The Art of Mutual Learning: Inspiration from Art
June 27, 2016
Hey Everyone!
I’m back and ready to tell you more about my sewing journey! About two months ago I embarked on a journey to learn how to sew by making a mini quilt. The idea was initiated by one of our cool product designers, Lauv. You’ve probably been reading her posts about our quilt designs and all of the techniques she has taught me, but you’re probably wondering about my beginner’s point of view. Well, I’m ready to tell you all about it!
Lauv felt that it would be best if I planned my quilt on grid paper so that I could learn the basics of planning a quilt. She told me to assume that every square was one inch so that I could measure everything correctly once I was ready to cut the fabrics. During this time, Lauv kept asking me if I enjoyed geometry because quilting is all about the right measurements. Although, I wasn’t the biggest fan of math in school, I did enjoy sketching my idea because it reminded me of when I had to plan creative projects.
Now, let me tell you a little about the inspiration behind my mini quilt. During the time that we started planning out our projects we were also preparing for spring Quilt Market. Since I love to associate everything with art and this year Quilt Market took place in Salt Lake City, UT; I decided to base my design on a famous art piece that’s in Utah, the Spiral Jetty by Robert Smithson. I thought it would be fun to appropriate something memorable from the “art world” in a quilty style.
The Spiral Jetty is known as an “earthwork” a.k.a outdoor sculpture, so I decided to choose natural colors for my design. Based on pictures I’ve seen of the sculpture, I knew I wanted to mix various blue fabrics along with our Premium Linen from The Denim Studio for a modern yet earthy feel.
I can’t wait to show you how it will look! I’ll be keeping everyone posted on my quilting progress here on the blog. But before I leave, I have two questions for you…
1.Where do you find inspiration for your quilts?
2.How do you plan your quilts (software, on paper, etc.)?
Thank you for following my quilting journey!
-Stephanie