LITE BRITE–2014–43''H x 46''W

ARTIST STATEMENT
I have lived in Alaska for 30 years, and the beauty of my natural surroundings still inspires me everyday. We own an off-the-gird cabin in McCarthy, Alaska. You may have heard of the reality television show called Edge of Alaska. That show is filmed in McCarthy, and I always tell people—the cinematography is REAL, nothing else is. When we visit in the spring time, if we are lucky, the Northern Lights will come out. This quilt is inspired by the colors of those lights and how they streak across the dark night sky.

Light is a thing that cannot be reproduced, but must be represented by something else – by color.
- Paul Cezanne

COLOR CONCEPTS PART II
This past weekend, I sent out a newsletter that contained six reflections on color. Here are five more.

7. Once you get moderation down, how about experimenting with RELATIONSHIPS? Sometimes it is not the color, it is the COLOR COMBINATION. Don’t diss a solo color. Find its friends and start a visual party. Also, just to keep you thinking. When you see a color combination, and it feels weird. Well, it probably is. That said, just because it is weird doesn't mean it not cool or beautiful or far out fun. When it is weird, it most likely means it has a bit of originality to it. Grab that.

8. Avoid the CRAYOLA CRAYON BOX or any other prefabricated notion of color created by someone else. Dare to go ROGUE with your COLOR! Otherwise, you are just saying what everyone else is saying. Copying is fun but not nearly as satisfying as sorting out your own personal color Identity. Jelly rolls are basically CRACK for quilters.

9. Don’t shun the LONERS. There are lots of words I can use to describe these colors—duds, dull, dangerously boring—but in reality the colors I am talking about are just VERY PICKY about who they hang out with. Are you a good match maker? Apply that skill to color. Get to know the LONERS. They can add sophistication and drama to your compositions once you help them find their color friends. I found this image on Color-Hex. It is called the Boring People Color Palette!

10. MICRO PALETTES are a thing. When you are working with a large selection of colors, often the special sauce is to group them into smaller micro palettes. But remember, don’t stagnate with the same old same old. Micro palettes also need to be mixed up to form NEW micro palettes. Doing this gets the human eye very excited. Boulevard has lots of mirco-palettes that move around the quilt. Can you find them? 

11. INTENSITY doesn’t just exist in emotions. Colors have it too! I think of High Intensity colors as having a lot of WOW factor. Low Intensity colors do not. High intensity colors are like your friend who never stops talking—in small doses everything is okay. The low intensity colors are often the LONERS from #9. Old school quilters might call the high intensity colors zingers. When you use only the high intensity colors you run the risk of creating juvenile looking work. For example, Coloratura is an example of avoiding low intensity colors. It also makes the mistake of ignoring neutrals and focusing only on the Crayola Crayon box. Consequently, this quilt lacks depth, sophistication and nuance.

If you like thinking about color in this way, I hope you will join me in August for the LIVE & Virtual workshop Color Concepts for Quilters. It is going to be a deep dive into ways quilters can use color to create a wide range of effects in their quilt compositions.

NEWS & EVENTS—UPCOMING WORKSHOPS
Improv for Everyone—Mystery Improv
THIS SATURDAY
LIVE VIRTUAL WORKSHOP

Saturday, July 11, 2026
1PM—5PM Eastern Time
This July's Improv for Everyone is all about the great IMPROV UNKNOWN. I call it Stitching Towards Discovery! You could also call it GUIDED IMPROV. One set of instructions leads to another set of instructions--with each set featuring fun variables for you to play around with. I will be sharing lots of tips, tricks, and techniques for becoming a better improv quilter. I hope you will join me.

COLOR CONCEPTS FOR QUILTERS
LIVE VIRTUAL WORKSHOP
Wednesdays, August 12, 19, and 20, 2026
6PM-9PM
For quilters, color does not exist without shape and line. So, let’s explore these concepts together! This workshop is an exploration of all the things color is and can do. We will try to understand these things through lectures, demos, and practice. Each exploration of a color concept is paired with a small stitching exercise that can be used to create a nine patch quilt or nine small individual color sketches.

FLASHBACK PHOTO

In my last newsletter, I showed a woodshed party. This is what the woodshed looks like when it is being a woodshed and not a lounge. Oh, and it is a shower too! 

STUDIO SNAPSHOT

Due to the overflow of guests these last few weeks, my husband built me an office tent. I am still thinking about what to call it--The AK Cabana, The Office Tent (TOT for short), The Zen Den, Tripp's Pleasure Palace (other members of the family are trying to claim the tent!) or something else? It has been a very popular addition to our living quarters here in McCarthy, Alaska.

May the color be with you. 

Maria