A little help for my friend

Some time ago the German magazine "Patchwork Professional" had a feature about the Color Improvisations show that has been touring Europe for the last two years.  I was asked to provide a tutorial article on the fine-line piecing technique used in my quilts in that show.

Whenever you write a tutorial you're casting your bread upon the waters, with faith that somebody out there will read it and with any luck, find it interesting and/or helpful.  But in most cases, if that happens, you don't know it.  So it's always a pleasure to learn that somebody did read and enjoy.

Last week I was delighted to hear from Regine Daldrup, a German quilter.  She said that this spring she visited the Lyonel Feininger Museum in Quedlinburg, near Leipzig.  "I love his kind of painting very much," she wrote.  "Thinking about how to quilt in a similar way I remembered your fine lines and now I want to show you my quilt ala Feininger."

Here's Regine's quilt:

I have seen and admired Feininger's work in many museums but had never identified any parallels in my own work.  After getting Regine's email I did an image search and reminded myself of his characteristic style.  Sure enough, he frequently fractures his surfaces with diagonal facets and I could see why fine lines would be a good way to represent his work in fabric.

 Lyonel Feininger, Still Day on the Sea, 1929

Lyonel Feininger, Harbor Mole, 1913

Lyonel Feininger, Cathedral, 1919















I think Regine did a great job of capturing the famous artist's feeling while still producing a work that is very much a quilt.  I'm happy to have provided a bit of her inspiration.