Arbee Designs blog

From Beginner to Gallery

Posted by on 23 May 2018 | 3 Comments

Tags: class

The first time I met Barbara was in my Getting Started With Quiltart class at academyofquilting.com. She had decided to join my workshop to break away from traditional quilting and I have to say, she's had a remarkable journey since. I caught up with Barbara again recently so decided this week we'll take a look at what's under her needle. But first, let's see where she began on her journey.

After retiring, Barbara took a basic quilting class and discovered a whole new world of color, fabrics, threads, and tools. It quickly became a hobby and passion for Barbara. She took classes from local teachers as well as national and internationally known instructors - many were taken over the internet through Academy of Quilting and Quilt University.

The first thing we learn in my Getting Started with Quiltart is where to gain inspiration from and one of the first exercises is being inspired by the use of fabric prints. Barbara's results were the next two quilts.

Adding dimension and embellishments came in later lessons.

Closeup of the above quilt

During the class I helped Barbara with perspective and shading for a NQA challenge called “Living Green” it didn’t win a prize but did travel in exhibits in the USA for a year

Living Green quilt

Barbara moved on to designing her own original quilts....

Barbara's very first design

"The effect you can achieve from color, shading, and angles intrigues me", Barbara says.

It wasn't long before Barbara was invited to display her works of art in a gallery at Foxburg, PA. Many men attending the opening liked the geometric designs, including her son.

these two pieces sold in the exhibition

So what's under Barbara's needle? Here are a few pieces she has completed more recently. As you can see, she gains her inspiration from varies sources as she learned in that very first lesson.

Inspiration from another of my workshops: Patchwork with a Twist

Inspiration from my blog post challenges...

and this was from the center of one of her late husband’s watercolors...

Many of her pieces are donated to local and national charity auctions and gifted to friends and family.

I need to thank my Mother for saying, ”It’s just geometry,” and my middle school students for teaching me how much fun it is to color outside the lines and break a few rules! ... says Barbara.