I found today’s artist on one of Andrea’s wonderful ARHtistic License Creative Juice posts.
I am not typically a big fan of standard repeating-pattern quilts. I like to look at them, and I definitely appreciate the amount of talent and planning and labor that goes into them, but they’re usually a bit too busy for me. The soft furnishings in our house tend to be solids with the occasional super-simple embellishment. That said, this quilter’s work is less repeating patterns than bold artwork. Meet Cindy Grisdela. An artist and teacher, she is the author of two books, Artful Improv – Permission to Play! and Adventures in Improv Quilts.
Grisdela’s quilt-planning method involves no patterns. She says she starts with just a color story and a size, then goes to town on her fabric! Although I do favor solids in my house, I am forever wishing I had the nerve (and the lifestyle) for one of those gorgeous, statement rugs I see in the magazines. However, these quilts have the same impact and serve the same design purpose as the bold art rugs, while being much easier to live with.
You can learn more about Cindy Grisdela (whose name I keep trying to change to Griselda) on her website, her blog, and on Instagram. You can also take her online classes on Course Craft and Creative Spark.
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My OBT 
January 3, 2022 at 9:52 am
My sister got one and sent it to me as a Christmas president. I liked all of them today. Hal
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January 3, 2022 at 11:45 am
How cool! That’s a great present.
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January 3, 2022 at 10:10 am
Very nice work ….but when did quilts go from necessary warmth to show stopper art?
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January 3, 2022 at 10:28 am
Right? hard to decide to have it on the bed or on the wall.
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January 3, 2022 at 11:46 am
It’s the nature of the human spirit to find ways to turn the utilitarian into something beautiful. That’s something I think about a lot.
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January 3, 2022 at 10:51 am
I have a friend who does art quilts. I’m going to send her this link, I think she’d appreciate it too.
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January 3, 2022 at 11:46 am
Oh, good! Thank you for sharing the post!
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January 3, 2022 at 2:41 pm
These quilts are glorious and so joyful. I feel like I want to reach into the screen and run my hands all over them.
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January 4, 2022 at 10:35 am
Yes! Quilts are so tactile!
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January 3, 2022 at 3:17 pm
Yes, these are amazing, aren’t they? I’m so glad you featured her today.
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January 4, 2022 at 10:35 am
All thanks to you…
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January 4, 2022 at 12:37 pm
Thank you for your kind words and for sharing my work, Donna–much appreciated!
Cindy Grisdela
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January 4, 2022 at 12:47 pm
Cindy, your work is amazing! Thank you so much for stopping by, and happy new year!
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