Feast for the Eyes

I went to the show of Freddy Moran collage quilts at La Conner Quilt Museum yesterday.

WOW!  She is so very inspiring.  

Inspired by Edrica Huws, Freddy began making collage quilts when she turned 80.

She applies fabric pieces with a glue stick, 

and Judy Irish stitches them on with her playful quilting.

Enjoy the show!

Are you itching to get out your scraps and glue stick?  I am!

Freddy Moran Collage!

Back in April, I got to take another workshop with Freddy Moran in Mt Vernon, Washington.

Freddy, showing one of her latest works.  The one behind is also made by her.

Here's Freddy saying something like, "I never know what I'm going to make until I start."  

She demonstrated with the piece behind her, saying, "Just start...glue this flower here (as she plops it on), and this one there...(another plop), then a stem, a leaf, whatever.... Then take a look and see what you want to do next."  

She also said, "If you don't like it, leave it on your wall and keep looking at it.  

Eventually, you'll figure out what you want to do."   

Mary Keasler came all the way from Tennessee and made this beautiful piece.

I spent two days making one big mess, but I had fun and learned a ton!

The last of the tulips were blooming nearby.

And bringing color to the local farmer's market.  

Since then, I went to San Francisco and met a wonderful man who's creating a very exciting book.

Stay tuned!

 

Ode to Edrica

"Geraniums" 22" x 28"

Here's my first rendition of a work by the amazing Edrica Huws.

I'm using the technique I learned from Freddy Moran.

You use a glue stick to secure the scraps to a foundation.

Then you sandwich the top, batting and backing, and free-motion around the edges.

I love the look of the raw edges and random strings. 

Edrica made all of hers with hand stitching.

This one is called, "Geraniums by Window," made in 1986.

I feel I have so much to learn from copying Edrica's works.  She really was a master. 

 I'll be making more!

"October Rain"

Here's my first fabric collage with stitching.  It finished at 21" x 24".

I used my free-motion foot and outlined everything with a neutral thread.

Then I big-stitched the background with perle 8 cotton.  

That's when I realized the name of this piece was "October Rain."

The stitching on the back makes an interesting design too!   

Collage!

Today I went to Buffy's house and tried some Freddy style collage.  

All you need are some scraps, scissors and a glue stick.  

Later I'll sew them down with machine quilting.

What could be more fun than that?

Weekend with Freddy

 Yup, that's Freddy Moran!

She came to the Seattle area and taught a weekend workshop at Aunt Mary's Quilt Shop.

Here she is showing one of her new works inspired by quilts in the book below.

Published by Quiltmania.

She also brought these beautiful collages, inspired by Edrica Huws.  

Stephanie took Freddy's collage class in Sisters, OR, last year.  Here she is with her fabulous creation.

Freddy showed us how she makes her collages, starting with a pieced black and white background.

Starting with a pile of scraps, she cuts and glues on pieces with a washable glue stick.

She made this piece in less than an hour.  

Once she gets everything glued on, she sends it to her long arm quilter for stitching.

I brought my lone star to work on.  

Freddy made some beautiful suggestions for setting fabrics.  

In the end, I decided on this.  Freddy's advice really helped my selection.  

She said, "It's already wild.  Keep it going!  Don't think you need to calm it down."

She also said I should use a different scale print.

Stephanie coordinated the event, and did a lovely job of it.  

She even made these gifts for us, 

all with her collection of out-of-print Freddy fabric!

Thank you, Stephanie!!!