Tag: quilt

Fiber Art

Soaring into Spring with Henri Matisse

Guila Greer

Au Printemps – a la Matisse

When presented with a challenge to make a quilt 1) to honor Spring’s arrival and 2) to do so in the style of a chosen artist, I decided to create a Spring homage to Matisse.

As Matisse grew older (he lived almost to his 85th birthday), and his health declined, he developed ways to make art even when he was unable to leave his bed and stand at an easel. He painted paper with gouache using various brush techniques. He then free cut the shapes he envisioned from these painted papers and incorporated them in his art.

For this quilt I attempted to emulate Matisse’ process by painting pieces of stabilized white cotton cloth with gouache – one color per piece of cloth. I then free cut shapes that I had previously worked out with sketch according to the scene that I envisioned. I pinned my shapes in place – in layers – then stitched the shapes in place, added some batting and quilted the piece.

Fiber Art

Springtime in Mariupol

Guila Greer

In the Spring of 2022, I was fooling around with some of my fabric – cutting shapes, cutting strips and arranging them into more shapes. The resulting images reminded me of the invasion of Ukraine that was dominating the news. I considered that they (the images/shapes) had been informed by what I had been hearing and seeing – and just went with it.

Fiber Art

Soaring into Spring

Guila Greer

The latest art challenge from Quilts on the Wall was a lot of fun for me to do. The theme was “Soar into Spring’.

We were shown a couple of paintings referencing Spring for inspiration; one being an Henri Matisse collage, Madame Pompadour. That in turn prompted me to tune in to a London School of Drawing zoom workshop entitled Painting with Scissors.

During the workshop we had the experience of free form cutting shapes on painted paper – the way that Matisse did when he made his painted collages later in his painting career. I went with the freeform concept and was further inspired by Matisse’s color palette as I designed and created my challenge piece: Le Printemps de Matisse. 16″ by 12″ Hand dyed cotton.

Le Printemps de Matisse by Guila Greer (all rights reserved)

12″ W by 16″ H

available for purchase

Art, Art Quilt, Fiber Art, Hand Dyed Fabric, Quilts

The Value of Value

Guila Greer

Late last year I was VERY fortunate to notice that an online class was scheduled to begin in January that seemed perfect and timely for my resolution to improve my work in 2016.

One of my most admired art quilters is teaching it (Elizabeth Barton) and the Class Title:  A Master Class in Design for Art Quilters – speaks directly to my own need to ‘polish’ my design skills and to explore alternatives.  

We are delving into a different design concept each month and in January, Elizabeth had us take a fresh look at our use of value.   After presenting a couple of possible designs to work with I settled on the following sketch – a sketch that I based on a photograph that I took after a snowfall in Minnehaha Park, Minneapolis.

JAN GG Sketch 2

My next step was to gather fabric for possible use in this quilt.  The instruction was to use a range of at least 5  values of the same color – preferably a color that included an intense dark value such as black or brown or even navy blue.   I selected black, various grays and white.  I also wanted there to be added interest with texture.  Linen helped with that as did some thread work added later.

P1000078

Some of the fabrics that I made available for this quilt are shown above.  I used dark to light gray cotton threads for stitching plus one variegated thread to thread paint a tree trunk and add texture.  I included several of my hand dyed fabrics to the mix.

I ‘cleaned up’ my sketch, enlarged it to actual size, printed it out and created my templates.

In choosing my values for color placement I had to pay attention to how the color value would affect perception of depth and distance.  I also wanted to maintain the lonely, slightly haunted mood of the original photo.   AND to keep the overall image simple and uncomplicated.

JAN GG FIN

My teacher’s critique immediately pointed out my wobbly bench and I plan to correct that. I also plan to add more fine branches to the background and am going to include some hand stitched branches to the mix.

I think this has turned out to be a great example of how color both interprets and projects mood so vividly!   I am tempted to do this same scene, at some point, outfitted in its mid summer finery.

Accessories and Ornaments, Fiber Art, Home Dec, Quilts

Class Alert – Gorgeous Autumn Wallhanging (or Table Topper)

Guila Greer

Tumbling Leaves Wall Hanging or Table Topper
Tumbling Leaves Wall Hanging or Table Topper

Grace your Thanksgiving table with this beautiful Tumbling Leaves quilt – shown in a versatile size ready to decorate your wall or your table throughout the season.

2 sessions on 2 consecutive Saturdays from 10 AM until 2 PM

 Part 1 October 18  10-2

Part 2  October 25  10-2

Call Quilty Pleasures in Simi Valley today to reserve your spot  805-581-1577

leaves_quilting
Closeup of Quilting

Classes, Quilts, Workshops

Quilt Clinics – For UFOs and MORE !!!!!

Guila Greer

 

Art Quilting WorkshopYou’ve heard of Baseball or other Sports Clinics???

They are defined as :

…….- a meeting for diagnosis of problems and instruction or remedial work in a particular activity

Well now there is a QUILT CLINIC

Meeting Wednesday evenings at Quilty Pleasures in Simi Valley. (except for the 3rd Wednesday of the month)

from 5:30 until 8:30  – cost to attend:  $10.00 per session – sign up in advance

You will  have the expertise of 2 seasoned quilt teachers on hand to help you finish some of those projects that need additional assistance.

Call the shop  and reserve your spot and let’s get those project’s done!!

805-581-1577

Art, Art Quilt, Classes, Fiber Art, Journal Size, Quilts, Workshops

SO EXCITED !!! We’re Going To Do a Teapot Class !!!

Guila Greer

Six-TEAs asian tea webP1020992 P1030008 IMG_0482

Betsy and I designed and created these cute little art quilts last year in preparation for art quilt technique classes at Baron’s Sewing Center in Woodland Hills.

Now I am excited to announce that a series of Teapot workshops are scheduled in the Simi Valley at Quilty Pleasures starting this coming April.  Most of the construction of these adorable quilts is using fusibles and machine appliqué.  You will also learn how to apply fancy yarn fibers using couching techniques.  And it’s a chance to dig into your button box and gather up those bits of fancy lace and trim to embellish your creations.

There are 4 Wednesday sessions:  April 30, May 7, 14 and 28th – all 5:30 to 8:30 PM

Call Quilty Pleasures (805) 581-1577 today to sign up.  This will be a fun class.

 

Classes, Fiber Art, Quilts, Traditional Quilts and Quilts for People, Workshops

The Garden Twist Quilt – a Classic Quilt Design!

Guila Greer

The Around the Twist block has been around since 1870 and remains a popular and beautiful focus for a quilt of any size.
Here is a small wall hanging that shows one completed around the twist:

Garden Twist Sample

Class is ongoing now at Quilty Pleasures in Simi Valley Monday evenings.

We will most likely repeat this class in the fall so if you are interested please call – 805-581-1577  or leave me a message here. You will be notified when the next 5 class series is scheduled.

The quilt can be made in any size from Crib Quilt to King Size.

Accessories and Ornaments, Home Dec

Paint and Bead Your Own Decorative Pillow – Back by Popular Demand

Guila Greer

Paint and Bead Your Own Decorative Pillow

originally Posted on November 1, 2013

 

Back By Popular Demand

Make your own decorative pillow.  You will paint your own fabric and embellish it with stitching and beads.  The class is on the schedule at Baron’s Sewing Center in Woodland Hills for Tuesdays January 14 and January 21st 2014 
 6 pm until 9 pm 
(6 Hours total – 3 hours each day)

You can create your own design or fashion your pillow along the lines of this one that I made for this class.

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I started with a piece of white PFD Kona cotton and painted the background with an acrylic wash of color.  Next I painted the flowers and layered the piece with batting and lining.  Then the REAL fun began as I used thread painting to add depth and texture to the design.  Here’s where you can really let yourself experiment with color and various thread weights.  I particularly liked the look of some variegated 30 wt. thread. 

When I declared the thread painting “done” I got out my beads and went to town!  Because this will be used for “show and tell” in class I wanted to be sure to incorporate several basic beading stitches.  I used moss stitch, scatter stitch, seed stitch, bugle pathways, back stitch and stacked stitch.  

My goal was to achieve a vibrant mix of color, texture and bling.

Call Baron’s today to sign up – This is a FUN class.

818-224-2746