The Evolution of a Design

Today I thought I'd share a little about my design process by walking you through a quilt I'm currently working on and showing the evolution of my design. Here's a sliver of what's on my design wall right now.

This project actually began when I was playing with the Drunkard's Path block. There are so many wonderful layouts using this simple quarter circle block.

My early explorations were primarily based on positive shapes created when quarter circle units are combined into larger shapes. Some of these shapes reminded me of flowers which led to my Christmas poinsettia quilt with lovely red and green Kaffe fabrics. I even did a quilt along last year based on this design which you can learn more about here. I love how it turned out.

While this quilt was in the works, I continued to explore other layouts using the Drunkard's Path block. As I played, I began to focus on more modern designs and the use of negative space. Three quarter circles creates a square negative space. One quarter circle can look like a bite taken out of a larger square. Just look at all the interesting negative spaces in the example below.

I started my explorations by creating a palette of basic shapes in Adobe Illustrator. A single quarter circle. A half circle. A 3/4 circle. Then I duplicated each shape and rotated them to give me a variety of orientations. Once I had my shape palette, I started to play around with placement of the shapes while paying close attention to the negative spaces that were created. At this point I worked in black and white.

Creating negative squares from positive circles really intrigued me and, with this concept in mind, the name Circling the Square was born. I don't often name a quilt before designing it but in this case the name spoke to me. It seemed to clarify the concept and began to influence my design decisions.

Early on I tried quarter circles coming in and swirling around until they created a square of negative space in the center. Very interesting but not quite what the name implied to me. Perhaps I'll pursue this further at another time.

Then I began to focus on the circles forming a mass with the square at it's center. This was closer to what the name implied but wasn't quite there yet.

The consolidation of shapes was going in the right direction but the rectangular format wasn't right. I made the decision to change the overall format to a square which seemed much more appropriate given the quilt name.

As the mass of quarter circles came together it only seemed right that the larger shape created be circular in nature. I tried a lot of different arrangements until I got a somewhat uniform mass of circles. Careful attention was paid, not only to the placement of the circular units, but also to the negative shapes that were created. I wanted to balance the use of full circles, 3/4 circles, and half circles along with the negative shapes. I worked primarily with odd numbers, in many cases repeating the use of three elements as you can see below.

Once I got the basic shapes in place, I started to explore color. The constructive nature of the design reminded me of the early modern art movements of Constructivism and Bauhaus.  Black, white and red were frequently used in the graphic designs of these movements so it just seemed to be the right color scheme to use here. I did look at a few other colors but nothing was as dynamic and strong.

As you can see in the illustration below, I tried using red for the center square. It seemed like the natural place to use color. The effect, however, was that the red square became a positive shape rather than a negative space. There's nothing wrong with this except it wasn't what I was trying to explore. My intent was the creation of a negative square formed by the circles. Removing the red, as in the second example, returned the square to it's negative space but the design needed color. By placing the red in the only full circle in the entire layout a focal point was established. It gave the eye a place to start the journey of the circles swirling around the square.

Once I settled on color placement, I explored the finer details of the arrangement. The addition of little black arcs around the outside activated the circle. Take a look at the far right illustration above and then the illustrations below and you can see how the composition feels more active. I started with three (below left) and ended up with six (below right).

Another refinement was in the three small negative squares that come off the large central square. I felt the small squares (below left) diminished the effect of the large square. It didn't quite read as a single large square in the way I intended. Next I tried changing the small squares to quarter circles (below right) but this didn't quite work either. Now the center square looked like it had three little wings. This arrangement also introduced a new positive shape to the black 3/4 circles that I didn't really like.

Do you feel like you're playing one of those games where you need to find the differences? Can you find all the things I'm referencing? If not look harder.  : )

Below is the final layout. Simply rotating the quarter circle units brought the 3/4 quarter shapes back in alignment with the rest of the design while clearly defining the negative center square. So there you have it. The final design . . .

While I work out a lot of my design in Illustrator, many of these finer details happened on my design wall. The placement of the final black arcs and refinement of the center square all happened on the wall.  I'm pretty happy with how this design evolved and developed. I also auditioned fabrics on the wall. I used tone-on-tone prints for almost all of the circle shapes and for all the negative areas except the center square which is a solid.

Here's the finished top. Even now, I'm contemplating a change or two. We'll see.

I hope this has been an informative post. It's a glimpse into my design process. My graphic design background leads me to a more controlled approach to my work but not everything is predetermined. It's a back and forth between computer and design wall. Sometimes even a rough sketch on paper.

I love designing.  : )

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The Need to Create

This seemed like a random post perfect for Cindy's Really Random Thursdays.

While looking at images on Pinterest today, I was struck by the overwhelming wealth of creativity in the world. There are amazing things being imagined and made by thousands and thousands of people.

The sheer volume of creativity is enough to both inspire and, at times, even discourage. And I will admit I do sometimes feel discouraged. But much more often I am inspired. Inspired not only by what I see, but by the simple, basic fact that so many many many others are compelled to create and share their creativity with the world. Visual art, music, writing . . . you name it.

Today I was simply struck by the deep need, the absolute need, that I and so many many others have to create. To dream. To envision. To make with our hands. To give voice through our music and writing. To express ourselves by being creative.

I live in a house filled with creativity . . . we use drills to carve pumpkins . . . we make snow art . . . who knows what we'll use this year to dye Easter eggs.

I am a designer . . . a decorator . . . an artist . . . a quilter . . . a collector of fabric.
Beautiful gorgeous prints and intense saturated colors.

My husband is a graphic designer . . . an art teacher . . . a mixed media artist . . . a junk collector
See what crazy creative things he makes here.

My daughter is a jewelry artist  . . . a photographer . . . a writer . . . a collector of all things beautiful.
See her stylish, beautiful jewelry here.

My son is going to be an engineer. He will use his creativity to design, build, imagine solutions.
He is also a musician . . . creating in his own way.

I have always felt the passion, the desire and the need to create through visual art.
I am a better, happier, more content person when I am creating.
I live it . . . breathe it . . . and yes, even dream it.

So today I say thank you to all you creative people out there dreaming, making, sharing your art with the rest of us. Together I believe we truly make the world a better, more beautiful place. These are my random thoughts on living the life I love.

Starting Off on the Wrong Foot

This concept came to me in church yesterday when I noticed a little girl in front of me had her shoes on the wrong feet.  It made me smile   : )

Looking down from above it wasn't really that obvious, but when I saw the bottom of her feet as she knelt down it was quite clear her shoes were pointed the wrong way.

That's kind of how last week felt to me. From one perspective it seemed I was going in the right direction. I even made a couple of breakthroughs with my project. But taken from another perspective I realized I was perhaps starting on the wrong foot. Perhaps going about things backward.

This is what it looked like while in the midst of it all. Actually it was far messier but I have no documentation to prove that point. My dilemma . . .  what fabrics would best demonstrate the design on the computer?

Should I use prints? I pulled way more than this and still couldn't decide.

Should I use solids? I realized I don't have as many colors as I think I do.

Should I use grays? I realized I don't have much range of values when it comes to my stash.

Like the little girl, I didn't notice I was going about things backwards. Like the little girl, I will learn to discern the difference with more practice. Like many of you, I can sometimes have a hard time choosing fabrics. That's what it boiled down to. Not being able to find the fabrics that worked with what I was doing on my computer. Starting with the fabrics instead of the design can sometimes be best.

What I learned is that I'm quite prone to spending way too much time on my computer and not enough time with the actual fabrics. I need to spend more time playing with what inspires me . . . the color and pattern of fabric. And less time playing on the computer and being sidetracked.

In the meantime, I will keep moving forward even if my shoes are pointing in different directions. Sometimes I might drift a little sideways, maybe even a step back now and then. I just need to remind myself that pursuing a wrong direction can help you find the right direction. It just takes longer.

And just in case you're wondering . . . I didn't spend the entire time in church thinking about this.  : )

Linking up with Cindy's Really Random Thursdays . . . this seemed like a fit. Hop over and see what's up with the other links.

What's old . . . is new again

Lately I've been trying to get my studio under control a little at a time. The scrap piles have been sorted and a scrap system begun that I can honestly say is working and quite useful so far.

Of course, the problem with the "little at a time method" is that there are always unfinished areas still needing to be organized and then whole new messes develop as I work. I think I need to accept the fact that my studio will always be a work in progress just like my quilts.

First off came making room for a group of stripe fabrics I've been collecting here and there. I have lots of design ideas for stripe fabrics with more popping into my head every day.

Do you ever start a collection of fabrics by picking up a fat here and there and then realize you have way more than you thought, or dare I say even need, once you get them all in place? I had no idea I had this many stripes and must admit this is only half the collection.

The main area I've been tackling recently is sorting, organizing and disposing of old publications. I love magazines and books and over the years have accumulated quite a library. My style has changed over the years and some of the old publications just aren't where I'm at today. My new favorites are Generation Q, Stitch, Quilty and Modern Quilts Unlimited.

Some of these older issues will go back on the shelf, some into the donation bin at my library and some will go to the next modern guild meeting to giveaway.

As I sorted through pile after pile of magazines . . . some over 15 years old . . . what I discovered is how often what is old is new again. I can't tell you the number of times I came across a quilt design from years ago that was very much like a quilt I just recently saw on a blog or online somewhere. New fabrics, new spin on an established design. Thus what's old is new again.

Was the newer one simply copied? I'd like to think INSPIRATION is a much better word. In many cases I would bet the quilter who did the newer version never saw the earlier one. In this age of instant digital access it can be extremely hard if not nearly impossible to be completely original.

We are all inspired by something, somewhere we've seen. It might be lurking in the recesses of our brain from years ago. It might be something brand new we just saw or experienced that has nothing to do with quilting. The important thing is that it inspired us. It moved us. It awoke our creativity and the need to make. Bringing this creativity to life by making allows us to express ourselves and give meaning to our work. Rather than simply copying, I hope we are truly creating.

I encourage you to let the inspiration in your personal world bring new life to your work . . . create your own vision. If starting from scratch with a quilt design of your own is intimidating, try a pattern but put a spin on it to make it your own.

If you're not sure how this works, check out my patterns which offer many different options so you can bring your own personal creativity and style into play. I have three new designs in the works too so stay tuned for new pattern releases in the next few months.

I'm linking up with Cindy's Really Random Thursday for this post.
Have fun creating.  : )