Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Serendipity Quilts


I love the word “serendipity”. From The American Heritage Dictionary - n. The faculty of making fortunate and unexpected discoveries by accident [From its possession by the characters in the Persian fairy tale The Three Princes of Serendip].

Serendipity Quilts is the name of Susan Carlson’s latest book. She is a quilt maker, teacher and author from Maine and the speaker at the QU fall lecture last Saturday evening. Susan is an “art quilter”. I’m not sure there is an official definition for “art quilter”. In my mind an art quilter is someone who only makes quilts to hang on walls. Susan’s quilts are fabulous and I thoroughly enjoyed her talking about her quilting journey that started in her last year of art school. Her quilts are collages of fabric scraps. Basically, she glues the fabric scraps to muslin, stitches around the pieces and uses tulle to create shadows. I think I have that right. The image on this tote bag is of her quilt titled Tickled Pink. It’s hard to believe it was made with little pieces of fabric. This tote and the photo on her website don’t do it justice. I don’t know if I would ever make a quilt of this style. I’ve admired other art quilter’s work, too, but haven’t had the urge to create my own “art quilt”.

It has taken a while, but we finally finished our kitchen/bathroom paint job turned home repair job. I say "we" loosely - my husband did most of the work. My biggest effort was not getting mad when he started painting at dinnertime. I know this is an odd color for a kitchen, but I like how it cools down the wood cabinets, table and floor. I'm going for a less cluttered look, so I haven't rehung the plates and vintage crocheted hot pads. It needs something, though. Maybe a quilt under that clock? What do you think? 

Here is a shot of the little shelf in the powder room off the kitchen. I rearranged things a bit and added my little blue and white quilt.

11 comments:

  1. I am in awe of art quilts, but I have no desire to make them. Face it, I couldn't make one even if I did want to.
    Kitchen color is very cool and serene. I think after a fresh paint job it is hard to put things back on the walls!

    ReplyDelete
  2. love the kitchen paint-I've had a gallon to do my bedroom since spring (gag)
    I think a small quilt, perhaps a longer narrower one under that clock would be fabulous.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I really liked Susan's lecture and work. It had a "painterly" quilaity.
    What is your paint color and brand?. I love the look, and the white trim. Yes to a quilt below the clock...maybe and art quilt? Unlcuttering is my goal, too.
    Marsha

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love your paint it's fresh and pretty.
    cute little shelf too!

    ReplyDelete
  5. We do get to see many quilts and although they are not projects that we would like to make, we can still appreciate the work that has gone into their creation.
    Your room looks great.
    I should de clutter too, but my books finally arrived so I have actually increased mine.

    ReplyDelete
  6. You are going for the 'less cluttered' look. Oh my, let me know how that works out. I tell myself that EVERYDAY!!! HA!
    Yes, I like your color, it is soothing and calming and I think you did a good job on filling your little shelf unit there in the powder room!!

    Now, you are allllll ready for the holidays!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Great color! I get an 'art quilt' urge now and again - then return to repros. Enjoyed my fabric dye phase ;-)
    Thank you for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  8. "We" painted our kitchen lilac, and I hung up a little art quilt from a Ricky Tims workshop. I probably won't make another art quilt, but it was fun, and it looks good on the wall. Go for it!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I admire anyone who can do art quilts, at a recent quilt show I went to they seemed to be everywhere and some of the work is just amazing!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I think your triangle quilt would look just gorgeous there. I love your kitchen re-do, and I think that space should definitely have something "quilty" there.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I enjoy seeing art quilts made by others, but I have no confidence that I could ever make anything original or interesting by myself.
    Love your lavender kitchen, and yes, a quilt on that open space would be lovely. Do you feel up to making four seasonal ones that you could rotate as the seasons change?

    You mentioned in a comment on Barb's blog (Fun With Barb -- she showed her Abe quilt) that you wanted to know how to add the "you might also like" feature below your posts. I just sent that info to Barb in a comment. It must have been easy to add, because I didn't mess it up back whenever I added it. I'm sure it's of interest to others who visit my blog, and I enjoy it myself. It reminds me of posts I'd forgotten about.

    ReplyDelete