Getting past a block
A while back, my Mum asked me to design her a quilt with a series of shot cottons and narrow stripes she’d bought in similar shades of pink, plum, apricot and peach – and while I’ve had a bit of a play with ideas, nothing has stuck so I keep walking away.
I’m now putting it out there as a #quiltfromabrief challenge. That way I’ll force myself to seek out new inspiration.
One of my favourite places to do that is a textile library. I’m really lucky in Melbourne that I have two to choose from – one at a nearby university and the other attached to the Handweavers’ and Spinners’ Guild. Exploring images of other textile mediums, forms of design or works of art almost always sparks new ideas for me.
Something else that gets me out of a design rut or past a block is going to see art in real life. I’m off to do just that next weekend in Ballarat as part of Craft Lab ‘23, where my good friend Ana Petidis will be demonstrating at the Mining Exchange both weekends, hosting a workshop on Monday 22 May and exhibiting as part of ‘In the Company of Morris’ (promo clip below) which is showing alongside ‘Pre-Raphaelites – drawings & watercolours’ from the Ashmolean Museum.
Honestly, if I can’t find inspiration in all of that, then I really am in trouble!
Quilt brief #5
Quilt brief #5 starts with colour – specifically analogous colour. These are colours that are next to each other on the colour wheel and are palettes often found in nature – think of the oranges, yellows and browns of Autumn.
Your challenge is to design a quilt using an analogous palette.
Size: Queen bed size
Style: A contemporary quilt for a guest bedroom
Shapes: Include organic shapes or curves – maybe take your own inspiration from William Morris?
Colour palette: Analogous
In happy news, The Electric Quilt Company has generously given me a second copy of EQ8 to give away!
To enter, you need to have shared at least four quilt designs you’ve made in response to the #quiltfromabrief prompts by 15 December this year and be following both my feed and Electric Quilt’s.
Your designs need to be on separate posts and your profile public. If you haven’t done any of the prompts to date, you can go back to the beginning and start with any of the four we’ve completed so far, or if you start with Brief #5 you will still have completed four designs by the closing date.
Entries close midnight on 15 December 2023 AEDT.
The winner will be chosen at random from the published designs and announced on my Instagram feed on 16 December. The winner will also be contacted by DM through Instagram.
The competition is open to anyone worldwide.
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