Design Challenge #6 Results

This week Ann presented the challenge around the theme of "Different Paths."   Ann is a fellow quilter, but also an avid gardener so I suspect that she intended it to be paths in a garden or in nature.  I broadened the idea, though I included some that are organic.

The first idea uses stepping stones of various sizes and shapes. (You should be proud of me--no circles!)  The paths wind in and out, and I thought that I could do some sort of transparency effect where they intersect.  I didn't like it as much as I thought I would.

The next idea was a much more structured and regular, with paths working their way around walls.  Originally I thought about doing the walls as a sort of maze, and I suppose these are a very simple, stylized sort of maze.  Of course, there always has to be a smart-aleck that cuts through the maze instead of following the rules.   I don't know anyone like that, though.

In the shower yesterday the idea of bands of color pieced next to other, with paths running across them popped into my head.  At that point I thought I wanted some bright, modern prints for the bands but as I started putting it on "paper" it felt more like a landscape of fields and when I opted for curved lines instead of straight, it began to look like a stylized Iowa landscape.  My subconscious must have registered that because, without even having that in mind, I put in two blue curved lines.  "Iowa" means "land between two rivers."  Voila.

Then I tried the crazy, chaotic curved lines again.  Ugh.  I keep thinking that someday that will look right to me but, apparently, not yet.

So, on to straight lines.   I started paths of different colors, that diverged at the end.  It looks a lot like the Amtrak symbol, doesn't it?   I like overlaying them, however, and I might do a transparency thing here, too, where they overlap.

While I like the Amtrak symbol, it's Amtrak's symbol.   I experimented with the forked path shape rotated around and stacked on each other.  I think I like it.   John thinks it could be "woven" where the paths overlap and I think that's a good possibility.  (He also thinks I could make this into a block that is repeated, with the lines meeting/intersecting when the blocks are put together.  It's an interesting idea, and I might play with that another day, in EQ.)

What if the paths had curves, instead of all straight lines?  Again, rotating the same path in several different directions made for a pleasing sort of pattern.  A transparency or woven effect could come into play here, too.

When I first thought of the concept, in my mind the curves were wrapping around each other, which necessitated some more fiddling.

 In the end I decided it needed a straight line, to better balance it.  Actually, I thought perhaps two or three but I was satisfied after one, and more than that would make it too cluttered.

Which one do you like best?  Later this week I hope to post a survey, asking which of my choices from each of the 6 weeks (so far) everyone would like to see me work on first.   That means I have to choose my favorite from each of the 6 weeks.  I like several this time, so help me out and share your favorite.   :-)