It’s turtle time. No, I’m not talking about the reptile. Instead I am referring to how I create at turtle speed. I am OK with that.
Last week I shared my plans for Turbulence.
One reader reached out to me to say she wouldn’t use software to design her work, because if she knew the outcome, she wouldn’t have the desire to do the work to create it. I get that. This is precisely why I design a blueprint and NOT the actually quilt.
Note how if you look really closely you can see how I follow the design and value shifts on the blueprint. However, because I opted not to use solid colors, but chose blues by value and tone to represent the solid colors, the actually effect is quite different. I am drawn to continue precisely because I don’t know how the work will look at the end. My experience of working this way gives me the confidence to trust it will come together.
The first few blocks are always the toughest. This is when I learn what does and doesn’t work as I develop a logical assembly method. There are still a few hiccups, but I believe I’m there.
I am linking up with Nina Marie’s Off the Wall Fridays.
Wow! So much piecing! This is going to be fabulous once you get it finished!
Yes it is a fair amount of piecing, 2,645 pieces to be precise. Fortunately, I LOVE piecing.Thank you sharing your enthusiasm for the piece.
Gwyned! I’ve been off the linkup circuit over at Nina Marie’s for a while so I haven’t seen the back story for this piece, but just wow! I love your blueprint, but it’s your fabric choices that bring it to life! The balance of the dark blues with the white and those really vibrant teals/purples/greens in the midrange make the parts you shared really glow. Can’t wait to see how this develops!
Shannon, I’m blushing. I so admire the gun-ho way you experiment and explore with your work. I tend to inch forward in baby steps. I have been fixated on shift values and achieving subtleties of light and shadow for two decades. This does feel like a step forward vs. a repeat.
Your process sounds a bit like jumping into the deep end of the pool! I know it works for you, but I guess I always seek “a telegram from god!!”
I’m a confirmed toe dipper, to wader, to pool swimmer, to open water swimmer. I began as a traditional quilter, piecing only log cabin blocks assembly-line fashion. After I gained some comfort I want from strip piecing log cabins to making blocks with squares and half square triangles. Over the years I have honed my paper piecing skills, precision piecing skills, and even the dreaded “Y” seam or joining 8 seams at a single point. Nothing like 30+ years of practicing. I’m still trying new things.
I am completely blown away by your piece and can’t wait to see the completed quilt. The complexity of “morphing” a square pattern into a diamond and then looking at using each shape as it’s own entity is completely intriguing. It’s been a while since I have worked with EQ, and I may need to revisit it. You really opened my eyes today!
One of my weekly practices is to do an EQ tutorial. EQ is one of those applications that has many bells and whistles, but not all of them are intuitive. My process of blending blocks and using the shapes within the blocks as part of the process is something I began in the late 90’s. EQ helps save time with drafting and allows me to print foundations for paper piecing. I think of it as a tool, like my rotary cutter and ruler or Bernina 1260.
Thank you, Jan, for sharing your thoughts and encouragement.
Hi Gwyned, this should do the trick of keeping you going. It’s a wonderful design and implementation. I don’t like to plan but love paper piecing and the fabric choices alone are enough to keep you designing this to the end.
It’s keeping me going, all right, Leeanna. Proving to be quite the challenge. Although undiagnosed I believe I have a mild dyslexia. Coping with interpreting such a design, when paper piecing is done in mirror image, while keeping track of the front and backsides of fabric is daunting. On the plus side, it keeps me from obsessing over the state of the world.