Not bad for my first Collaboration art quilt.

Blog 42

There was an article on Collaboration in the October/November 2014 issue of Quilting Arts.  A friend of mine, Paula, read the article and asked me if I wanted to try it.  I read the article and thought, why not!?!

The general idea was to share materials and ideas to meld together two different styles and see what happens.  Cool, how hard can this be.

Our collaboration of course would be different than the article.  First of all we are not famous art quilters.  Actually we are beginners.  This just seemed a good way to make us try a variety of art quilting techniques without rules, without limits, and WITH loads of fun.

We loosely followed the article, I stress the word LOOSELY.  We were to send each other anything we wanted to, and then each of us would try to make it into an art quilt in our own style. We live in different Cities and States so most of the exchanges would be by mail.  

I was really nervous about what to send to Paula. She kept reassuring me that there were no wrongs, anything goes, just do it.  I am an OA (over achiever), actually an OABT (over achiever big time!) And, a OAWBT (the W stands for worrier).  I have to think everything to death over a long time then do and re-do and then re-do again.  First I started with some paper piecing of Kaffe and Tula Pink fabrics.  I liked it.  But, it wasn't artsy enough. I attached it to some turquoise shot cotton, nice. But still "where's the artsy stuff?"  Ok, I had just looked at a book about Snippets. Fabric with fusible web already ironed on the back, then cut into random shapes and fused down.  The first layer of snippets went down.  It was OK but it missed something. Highlights, it needed highlights.  More Kaffe fabrics snippeted (is that a word?) on the top.  Yeah, that's better.  But wait, there's more.  I wanted some black and white.  Something that calms a conglomeration of colors. Hey, that's cute, a little of that on the top secured with some BIG rick rack.  There...Done.  Is it too much?  Too little?  What would Paula think? I asked her again, "Anything Goes?" Yep, anything goes.  I sent it off in the mail and then I didn't hear from her.  Did she hate it?  Did it have any art?  I was waiting to hear from her like a teenage girl waiting for the phone to ring. The worrier kicked in again. ugh.

Then I received Paula's package in the mail. WOW. So simple but so artistic. Two pieces of hand dyed fabric she had made a while back. Then she wrote on them with a sharpie and bleach.  Why didn't I think of that?  She did her thing and voila' a piece of art.  She obviously is from the less is more camp. Whereas I am clearly in the more is more camp from the other side of the river and up the creek without a you know what.

OK, Hmmmm...... what am I learning from this? I am not a minimalist.  I believe doing MORE and spending LOTS of time on this is the only way. I'm LESS sure of that now.  I won't become a minimalist but maybe I could learn to relax a little?  Maybe not.

As Popeye said, I yam what I yam.

I went to Reno on a short vacation and so we met and exchanged our Collaboration art quilts.

This is the stunning art quilt that Paula made.  Simple but elegant. It's obvious, she is a free motion quilter extraordinaire!  I love it! In fact I asked if I could keep it until our next exchange to remind me both of her talent and of the fact that I need to let go a little, just a little?

This was my first attempt at a collaboration art quilt. I used some of what Paula sent to me, some of what I sent her, and some new stuff just for good measure.  I wove together her two pieces of hand dyed fabric and darkened the message she had written, "Let the fun begin...Collaboration...Quilt...Fun...Thread...Art".

I had seen the design for the face in an old magazine, and I though, Hmmm, 2 sides of one face, she and me.  Her red hair and glasses and my half smile and sugar skull earring.  I pulled out threads from her green fabric until there was fringe then stacked her orange fabric, my black and white then again her fringed fabric on top and secured them with ties of embroidery floss.  I'm not that good at the free motion quilting but I tried. Finally some beading on the Tula Pink fabric.  Done, and I like it.  I really do.  Not bad for my first Collaboration art quilt.

This was way more fun than I thought it would be. We are ready for Number Two Collaboration art quilt.  I will worry less and enjoy more, that's what I've learned so far.  I am sure there are many more lessons to learn from this process, I can't wait.

We are shooting for April to have them done. When they are, I will share them with you.