Balzer Designs

Two Day Class with Susan Lenz

Just before I went into labor with the baby, I attended a two-day workshop with fiber artist, Susan Lenz.  Class was wonderful and got me super excited about making things.  Susan uses a combination of fast (burning and machine stitching) and slow (hand stitching and beading) techniques and does a ton of transformation of ugly items into things of beauty. I loved class.

Unfortunately for you, I did a terrible job taking photos during class -- i.e. I didn't take any.  But I do have photos of some of the things I made in class.  I actually walked away with FOUR finished pieces and several more in-progress.  Here are the four finished pieces:

The photos truly do not do these pieces justice.  There's so much dimension and texture and shine.  They're really lovely and I'm excited to find some shadow box frames to put them in so that I can put them up on my walls.  I love them that much!

One of the most interesting parts of class was choosing mats for some of the pieces.  Susan made a living as a framer for many years before becoming a professional artist.  These next few pieces are very much works-in-progress, but I thought I'd share the "before" and "after" of matting:

It's amazing what a bit of focusing the eye can do!  I'm looking forward to finishing these four pieces...though I suspect it may take me a while with the baby running the show around here.  Nonetheless, you know my art philosophy: a little bit every day builds up to lots of finished art!

Thanks for stopping by!

Guest Post: Crib Notes on a Crib Quilt

I'm super excited to share today's guest post from Timna Tarr.  You may recall that I took an improv quilting class from Timna several years ago.  I've been a big fan of hers ever since then!

With Julie out on maternity leave, I thought it would be a good time to remember that quilts are made with love, and to be loved. 

My teenage daughter, who thanks to her grandma knows how to sew, does not like to sew. But last winter when she was invited to a baby shower for her former babysitter we thought a baby quilt would be an excellent gift. My daughter only agreed to the project because she wanted to give a special quilt to a very special someone. That is love, my friends.

We used a block that is easy to construct and is forgiving for wobbly seams. The quilt is simple enough that a mom and a thirteen-year-old can put a top together in one day – we took advantage of a school snow day to make the top. I did the cutting and she did the sewing. You may notice that one block is out of place. My kid didn't want to take out her stitches to fix it and said, "It's more interesting this way." She's right, the unintentional error gives the quilt some character.

A few weeks ago I received a text photo of an extremely adorable baby hanging out on the quilt. The quilt is doing its job, exactly as we hoped it would!

If you need to make a quick little quilt, dig into your scrap bin and start cutting squares. You can find a link to the pattern HERE.

-- Timna Tarr

Timna Tarr comes from a long line of quilters but did not begin quilting until after studying art history in college. She bought her first longarm in 2001 and began quilting clients' quilts shortly thereafter. Timna’s own nationally award-winning quilts are in private and corporate collections. They have also been seen in numerous exhibits, magazines, and books as well as on The Quilt Show and Quilting Arts TV. Timna is an in-demand teacher and speaker, traveling across the U.S. She lives in South Hadley, MA and works out of her studio in Holyoke, MA.

Find Timna Online:

• Timnatarr.com
• IG: timnatarr
• FB: timnatarrquilts

ScanNCut: Last Minute Christmas Stocking

Looking for a last minute holiday gift? Christmas stockings are quick and easy to make and completely gender neutral. You can customize it to the recipient simply by the fabric you choose! You can even put a bottle of wine inside your custom stocking to create the perfect holiday hostess gift!

Watch the video for the full how-to:

I also think you could make super cute mini stockings with people's names on them to use a place cards for a holiday table!  How cute would that be?! Hmmmm...time to get crafting!

I hope you'll give this project a try.  Thanks for stopping by!

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P.S. I am a paid spokesperson for the Brother ScanNCut.  It is a machine that I love and use.  All projects and opinions are my own.

Product Registration: https://www.brother-usa.com/registermybrother/
Brother Customer Support: https://www.brother-usa.com/support/

Improv Curves: An Update

You may recall that I posted about my improv curves quilt at the beginning of November.  This is as far as I had gotten:

Well, I stared at it on my design wall for the last few weeks and decided I needed to rearrange some of the blocks:

I used the black and white filter on my phone to double check the balance:

I liked it, but I still felt it was too chaotic.  The piece needed a bit of organization.  After much thought, I decided to add some plus signs to the intersections of the blocks.  But should I do colored ones?  And if so, what color?  After much thought I decided to use patterned black and white fabrics:

And once again, I checked it out for balance in black and white:

I like it!  But I'm wondering if it's still missing something...going to have to sit and stare and think about it a bit more.  And speaking of sitting and staring, my design wall is one of my favorite things about my new studio.  It is so exciting to have this big wall that I can just have up all the time.  I think the marinating period is an important one in the art making process.  I want to go fast fast fast and finish projects right away, but one of the things I have learned over the years is that my work is much better when I give it time and space to develop.

I've been wondering how the new studio is going to change my art and I think (a) the ability to work larger -- this is definitely the largest quilt I've ever made and (b) the ability to spend a lot of time sitting and staring and living with the work up on the design wall are both going to change and improve how and what I create! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Salley Mavor of Wee Folks Studio

Quilters Connection -- my local quilt guild -- recently hosted fiber artist Salley Mavor for a lecture about her work and career.

It was fascinating.  Her felt illustrations are magical.  I snapped a few photos of the samples she brought with her:

Note the hand, in the photo below, for scale:

This next piece was extraordinary.  Photos do not do it justice!

The beautiful details are simply mind boggling!!

Salley has illustrated many children's books, such as Pocketful of Posies:

And written a how-to book, called Felt Wee Folks:

Most recently, she and her husband -- a photographer -- spent more than a year working on a 13-minute stop animation film featuring her felt creations.  Warning: It is political in nature, so if that's not your thing, skip it:

I found Salley's lecture fascinating.  Her work is beautiful and full of imagination.  The details are immaculate and inspiring.  You can read more about her on her blog and follow her on instagram or facebook.

Thanks for stopping by! 

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The guild is hosting a fantastic two-day workshop coming up with fiber artist Susan Lenz. This is some of her work:

I think there are two spots left in the class and non-guild members are welcome to sign up. If you live in the Boston area, you might want to check it out.  The website is a bit confusing because there's no way to directly link to the class.  This link goes to the lecture.  Click on the class description and you can read all about it!