An "Aha" Moment

In the past few weeks I've discovered a quilting deficiency about myself and am about to bare this weakness. I figure by sharing the ugly truth I'll be forced to deal with it, change it, and hopefully become a better quilter. The truth is: I play it safe! For example, I approach art with great caution, completely intimidated by a blank canvas or a blank piece of watercolor paper or piece of PFD (prepared for dying) fabric. Afraid to make the first mark. When I finally do work up the courage to make my mark and it happens to be one that is pleasing, I'm petrified to go further for fear I'll lose the small success of that first mark. This overly-cautious attitude has carried over to my quilting and I didn't realize or wasn't willing to admit it until now. Or, maybe I am now able to clearly identify and articulate the problem, thanks to the best book ever written on color and design for quilters, "A Fiber Artist's Guide to Color & Design" by Heather Thomas.

Most of you know our family friend, Vera Allen. Vera was home on summer break and she reminded me  (I'm "Auntie" to Vera and have been since she was in junior high) that she needed a replacement tote for the one I made her several years ago. She'd loved it and carried it until it was old and tattered. It's always fun to make something special for a special person, so I decided to put a little extra effort (actually, just an additional hour of extra effort) into the project and make her a tote like the one I carry, which is comprised of eight log cabin blocks of brights and black and whites. The blocks used in mine were discards, made at a Stix retreat when Maria and Sally spent more time having fun and laughing than checking their 1/4" seams. The blocks didn't work and were thrown in the trash. I retrieved them for a later use and, wahlah!, made them into a tote that I carry just about every day and love! Thank you, Maria.

On to Vera's tote...I chose several black and white fabrics along with a wide range of brights. I didn't have the variety of black and whites that were used in the original, but I had enough to do the job. My bright stash was plentiful having combined all brights in one bin during the Cinco de Mayo project. The brights Maria used were a variety of heavily printed fabrics, most of which were purchased at our semi-annual visit to Tayo's for their Fat Quarter Frenzy. I chose my brights carefully, skipping over solids and the very large or busily-patterned brights. All of mine had small to medium motifs. The tote went together beautifully, perfect 1/4" seams. When I finished, I stood back and admired my work (technically, very nice), but the tote lacked the charm and spontaneity of the original. It lacked the interest (I never tire of "reading" the tote I made from Maria's discards...her blocks included fabrics I would have considered much too large and too busy to cut into 1 1/2" strips; they included spirals, plaids, hearts, stars, geometrics, weird little unnamed creatures, sunglasses and sandals, and more). My color choices were perfect, but the fabric choices were not! I'd played it safe and made conservative choices in the prints (motifs). Not too large, not too small, but just right. But they weren't just right, they were all wrong! They were boring and held no interest! They lacked the unexpected! There was nothing to read, no story told! Disappointed!!! I knew I'd played it safe and selected more conservative fabrics than those Maria used. But, I didn't appreciate the significance of this shortcoming until tonight.

Now, on to the book...I'm on page 90, just a few pages into "The Language of Design" and absorbing every word. I've finished the first half of the book on color (loved it!) and have been reading about design, specifically, line and shape. I've had enough art classes to have a solid understanding of line and shape. I turned the page and began reading about "visual texture" and use of pattern scale and design. In contrast to tactile texture (that we can touch), "visual" texture has no feel to it. It is created by the motifs printed on fabrics. Put plainly, visual texture is a sophisticated term for the beautiful designs and prints created by artists/design houses for textiles. It's the reason we all have a stash, some larger than others. We fall in love with the designs on fabrics...the visual texture. That's the easy part. Successfully combining those designs, visual texture, when we create quilts is another story. It's one of those Tough Choices (see my earlier blogs with the same label) and if done right can create contrast and interest in a piece, or not! Vera's tote fell into the latter category. Heather's words got my attention, but it was her illustrations that really hit home. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words! She showed three examples of squares within squares, all using the same colors (purple and green), but different motifs: the first had a mottled background with a small print square in it (just slightly more boring than my fabric choices for Vera's bag); the second was bolder with a wavy-lined background and polka dot square; the third was an eye-catcher, with a background of text and a square of very large circles. My problem became so clear to me that I had to leave the book and share this experience with...ME (and you, if you're interested). I don't want to forget this "aha" moment! I intend to apply it to my next project and one after that. I'm a changed quilter! No more playing it safe! Get the book - there is something (much) in it for everyone!