vertical columns - gives us more time to work with fabric.

Hearing something one hundred times is not as good as seeing it once. 

- Chinese proverb

I'm taking all the Coin quilts still on hand. The white/yellow/blue/green Coins might help others visualize different results from the same pile of Coins - from pale yellow-and-white to background to loud-and-proud. Three others showcase used household fabrics, a selected group of red, pink, blue and green fabrics, and finally clearing the scrap bag.

Chinese Coin quilt examples for workshop

Collaged together, they showcase my fabric choices. We all have color combinations and values we prefer and mine show up here although I definitely cut too many yellow and green strips. {Yellow is not one of my usual colors but I'm coming to like it.} Even though those started from the same batch of scraps, they highlight how we can start with one framework but end with different quilts. {Like the two authors and their books from Throw Mama From the Train... without the murderous intent. Ha.}

Hopefully I can take photos of the day to share later.

Enjoy the day, Ann

Rayna Gillman Workshop Results

Oh, what a lucky break! Somehow I discovered that Rayna Gillman was speaking at the East Bay Heritage Quilt Guild in Berkeley last summer. Although not a member, I snagged the last spot in her workshop.

My quilt from Rayna Gillman's workshop, 24" x 22"

Rayna encouraged us to bring fabrics that had been languishing or that we found challenging. And I had a perfect example. My dear friend, Catherine, gave me this beautiful Java batik in yellow, blue, black and white. She'd stored it ten years but was never able to cut into it. Foolishly, I was certain I'd use it very soon. That was twenty years ago.

Original batik I wanted to use in the workshop

I finally cut a bit off but as you can see, I had no real vision of how to use it. I guess I thought I could place it wholesale on the design wall and mess around the edges. Hopeless! Although it looked wonderful in the morning (when no one else had anything up) by the end of the day it was a mess. Still, it was so enjoyable to watch other quilters develop their pieces. Isn't the interaction with others and the privilege of watching their creative process one of the the most stimulating parts of a workshop?

Modules completed at the end
of Rayna Gillman's workshop

At the end of the day I happily rolled it up, took it home and put it on the wall there. I cut up more fabric, moved pieces around but finally took it down. Then last week Bron encouraged me to bring the pieces over and lay them out again. This time I could see the problems - parts needed to come out, sections needed to be unsewed and the entire piece should be smaller. Reading the book helped.

So many more ideas are running through my head now that this one done. Even another idea involving the batik!

Enjoy the day!
Ann