The devil is in the detail

Week 18

This week came around before I was ready for it.  I had so many commitments during the week but it surprises me that I keep thinking what I will do with this challenge.  I have still kept my source of inspiration the screen from the pagoda but this time I have turned it into an applique block.

I have kept to the 6" block which made the petals quite fiddly.  I think it would have been better as a 10'' or 12'' block but it is a simple design that could be made in a number of fabrics which would change the look of it.  Also if the block was bigger you could do different things with the quilting in the background. I have drawn the pattern with my CAD drawing program, I bet all the engineers would be horrified to see me using it to draw flowers.

I used three of the fabrics that I used in weeks 16 and 17 to keep some kind of continuity.  I think that I will try this design in other fabrics .

 The petals are made up of both of the above fabrics and I have used a saddle stitch to highlight the centre.

Second block for week 17

Now I have finished all four of the second block and sewn all nine block together for the finished 12" block.  I like it better on point I think. That is the way the wooden screen was set.

First block of week 16

Well four actually.  I have finished the four corner blocks for the geometric pattern for this week.  As usual I didn't have the right fabrics for the task so had to take another trip to the patchwork shop.  I had sewn the block from the fabrics in my stash and it looked terrible.  Why does that always happen, or is just me?

There is so much work in this block that I am going to spread it over the two weeks. Block 1 this week and block 2 next, week 17.  I think I should have needle turned the centres.  Too late now.

Week 16

I thought that I would move on from faces to the garden but unfortunately, with the death of my laptop I am limited in what I can do. So, I have decided to look at the wooden screens around the pagoda.  I think it was this wood carving that first caught my attention.

The use of regular patterns and negative space seemed aesthetically pleasing.

I have never drafted a patchwork block before so I thought this would be a good challenge.  I tried to find a pattern that was regular and repeated.  I selected the flower and star pattern in this screen.

If you look at the screens construction there are long pieces of wood running in one direction and them joiner squares inserted at regular intervals to join these.  The pattern runs on point. I took one square and deconstructed this.

 

 I have used a CAD mechanical program to draw the pattern. I find that the geometry deletes the flowers but it gives a good tessellation .

I drafted the pattern to fit a 6" square but this is quite a detailed block and at this size it could be sewn but would be better scaled up.  Times 3 gives an 18" square, which looks a bit big so I have decided to make it 12" square.

Besides the centre square there are basically two blocks the second of which would need to be worked  in reversed as well.

I have decided on 4 colours and will construct the blocks using a foundation piecing method.

But that will have to keep until morning as I am too tired and need to get some sleep.

Week 15

This weeks design is the result of seeing a face behind the face.  Let me explain.  There was one metal sculpture that was totally different from every other female face.  It did not have anything in common with any other female face, in fact it had those same staring eyes you see on the males.

The whole face was so dissimilar to the others.  Smaller finer nose, the lips were a different shape, the face seemed to be smaller.  I kept looking at it thinking I just wasn't seeing it.  Then I put it into Photoshop and another woman emerged.  It was as though she was inside waiting to be found.

This face reminded me of a Picasso or Dali painting so I used the same type of blocks of colour and a black edge.  I have quilted the background following the wave pattern of the printed fabric.

I think this is the end of faces for a while.  I may come back to them at a later stage.  I want to move on to some of the gardens around the Pagoda.