Circles circles everywhere – 2015.11.20

Posted on November 20, 2015 by TerryAske

Last Saturday I taught my Circles Circles Circles workshop for the Fraser Valley Quilters Guild.  It’s a technique workshop, where I teach participants how to design their own circle blocks, and to sew curves and circles with flat seams.  Here are some of the blocks made by the enthusiastic and creative participants in the workshop.

FVQG Circles workshop

I didn’t have time to take many photos during the workshop, but fortunately one of the participants took lots of them.  Sandi has already written a detailed blog post about the workshop and she sent me some of her photos.   And she’s already turned one of her sample blocks into a finished mini quilt!   Below is a photo of several of my circle quilts on the design wall at the workshop, taken by Sandi.

TerryAske_CirclesWorkshop

 

Speaking of circles, I’ve decided which quilts to enter into the QuiltCon 2016 juried quilt show – and they are all circle quilts.  I seems like that’s what I been producing this year.  And they were all made using the techniques I taught in the workshop.

I’ll be submitting Bling on the Bias, my Michael Miller Glitz challenge quilt – blog post here.

TerryAske_Bling on the Bias

Also Eclipse, which was my entry to the VMQG Modern Mini Showcase – blog post here.

TerryAske_Eclipse

And Off-Center, which was included in the Black to White (BTW) exhibit at Quilt!Knit!Stitch! in Portland OR – blogged here.

Aske.Terry-Off-Center-FULL

 

Thanks for stopping by.  Today, I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many other creative and inspirational projects.

   Creations by Nina-Marie   Confessions of a Fabric Addict

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Off my design wall – 2015.11.09

Posted on November 9, 2015 by TerryAske

My MQG Michael Miller challenge quilt is finished – except for the hand-sewing.  (I’m accumulating quite a pile of quilts that need facings sewn down and/or sleeves sewn on.)

Last week, I had the circle and the background pieced, and pinned to my design wall.  I top-stitched the circle to the background, using the freezer paper templates to position them.

I decided to go with straight-line quilting, random lines on the diagonal, somewhat following the seams in the circle.  I liked the subtle plaid effect on the background, and so in two of the corners I added a couple of lines of quilting in the opposite direction.  I also quilted just outside the circle.  I used a gold viscose thread which doesn’t show up very well in photos.  But I took a snap of the back before I faced it, which shows the quilting really well.

TerryAske_BlingontheBias_quilting from back

 

The edges are faced, and the finished size is 20 x 25 inches.  I’m calling it ‘Bling on the Bias’.

Here’s what it looks like from the front.   Black and white are notoriously difficult fabrics to photograph, and the silver and gold just add to the difficulty in getting a good photo.  After several very washed-out photos with my regular camera, I tried my iPhone and got a much better image.  I may try again later in different light.

TerryAske_Bling on the Bias

 

Thanks for stopping by.  Today, I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many other creative and inspirational projects.

   Creations by Nina-Marie

Posted in Art quilts, Modern quilts | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Off my design wall – 2015.11.09

Rainy Day People in Surrey BC – 2015.11.04

Posted on November 4, 2015 by TerryAske

One of my Rainy Day People quilts has been travelling since 2013 with the Fibre Art Network exhibit Fibrescapes.  The final venue for this show is the Newton Cultural Centre Gallery in Surrey BC.  The exhibit includes work by approximately 30 fibre artists, and is on display during the month of November.  I’ll be attending the Artist Reception on Saturday, November 7.

Here’s a link to the poster – I’m thrilled my quilt has such a prominent position!

You can read more about my Rainy Day People series here.  All the quilts in the series have been sold (the one in the Fibrescapes exhibit has been purchased and will be sent to the buyer after the show closes).  I think I’ll be making more of these.

Aske_Terry_Rainy_Day_People_3

 

Posted in Art quilts, Quilt shows | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

On my design wall – a glitzy circle – 2015.11.02

Posted on November 4, 2015 by TerryAske

Earlier this year, I signed up for the MQG annual Michael Miller challenge.   The fabrics this year are from the Glitz collection – gold or silver designs on black or white backgrounds.  Each participant received 6 of these fabrics.

fabric-challenge_horiz-copy

 

The entry deadline is quickly approaching – November 30th – so it’s time to decide what I will do for this challenge.  I had several design ideas including (of course!) several that incorporated circles.   The fabric was sent in fat-eighth cuts (approximately 9 x 21 inches), and these skinny widths somewhat restricted some of my design ideas.  I decided on a simple circle design, with improv-strip piecing.   Here’s my initial design.

MM Glitz-001

I made freezer paper templates for the circle and background, then randomly cut strips and sewed them together to cover the freezer paper templates.  The seam allowance of the circle has been pressed over the edge of the template, and will be machine appliqued to the background.  Here it is on my design wall.

TerryAske_MM Glitz_inprogress

 

Now I’m debating with myself how to quilt it.  I considered some sort of straight-line stitching, but now I’m thinking a spiral pattern starting from the center of the circle.  I have some gold viscose thread that I think will blend well with all the fabrics.

 

Thanks for stopping by.  Today, I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many other creative projects to inspire you.

WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced     Esther’s Blog   Sew Fresh Quilts

Posted in Modern quilts, On my design wall, WiP Wednesday | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

Inspiring others – an oldie but goodie – 2015.10.27

Posted on October 27, 2015 by TerryAske

I’m happy to link up to Kaja’s Sew Slowly blog.  She is coordinating a monthly link-up for people making improv quilts.  She asked if she could use one of my quilts in an inspiration blog post about improv quilts.

This is one of my favorite improv quilts, so I was happy to share it with her.  I made it in 2012.  It’s 34 x 34 inches.  It was accepted into the 2013 QuiltCon show, and I sold it in 2013 through my Etsy shop.  It was fun to think about it again.

TerryAske_KonaModern

 

Today, I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many other creative projects to inspire you.

   Esther’s Blog

Posted in Modern quilts | Tagged | 8 Comments

Inspiring others – 2015.10.19

Posted on October 19, 2015 by TerryAske

In September, I was approached by a teen librarian at the Philadelphia Free Library, seeking permission to use the image of my graffiti quilt for a flyer.  During November, the library has a program for teens to make a graffiti quilt that will be auctioned off to charity.  I think that’s a really cool idea and I love to think my art can inspire others, so I said yes, they could use my image.

I originally created this quilt in 2013 for a SAQA challenge to create a quilt with the theme of text, containing at least one visible letter or word.

After considering many ideas and concepts about text, I decided to focus on the most colorful and creative form of text I could think of – Graffiti. My graffiti wall is made of fabric, but is intended to replicate the appearance of painted words and images on a concrete block wall. I fused the graffiti elements to the gray background, then machine stitched the block pattern over everything.

I see some similarities between graffiti and quilting. Graffiti reminds me of a scrappy, improve-style quilt – many disparate colors, patterns and styles – while competing with and overlapping each other – can create an eye-catching cohesive whole. Like quilting, graffiti is an emerging and sometimes controversial art form.

The size is 24 by 25 inches.  The quilt was not accepted into the SAQA show, but has since been accepted into two juried shows.

Here’s my quilt ‘The Writing is on the Wall’, and the flyer for the teen program.

TerryAske_TheWritingIsOnTheWall  TeenGraffitiPoster

Posted in Art quilts | Tagged | 3 Comments

An inspiring weekend – 2015.10.18

Posted on October 18, 2015 by TerryAske

Earlier this month I spent an inspiring few days with fellow members of the Fibre Art Network (FAN) at our annual retreat.  This year, it was held at the Edenvale Retreat Centre near Abbotsford BC.   We spent five days sharing our work and inspiration with each other, shopping, touring local galleries, walking in the woods, eating, drinking and talking.  It was an opportunity to re-connect with old friends, and to make new ones.  We shared information, talked about our progress as artists, and made plans for new group exhibitions.

One of the highlights is the art exchange.  We each made a small piece, which we displayed then exchanged.  The theme this year was Reap What You Sow.  Apparently, I didn’t take a photo of my finished piece!  But I can show you the quilt I came home with – this beautiful mixed media piece in my favorite colors –  made by Alison Cowitz.

by Alison Dean Cowitz

 

FAN’s Abstracted exhibit was showing at the ACT Gallery in Maple Ridge.  Here I am with my quilt Solitude, and the abstracted version made by my sister Anne.

FAN Abstracted exhibit at ACT Gallery in Maple Ridge  Terry Aske - FAN Abstracted exhibit at ACT Gallery in Maple Ridge

 

We also visited the Centennial Museum in Fort Langley, where our Canadiana exhibit is showing.  Here I am with my Air of Elegance quilt.

FAN Canadian exhibit at Centennial Museum  Terry Aske - FAN Canadian exhibit at Centennial Museum

 

It was a wonderful five days, and I’m already looking forward to next year’s retreat in Winnipeg.

Thanks for stopping by.  Today, I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many other creative and inspirational projects.

   Creations by Nina-Marie   Confessions of a Fabric Addict

 

 

Posted in Art quilts | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

La Conner Quilt Awards!

Posted on October 3, 2015 by TerryAske

The 2015 International Quilt & Fiber Arts Festival in La Conner WA is taking place this weekend.   I attended the festival yesterday, and what a great show it is, with over 135 entries from 6 different countries.  Unfortunately, they don’t allow photography, so I can’t show you any of the quilts.

The best part was seeing that my two entries in the Modern category each won an award!

Exploding Wedges won 2nd place in the Modern category, and Shades of Gray won 3rd place.  You can see all of the award winners here.

TerryAske_ExplodingWedges

TerryAske_ShadesofGray

 

Posted in Modern quilts, Quilt shows | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

A Modern Mini Circle Quilt – 2015.09.06

Posted on September 6, 2015 by TerryAske

I’ve been working on another circle quilt – this one is for the VMQG Modern Mini Showcase at the upcoming Vancouver Quilters’ Guild Quilt Show in October.   Our goal for the display is to put on a beautiful showcase of Modern Mini Quilts. Modern quilting is a new concept for lots of folks and this is a great opportunity to share our work and educate viewers about modern quilting.  All our quilts will be made from solid fabrics only and will have a maximum perimeter of 80 inches.

I used some of my favorite colors in an asymmetrical circle design.   My quilt is 20 x 20 inches.  I stitched it with vertical lines, spaced irregularly.  Some of the quilted lines are very close together – referred to as matchstick quilting – often used by modern quilters.  This gives an interesting texture to the quilt.

TerryAske_Eclipse

 

I used a variety of thread colors, matching them to the fabrics in each circle, which means they are contrasting with the surrounding fabrics.  I pieced the binding, and then machine stitched it with a contrasting color, and stitched 3 rows, in keeping with the matchstick quilting idea.

TerryAske_Eclipse_detail

 

As with my last circle quilt, I had a hard time coming up with a title for this one, so I asked for suggestions on Instagram.  I got lots of fabulous suggestions (and will likely use some of them in the future for other quilts)!  I decided to go with ‘Eclipse’ suggested by Debbie of A Quilter’s Table – thanks Debbie!

 

Thanks for stopping by.  Today, I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many creative and inspirational projects.

   Creations by Nina-Marie   Confessions of a Fabric Addict

 

Posted in Friday finishes, Modern quilts | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Catchy creative titles for quilts – 2015.08.21

Posted on August 21, 2015 by TerryAske

Sometimes I really struggle to come up with a good title, especially for my abstract art quilts.  I’m often tempted to call them Circle 1, Circle 2, etc. but I love catchy, creative titles, so I spend a lot of time trying to come up with good ones.  I asked an online group of SAQA members how they come up with titles for their art, or if they think a title is even necessary.  

Most people thought titles were important, and there were a lot of great suggestions about how to generate ideas for titles including: asking friends, searching online, referring to a dictionary or thesaurus, using usual words or interesting phrases.  Most of these ideas are things I already do, but they spurred me to do more online research.

I found some great blog posts about titling art, including these ones:

I also found these websites which I’ve bookmarked for future reference:

This is the quilt that I currently need a title for.   There’s no deep meaning or emotion involved with this quilt.  My inspiration was the relationship of straight and curved lines, and some fabrics in colors I thought would work well together.

TerryAske_unnamed circle quilt

 

I think part of my frustration with naming this quilt is that I was quite pleased the name of my previous circle quilt ‘Circular Thinking‘, and I felt the need to come up with an equally good title for this one.  I considered ‘Circular Thinking 2’, but also ‘Circle of Lines and Color’, or ‘Circle of Magenta and Mustard’ (alliteration!).

I also asked readers of my blog and my Instagram followers for suggestions for this quilt, and was very impressed with all the ideas, including:  Missing Moon, Poolside, Reversal of Fortune, Through the Looking Glass, Porthole, Glimpse, Topsy Curvy, Eclipse and Eclipsed.  Many of these have given me ideas for future circle quilts!

I’m still mulling over what title I will give this quilt.   I have to decide soon, because I’m going to submit it to an art quilt show.

So how do you come up with titles for your quilts or other artwork?  Do you think a catchy title is important?  Do you have any tips or suggestions you’d like to share?

 

Thanks for stopping by.  Today, I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many creative and inspirational projects.

   Creations by Nina-Marie   Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Posted in Art quilts | Tagged | 16 Comments