The block in last week’s Sunday sketch featured two half-square triangles whose long faces (or hypotenuses, for all you math fans out there) faced each other. By swivelling each HST by 90 degrees, I created a diagonal line running across the whole block, which (when rotated) introduces new lines to the whole design. Here, I’ve coloured one side and left the other side as the background colour.

Here it is in a palette closer to last week’s.

Because the design ends up looking like alternating blocks that are set on point, it lends itself to two-colour palette. I like colouring the outermost units so that the minor feature (in this case, the curvy pinwheels) are highlighted and feel like they’re floating against the background; otherwise, the design feels a bit ‘blocked in’ to me.

I like how the horizontal and vertical lines in the curvy pinwheels suggest another (subtle) grid across the whole design that balances out the diagonal grid, while the curves keep everything feeling more gentle and less harsh. (Sometimes I wonder if any of the things I write make sense, but I reckon there must be other people who feel the same in reaction to shapes.)

This design reminds me a bit of Sunday sketch #215 (another favourite of mine) – a simple combination of curves and HSTs that creates a diagonal checkerboard effect. I wish there were enough hours in the day (and money in the bank) to make all the quilts!

 

ps. I messed up when drafting this post, and ended up publishing it immediately instead of scheduling it. Doh! So some readers will have been confused on Friday 23 September when they got the automated email. Consider yourselves lucky to have witnessed only the second scheduling mistake in over 6 years of Sunday sketches 🙂