I like to take part in creative challenges. But only those where I get to choose what I do. Things like 100 or 30 day projects, where I choose what I do, and I do it every day for however many days in a row. They are a great way to stimulate new ideas, build up a body of work or inspiration, or a way to practice something new with diligence.

Currently I’m four days into the Aotearoa Quilters Spring 30 Day Challenge. I’ve been the facilitator of this program for the last two years, and have run it was a Winter Jumpstart, but I’ve handed over the reins, and Jenny, the new facilitator, is running it in the first official month of Spring. It feels good to start something new in Spring.

Some of my most successful daily projects have been sketching. And later this month I’ll be travelling, so I need something small and portable. In fact, one of my biggest pieces of advice to doing this projects is to keep it small and portable! I’ve decided to go for a daily sketch of a bug, butterfuly or bird. I typed bug into the search function of my photos and I seem to have enough to start me off!

First up was the little spider you see above. I have no idea what type, but it was quite small with a pretty coloured back. Day two was the luna moth below. I photographed that when I visited Canada. Quite a spectacular creature, and I remember the kids were suitably intrigued.

Day three was a pūriri moth. They are bright green, ranging from grass to chartreuse, so maybe I should go back and add colour. This one I photographed was almost yellow.

Then yesterday, day four, was a dragonfly I caught in a net as he was struggling to escape from my house.

I haven’t decided what to draw today. But if you have any good photographs that you wouldn’t mind me using as a reference, please send them my way!

The random numbers and scribbles in the backgrounds of my sketches is because I use my old to-do/journal/diary pages as sketchbook backgrounds. It saves space in my handbag and provides an interesting texture to work on. Maybe I’ll show you more of that in another post.

I often work in a collage method when constructing my quilts. Cutting shapes, assembling them into something pleasing and then fixing them to the background. It’s a satisfying way of working. It’s also flexible, forgiving and can be easily combined with other techniques.

This is how the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines collage:

: an artistic composition made of various materials (such as paper, cloth, or wood) glued on a surface

: a creative work that resembles such a composition in incorporating various materials or elements

: HODGEPODGE

Hodgepodge?! Hopefully not! But definitely a composition glued onto a surface, and often incorporating various elements.

I work in the cut and glue way, otherwise known as raw-edge applique, because it gives me the freedom to create intricate shapes. My artistic voice leans towards the figurative, and this is easier to achieve if I’m not trying to machine piece fiddly bits of fabrics or turn under edges of complex shapes. But another big reason I work this way is that it gives me the freedom to listen to my work as it grows and move elements around the ‘canvas’ until I hit that sweet spot where the design feels right to me.

I can audition and rearrange and change my mind till my heart is content. It’s almost like a sketchbook, I can work out my textile design on my design wall in real size instead of in the pages of a sketchbook. But don’t get me wrong – sketchbooks are great and have an important role too!

I also work in my sketchbook with paper collage. Paper is cheaper than fabric and you can find so many pretty colours just by opening up discarded gardening or interior design magazines. Cutting shapes from paper is very freeing – do you remember your primary school cut and paste sessions? It’s also great for people who say, “I can’t draw!” They don’t have to! Just grab some scissors and glue and play!

I did a lot of paper cutting and collage back in 2017 when I did a 100 days project, which I named ‘100 days of Scissors’. I made a composition every day for 100 days, some figurative, some abstract, and I managed to fill two whole sketchbooks, which I still refer to regularly for inspiration. Often, the negative shapes left behind from cutting were what sparked the next day’s idea.

I take all those ideas from working with paper back to my textile work. Everything influences everything else; creation is a fluid process.

Here are some of my favourite quilts that were made using mainly collage, but with some other techniques thrown in for good measure:

Do you want to spend some time experimenting with collage? I’m excited to be teaching my workshop called ‘Creative Collage’ for Queensland Quilters on the 10th May 2024. We will start with paper collage and work through some exercises to get your creative juices flowing before moving to fusible web and fabric. We’ll experiment with positive and negative shapes, abstract and figurative work, layering and mirroring, and personal shapes/symbols. We’ll discuss effective design choices, learning some never-fail tips and tricks for compositional magic along the way. Most of all, we’ll have fun!

You can head to Queensland Quilters website for further details, they even have an earlybird sign up special if you register now. I’ll also be teaching ‘Level Up Your FMQ (free-motion quilting)’ and ‘Misty Woodland,’ a two day paint and silk organza class. I hope to see you there.

I’m working on another quilt inspired by Elliot Bay, the place that I live. 

Think of camping in Summer; long evenings stretching into clear nights, with a campfire flickering, companionship and camaraderie, pōhutukawa trees silhouetted against the skyline and looming shadowy around the tents, but lit from underneath by the flames. You can see my inspiration photos and my concept sketch in my sketchbook above.

Below I’ve shown you the progression of my work. From my the roughly pinned up background and ideas of trees to use, through to the ‘ready for quilting’ top. Once it’s quilted, I’ll add stars for the milky way and sparks from the fire with hand stitching. 

As you can see, I don’t stick fastidiously to my concept sketch. The piece needs room to grown and mature as I work. I had no intention of putting the trees in the foreground, but it seemed to need something, and after auditioning extra trees, and playing with the colours, I went with it. 

Then the sky. You’ll notice a dramatic change from an improv pieced background to a one piece, brighter sky. Well, the improv is still under there, it’s just under a layer of hand-dyed silk organza over the top. 

I was experimenting with how to get a sense of the milky way. A wise woman once said to me – make visual decisions visually – so I started putting up options. And when my husband said, “wow!” when this option went up, I thought that was as good an endorsement as any!

I need to put this aside for a little while to concentrate on a few other things, but I’ll keep you posted when it gets pulled out again. You never know, once it’s ‘marinated’ for a little while, my fresh eyes may see something that needs altering or adding. A little procrastination can be very good for a piece of art!