The Language of Quilts

Communication in your own language can be difficult. Communication between two people who don't speak the same language is really difficult. The good thing is that quilters can communicate without speaking. Whether it is a modern or traditional quilt, the voice of the maker can be heard without saying a word.

One way quilters express this form of communication is through a quilt show. The Nurtingen quilt guild—a local guild in the area—held their triennial quilt show this past March, and it was wonderful. There were quilts of all types, sizes, and themes. They even had an area for coffee and Kuchen (cake), with all the desserts provided by the guild members. I thought I would share some of the quilts from the show.

Abstraction Lion
Annica Sternad

Es war einmal
Once Upon a Time
Halina Schmitz

Global Warming by Anthology
Kim Dulle

Federns
Feather
Birgit Klein

ICU—Do U C Me
Birgit Schüller

Beautiful creations by ladies who took the Gloria Loughman class with me in November:
Gabriele Stahl, Marion Thum, Marion Bätje

Deutschland
Oy Sullivan

Baltimore Bouquets
Elizabeth Werdel

Phosphophyllit
Andrea Stracke

Detail: Phosphophyllit
The hand quilting on this was spectacular!

Lancaster
Gabriele Latz

Hatten die Makrelen das Calval Zerstört
Frauke Schramm

Over the Rainbow
Marijke vanWeizen

Mein La Passion
My Passion
Gaby Stocker

Detail: Mein La Passion
Those hexagons are the size of my fingernail!

Yara, die Wasserfrau Meets Alabama Chanin
Heidi Hombsch

Detail: Yara, die Wasserfrau Meets Alabama Chanin

Regenwald (Rainforest)
Bernadette Mayr

Special exhibit by the Nurtingen guild members

It was a beautiful display.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing a little glimpse into the wonderful quilting community here in my area of Germany. While I don't speak German (my grasp of restaurant German doesn't count), it was wonderful to be able to look at these quilts and hear their makers speak. 

Stepping Out of the Box

True confession time: I (Kara) like to live in a box. Not a real box, although with moving I could have had plenty to choose from, but one of my own making. I like doing the things that I am comfortable with and straying too far from that makes me a little nervous. It's not just in my day to day living  that I like my box, but in my quilting life as well. Appliqué, embroidery, crazy quilting;—those are all quilt techniques that are in my comfort zone. I control the needle, and it doesn't beep at me when I break a thread, and my hands don't quit working for no apparent reason. That is why I have looked at my new Bernina sewing machine with fear and trepidation. 

A friend here asked me if I wanted to take a class with an excellent teacher, but it would be all machine work. I nervously said yes, because I knew I needed to take a step out of my hand-stitching box and learn how to use my machine. The class was Playing on the Surface, with Gloria Loughman, from Australia, and would be two days. I signed up in July and didn't give it much thought until all of a sudden it was November, and the class was in three days! All the supplies were gathered together, and off I went, not sure what to expect. 

From the moment we started, I knew that I was in good hands with Gloria. She made us all comfortable right from the beginning, as she shared what we would be doing in class. We would be using machine appliqué and embroidery to create abstract designs that were one of a kind. I was a bit nervous about my  design capabilities as abstract is not my forte, but Gloria's methods made it seem achievable. She began the class by showing some of her work to help us get an idea of what we would be doing.

The tiling on the background fabric adds so much depth.

Incredible detail

Gloria sometimes uses painted fabric to add detail.

This was one of my favorites!

An interesting skyline

This one reminds me of butterflies.

What spectacular use of color!

A colorful facade

So many different techniques were used in this piece.

I love this color combination!

Gloria enjoys using fabric with original Aboriginal designs.

Now that we were suitably impressed and just a slight bit intimidated, we got to work. Gloria's instructions were clear and simple. We started with a large sheet of paper to begin our designs, and she guided us through the process, so we really didn't get too stressed. 

Each technique was demonstrated clearly.

We spent most of the first day just figuring out our design and color schemes, choosing fabrics and shapes to incorporate into our piece. I was aiming for a fall theme; in hindsight, I should have made my design a bit smaller, but I will make it work.

Some of my fabric choices  being auditioned

Gloria also hand-dyes fabric and had some shipped over for us to buy—and of course I couldn't resist, even though I had brought what seemed like half my stash.

Such beautiful eye candy!

By the time we left for the day, our minds were swirling with color and design decisions. Ready to get started on day two, we continued putting our pieces together. I re-worked a piece, because one of the colors wasn't playing nicely with the rest, and added some things to another piece that needed some oomph. Gloria's method is to divide the quilt into sections and do the stitching/appliqué on the pieces while they are small, so they can be manipulated easier. Some of the ladies were speedy and by the afternoon, had their pieces ready to put together. Others, like me, were still trying to finish the design in order to actually put it all together.

Everyone hard at work with Gloria, on the left, encouraging us

My hot mess of a work station!

My friend Angela started all over again the second day and made these gorgeous sections.

Taking a class or going on a retreat in Germany is awesome, because they set up snacks! We had pretzels in the morning and cake in the afternoon, as well as coffee, tea, water, and sparkling apple juice.

Apple Schorle: kind of like apple soda

A German staple

The second day drew to a close, and it was time for a little show and tell of our progress. I was still fighting with mine, and so was my neighbor, but we put them up anyway. Others were further along, but there was no pressure at any time to be at a certain stage in the process. That's what I call a good class. 

Water was the theme for this artist's work

Aren't the elephants perfect?

My work after two days.  Not as far along as I had hoped but I will finish it someday.

Stepping out of my comfy box was a bit of a stretch for me, but I'm glad I did. Abstract may not be my strength, but it was a treat to take a class from such a wonderful teacher and to challenge myself to learn something new. Gloria's work is inspiring in so many ways, but what was most inspiring to me was the way she taught and encouraged the class. It is my hope that someday Teri and I can become teachers just like her. I hope you have enjoyed coming to this class with me. If you would like to read more about Gloria Loughman and her amazing work, you can go to her website here.