More about fine lines

Last week I wrote about a new piece I've begun in which my pieced fine lines, heretofore always used as separators between larger pieces of fabric, have taken on a new role, simply sewed to each other with no intervening large pieces.  Some of the comments left on that post suggested that I must be nuts or masochistic or both, which may have some validity.

I'm pleased to report that despite the labor-intensiveness of the construction process, it's going together easily and happily.  Here's where it stands now.

But this seems like a good time to mention that if you're at all intrigued by pieced fine lines -- that is, if you're a bit nuts yourself -- you might be interested in a workshop that I will be leading at Nancy Crow's Timber Barn next fall.   We'll start with the technical aspects of piecing very fine lines (not at all as hard as it looks) and then experiment with different ways of assembling large compositions with fine lines.

In my mind I divide the possibilities into two approaches.  The first one I call large-to-small, in which you start with a large piece of fabric, then slice it apart and sew the pieces back together with a fine line pieced in between, over and over until you end up with the surface fragmented into lots of smaller bits.  The other one is small-to-large, where you start with small pieces and sew them together with a fine line pieced in between, over and over until you get a large expanse.

I recently taught this as a two-day workshop, and participants were able to make one small example of each approach.  But I'm excited about having a whole week in which to more fully explore the many different ways of using fine lines, not just as separators but to "draw" shapes and figures.  I hope that in a week people will be able to move past my own processes and start to find their own voice.

The Crow Timber Barn is simply the best workshop facility in the world for making art quilts -- with big work tables and huge design walls for every participant, and an atmosphere that combines serious intent with a lot of fun.  I hope a bunch of you will be able to join me next fall for this workshop.  Maybe Santa Claus would help you be one of them!