Artist Profile — Anne Lullie

Sometimes to find your true creative calling, it takes bumping into kindred spirits.

Anne Lullie could draw an apple better than most five-year-olds, and decided right then that she would be an artist.

“I learned to sew and embroider by hand as a child,” said Anne. And with her treadle machine, she was stitching together clothes by age twelve.

She went on to study Art and to sew quilts. But her artwork didn’t really sing for her until much later, when she encountered her soul sisters.

“I was making traditional quilts, when a chance meeting (at a quilt show) with ‘Chicago School of Fusing’ (C.S.O.F.) members Melody Johnson and Laura Wasilowski led me to a new direction in my quilting.”

“I loved their vibrant hand-dyed fabric & thread colors, and excellent techniques. I began to experiment with their quilting and construction methods; soon I was hooked on fusing!”

The C.S.O.F. imaginary “school” is really a group of women with a sense of color and humor, who favor fusing their designs together with an iron, rather than piecing with a sewing machine. Read this snippet from their Web page:

…Students are housed in the Black and Decker Dormitories located adjacent to the newest addition to the campus, the Rowenta Sports Arena. Here the Iron Maidens Press Squad proudly represents their school and Choir Leader, Melody Johnson, leads the Fusettes in the CSOF fight song, “Press on Chicago Fuse” composed by John Philip Fusa.

What a kick! I’d make quilts this way just to hang out with these ladies.

“I fell in with that merry band of Fusers from Chicago; things have never been quite the same since,” said Anne.

“I love the freedom of the fusing technique; when I am designing my quilts, I often will ‘free hand’ cut fabric, and this works well with the pre-fused fabrics. I think it lends a spontaneous feel to my art quilts.”

Anne creates vibrant art quilts in an explosion of hues – often using her own hand-painted fabrics. The mosaic-style quilts shown here are from her Colorplay series.

“I like to work in a series, because I am always getting new ideas as I work on a quilt; new color combinations, size, etc. that are waiting to be expressed in fabric,” she said.

Anne experiences a range of emotions when working on a quilt.

“I feel anticipation when I have a new idea for a quilt, and sometimes frustration in the actual process of putting quilt top together,” she said. “Often I lose track of time, and forget everyday problems when I am designing and quilting. I think this feeling is universal to many quilters; that is what keeps us going.”

Paintings often inspire her, including works by Van Gogh, Mark Rothko, and Matisse.

Anne is also inspired by her students. “I learn something new every time I teach a workshop. That has been very exciting for me.”

She encourages her students to experiment with color.

Don’t be afraid to try your ideas without knowing what the final product will be… — Anne Lullie

“My philosophy of color in my quilts is that there are NO ugly colors,” she exclaimed.

“Color combinations are endless. I use the CMY Primary color wheel to help with many of my color choices; it is amazing that with the same basic colors, we can come up with infinite variation.”

Anne’s advice for artists just starting out? “Don’t be afraid to try your ideas without knowing what the final product will be; learn as you go! Do not believe anyone who tells you it cannot be done ‘that way’…Maybe it can!”

You can reach Anne, see more of her work, and find out about her workshops and lectures at her Web site.

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