Artist Profile: Julie Schlueter

Julie Schlueter

Orange, CA 

1. Did the change in dimensions present any specific challenges for you?  I like square quilts and I like working in this size.  It was refreshing.

2. Describe your design area, specifically your work table:  what is the best thing about it? It’s cramped so it tends to get messy.  I move to another part of the house, like the kitchen table or TV room floor, and I have the space and elbow room to design, stand back and look, and design some more.

3. What set this quilt apart from other recent projects you have been working on? The extreme amount of handwork.  The inside piece is all done by hand and the surrounding area is all done by machine.

4. When you get “stuck” how do you deal with a “design block”?  How do you overcome it? Take a photo and either rework it, add to it or scrap it.  Once in a while I will pick something up I have scrapped and keep going.

5. Do you work on single or multiple projects at the same time? Multiple.  It is easy on the brain to move around and work on other areas of design or fabric manipulation or stitch.

6. What do you hope people take away from your work? A creative outlook.  I am moved to create by seeing others’ work.

7. What are the best parts of working on an art quilt:  What are your least favorite parts? I love, love fabric and all things fiber.  Whatever I do, it will have some form of fiber and/or stitch within it.  Least favorite part is the amount of time involved. Carrying out the design can get overwhelming, but I am so thankful when I see the finished product.

8. What art/quilt-related organizations do you belong to? None at the moment.  I am starting a 2-D art class at the end of August so that will keep me busy and advance my fiber design.  I stay in touch with the artists that I used to be in a group with.  They spur me on and inspire me.

9. Do you have a preferred color palette?  Why?  I tend toward the red, yellow, green analogous colors, but some of my fiber art pieces have the full color wheel.  I seem to be attracted to the red, yellow, green palette.  Maybe it’s because I sit in front of many traffic lights in So Cal traffic.

10. What do you regard as your most interesting milestones along your art journey? I think that is coming.  I am excited to learn more about creating art in general, maybe even get a undergrad degree, then go back to learning under a particular masterful fiber artist I admire.