Friday, January 22, 2010

First motifs

I've been sketching motifs for my Sets and Variable workshops with Nancy Crow in May. I was itching to make some sketches a reality. My first is a simple one based on a traditional patchwork block.
Some variations on the design wall.

Variations could go on forever. Enough with rearranging. I impatiently sewed together my first set of twelve.
Then modified the motif and sewed set number two and three.

What looked good on a sketch didn't necessarily look as good sewn together. I find set two isn't as interesting due to the regular opposition of black and white. In set three the ones with non-matching seams at the point of the v which created an interesting jagged edge. There aren't enough of them.

To keep pace with the intensity of the workshop, my goal is to create a one-seam motif that can still hold interest. By considering how to cut and piece my motif to create reversals and non-matching points, I may be able to achieve that.

More studies to come.

2 comments:

  1. Elena, you're going to be way ahead of the class with all those motifs already pieced!
    I'll post about the Set and Variables I class as I can - looking forward to seeing how it goes.

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  2. Elena,
    One thing Nancy said that helped me decide which motif to use - "it should be beautiful at 3" or 2". I was sure she was going to assign us a composition with a 2' motif!

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