If at first you don't succeed, design, design again!

Over the past couple of weeks I have been reviewing some of the knitting classes from Craftsy in which I am enrolled.  (I'm too embarrassed to tell you how many Craftsy classes, on all topics, have my name on the roster!)   My interest of late has been primarily in the design classes, specifically designing knitted lace shawls, cowls, and scarves; many design principles and ideas apply across all disciplines, after all.  One comment that I kept hearing over and over was, "And how do I do this?  I knit and rip, knit and rip......I knit swatches with different bead colors..."

One of the things that is being reinforced for me as I try to get better at design is that there isn't a straight path from idea to design/pattern.  (Well, seldom is there a straight path.)  At least, that is true for me, and it seems to be for some others, too--others who are much more gifted designers than I, so I don't feel so badly.  :-)

Sometimes I have something very specific in my head for a design, but it's also rather fun to start with just a vague idea for a quilt design:  "How about something around 2" squares?" and just start drawing lines and plugging in colors.  (Admittedly, this is much more fun when you have an easy way to draw those lines and change them, so a computer design program is nice.   For many of my quilt designs I use Electric Quilt, and for the rest I use Word or Illustrator.    Once you learn how to use them--and the learning curve for Illustrator is still on an upward slope for me, I admit--you can focus on design elements, rather than spending time erasing and re-drawing on paper.)

This morning I sat down with EQ, having nothing more in mind than the aforementioned "a quilt design/something around 2" squares.   I drew a 2" grid in EQ, with an odd number of squares.  There's no particular reason that it should be odd, other than I thought a central 'spine" of some sort might be interesting; often, odd numbers of things are more interesting to the eye.

Then I just started coloring in squares.  I usually start with just a couple of colors and a background, unless I have something specific in mind, because it gives me contrast (one of those design principles) without having to worry about how multiple colors are working with each other; getting a design I like is enough to focus on for the time being!   I chose red and blue because, frankly, they were the first two colors up in the EQ palette I was using.

I won't bore you with describing all the combinations I tried; suffice it to say that there were many, probably 50 or more.  And then some more.  I cut some of the squares in half, diagonally, then tried some more cut in half.  i cut them the other way, then deleted some of them.  I traded the colors in some squares, then traded them back again and changed others.  Each time I made a design change in the block,  I plugged the block into a quilt, rotating blocks and trying different configurations.   Placed in the quilt, I could see where I might want to change a color, or split a square, or un-split it.  Then, it was back to the block, then back to the quilt, then back to the block.

Did I mention that the path to a quilt design isn't very straight?

Along the way I created some designs I liked well enough, some that I didn't like at all, and some that made me wonder, 'What was the point of THAT change?"

You've probably found this to be true when you're looking at quilt designs, or choosing patterns, or looking through a catalog:  you know when a quilt is right, when it is something that you like.  And the same was true for this design process--and almost always, for me:  when you hit upon the right design, you know it.  After two or three hours of futzing with the block, I arrived at a design I like.   I changed the colors to a holiday vibe and, with any luck, I'll be able to show you the finished quilt design in late Fall or early winter.

The moral of today's designing quilts story is to just keep playing--the design road is seldom straight, or a quick trip, but it is always fun!  (If you're in the vicinity of Cut Up and Quilt, join me for an EQ class in October; you'll learn the basics of the software so you can play...er, design, too!)

Yes, YOU Are Creative, Too!

"How do you come up with your designs? My brain just doesn't work that way."   I hear that question more and more these days.  Honestly, it makes me kind of giggle; I don't feel like any more of a designer than anyone else!  Mostly, I just play, drawing on ideas that just jump out at me when I "leave space" for it, as Weeks Ringle says.   I believe that everyone is creative, perhaps in a different way than the person next to you, but able to create designs--once you are open to the possibility.

So, how DO I come up with quilt designs? 

Quilt designs from prompts and challenges 
Writers often get their creative juices flowing with published "prompts," which pose characters/settings/situations.  Similarly, sometimes my design ideas come from prompts or challenges that I set myself, as in the 12-week challenge I just finished.  I had ideas for several of the weeks of the challenge, but then started to ask family and friends for "prompts"  when I started to feel the well dry up.  They did very well (thanks, everyone!) and I discovered that challenges set by others works pretty well for me.

Quilt designs from details all around you
 Sometimes ideas are in the world before my eyes, as with the "Elemental" design based on an antique door hinge at my hairdresser's shop, or a light fixture in the rest room at my dentist's office, or the ceiling at a convention center.   Stay tuned for a quilt series around architectural and decor elements.

I think you can train yourself, or maybe it's condition yourself, to notice those things.  I find myself doing it more often, practicing, since I've become aware of it.  Sometimes I practice it when I have to wait somewhere.  Recently I had occasion to spend some considerable time waiting at a clinic and I challenged myself to find five design ideas in what I saw around me.  (The magazine rack was a very interesting design, that might be interpreted in a quilt one day.)


Quilt designs from constraints
Sometimes they come, interestingly, from constraints posed to me.   Most often (for me) that has been in the form of the precuts or a specific fabric, as in quilts I've designed for Cut Up and Quilt for various occasions:   shop hops, bus trips, and the like.

"Going Up" was designed around three constraints, or maybe I should call them considerations: 5" squares of solid colors, easy to piece, and modern (because the shop has quite a modern flair.)

Going Up!

"Hair Raising" needed to use some extra kits of 18 fat eights of Halloween fabric, and have a bit of a scary edge to it.  (Someday I want to do this in icy blues.)

Hair Raising

"Hop, Skip, and a Jump" focused on fabric designed just for the All Iowa Shop Hop, with accents of solid brights.   The nature of the shop hop fabric was such that I wanted it to be used in large pieces.  Again, I thought it should be easy to piece, so the bright colors were in long strips and the corner triangles were of a size such that corners and points didn't have to match.

Hop, Skip, and a Jump

The ten (well, in the end, eleven) quilts in the "Ten for Ten" series all came from a "limitation" of using 10" squares.  In that series there was a great deal of "What if..." going on:  what if I cut here after I sew that?  Or what if I sewed it THIS way, instead?   In other words, there was much of trial and error.  I have a stack of iterations of Underwater Basketweaving that could cover Alaska.   I'm working now on a series "Jelly Plus," designing quilts that use a jelly roll and some other precut.  "Jumble Sale" started it out, and the newest one is "Zipped," which will be published this weekend.

Underwater Basketweaving

Quilt designs in series
I'm sure everyone is different creatively, and you must find what works best for  you.  For me, for example, designing in series gets my creative cogs turning.  Perhaps it gives me a structure for trying many new ideas, without having to find completely new concepts for each quilt.  Perhaps it's just that my mind wants to categorize and organize ideas.  (I was a librarian for more than 40 years, after all.)  Whatever the reason, it works well for me.  I have the attention span of a two year old, however, so the series necessarily have limits, and then I want to be on to something else.  You may get bored with series, or find that one series can last you a very long time.

"Zipped"  is not only a Jelly Plus but the start of a series of quilts based on fasteners.  I liked zipped and I decided to go more general for more ideas.  What is a zipper?  It's a fastener.  What other fasteners are there?  My brain is  mulling designs with names such as "Clipped" and "Snapped" and "Stapled."

Zipped

I've already started a "Retro Modern" series, and ideas for more in that series are chasing each other around in my head.

Quilt design ideas from "failed" designs
Confession time:  I have a lot of bad ideas, and designs that are just flat out ugly.   I could let that discourage me, but each less-than-useful idea is one design I don't have to bother to make.  Sometimes it's just sheer volume and perseverance that create the best designs; seldom is a first iteration a success.  My design book and my libraries in Electric Quilt are filled with designs that will never see fabric BUT they may spark another thought or idea, that leads to a better one.

And, an aside:  Don't hesitate to listen to what a quilt or design tells you.  Fellow quilters, you know what I mean!   I don't like to sew on borders, and when Spaghetti Straps told me it wanted four of them, I cried.  But I did them, because the quilt was the better for it.

Spaghetti Straps

"Paper Chains," a design that will soon be published is different than originally planned.  The block remained the same but the layout changed after I pieced all the blocks and put them up on the design wall.  I liked it well enough, but then the "What if...." muse in my brain started whispering to me--and then she started shouting at me.  (You have a muse, too, you just have to listen for her.)  The name changed because the fabric/precuts I ended up with were not what I went to the shop to buy.  :-)

Paper Chains (in progress)

In short, don't sell yourself short:  you ARE creative, if you let yourself just play.  Let ideas percolate.  Don't worry about whether someone else is going to like your design, just do it.    I have complete faith and confidence in your creativity!

A Modern Quilt Comes Together

My readers' choice from the first half of the 12-week Design Challenge was "Between Two Rivers," and it's coming together.  I confess that your choice surprised me, but it's been fun to put it together and I thought I'd share how I translated it from drawing to quilt.

The design evolved during Week 6 of the Challenge, starting out as one concept in the "different paths" challenge that my friend Ann proposed.  After the fact, I decided it reminded me of Iowa, which means 'Between Two Rivers."   The rivers run north and south, rather than east and west, as the design depicts, but what's the fun in creating art if you can't use artistic license?

Between Two Rivers quilt design

Translating a Design into a Quilt

The first step was to choose fabrics.   I didn't want any large scale prints for it (except for the background), but neither did I want solids; texture was important, especially if the greens were representing fields full of crops.  I played with the idea of representing fields in different seasons, and maybe that will happen someday, but for this quilt I stuck with high summer.  Not all of these fabrics made it into the quilt.

Then I set out to work on proportion.  I knew that I didn't want the fields to be all the same length and width.  This is more artistic license, as Iowa is laid out quite grid-like, for the most part.   The order and placement of the fabrics in the layout, as well as the relative sizes and proportion required some trial and error.   And it changed.  Many times.

Even as I pieced the fields, the sizes and proportion saw some adjustments.  I also added narrow brown strips between the fields, which was not part of the original drawing.  It felt like it needed a bit of "pop" between, to accent the change in the fields/crops and brown was logical; Iowa has rich soil.    I worked it until it looked as I thought I wanted it, then just sort of closed my eyes and sewed it together.   At some point, you just have to say, 'Enough with the tweaking," and do it.   That usually works for me, though I have been known to rip out an entire quilt top and re-do it.  I'll tell you the story of the Abacus/Soroban quilt some day.

The last of the layout decisions were the shade and curve of the rivers.  There were really only two possibilities for the shade of the blue, and the lighter fabric won.  The textural print of the blue was just what I wanted for the flowing rivers.

The top is almost finished--just finishing the applique on the rivers--and will be loaded on Molly, my longarm, soon.  I'll let you know how the quilting goes!

If you're interested in updates on designs and quilts that I'm working on, please follow the Spinster on Facebook; I'd love to see you there!

The votes are in!

It looks like the voting has settled, and the winner is.....

Feynman Lives!

I'm working to finish up the applique of the two rivers on your choice from the last challenge poll, then it will be ready to quilt.  Gotta figure out that quilting scheme soon!  (A friend is here, getting acquainted with Molly (my longarm) as she learns to quilt.   "Between Two Rivers" might take awhile to quilt, so we'll see what the training schedule is going to be.  That's a reprieve, right?  I have more time to figure out the quilting, and get started on Feynman.  :-)

I'll post an update on Between Two Rivers soon.

Getting to Work (Part II)!

The second half of the 12 week Design Challenge is over, and it's time for you to tell me which of the weekly designs you'd like me to work on first.   I've chosen the design I like best from each week's concepts, and your votes will decide where I start.  (I'm still making progress on "Between Two Rivers," which should be ready for quilting soon.  Which means, I suppose, that I have to settle on a quilting scheme.)

Anyway, back to this half of the challenge.  You can vote for your choice on this survey/poll, which shows the choices, but I'm reviewing your choices here, as well.   (Disclaimer:  Colors may change, on any of these, when they are actually made.)

1. Life is Chocolate
What can I say?

2. Feynman Lives
Perhaps not as true to a Feynman diagram as some of the others, it still retains a tiny bit of the spirit of them.

3. Elemental
All good choices, as I liked them all.  I had to choose one.

4. Inca
I liked all my choices, but this was still in keeping with the original, beautiful Inca counting device.

5. Knife Skills
I will probably do "Diced," anyway, at some point (I'm thinking hand-dyed cottons) so Julienned was my choice for your choosing.

6. Window on Wings
This was a tough choice, but in the end this is the one from last week that would be most different for me to try.

Please help with your vote! (You surprised me last time.)   Thanks for your input!  Here's the link again:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1HOarQc7bBI2UT00SQN2Jd90ZbZoDDks-8pFCP6wqgbo/viewform?usp=send_form

Design Challenge Week #12 Results

It's the 12th and final week (for now) of my Design Challenge, as I'll be taking a break before my next challenge.  (I think the next will be something to do with architectural details.)  I have plenty of designs to make into quilts, and in the next week or so I'll be posting a poll that will let you choose which of the most recent 6 designs you would like me to work on first.  Or, next--I'm making progress on the previous hexdesign poll.  (The background is all finished, I've chosen the blue for the rivers and have actually created them, and now I have to work out the curve that I want.)

So, back to this week, which revolves around photos of moths that my sister, Rita, sent me.  There are many beautiful and intriguing patterns on the wings but one of my favorites, and the one I chose, has a pattern of straight, black lines on a beige wing.   It reminded me very  much of improvisational piecing, though the patterns on the two wings mirrored each other, which is less likely to happen on an improvisationally pieced quilt.

Because the moth's wings were triangular in shape, I first "pieced" some black bars into triangles. following the pattern on the moth's wings (to some extent).  Not quite what I wanted.

I made some more, and combined them, again following somewhat the shape of the moth with its wings extended.  Still didn't do much for me.

How about some color?   No, that's not it, either.

Then I tried circles.  You know me--and circles and bars!

I tried it with colors, and like that rather better.

I tried it with the circles having a different background from the main field.

I tried it with the main field a different color than the circles.

The circle design is my favorite thus far but, though I promised myself I wouldn't worry about construction while I'm designing, I'm worrying about how to get a good, crisp appliqued circle with those bars cutting across the edges at odd angles.  (Hmm.  Reverse applique might be a possibility.)


Then, going back to my fascination with weaving, I tried straight, woven bars in a square "window."  (Yes, at this point I abandoned the improvisational piecing aspect.  The wings were just an inspiration, as a jumping-off point.)  Just one window was too plain, and didn't really show off the weaving effect as much as it might, so I started combining windows, lining them up so the warp threads and one weft thread would tie them together.  Not bad; I like this one, also.  I'd want to play around with the number of windows, and how to place them.

I can't leave a design without trying some other effects. What if I stretched the windows, vertically and horizontally, and again match up warp and weft threads, as I can.

I'm not certain which I like better--one of the circle designs, or the first woven pattern.   I'll ponder that, as I need to make a decision before I post your 6 choices for the poll!

Which do YOU like best?

Design Challenge Week #11: Results

This week's challenge:  design a quilt around the kitchen, specifically knife skills.

My knife skills are not in the perfection category, but I still have all my fingers.  (I did lose the veriest little bit of the tip of one finger, but that was a rotary cutter accident, not a knife crisis.)

My first thought was dicing: lots of nice, little squares.   If I were really good with knife skills the dice would be even and consistent in size.  However, my diced is dicey.  (Besides, an even dice in a quilt would just be squares of the same size and, while I love postage stamp quilts, that wouldn't meet my objectives here.)

I'm picturing many colors of hand-dyed fabric.  I guess it would be a diced salad, with LOTS of different ingredients.

A cutting board with piles of dice:

Next up in knife skills is slicing; think "red onions."   Here we have all sorts of choices, changing sizes and colors, and arrangements.  I started with "rings" that are really discs with red onion rims.

Actual onion rings could also be grouped, stacked, whatever.

Just for fun, stacking closely creates a sort of Slinky effect.

And changing colors in a different kind of stack makes for a bit of an optical illusion.

The final knife skill for the challenge is cutting julienne strips.  (This one was the most fun, to be honest.)  Think carrot strips.

It's easy to make a pinwheel from the strips.

But, in the end, I like the overlap design the most:

I tried it in a block arrangement but it was pretty blah, and didn't look at all right.  So, I returned to my favorite vertical strip, which I would offset from the center, placing it at about 1/3 the width of the background.

Oh, and I was shifting the strip sets around, I ended up with something that looked like an old-fashioned camera case (with the "bellows" look), so I added some sliced rings.  Just for fun.

Because fun is what it's all about, right?