The vast majority of my quilt designs feature some kind of symmetry or regularity. I rarely use random layouts or abandon the grid entirely (which might be why I’ve never really warmed to improv…). This week’s sketch is a bit of controlled chaos… at quick glance, it might seem like a jumble of overlapping dots, but the order soon becomes clear.

I really enjoyed designing and making the overlapping curves in Moonshot, and it’s something I’d like to try again. But this week’s sketch was actually designed using quarter circles and pointed arch units. They’re the same shapes that I used in Sunday sketches #486 and #487, for example. Sewing them would require more seams than if I drafted moon-shape templates, but it would probably be a much quicker sew (for me, anyway!).

I tried scaling up, and adding some more circles between the overlapping pairs. I like how this next version is getting busy and feeling almost a bit too overwhelming. Imagine if it used more than four colours!

I also spent a long time playing with a pared-back vertical version, which uses the same overlapping circle pairs but in longer connected strings. I feel quite sure I’ve seen something like this before, hence not making it the feature pic this week. (If you recognise it, let me know and I’ll update this blog post!)

I’ve played up the transparency effect in these designs, as I think that’s the benefit of using those pointed arches in the middle – it immediately gives the illusion of two overlapping circles. You could try it without the transparency, just using two or three different colours, a bit like I did with the pumpkins in Sunday sketch #487 and the flowers in Sunday sketch #486.

The pointed arch unit is a fun way to connect curved shapes. I still haven’t actually sewn one! (Despite Daisy Aschehoug generously giving me a set of templates.) I really must get onto that.