Frieda Anderson Trunk Show

Last week on Tuesday was my quilt guild meeting (Kalamazoo Log Cabin Quilter's Guild).  Our guest was Frieda Anderson.  She is a national teacher from the Chicago area.  She's a member of the Chicago School of Fusing and does some amazing fused and quilted pieces.  I forgot my camera, but my friend Holly was kind enough to take photos and share them with me so I could show them to you.

Frieda gave a trunk show, where she showed us a powerpoint presentation of her quilts, showing the evolution of them over time.  She also passed around a lot of samples and had a ton of samples on her sales table as well.  These pictures are a conglomeration of them.  I'll intersperse little things we learned about during her presentation as I show you the photos.  Buckle your seatbelt, because this is going to be a fun ride!

This is one of her recent "signature" pieces.  I believe this or something very similar to this was what they did in the all-day workshop the next day (which I was unable to attend).

I enjoyed her use of color and her quilting.  These fabrics are all her own hand-dyed fabrics.  She does not have a "stash," because she starts with all white fabric.

I loved this black-eyed Susan one.  She said her quilts all start from a photograph she has taken.  She showed us that she even uses some of her blurry photos.

Also, do you notice the binding on this one?  She often fuses her bindings on.  A very interesting technique.

I liked the trees in this one and the rows of plants in the fields.  She uses a lot of the decorative blades in her rotary cutter to get this effect.

Beautiful quilting on this one.  And another example of the fused binding.

She said she uses all Rayon 30 wt. thread for her quilting.  The larger thread makes the quilting stand out more.  I really liked the effect.

This is an homage to her cat, who recently died.

I like this one a lot.  Interestingly, she outline quilts (with a straight stitch) her fused pieces right next to the fused line, not right on top of it.  It does help give the image more depth.  Then, she will go back and add some detail on top of the fusing, like the veins in the leaves.

I asked her what kind of fusible she uses for her work.  She said she prefers Wonder Under 805.

This one appealed to me quite a bit.  Interestingly, she said she makes at least one pieced quilt a year, too.  She will often make a fused and a pieced version of the same quilt.  She showed us both the fused and the pieced versions of this one.  I could tell them apart when we were at the meeting, but I couldn't tell you if this is the fused or pieced version right now, to be honest!  I think it's the fused version.  My friend Jackie and I decided we liked the fused versions better.  They seemed "free-er" than the pieced versions.

As did this one.  I think I enjoy the bright colors and the "free form" nature of things.

This was her table of goodies.  She had a lot of hand dyed fabrics, including these velvets, silk ribbon, etc.  Also, she had her books and patterns for sale, as well as some kits.  See that chartreuse green?  She mad a joke that chartreuse is the "new neutral." I love it.  That is one of my favorite colors.

Of course, I had to check things out.  I've had a hankering to do some more fusible work.  So, I did pick up a project that will make a nice housewarming gift for a friend....

The Jack in the Pulpit pieces were my friend Jackie's favorites.  She loves that plant.

Here is another version.

I like this piece a lot.  The greens were very nice.

And here is a picture from the workshop.  Holly sent this to me.  As I said, I didn't get to go, but she did.  I can't wait to see what she made.

If you want more information on things, you can visit Frieda Anderson's website.  It's as bright and colorful as all her quilts!  Hope you enjoyed this little parade.  This was a very enjoyable and informative guild meeting.  She was a very good speaker.

We had a very busy weekend.  I have a ton to share with you again!  I had Friday Night Sew In and the Michigan Fiber Arts Festival.  So, I'll share all about those events throughout the week!

If you haven't signed on for the Little Forest Quilt Along, please consider doing so!  You can get the details here!  Hope to see you!

Until next time,

Mama Pea

Comments

[Brooke]

Ohhh!! Looks like so much fun!!

[sisLH]

My favorite-the 8th one -the five little flowers. Next fav-her cat. Can you remember the posting you had last winter-abt the time of ice skating-where you showed sewing random wavy strips of blues, pinks. If so, please send info. thanks

[Jackie]

Oh man, I so follow her and she is super famous... did u get her autograph? That is so cool you got to see her trunk show!!1

[Allie]

Oh bummer, I wish I'd been there - I've admired her for a long, long time! Her quilts are just gorgeous!

[Maggie Szafranski]

I love Freida's work! I actually have one of her small pieces, a purple cone flower, hanging in my living room! I have not taken a class from her, but I have from her compatriot and fellow faculty member of the Chicago School of Fusology (of which I have a diploma!) Laura Wasilowski! Working with the fusibles and hand dyes, and adding hand stitches with the hand dyed Perle cotton is lots of fun!