Tagged: triangle in a square
Sunday sketch #252
I have a sneaking suspicion that I’m going through a bit of a dry spell when it comes to designing. I’m trying to stop calling these periods ‘slumps’, because I think it’s natural for creativity to ebb and flow. But also, creativity begets creativity, and I haven’t been sitting down to sketch much. So rather than panic about the lack of new ideas lately, or worrying about where the next idea is going to come from… I’m just trying to do better when it comes to practice. I’m trying to sit down and sketch more often. Even if it doesn’t lead to anything, it’s a good reminder of the importance of creative play.
Anyway, as is often the case when I’m feeling a bit lost design-wise, I started playing with stars this week. And warm colour palettes. Yellows and oranges and pinks always make me happy.
When I create block-based designs, I try to ensure that individual blocks can accommodate multiple colours as well as a single colour. I think this one works!
It also works with a dark background…
…and in a greeny/yellowy palette.
I also like to see if block-based designs work with blocks coloured in an alternating palette or combination of colours. And, again, I think this design gets the OK!
To position the stars as close to each other as possible, without too much interstitial space, I’ve arranged these blocks on point with sashing. That could make them a little more difficult to piece (although I can see a workaround…).
Removing the sashing keeps the same general arrangement, but the blocks are now touching. This version would be much easier/quicker to piece, as the quilt top could be assembled in rows or columns of deconstructed blocks instead of joining whole individual blocks.
Connecting the blocks does give quite a different feel to this quilt design though. This three-colour version feels much busier to me. I find it harder to see each block on its own, without interference from its neighbours. This might just be a result of the colour scheme I’ve used here. It’s a bit easier to discern each block in the multicoloured version.
I like how the ‘connected’ version created secondary shapes between the blocks – stars within stars!
These designs could be made into quilts using basic units like triangle-in-a-square blocks, squares and rectangles.
Sunday sketch #246
I’m still playing with the same triangle-in-a-square block that made its first appearance in Sunday sketch #243 (and was also the basis of sketches #244 and #245). Here it is again, set on point.
Sometimes it takes many rounds of revision before I hit on a design that I like. I can walk you through how this one came to be, so you can see what I mean.
First, I started with a regular layout of squares and triangle-in-a-square blocks. I used flower shapes (like in #243), but coloured the squares in between the blocks to make it look like the shapes were overlapping. I liked how those background stars appeared, but overall the design felt a bit too crowded for me.
To relieve the crowdedness, I changed the layout (expanding the overall size, and increasing the number of blocks), added some negative space around the perimeter, and emptied out the central square of each shape (using the square-in-a-square block that I introduced in #245). I liked this version more, but it still felt a bit busy to me.
After looking at that design for awhile, I realised it might look interesting set on point (that is, on the diagonal). So I revised the design (all of this was done in Electric Quilt 8). Setting the same layout on point also introduces lots more negative space, which helps to focus your eye on the design but also relieves the busy-ness.
You’ll notice that I also filled in the spaces I’d introduced in the shapes themselves – I decided I didn’t need that square-in-a-square block after all.
So – I liked the diagonal layout more than the standard layout. But I still wasn’t completely satisfied. So I tried a few more variations, where the two sets of shapes (yellow and blue) overlapped in different ways. Here’s one.
Don’t you love those background stars that emerge in the middle, where the two sets of shapes overlap? I liked this version, but ultimately decided that there was still too much going on.
So I scaled back the movement by making the two sets of shapes run in parallel instead of perpendicular. Ahh, that’s better.
In this version, I also coloured those background stars in white. You might not notice them at first, as the white is only a shade brighter than the light-grey background. But once you get your eye in, they’re easy to find. I can’t decide if I prefer the stars highlighted like this or not… so you get to see both versions!
Sunday sketch #245
I used the same triangle-in-a-square block in the last two weeks’ designs, and here it is again. (Unlike the classic triangle-in-a-square block, the base of the triangle in this block doesn’t span the width of the square; it’s half as wide here.)
This shape is so versatile. I made scads of versions by rotating it, tiling it in different ways, reversing the colourway, and generally just playing around with it.
The above version started a bit like the one below (more or less), but I thought it would be fun to extend the lines up to the border of the page.
The block works well in asymmetric as well as symmetric designs. This next one’s probably my favourite, to be honest. I might try making this one – maybe as a mini or at least a smaller quilt. And maybe even in this colourway – I really like this blue and black (well, dark grey) combo.
As with Sunday sketches #243 and #244, this week’s designs would probably be easiest to make using paper-piecing to make the triangle-in-a-square blocks.
