Terry Aske Art Quilt Studio

On my design wall – 2015.04.15

Posted on April 15, 2015 by TerryAske

A few days ago, when I started working on my cityscape quilt for IQF Tactile Architecture special exhibit, I thought the deadline to submit entries was April 17th, so for the past few days I’ve been focusing all my attention on that quilt. It’s finished, except for the binding. And of course I’m having a problem picking a title – I’m considering: City Night; Night City; Bright City; Dark City. I was preparing my entry information when I saw the deadline is actually May 17th! So now I have more time to come up with a title and description, but at least I won’t miss the deadline.

Meanwhile, I’ve switched my attention to my entry for the annual SAQA Benefit Auction. Members of SAQA donate 12 x 12 square quilts which are displayed online, and auctioned in September and October to raise funds to support SAQA’s exhibitions, publications, and education outreach activities.

I decided to make a tree quilt in bright, cheerful, unrealistic colors. Here’s my sketch and some fabrics I’m considering.

When I’m finished this one, I’ll get back to all the other projects clamoring for my attention!

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.

Posted in Art quilts, On my design wall, WiP Wednesday | Tagged art quilt, IQF, SAQA, tree quilt, WiP Wednesday | 5 Comments

On my design wall – 2015.04.13

Posted on April 13, 2015 by TerryAske

Last week I spent a delightful and productive couple of days with my sister Anne working on our collaborative quilt. We wanted to add some embellishments and hand-stitching. It’s so much easier to make design decisions when there are two of us – not as much dithering as when I do it myself.

When I left, Anne was still working on the hand-stitching, so I don’t have a photo of the finished quilt. But to give you an idea, below you can see the upper right corner before embellishment, and after.

The theme for this quilt is Fire. Our next will be Water (and we plan to do Earth and Air as well). We’ve decided to make the next one the same size (about 22 by 52 inches). The color palette will be blue with bits of bright contrasting colors. We made a sketch of our design idea – horizontal strips with curvy piecing, with a large contrasting vertical curve the length of the quilt. We’re each going to do some piecing for the horizontal sections, then when we get together again we’ll arrange them on the design wall and decide what to do with the vertical part. While Anne was hand-stitching the Fire quilt, I started piecing a small section for the Water quilt.

Just before I left to visit Anne, I decided I just ‘had to’ submit an entry to the IQF Tactile Architecture special exhibit. Because the submission deadline is just a few days from now, my entry will have to be simpler and more abstract than my entries in the last two years – Swoop and Inside the Tipi. I decided to make a city scene using some fabulous metallic prints I’ve been saving for that purpose. Here’s what it’s going to look like.

In other news, my entry to the Quilting Arts ‘Birds of a Feather’ challenge was accepted, so it’s on its way to the magazine for photography.

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.

Posted in Art quilts, On my design wall, Publications | Tagged art quilt, collaborative project, IQF, quilt challenge | 2 Comments

On my design wall and in my bookcase – 2015.04.06

Posted on April 6, 2015 by TerryAske

Work continues on the collaborative quilt. I’ve quilted more straight lines in black and a copper-gold variegated thread. Tomorrow I’m taking it to Anne’s so we can decide on the next steps. Some options we’re considering are:

adding square or rectangular patches from the fabrics we printed, painted and dyed together
hand-stitching – possibly to outline the discharged and/or foiled circles
binding the quilt with a black fabric, or finishing it with a facing

We’re also going to start planning our next collaborative project – something in blue this time.

I was notified last September that several of my quilts were included in a new book by Sandra Sider – 1000 Quilt Inspirations. But until I received my copy this week, I didn’t know which of my quilts were included, only that one of my Rainy Day People pieces was on the cover.

It turns out that 7 of my quilts are in the book. This is my favorite page of the book – it includes 4 of my quilts.

I’ve flipped though the book quickly, but need to go back and look again at all of the wonderful quilts in the book. If you see this book in your local bookstore, take a look. I think you’ll like it.

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.

Posted in Art quilts, Publications | Tagged art quilt, collaborative project | 4 Comments

On my design wall – 2015.04.01

Posted on April 1, 2015 by TerryAske

I’ve made a lot of progress on two of my projects.

The collaboration quilt with my sister Anne, most recently blogged about here, is layered and partially quilted. I quilted a grid of lines 2 to 3 inches apart with a medium red thread. Now I’m adding more lines with a copper-gold variegated thread, and a black thread. I’m not sure how many more lines I’ll add; I’ve asked Anne what she thinks before I do more. (That’s black batting and red backing, not borders. We’re probably going to face it, with no border or binding.)

The low volume baby quilt, last blogged about here, is looking great – exactly how I envisioned it. I’ve sewn all the rows together except for one seam to join the top 4 rows to the bottom 5 rows. Before I do that, I’m going to fuse some ‘words of wisdom’ to the bottom section and zigzag stitch around each letter. Then I’ll layer the quilt and do some straight-line quilting – I’m thinking a triangle shape starting near the center and spiraling out.

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.

Posted in Modern quilts, On my design wall, WiP Wednesday | Tagged collaborative project, modern quilt, WiP Wednesday | 3 Comments

Organization ideas and Cherry Blossoms exhibition – 2015.03.28

Posted on March 28, 2015 by TerryAske

I’ve been reading a wonderful series of articles by Dena Crain, called Time-Saving for Quilters. I like a lot of her suggestions and plan to implement them as time permits. In this article, she shows her two plastic drawer storage units under her cutting table, which hold materials and any work in progress.

That idea really resonated with me – I’m usually planning and/or working on several projects at once, and I end up with several piles of fabrics and sketches on my working surfaces. I bought these two units at Walmart and immediately filled them up with projects I’m working on. The drawers slide right out, so I can pull out the one I’m working on, then put all the bits and pieces back in the drawer when I want to work on a different project.

I highly recommend Dena’s series of articles. There are 8 parts to the series. Here’s a link to the first part if you’d like to read them all in order.

You may recall my quilt ‘Flower Boxes’. It was accepted into the annual juried exhibition “Cherry Blossoms: A Textile Translation”. The show will open on March 31 at the Silk Purse Gallery in West Vancouver and will run until April 19. http://silkpurse.ca/exhibitions/ I’m looking forward to seeing all of this year’s textile art at the opening reception on March 31.

Now I have to get back to some of those works in progress in the drawers under my table, so I’ll have something to show next week.

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.

Posted in Quilt shows | Tagged cherry blossoms, organization, quilt show, Quilt studio | 4 Comments

Off my design wall – 2015.03.26

Posted on March 26, 2015 by TerryAske

Thanks to everyone who commented on the possible background fabrics for my Royal terns – that was very helpful. I found myself agreeing with those who preferred the fabric in the bottom right photo, so that’s what I used.

I fused the birds the background, then free-motion stitched some feathers on their wings. Then I layered the quilt, and quilted the beach and the ocean. I also quilted around each bird, and as a result they appear a bit dimensional compared to the background.

I’m calling it ‘Into the Wind’. I’ll submit this little piece (9 x 9 inches) to the Quilting Arts Magazine reader challenge ‘Birds of a Feather’. I’ll know on April 8th if it’s accepted as a finalist for the challenge.

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.

Posted in Art quilts, WiP Wednesday | Tagged art quilt, quilt challenge | 2 Comments

Trunk show and work in progress – 2015.03.20

Posted on March 20, 2015 by TerryAske

On Wednesday morning I packed up about 40 of my quilts in my rolling cart, and headed to North Vancouver to do a presentation and trunk show for the Seymour Quilters’ Guild.

The members of the guild seemed to enjoy my presentation and had lots of questions about my techniques and compliments about my work. And they have already posted a write-up about my trunk show with some great pictures (including the photo above).

Back in the quilt studio, I’ve been working on an entry for the latest Quilting Arts Magazine reader challenge ‘Birds of a Feather’. The theme reminded me of some photos from our vacation in the British Virgin Islands a few years ago. We were fascinated by the small terns hanging out on the beach. They have distinctive black caps, and they tend to all stand facing in the same direction – into the wind (except when we tried to take a picture of them, when some of them would invariably turn toward the camera).

I drew a stylized version of a tern and made 3 of them, each a slightly different size and with some variation in fabrics, and positioned them all facing the same direction. I’m just trying to decide on what fabric to use for the sea in the background. Any opinions? (Please excuse the creases in the fabrics.)

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.

Posted in Art quilts | Tagged quilt challenge, trunk show | 8 Comments

Workshop and trunk shows – 2015.03.11

Posted on March 11, 2015 by TerryAske

Last Friday evening, I did a trunk show/presentation at the monthly meeting of the Blue Mountain Quilters Guild.

On Saturday, I did a workshop for the guild on Freezer Paper Piecing. I provided patterns – a choice of a fairly simple Maple leaf pattern or a more complex Japanese Maple leaf pattern. Here are the 2 class samples that I made a while ago.

All of the participants elected to make the simpler maple leaf block – and by the end of the day most of them had completed their blocks. I made a photo collage of 9 of the blocks (I think there were actually 10 finished blocks, but I must have missed taking a photo of one of them). I love seeing how each block looks so different, based on each person’s fabric selections.

Everyone said they enjoyed the class, and they now have another technique in their ‘toolkit’. Here’s some additional information about the tips and techniques I teach at this workshop.

If you live in the metro Vancouver area, you may be interested in knowing that I’ll be doing another trunk show/presentation on Wednesday, March 18th at the Seymour Quilters’ Guild meeting.

Meanwhile, the collaborative quilt I’m working on with my sister Anne is back on my design wall. On the left you can see how it looked when I last worked on it. On the right, you can see what it looks like now. I moved a few pieces around in the middle section. I hope to have more progress to show on this by the end of the week.

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.

Posted in Art quilts, On my design wall, WiP Wednesday, workshops | Tagged collaborative project, freezer paper piecing, trunk show, WiP Wednesday, workshop | 5 Comments

On my design wall – 2015.03.04

Posted on March 4, 2015 by TerryAske

I have lots of projects on the go right now – some in the construction phase, and some in the design phase.

The VMQG block lotto this month is a hashtag block, done in black & white. It’s a pretty easy block to make – I whipped up 4 in an afternoon. If I win this block lottery, I will add a few blocks with bright colors.

I’ve made progress on the low-volume baby quilt. Four rows of triangles are sewn together; 5 more rows to go. Then I can get to the fun part – adding some words in various shades of green (chartreuse, of course!)

Other projects on the go:

the art quilt I’m collaborating on with my sister is still pinned to back side of my design wall – no progress on that
preparing for the trunk show and workshop I’ll be doing this Friday and Saturday for the Blue Mountain Quilters Guild – almost ready
I need to decide what to make for this year’s SAQA Online Auction – the quilt has to be 12 x 12 inches, but the subject matter can be anything I want (hmmm . . . more umbrella people, something scenic, abstract? . . . decisions, decisions)
Quilting Arts has a new reader challenge ‘Birds of a Feather’ that has captured my interest. That one will be a 9 x9 inch quilt.

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

Posted in Modern quilts, On my design wall, WiP Wednesday | Tagged modern quilt, quilt challenge, VMQG, WiP Wednesday | 4 Comments

In my mailbox – 2015.02.27

Posted on February 28, 2015 by TerryAske

Look what was in my mailbox yesterday! Yes, those are my ‘Rainy Day Girls’, the latest in my Rainy Day People series. Even though I had been notified my quilt would be on the cover, it was still a thrill to see the magazine in my mailbox.

And even more of a thrill when I skimmed through the rest of the magazine. My contact information is on the table of contents page, and my quilt shows up again in the article about the CQA/ACC travelling quilt show It’s Time for Color!.

On pages 50 to 52 there’s an article about the Fibre Art Network‘s travelling exhibit Abstracted. My sister Anne was my partner in this exhibit – she created an abstract interpretation based on my realistic quilt. Ours are ‘Solitude 1’ and ‘Solitude 2’, right in the middle of the spread on pages 50 and 51.

And to top it off, in the Regional Reports on page 76, the Victoria Quilters’ Guild mentioned my visit last August to their guild to talk about modern quilting.

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.

Posted in Art quilts, Publications | Tagged art quilt, CQA, rainy day people | 3 Comments

On my design wall – 2015.04.15

On my design wall – 2015.04.13

On my design wall and in my bookcase – 2015.04.06

On my design wall – 2015.04.01

Organization ideas and Cherry Blossoms exhibition – 2015.03.28

Off my design wall – 2015.03.26

Trunk show and work in progress – 2015.03.20

Workshop and trunk shows – 2015.03.11

On my design wall – 2015.03.04

In my mailbox – 2015.02.27

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