Tagged: flying geese
Sunday sketch #155
Recently I created a bunch of related designs that I figured I’d just post together, since they’re so similar. They’re all based on triangles – mostly half-square triangles, but also some flying geese and some elongated diamond shapes (rhombi!).
I wanted to recreate the feel of my Heartbreaker quilt pattern – those long diagonal lines created by adjacent half-square triangles – and ended up sketching one design after another on my Rhodia dot pad. There really are no limits to how you can use those shapes in that way.
I love the energy and movement in these designs, and the way they evoke electricity pylons, or maybe cranes, or building scaffolding.
I plan to keep sketching more along this theme. I’d love to try making one of these designs into an actual quilt. I’d prefer to use piecing, although I think you could also make these designs using appliquéd bias strips (if you had a very steady hand or a long straight edge!).
Sunday sketch #143
I like playing with squares and triangles. They’re such basic shapes, but they’re so versatile. The design possibilities always seem endless to me. I was recently sewing up some blocks based on Sunday sketch #84, and decided to explore the idea of triangles around a central square.
(My favourite part of handsketching is those repetitive black lines. I just find them so calming – both to draw and to look at.)
This version is less busy than my original attempt, which squeezed three smaller triangles into each one you can see there. Sometimes less is more 🙂
Because the blocks in this design are offset – shifted one square over instead of directly above or below (or to the left or the right) – the design kinda migrates across the page instead of forming a neat shape with straight edges (like you’d want in a quilt). If you tilt the page a little, you can get a better idea of what a ‘square’ quilt would look like.
Of course, you could keep the orientation in the first image and just crop blocks to get straight edges, but I don’t think that’s as nice.
Because of the offset blocks, this design would be easier to make into a quilt pattern by piecing lots of little units rather than creating whole blocks first. The units themselves are just squares and half-square triangles. You could save a bit of time by using flying geese in some spots.
Sunday sketch #140
If you’ve followed my Sunday sketches (here or on Instagram) for awhile, you’ll know that I often reuse the same shape in different orientations or arrangements. This week’s sketch uses the same shape as Sunday sketches #138 and #139 – a sort of origami chevron.
Because of its angles and lines, the shape nests in really interesting ways. With this design, I started at one end of the page and meandered towards the opposite edge with no real plan in mind.
The rows of shapes alternate in direction – pointing up or down – which could be highlighted using different colours or fabric combinations.
This week’s design would be slightly easier to make than last week’s, as it can be broken down into separate rows – particularly if the shapes are made using flying geese and quarter-square blocks.
