I was teaching at a retreat earlier this month at Lake Beauty. It is a wonderful camp which brings quilters from all over the country.
I get my own private cabin which is so conveniently located next to the Rec Center where most of the sewing takes place.
It is actually a gym which is really a great sewing area, lots of room and good lighting.
The walls are tackable so you can make your own design wall.
The electricity has been seriously amplified so that all the machines and irons stay on without blowing a fuse. They also provide lots of extra tall tables for cutting, layering quilts, basting and more. The sewing area also stays open 24 hours so you can sew as much as you like!
I was teaching the Flair Fiesta quilt and many of the ladies were working on it. As you might know there is a lot of Scandinavian heritage in Minnesota....a fact that I didn´t know until I moved here. I always wondered why I fit in so well!!
Anyway, many of the ladies mentioned how the quilt has a subtle Scandinavian look and the panel print that is used in it really reminded them of Rosemaling, which is a form of folk art decorative painting which originated in Norway.
It was so interesting to me because Rosemaling was not in my brain when I was designing the line. It made me think about these questions that I get all the time as a designer....
"Where do you get inspiration from? Do you include Icelandic and Scandinavian influence in your design?"
These are sometimes hard to answer because I get inspiration from everything! Sometimes I don´t even know where it came from, I just start working on something and things just develop until I like them.
The second question is very interesting to me because I have people tell me all the time that they see the Icelandic influence in my designs. Honestly, if they see it, it must be true....but most of the time I don´t do it on purpose. It´s one of those things that just happens. I start doodling some motifs and more than likely what comes out on the page is something that I have experienced, seen or lived with, without me intentionally drawing that. Does this make sense to you?
Back to the Rosemaling...I had never put that together with my Flair fabric and was kind of surprised when they started talking about it. Then I saw this piano in the Lake Beauty dining hall, with this gorgeous rosemaling on it. And then I could totally see what they were talking about, the swirls and the flowers. There really is something to this...or what?
What do you think? Do you think that your heritage influences what you like and create without you even thinking about it?
Remember to comment on the previous post to be eligible to win some of the Flair fabric.
I come from a French heritage, but with a sideline of Cajun. Doesn't matter, though, I completely understand where you're coming from. I named my quilt studio Fleur de Lis because I wanted to honor that heritage. I think that our heritage is so ingrained in our psyche (if we're lucky) that we just use our backgrounds and folklore without thinking about it. Sure, we pick up other ideas and learn or study techniques that broaden our work, but a little bit of who we are just naturally presents itself in everything we do. It's what allows us to be unique.
fleurdelisquilts.blogspot.com
Posted by: Mary | April 12, 2011 at 09:20 PM
yes I think our heritage influences our work, I often think of the icelandic ´áttablaða rós´ when I see your projects and the first thing that comes to my mind is your throw Áskorun Ólafíu and your tabeltops skák og mát og Miklatorg :o)
(I don´t know the english names of these projects)
með kveðju
Elinborg D. Lár.
Posted by: Elinborg Dagmar Lárusdóttir | April 04, 2011 at 05:16 AM
Yes, I do believe we have our heritage still in us, no matter what we do. It may not be obvious to us, but it very often is to others... Though it still lets us be open for new influences, in new environments and the final mixture of it all makes you being YOU!
That much about being German in the US;-)
Posted by: Barb in MI | March 26, 2011 at 10:13 PM
I have done rosemaling with paints, but it has been years.
I live in New England, so I think working with primitive and colonial items is what I do most. Though, I also love folk art and art quilting, so I am a bit eclectic.
Debbie
Posted by: Debbie St.Germain | March 26, 2011 at 10:01 AM