Seeds of genius

In 2006, Maxine Rosenthal wrote a book called One-Block Wonders, which described quilts made from a single fabric. In 2008, an architect by the name of Bruce Seeds saw the book. He was taken with the dynamic effects, and decided to try the process.

Fast forward to 2011, and to Bruce Seeds' impressive art quilt portfolio.  One of his Facebook fans sums it up: "Your quilts are astounding. They belong in a museum of quilts." ~Maxine Rosenthal 

Paisley, 85 x 85, by Bruce Seeds

The quilts are composed of small triangles that are grouped into hexagons, each hexagon resembling the view through a kaleidoscope, and each made up of six identical triangles. The hexagon elements are then arranged into a whole, in a process similar to the construction of a mosaic, prior to stitching. In "Paisley", Bruce created the illusion of a third dimension by placing some of the lighter blocks on top of a black inner border and frame. There is great balance and harmony, along with energy,  in this composition.

Metro, 86.5 x 87, by Bruce Seeds

"Metro" is the second quilt which Bruce Seeds made.  He has shared photos at his photostream on Flickr.  There you can see some of the original fabrics, including the amazing black-and-white animal print that was used to construct "Metro". 

The Ring, 82 x 82, by Bruce Seeds

The Ring, above, was exhibited at the Grand Rapids Public Museum in September 2010 during the ArtPrize exhibit. It is the 13th work in Bruce Seeds' portfolio (he is now finishing number 18). This quilt started with a gorgeous floral print in rusty reds, sage greens and whites against a black background (below). Bruce divided the fabric into over a thousand triangles and then arranged them to construct the stunning quilt shown above.

We are struck by the beauty of Bruce Seeds' quilts, and we are also curious about his transition from an architect and web designer to a quilter (Oh, and he still does web design.)  We had a chance to ask Bruce a few questions about his work:

Quilt Inspiration: How does your experience as an architect impact your quilting?

Bruce Seeds: Architecture for me is a balance of tending to detail while also working the overall composition. This is also true for my quilted textile mosaics. When my seams are straight, when my corners come together in points, they enhance the overall work. The big difference is that my mosaics quilts are composed as they are constructed, while buildings are generally designed first and then constructed. Having to stay in the present and always thinking about the composition is what holds my interest in making this type of quilt. If I were making quilts from patterns, it would be like constructing a building that someone else designed, and for me that wouldn't be nearly as much fun.

Q.I.: Do you think you were 'born' to be an art quilter, and if so, what forces or influences caused you to go into architecture and computer design first?

Bruce Seeds: I went into architecture because it presented a balance between science (structure) and art. Because I worked at large firms, I rarely got to experience the art and spent most of my time on the computers working detail. I parlayed that computer experience into web site design, which gave me more opportunity to create. As the economy tanked in 2008, I took the opportunity to move even further into the creative by trying my hand at mosaic quilting. And this work has the best balance for me between detail and artistic expression. Was I born to be an art quilter? No more than anything else that strikes a balance between the detailed and the expressive.

Q.I.: What challenges have you encountered in quilting (any artistic, technical, societal, or professional challenges?)

Bruce Seeds: My pieces are large, which means they are expensive, which means they don't exactly fly off the shelves. So sales, for one. But that's getting better as I get more notice. Beyond that, I'm not much of a networker, so to the extent that I'm missing out on opportunities because I'm not out there rubbing elbows, that's a challenge.

Q.I.: How do you see your work evolving in the future ?

Bruce Seeds:  One part of the answer lies in the way I've recently decided to start describing my work as quilted textile mosaics. They are, at their essence, mosaics. And I plan to explore mosaic compositions in other mediums using techniques similar to what I'm doing with cotton fabric. In addition, I plan to find more of my voice and do work that says something more specific about my life.

Additional notes:  Images are shown with the generous permission of the artist. You can find Bruce Seeds at bruceseeds.com, at his Facebook page, and at his online shop. In 2010 he was featured in M magazine (click for the .pdf article) and exhibited at ArtPrize 2010. Recently, he was interviewed by Nancy Zieman for the Sewing with Nancy television show (click to see a studio shot).

The Blues in Japan

No, we're not talking about music. We're talking about a gorgeous blue kaleidoscope quilt done in Japanese fabrics.  In fact, it is one of the most beautiful blue quilts - and kaleidoscope quilts - we've seen!  We came across this masterpiece at Julie Fukuda's blog: My Quilt Diary.

Kaleidoscope, 92 x 92.  Made for the 2010 Silent Auction to benefit the American School in Japan (Tokyo)

One hundred blocks were cut by volunteers, using a wide selection of Japanese fabrics including yukata fabrics. The quilt has a dynamic arrangement of textures, dark and light values, and beautiful blue hues. From looking at the quilt is obvious that the blues are all compatible. A quick color analysis shows that the main colors are 'tones' of cerulean blue (cerulean blue plus gray).

We asked Julie about the professional-looking design, and we were amazed to hear that not even a design wall was used. She says:  "Although it looks well planned, we just cut the fabric and matched up darks and lights. After the blocks were all sewed, we arranged them on the floor until everyone was satisfied and then joined them in rows. We work at the school or a community room or whatever space we can find and some work is taken home between weekly meetings. No design wall."

All of the quilts that have been made for the ASIJ Auctions are posted on the ASIJ pages at Julie Fukuda's blog.  Julie says: "There is a great deal of 'ownership' among those who work on the project and the quilt is one of the auction items bringing lots of bids and a high price. The work group is made up of mothers of kids at the school and changes from year to year as people move in and out of Tokyo.  The volunteers are all of my daughters' generation and with my own daughters being so far away, these women fill a great gap. Each year we welcome newcomers to life in Tokyo and say farewell to others."  You can see the group working on the 2011 quilt here.

Image credits:  The image is shown with the generous permission of Julie Fukuda.  She was born in Cleveland Ohio, and moved to Tokyo in 1963. She is a mother to six grown kids and grandmother to seven. Regarding her beautiful hand quilting,  Julie says:  "My house is too small to accommodate a sewing machine so everything I make is by hand."

Straight piecing patterns that appear curved: Snail's Trail and Kaleidoscope

When it comes to quilt design, we are drawn to dimensionality (such as attic windows and tumbling blocks), color, and movement.  In design, movement is often created by curves, or the illusion of curves.  Today we're discussing two tessellating patterns that display the illusion of curves but are made with straight-seam piecing (the best of both worlds !) We've chosen two stunning modern quilts to illustrate the design principles.

Reel Starz, 74 x 91, by Gail Hansen, at Textures - Fiber Artists

We first saw the dazzling "Reel Starz" at the Road to California in January, 2010 and we fell in love with the quilt. Gail Hansen used hundreds of luscious fabrics to create a color wash, which moves from purple and magenta to indigo, blue, aqua, and green.  The white, ivory and cream stars appear to hover above the darker background, creating a three-dimensional effect. "Reel Starz" won the honorable mention award in the traditional, large, pieced category at Road to California; it was also juried into the 2010 Pacific International Quilt Festival. In the photo shown below you also can see the quilting, which was done by Judy Woodworth (Gering, NE).  She used beautiful variegated thread in the colored parts of the quilt and then added interest in the white/cream areas with circles or bubbles somewhat randomly placed.

Gail Hansen began working on "Reel Starz" at a family quilt retreat in 2008, and the quilt was completed in 2009. The family quilt retreat has become a tradition in which Gail, her mother, and 2 sisters meet in Nebraska to work on a predetermined project - each on her own - for 3 - 5 days. In her artist's statement, Gail says: "Reel Starz exemplifies my love of color and family."  Her family celebrated their 13th annual "Quiltathon" this past summer ! 

The core snail's trail block in "Reel Starz" is highlighted below.

With respect to naming:  Gail Hansen's "Reel Starz" was based on Shakespeare in the Park by Judy Martin, which combines Virginia Reel with Rising Star and Evening Star blocks.  Most of us would recognize the block shown above as Snail's Trail, but it is also known in The Quilt Index as Virginia Reel, and occasionally as Monkey Wrench. Note that a similar pattern with a small 4-patch in the middle is known by the same names. To add to the complex nomenclature, the names Monkey Wrench and Virginia Reel have been used to describe several other, totally different blocks* !

You may also want to see a gorgeous art quilt by Gail Hansen that was featured in an article called CALIFORNIAN: Evolution of Quilting Displayed in 'Textures'.  The article showcases the Textures Fiber Arts exhibit that is on now in Temecula, California. For exhibit details, see the SAQA SoCal site, and for photos of the exhibit opening visit Textures - Fiber Artists.


Organic Kaleidoscope, by Jennifer Tucker, at A Few Choice Words

Jennifer Tucker has created a spectacular modern quilt based on a kaleidoscope quilt block. "Kaleidoscope" uses straight piecing, but it creates the illusion of curves and overlapping circles.  Jen selected the beautiful, pure colors to represent the tropical flowers of Costa Rica, where she lives. In Jen's design, the colors cross the block boundaries, so the blocks are simply a means of construction rather than the focus of the design.  We also love the diagonal movement of dark to light values across the quilt. Here is a wonderful photo of the quilt in progress on Jen's design wall:

The individual kaleidoscope blocks are based on a grid of alternating dark and light triangles that form a continuous pattern when the blocks are set together. The image below is from Jen's initial design on EQ, and you can clearly see the secondary circular design that appears when the blocks are tiled together: 

We loved reading Jen's descriptions of her design process at jentucker.blogspot.com.  Here are her individual posts about Organic Kaleidoscope:  initial design on EQ; selecting fabrics; cutting triangles; laying out on the design wall; discussing (in comments) how many seams it takes to make a quilt out of 756 triangles; debating (again in comments) which orientation the quilt should have; final tweaks to the layout; constructing the top; and quilting.

Finally, have you ever thought about taking a quilt retreat and seeing Costa Rica at the same time ?  You can read about the retreats, which are hosted by Jennifer Tucker and Rita Ulloa, at The Costa Rica Quilt Retreat (now that sounds like fun !)

Image credits and additional resources: Images are shown with the generous permission of the artists.  
Snail's Trail/Virginia Reel:   *For block nomenclature, see Jinny Beyer, The Quilter's Album of Patchwork Patterns: 4050 Pieced Blocks for Quilters, p. 342.   
Kaleidoscope: A variety of different kaleidoscope blocks can be found in Jinny Beyer's book. Quilts based on the classic block shown in "Organic Kaleidoscope" can also be found in Kaleidoscope ABCs: 14 Step-by-Step Patterns.  In recent years, the term "kaleidoscope quilt" has been applied to quilts that mimic the appearance of repeating patterns as seen through a kaleidoscope. Such "kaleidoscopic" designs require a set of identical pieces cut from a print fabric to make hexagons, octagons, or more complex polygons.  In the latter case, the design focus is on the repeating fabric pattern, rather than on the circular designs formed by the tiled blocks. See for example Kaleidoscopes and Quilts by Paula Nadelstern, Magic Stack-n-Whack Quilts by Bethany Reynolds, and One-Block Wonders: One Fabric, One Shape, One-of-a-Kind Quilts by Maxine Rosenthal.