I’ve been creating some fairly maximalist designs lately, and this week’s sketch is no exception.

(OK, ‘maximalist’ for me is pretty much anything featuring more than 5 colours!)

Ever since making Moonshot, I’ve been thinking of incorporating sub-cut curves into more designs. By ‘sub-cut’ curves, I mean curved units or shapes that are each divided into two parts by another curve. It’s a concept I’ve used once or twice before – see Sunday sketch #364, for example – but now that I’ve actually sewn those types of units together, I’m a bit more aware of their potential.

This design’s block-based; each block feature two small circles sub-cut by a large quarter-circle (or drunkard’s path). There are also two more quarter-circles that don’t touch anything else: one in the corner facing that big curve (parallel to it), and one pointing in the other direction in the diagonally opposite corner.

You can probably tell where the block edges are by looking at the small crosses made up from vertical and horizontal lines, in the space between four sub-cut circles. These first few designs use a 6 × 6 standard layout. Using alternating colours in adjacent blocks helps to create new shapes that extend beyond the block borders; it also means that the whole design tiles in a way that features the same shapes in both colours.

In this next version, I’ve modified those two extra drunkard’s paths – the one that’s parallel to the big curve is now much smaller, and the other one essentially disappears by being coloured the same as the background. I’ve just rotated the blocks here for another variation; not so interesting, but it shows you more clearly where the blocks begin and end.

I can rotate those blocks again to create something new. Tentacles? Buoys strung together? The waviness is giving me nautical vibes.

   

But back to the original version. This one’s just a 5 × 5 layout. So at the same finished quilt size, these blocks would be bigger and thus probably a bit easier to make.

I’d approach making this one just like I did with Moonshot: templates, templates, templates. I drafted my own on template plastic (a few bucks for a sheet at my local quilt shop).

Some pieces (particularly the larger pieces in which the two small circles sit) would be a bit tricky to cut (you’d be sorted if you had a laser cutter!). But intricate designs with curves are achievable: just check out work from makers like Kelly Spell (like her Modern Rings Series and Circle Work) and Audrey Esarey, for example. It just takes a bit (OK, a lot!) of planning and care.

I’m tempted to make something like this, just because I think it’s a bit of a departure from my usual makes (which tend to have only a few colours and simpler designs). I’m not sure I’ve got the patience to tackle this particular sketch – just the thought of making all the templates is a bit tiring – but I’ll keep exploring the concept of sub-cut curves.