Modern Art Quilters - Newsletter September 2020

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September 2020: Notan What's that, I hear you say? Well, the Japanese, having lovely words for just about everything, have a special word for the delightful balance between dark and light, in harmony together... And this month's newsletter has lots of tutorials for generating these designs, (mainly on paper, but of course they will work beautifully in fabric) - usually seen in Black and White, but any two colours with strong contrast will make the same ideas shine. The header image this time is taken from my quilt: Apple Tree Moon - I wanted to make this one for several years, and it's based on my Trees ideas (CLICK HERE to visit my trees pattern pages) taken to extremes - this is not appliqué, it is all pieced improvisationally. I wanted to balance the two halves precisely without being utterly symmetrical. And it was finished, in a Travelodge, on the way to it's first show in Holland... Not that I am driven by deadlines. I wonder if, like me, you are suffering from a lack of deadlines to work to, and anticipation of new things? If you are new to the Newsletter, please take the time to look at the page on the website - all the older Letters are archived for your amusement and delectation HERE - and do get your friends to sign up too - we will be offering more special deals and free stuff to subscribers as we head into Autumn, and you know you just want to be sewing as the weather gets cooler and wetter... And, in the interests of reducing your various stashes, this time we have a special offer on HH's CounterChange Cats pattern, half price in pdf format (£2.50 instead of £5) - email helen@helenhowestextiles.co.uk and say "Newsletter Cats" in the email, please, and I will send a Paypal invoice... HH and AitchBee Contact us direct on newsletter@modernartquilters.co.uk
TWELVE TREES in Black & White by Helen Howes. Click on the image to visit HH's Trees Pattern page	DOLLY MIXTURES by AitchBee. Pattern available soon, stay on the mailing list to find out when. Click on the image for current patterns

	This image actually comes from an American, education-based, website called 'zero thru five' but they give a very clear and useful description of how to generate Notan designs.
	This piece was made by Jdemilo from blocks made in a workshop she did with Nancy Crow and appears on her blog - 'Quilt or Dye'. You can see Nancy's influence in this piece, but it also goes to show how well the idea of Notan works in colours other than black & white. As long as the contrast between colours is strong enough.
	This lovely little piece (18 x 22 inches) by Nijole Beresnaite was for sale on Etsy, described as an "Abstract Modern Art Quilt". A combination of machine and hand-stitch, it shows a lovely balance between black and white
	Unbelievably these amazing, huge, curved diamonds are actually on the back of a great quilt by Stacey of "SloStudio". The front is also well worth a look, as is the rest of Stacey's site. Lots of interesting things to see here.
	Anne of Spring Leaf Studios has provided a fantastically informative and interesting tutorial on constructing a Notan patchwork panel. There are lots of other great ideas, colour inspirations and patterns available on Anne website - have a look around while you are there.
	Posted by Kate on the Black and White Quilt Challenge Blog For all their simplicity these are still most definitely trees. Not only do we love the counter-changed images but also the way the large tree breaks the top-line of the quilt.
	This is another piece done in a Nancy Crow workshop, this time by Kim Marguerite. In the article on Kim's blog "Crazy by Design" she shows another version made in a more recent workshop with Nancy and talks through how they were made.
	This, and many other patterns are available on the ChristaQuilt website. ChristaQuilts strap line on their website is 'Make it yourself, make it your own' which is a sentiment we heartily agree with. We would always encourage sewists not to be afraid to make variations on a quilt to make it individual to them.
	Not quite Notan, but we thoroughly enjoyed choosing all the black and white prints for this quilt - raiding both our stash boxes - why is someone else's stash is always more interesting than your own, the fascination of the unfamiliar perhaps? Lights and darks were fairly easy to find, but making a judgement about what constituted 'medium' was more challenging. This is part of AitchBee's BAMBOOZLED Block of the Month quilt

	We had great fun compiling this month's Pinterest board. Both HH and I each have a board for black and white quilts and inspirational images relating to them, and it was interesting to go through these and make decisions on what we would regard as Notan and what wasn't. HH also spent an interesting hour (or two) surfing the net in search of more nice things to whet your appetite. These lovely bugs are most definitely Notan and you can link to the German website from the Pinterest board and see lots of other charming animals

	Even traditional blocks like this Snails' Trail (or Monkey Wrench) can be given the Notan treatment. This delight is part of a free pattern by Riley Blake and can be found, along with lots more free stuff, on the blog of our old friends at 'Quilt Inspiration'
	A lovely lap-quilt design with a free pattern linked from the blog "Love to quilt"
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September 2020: Notan