Piecing with Jean
The other day, I took a workshop from Jean. But not just any Jean, JEAN WELLS! She came to Winston to speak at the Forsyth Piecers & Quilters. (which I'm now a member of;) So the night before the workshop, I was treated to inspirational quilty photos out the wazoo! During the trunk show, I fell in love with a quilt inspired by a photo of antique knitting needles. Of course, I asked Jean to pose with it!
Then she was kind enough to let me take photos of the inspirational photo and line drawing showing her process. The photo is from Martha Stewart Living. I heart it:) I keep one of my grandmother's knitting needles in my knitting bag; it reminds me of these.
And this is Jean's book that talks about all the amazingness of this quilt! And many others.
Using the color and lines from the inspirational photo, Jean created a masterpiece! I'm kind of obsessed with it.
Back to the class, Jean spoke a lot about intuitive color. We were asked to select five colors from a pile of delicious solids. Jean discussed each of the selections at length which was both interesting and educational. Even though she doesn't directly draw on color theory, it definitely snuck into a lot of the conversation. I chose two yellow-greens, two blue greens and a coral. We had to return to the rejects for one more color and I got a red violet piece. Next Jean showed us a few techniques for piecing- no ruler required! And we set to work! This is mine. It's still a work in progress, so stay tuned for the result!
And this is Kim's!
And Ania's!
I think everyone had a wonderful time with the improv piecing. This process may not be good for my fabric hoarding tendencies. Jean uses scraps as small as 3/4". I'm now saving scraps on a whole new level!
And here is some eye candy for your viewing pleasure!!
The workshop was great fun! Jean is delightful and it is always a great day when I'm surrounded by quilty folk!!xo LC