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A creative soul? Precisely

beach park isles An award-winning quilter progresses into compulsive collaging.

By Elizabeth Bettendorf Times Correspondent
Published November 2, 2007

Ellen Schon loves quilting as much for the way it embraces art as engineering.

She loves geometry and bold color and the femininity of jewels and trinkets that she carefully sprinkles into her quilt-inspired collages with the precision of an architect. Crystals, beads, cabochons, wire and metallic paper glint from a mariner's compass pattern like stars scattered amid the structure of a skyline.

"With quilting, you have art, but a lot of precision as well, like cutting things to the right sizes and sewing a precise quarter-inch seam," Schon says.

The 54-year-old has been mechanically inclined since childhood, when she used to follow her father around, learning to fix things. She now proudly owns a garage full of power tools - including a circular saw, band saw and sander - and considers herself the handyman around the Beach Park Isle home she shares with husband, Ron, 59. The two own Schon Advertising in Tampa.

"If something breaks in this house, I fix it," she jokes.

An award-winning quilter whose work has been shown in a juried exhibition at the International Quilt Show in Houston, Schon recently transitioned from what she defines as quilting's "soft medium" to making quilt-inspired collages with a harder edge.

She paints geometric digital designs using scanned cloth patterns from her kaleidoscopic collection of fabrics. She then mounts the scanned copy onto wooden tiles and adds other treasures and found objects. She gives the quilts more dimension by allowing each square to literally "float" on the background so that they can be easily removed and mixed and matched.

Schon, a petite woman with a warm personality, admits she can "never just talk for an hour." She will be featured on an upcoming episode, most likely in 2008, of the HGTV show That's Clever!

Artisans on the show teach viewers to create their particular specialties. Schon was interviewed at her massive work table that sits on a porch she enclosed to create more space for making quilts and collages. The sunny workroom houses everything from her beloved computerized embroidery sewing machine to a colorful quilt-fabric collection and stacks of clear plastic boxes holding a stash of beads, glitter and sparkly jewels.

Schon likes to joke that she has "mad artist disease," which causes her to collage "anything and everything" from her exquisite velvet-lined wooden boxes to small birdhouses and gift bags.

"Even though I'm in the business of marketing, I haven't started marketing myself yet," she says. "My friends are the recipients of everything I make."

Her collages, in 12-inch, 8-inch and 6-inch blocks, are sold separately the smallest go for $125, as well as in groupings against her signature black backdrop.

They are deeply rooted in quilting, a hobby that began for Schon 17 years ago, when her two sons - now students at the University of Central Florida - were small and she began watching quilting shows on TV.

She took a class that promised to teach anyone to "make a quilt in a day," she remembers. That quilt, a classic log-cabin pattern in her favorite colors, rich blues and pinks, hangs on a hallway wall.

Over the years her passion for quilting blossomed as her skills grew. She became active in the local quilting community and joined the Quilter's Workshop of Tampa Bay, where she served as president from 1999 to 2001. About 31/2 years ago, she began experimenting with quilt-inspired collage, making her first piece for her husband's birthday. It's made up of 12 blocks depicting a quilt pattern she gained special permission to use. The blocks look like parts of a mariner's compass. The piece now hangs in the dining room as the main focal point.

"I promised (the pattern designer) I would never sell it, which of course I never would anyway considering it took me two years to make it," she says.

She has since simplified the process somewhat using paper rather than fabric, which holds up better in the collage process.

"It has taken off really in the last year," says Schon, whose work can be viewed on her Web site, www.schonart.com. She hopes to show her work in galleries, though she is still searching.

Schon's quilts hang around her house alongside the works of fellow quilters she loves, many from the Tampa Bay area. The couple also collects and displays art glass and artisan-designed teapots.

In the doorway to her studio hangs a quilt she made with fellow members of the Quilter's Workshop of Tampa Bay. It inspires her. Each block, made by different quilting guild members, signifies something important in Schon's life. The quilt took first place in the organization's annual show in the group quilt category.

Says Schon: "See how well they knew me. See all the bright colors. Can you tell I was very excited about this?"

Elizabeth Bettendorf can be reached at ebettendorf@hotmail.com.

A pattern emerges

Geometric 9-patch

Aztec Journey

Pirouetting Pinwheels

Twisted Lime

[Last modified November 1, 2007, 07:28:07]