Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Challenge project: Intuition Quilt

Challenge project: Intuition Quilt 
come play along.

When I started this site, it was based on peoples emails to me,
wondering how I make what I make...
So I started to show you all how through play 
you discover things you might not find otherwise... 

Instead of thinking about a finished quilt, 
how to start from just a block of inspiration...


I'd like to challenge all of you on the site to make an abstract quilt
top based on this idea.
and share with us, not just a finished product, 
but
1. what started your inspiration?
2. how did you make fabric choices?
3. how did you decided what piece went were...

and take pictures of things that you change along the way and why...

Here's the rules:

start by making a completely random 12" block.
no patterns, just sew stuff together...
Make mental notes about the choices you are making...
Why did you choose red over blue?
why the square piece instead of a rectangle, etc...
Once you've made the block, 
LOOK AT IT...
What is it saying to you?
does it need more blocks similar?
is it the start of a random sampler?
is it a medallion?
should it be on point?
THEN add to the 12" block showing us your progress, and explain your choices...
YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ASK FOR PEOPLES OPINION or HELP.
This is purely your intuition, and getting you to realize why you are making
the choices you are making.

Work quickly, 
lay things out, 
step back look at it, 
walk away come back
and make decisions...

add to it...

Do you think it's balanced?
does it need to balance?
is it top heavy?
Is it bottom heavy?
What if you rotate it?

How can you work it out?
Can you leave it and work around it fixing the problem?
Can you leave the mistakes,
and make them work to your advantage?

These are some of the things I want you to think about as you work.

Make it as big as you like. 
Stop when you feel it's complete.

Put your seam rippers away... work with what you have in front of you.
there is no time limit to this project, join in when ever you want.
Take lots of pics of your work as it grows... what works, (in your opinion)
what doesn't work ( in your opinion) and what is challenging you...
that is what we want to see... How your making choices...

Keep your inspiration based on a fabric color or palette of colors not on someone else quilts...
You want to build your own quilt.
 ******
And as an example of the posts I expect, 
I am showing you how I worked so far, 
putting this scrap quilt together.


 When I started this quilt, the RED PLAID is the first piece of inspiration for this quilt. It came from one of you in the scrap swap...  I had only a small piece of it... 
As I was PLAYING, I decided to take one 8" block of the plaid, and scrap fabrics around it... 

So first I started by PULLING ALL THE SCRAPS out of my 
bins that I wanted to use... (ABOVE photo)
reds, golds, yellows browns, and blues...

When I made the scraps to make the block that dark brown piece
hit the square like a LID on a box...
I hated it... so I left it on my wall for three weeks looking at it, 
should I tear it out?
do I put it on point?

As you know from my other posts, I started designing this quilt on point,
Only later realizing I preferred it straight...

I liked the big scrappy border, and I took care to pop in bits of color,
like the BRIGHT BLUE in the upper right.
I liked how it started to make that brown slash on top of the box
start to seem less... so I added the GOLD, and the dark RED down the right side...
Then just to balance it all, that spot of  ORANGE on the left.

Now, I see all those spots of color at once, 
instead of that dark slash in the center...





Next I thought going simple

(big wide yellowish borders) would be enough for it, 
but no, that didn't excite me... so I started piecing the Golds 
around it to highlight the yellow around the original square.
That was the trick.

As I started piecing scrap blocks to go around the golds, I realized very quickly
that I did not like LIGHTS in the border, like this top yellow white tiger print...

I have not take it out yet, as I continue to piece more blocks..
perhaps it will work somewhere else... 
More play to discover the resolve...

I did purposefully add this yellow piece to line up with
the gold in the gold border, I like how it breaks out of that 
row and into the next outer row. I also did this on the original block from
the light yellow into the dark border above the lower red plaid square.
I also stuck in another orange slash(upper middle left) 
to keep your eye moving around the quilt.
Careful as I make the scraps, to balance to blues and browns 
so it doesn't get TO dark and heavy.

 ***

If your willing to play along, leave a comment
and Just start in and post your 12" blocks...
please put a label on your post, INTUITION QUILT (and your name), 
so we can see every one's progress if we click on it...

**Note- your process to build your quilt should not look like mine,
this is only an example of how this quilt grew for me.
Your quilt will find it's own way to grow...  


**A second thought is to do this in PAIRS.
(rotating TWO BLOCKS so you each will have a quilt top in the end)
LIKE MY POST HERE

If you want to participate leave a comment saying which way you prefer,
singularly, or paired. (I will pair you up)

Keeping it abstract will force you to make decisions you might not otherwise make...

Have fun! Happy Sewing!

30 comments:

CharlotteP said...

This looks fun...must make Lynn's house first...and then!!

Brenda said...

oooh, I'm going to give it a try this week.

Mary Keasler said...

Count me in. This is precisely what I want to learn: more letting go Thank you for your guidance, Victoria.

Nifty Quilts said...

Looks like fun!

Helen said...

Super idea!

LynAnne Smucker said...

I have some solid hand dyed fabrics I might just have to use to play with. Maybe something a little Nancy Crow influenced or a little Amish influence. Not sure.

Pinkadot Quilts said...

I think this sounds like a great idea!

Sujata Shah said...

Victoria,

This is a great idea. I am not sure if I would have new projects to post but I will definitely try to post and explain my process when I work on my 15 minute quilt that I have previously shown with the wheels and scraps. Wish I was as prolific as some of you are!
I love your enthusiasm and efforts of getting everyone involved in being intuitive!

Happy Sewing!

Encyclopedia said...

Count me in...A bit perplexed...not reading clearly...start with a 12 block and build out or are we building a series of 12" blocks...I also would probably like the paired...i like the swap concept...smiles..

Bonnie Hull said...

I actually have a plan of somethiing I was going to do...might fit your parameters...we'll see...PS I like the lights in the border

em's scrapbag said...

This sounds like so much fun. Count me in! Thanks for the inspiration.

Patty said...

Love this idea, count me in too! I have just started working more intuitively, as you can see in this blog post: http://sewmuchknitting.blogspot.com/2010/09/labor-day-weekend-sewing.html
It is SO much fun, and I can't wait to see what we all work on :-)

Kath said...

Can't wait to see that you gals do with this!

Glen QuiltSwissy said...

I'm in. For sure. This is just where I need to learn to be!

glen

Janet said...

I'd love to do this partnered with someone. I thought I posted this already so please ignore if you already know this :)

Margaret said...

Okay ... I will give this a try ... but have too many things going to be paired up with someone. (FYI ... will be out of the US so can't begin to work on it until the middle of Jan)

Nathalie said...

I am playing along. Here is my blog post where I have alredy started.

http://wastelandwallowing.blogspot.com/2010/12/project-intuition-quilt-challenge.html

this is just rigtht up my alley. So glad I found this blog - had been reading your other blog for quite sometime and didn't know about this one. doh!

Helen said...

I am flying solo on this one, V. Going to be a real challenge for me.

Mary on Lake Pulaski said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mary on Lake Pulaski said...

Hey, I'm so wanting to be part of this and would love to be paired BUT I'm away from my sewing machine and stash and scraps until mid-February. So, I guess I'll just go it alone then. I WANT TO LET LOOSE and create!!

Birdie said...

Hi, I'd love to try this! I'm hoping projects like this will get the creative juices flowing and actually motivate me to complete something! Wish me luck!

Victoria Findlay Wolfe said...

Birdie, I need your EMAIL to invite you to join the site... you are a no reply commenter...

Carol E. said...

Yes, I will give this a try! I've been feeling major burnout. Maybe this will lift me out of it. Wish me luck!

Nina Lise@Mrs Moen said...

Count me in too! I always work intuitivley and it would be interesting to follow my own process as well as yours.

Miki Willa said...

I would like to give this a try. Is there a time limit on this project?

Sue R. said...

I would love to give this a try..sounds like a fun process!

Sherry said...

Count me in to play 15 minutes. I am going upstairs to make my block. My e-mail is sherrycreech@gmail.com.

Shelly said...

You know I'm in . . . only because I can't NOT play and join in. But truthfully, I need more play time and permission to break out of my structured "shell". I already have my idea, and Lord knows I have plenty of fabric!

Lisa said...

I avoided committing to this when I first read about it because I was signing up to so many things. But now that I'm back at work and I've settled into a routine I know how much time I've got on my hands, and I'm looking for something else to inspire me. Victoria, can you sign me up for 15 minutes play?
Thanks Lisa

Carli The Quilter said...

I am in. I'll start tonight! I need to do this, its been a busy week with lots of stress, this will destress me!Thanks Victoria for awesome ideas to work together on stuff.
Do I post it on my blog or email it to you?