Last month two of my new students, Laurie and Janet, surprised me with a wonderful gift. These students have been painting in the shop for about four months. This group is a little different because they bring their own ideas and we create their paint designs together. Each month we have been working on sections for a future art quilt.
Here are the first three 12″ blocks. We are about trucks and barns. My blocks aren’t fished yet. The green truck will have a animal rescue sign on the door and the blue trailer needs its stripe. I also need to use my black pen for outlining strategic areas. At the end of our December class, I suggested they might think about designing a block with maybe a general store or a street with stores. My thought at the time, was that this would tie all these blocks together.
In January Laurie and Janet presented their new design. A street featuring “Karen’s Place” and of course the railroad. They explained that the last time they came to purchase fabric they secretly took pictures of the front of my building. They then found a picture to get the right perspective. The two of them collaborated with each other and came up with this line drawing we could use to paint the next block. Simply put they passed the line drawing back and forth several times to create this awesome surprise. Notice how they uncluttered the street and only used the store fronts that gave the street character.
To say I was stunned doesn’t describe how I felt. It was a fantastic surprise. Before I could respond they wanted to know if I liked it and is it too ambitious? So we sat down and created this block from their design. What a gift from these two ladies and opportunity to see how much their creative journey has progressed. As a teacher that is the greatest compliment.
This block is 25″ x 15″ and will be the feature design in our ongoing art quilt. Lastly they brought ideas for the last block which will be a church and of course another old truck in front of it.
This is the beginnings of my block.
Next block inspiration- A church
This art quilt project has been very rewarding and a lot of fun. I will update you as we progress in this art quilt design. Oh by the way, did you notice the light box I am using to draw the design on the block? It is an incredible 25″ x 16″ and very thin. Laurie brought hers a couple of month ago. She bought it on Amazon for around $70. After our January class I ordered mine and it is one of the best designing tools in my art tool box! Check it out on Amazon it is worth the investment.