There is a brand new project up on my design wall this week! This is my Exploring Complex Curves quilt top. I think it looks like planets and the moon in the night sky.
Exploring Complex Curves, 24.5" square
I'm not terribly up to date on what's happening in the modern quilt world, but I did go to QuiltCon when it was here in Atlanta in 2023, and that's when I first saw some of Audrey Esarey's works. Let me tell you, they knocked me out! My favorite was her quilt Aura No.1, which took 1st place in the Minimalist Design category.
Aura No.1, 2022 by Audrey Esarey
I had the very good fortune to get a spot in one of Audrey's workshops over the weekend. Our class was called Drafting Complex Curves. We learned how to draft our own patterns with curves, followed by some piecing of curves. We began by drafting a Drunkard's Path block, and then we pieced that block in fabric. No more need to buy acrylic templates for this kind of block.
Drunkard's Path block, 6.5" square
The next exercise was making a larger piece with curves. We had the choice of doing the Quick Curves exercise...
Quick Curves exercise, 13" x 17"
or we could start with the larger Exploring Complex Curves piece. Since I already had a fair amount of experience with sewing curves, I dove right into the larger project, which is the piece shown at the top of this post. I made the Quick Curves block the next day, and added borders to get it to the right size for a placemat.
Here are all three of my pieces together.
The workshop was very informative and a lot of fun. Audrey is an excellent teacher who really makes both the drafting and the piecing part of dealing with curves manageable. I hope to be able to take more classes with her in the future. She has a wide variety of quilt patterns available on her website Cotton and Bourbon, and she teaches some of her patterns as virtual classes. I urge you to check out her amazing quilts!
I'm linking up with:
Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
Monday Musings at Songbird Designs
Wednesday Wait Loss at Inquiring Quilter
Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation
Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts
Brag About Your Beauties at From Bolt to Beauty
Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework
Happy quilting everyone!
Julie in GA
Oooh, the transparency in your new quilt is delicous. I admired Audrey's work at QuiltCon, too.
ReplyDeleteWow! That is so pretty. It made me think of layers of tissue paper.
ReplyDeleteWow, those are stunning projects. I haven't tried any curved piecing. I suppose I should give it a try.
ReplyDeleteRicky Tims makes it look so easy.
Pat
What a fun class! Love your Complex Curves piece. Gorgeous! Thanks for sharing on my weekly show and tell, Wednesday Wait Loss. https://www.inquiringquilter.com/questions/2025/10/01/wednesday-wait-loss-452
ReplyDeleteI love this!!! the way you do the curves is amazing - but the color play... it does look like the moon and the planets and the shadows and the color movement - I love it!!!
ReplyDeleteWowza! How lucky you are to be able to take in-person classes. We don’t get many national teachers out here in the “boonies”. Your complex curves are stunning.
ReplyDeleteWow! What a great class! Your results are stunning!!!--TerryK@OnGoingProjects
ReplyDeleteYour pieced curves are really cool. I've not seen this designer's quilts, the one you show is just amazing. Happy stitching this week.
ReplyDeleteI can't stop looking at your 24 in. piece! You did such a good job choosing the fabrics, not to mention the exact piecing! Wonderful.
ReplyDeleteAll three pieces are great, Julie! I haven't heard of this teacher before, but enjoyed your explanation. Have a great week. Thanks for sharing with us at Monday Musings.
ReplyDeleteWow, what neat pieces you made in her class - I agree that they have a celestial feel. She sounds like a great teacher to learn from.
ReplyDelete