Gwen Johnson’s latest quilt starts with an eight-point star in brown, slate blue and a neutral pastel. Triangles come next and to finish, she surrounds the block with a frame of blue and brown.

Olivia Nienaber dipped a paintbrush into a can of Sherwin Williams’ Calypso blue last week, wiped off a few excess drips and carefully painted a straight, smooth line onto a white sheet of plywood.