Red Totem 42 x 20 Cindy Grisdela 2010

Red Totem is the second piece that received a “skinny email” from a major national show–see my earlier post for the other piece,  Aztec Autumn. Although I’m disappointed that neither of these quilts were accepted, I’m pleased about having them to show at the Great Falls Studios Studio Tour this weekend!

I’m very excited about this new direction in my work, using improvisational piecing techniques to design as I go, lots of vibrant color, and then topping it all off with dense freehand quilting motifs all over the piece. If you right click on the image, you’ll be able to get a better view of the quilting.

This is all part of my plan for this year, where I decided in January I wanted to Expand my creativity–better that than my waistline, which is a whole other issue! I sat down and thought about the aspects of my work that I’m best at and that I enjoy the most, and decided to focus on those. So I’ve focused this year on using color more effectively and also on perfecting my freehand quilting. I like to say that although my work is quilted on the machine, it’s hand (and foot) driven–there’s no computer and no marking involved. It’s like drawing with a needle and thread and it’s tons of fun!

Check back tomorrow when I’ll post a picture of my wall of new work for the Tour and if you haven’t already, visit www.GreatFallsStudios.com to download a map of the tour and a roster of artists—it’s Saturday, October 16 and Sunday, October 17 from 10 AM- 5 PM both days, rain or shine. And did I mention it’s free?!

Hope to see you there.