Loveless - Landscape art quilts, step-by-step: learn fast, fusible fabric collage with Ann Loveless

Editor: Jenifer Dick

Designer: Renae Ronquist

Photography: Steve Loveless

Illustration: Eric Sears

Technical Editor: Christina DeArmond

Photo Editor: Jo Ann Groves

Published by:

Kansas City Star Books

1729 Grand Blvd.

Kansas City, Missouri, USA 64108

Dedication

To my husband, Steve Loveless, and children, Amy, Kate and Justin.

I am blessed to have a loving and supportive family to encourage and support my creative ambitions.

Ann

Anns Message

Betsie River

22" x 28"

Through the creation of this book, I hope to inspire traditional quilters and non-quilters alike to create an art quilt. An art quilt is a quilt that is made to decorate the wall, rather than to provide warmth on a bed. I hope to tap into your creative side and bring out the artist in you. I think most people underestimate themselves and dont realize that they are artistic. You simply have to try it!

I prefer not to use patterns when using my collage technique. I believe by looking at photographs, choosing colors, cutting and placing fabrics as you go is the best way to be creative when making an art quilt. I have found this from trial and error. I believe this allows the creativeness in a person to flow and thus develops the artists own unique style.

When I was learning to sew as a child, I hated reading and following directions. So this free-form cutting and placing is perfect for me there is no tracing and following exact, detailed instructions. Tracing and working from patterns can get very repetitive and time consuming. The more quilts you create, the more you will improve. Looking back, I find that my first quilts were very simplistic, and now eight years later, my quilts are very detailed and complex.

I have been very successful and feel very lucky that I have been able to produce and sell hundreds, if not thousands, of art quilts in the last eight years. Many people have said, If you teach your designs and techniques, people will steal your ideas. I have never worried about this and want to encourage others to take my techniques and develop their own designs into a unique voice all their own. Each art quilt is as unique and different as its creator. I enjoy teaching and seeing individuals develop and grow into artists. Each quilt looks different even when my students use the same photograph and a fabric kit. I even have a hard time creating a duplicate quilt of my own!

I enjoy sharing my gifts and knowledge with others. I find that I learn from those who take my classes as much as they learn from me. Life is meant to be shared!

I hope my book opens your eyes to new possibilities and provides an inspiration for you. Use my ideas to develop your own techniques, but most importantly, have fun quilting!

A solid, light blue batik was used to create the sky. Light green to medium green hills were added along with a printed pine tree fabric in the distance. The river narrows to the vanishing point adding perspective to the scene. Light, medium and dark blue batik fabrics were used to create the water. Grass fabrics in the foreground with variegated thread add detail to the scene. The large birch and hardwood trees were created from a printed tree trunk fabric fused onto the background. Various green fabrics were fused for leaves in the trees. They were cut into leaf shapes and fused onto tree trunks and out into the scene. Solid black fused fabric was used to cut out the bird silhouettes. Free-motion machine stitching was added to the entire quilt for interest and texture.

My Quilt Story

Dune Birches

42" x 56"

I was born and raised in Frankfort, Michigan. I have been fascinated with sewing and textiles all my life. As a young girl, I made doll clothes, clothes for myself and friends and loved craft projects. My mother and grandmother sewed, and I had two neighbor women who also helped me with sewing projects. I completed nine years of 4-H sewing and had dreams of becoming a dress designer.

I attended Michigan State University and earned a Bachelor of Science in clothing and textiles. I also took numerous art and art history classes. After college, I became a seamstress in my hometown of Frankfort, creating a successful in-home business. I have always felt fortunate to be able to work at home and raise my three children.

After 25 years of seamstress work, I developed arthritis in my hands from overuse. The ripping of seams and working on heavy fabrics had gotten the best of me.

I did not want to stop sewing because it had been my passion all my life, so I turned to quilting. Working on lighter weight cottons did not bother my hands. Instead of ripping out, I covered mistakes with trees and thread! I had made several traditional bed quilts over the years and had taken a landscape quilt class using a McKenna Ryan pattern. I also had a stash of batik fabrics that Id purchased over the years. I was not quite sure what I was going to do with them, but loved their painterly quality.

So in 2005, I started making art quilts inspired by photographs using a fusible raw-edge appliqu method and free-motion machine quilting. I sold my art quilts and participated in many Northern Michigan summer art fairs. Around 2007, I stumbled upon Noriko Endos quilting demonstration on the TV show Simply Quilts. I loved her method of chopping up fabrics and layering under netting. It looked like a French painting. I adapted her technique and became hooked on this method for quite awhile. I renamed it impressionistic.

This large, vertical scene has various green fabrics that were used for the distant hills and tree line. Medium green fabrics were placed in the mid section and mingled in with the sandy dune fabrics of cream and beige. A very large grouping of a photo transfer birch tree flanks the right side. Smaller trees in the distance gives perspective and leads the viewer into the scene. Lush dune grass was formed by fused grass fabrics cut into tiny slivers and layered among yarns and free-motion machine stitching. Hundreds of tiny fused chips of green fabrics were fused on top of the tree branches. Free-motion machine stitching with a green variegated thread helped connect the leaves and fill in areas. Dune Birches is a commissioned piece owned by Lynn and Steve Stephens of Beulah, Michigan.

Because I was selling my quilts, I found I needed a lower price point and developed my confetti quilts. They are made with a fused mosaic background. Other fused detail pieces are added along with free-motion machine quilting. This became the bread and butter of sales at my shows and in galleries. I came up with 14 designs and made hundreds every year!

I eventually sold my work in three galleries: Ward and Eis in Petoskey, Michigan; Gallery Fifty in Traverse City, Michigan; and State of the Art Framing and Gallery in Beulah, Michigan, which my husband, Steve, and I currently own.

After a couple years, I was inspired to add more texture to my art quilts. I incorporated linen, wool, sheers, yarns and other non-traditional quilting fabrics to my art quilts, which became my signature collage technique.