Diamonds are forever

It’s been more than six weeks since I’ve returned from the Indianola, WA Potpourri workshop. You may think I've been avoiding my art, but it ain't so! Exercise 3 from the workshop has been morphing on the design wall.

I've nicknamed this composition High Anxiety for now. Not because that's the way I feel about it (not yet!) but because of the exercise directions.

At the workshop I started with the pieces splattered together helter-skelter.

helter-skelter & rotated

helter-skelter detail

Much as I like it, I’d go loony piecing this. For structure with options plus irregularity, I cut down each module into a diamond - 5 regular sizes and standard angles. You can see the variations from this set of modules.

cut and uncut diamonds

There are five sets of modules gradating in size, value and contrast. All of them are cut into diamonds, but not so they fit dimensionally snug with other sizes. The diamond templates are big enough to fit the rectangular modules without  being locked into one position.

I initially sewed the smallest modules together into strips.

sewn into rows

Too restrictive too soon. I don't hesitate to un-sew. 

These diamonds have been arranged and rearranged multiple times - more than are shown here.

on the diagonal

I like this but not what I was after. May be version 2.

The chosen arrangement – a radiating pattern - a reversal of the one above.

chosen one

This is one composition that demands to be bigger. The Black lines mark out a 5’ square. Rearranging the modules wasn't enough to make it work. I needed more diamonds. Because I had to dig out the colors from my stash, making more took forever.

Now it's about six feet square.

sew this up!

And ready to sew up! To keep it big I'll fill in gaps rather than cutting off the excess. However big it will be, I have a lot of piecing ahead! Maybe even more modules. I'd be making diamonds forever.