My friend Mary and I wore our quilted jackets (photo courtesy of Mary)

IQG’s Charleen Richtsmeier helps show off a “UFO” quilt (its creator is just visible holding up the far end)

I was honored to be asked to give a talk during the Iowa Quilters Guild (IQG) annual meeting at Reiman Gardens on Saturday. Quilt design has a lot in common with painting in terms of composition and color. I talked about things to consider when designing a quilt such as line, form, texture, shape, and value. We did an exercise on color mixing so the quilt would have a dominant color.

The IQG holds a beautiful Garden Quilt Show at Reiman in conjunction with their meeting. The thing I noticed most was the amazing stitching. It becomes line in motion; the closer the stitching, the darker the value.

One of the categories in the show was UFO Quilts — UFO for “Un-Finished Objects”! Months in advance, members submit a photo of an unfinished project they had started at one time but set aside. Then the challenge is to finish the project for display at the quilt show. I have my own stack of “UFO” watercolors about 6″–8″ high that I haven’t finished; when I go back to them, I can see them with a new point of view.