Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Nine x Nine Detail

Dolly commented yesterday that three letters in the same word were not the same size. That's not always the way I wanted it to be. The 'a' and the 'e' in chocolate are both too small. I made a mistake in each of them. I accidentally trimmed some elements (the crossbar in the 'A' and the top of the 'E') too thin.

Those two letters are fairly complex, and I had already made the 'A' once before, so I decided to just live with it. They are centered in the word more or less horizontally, because if I set them down on the baseline the word would have slanted downward and looked stupid.

HOWEVER... Notice the angle of the top loop of the 'a', the crossbar of the 't' and the top of the 'e' are all at the same angle? That was NOT accidental. That was deliberate, and serves to connect the letters visually.
Update:
PLEASE READ THIS: Ida, thank you for sticking up for me, but there is no need. Dolly left a lovely comment yesterday. My letters do have oddities, and her comment was in the vein of, "they aren't perfect, but they're perfect." I was pretty stoked!

I pay a lot of attention to how the letters look, and as regular readers know, I am a full believer in sharing my process. If there had been a goof, or mistake, my readers would have let me know long ago. If it's in the finished flimsy, it's there on purpose, and believe me, I KNOW about it.

This quilt was started way back in September with TURQUOISE, which I made to idle away a free afternoon. Back then I didn't know I had a quilt in the making. The whole quilt is actually a mini lesson in the possibilities of free pieced letter making. TURQUOISE, to me, is the way most beginners piece letters. A bit wonky, a bit uneven, but still very charming. The uneven letters are there quite deliberately.

AUBERGINE looks the way a quilter might make her second word, letters more even, straighter, more organized, more planned.

VERMILION is an example of a word that gets a little more inventive. Fabrics are "fussy cut".

The words get more creative after that, and also got somewhat trickier to sew. Regular readers know I made CHOCOLATE three times before I got the look I wanted.

In blogging, I open up my process for all to see. I value all comments, even dissenters. I'm not your average duck. I totally follow my own path, and it isn't traditional. I don't view the funky letters, the odd spacing, the irregularities as mistakes. I am using "artistic license". Quite liberally.

And enjoying every minute of it. Thank you all for your heartfelt support, and your thoughts!

8 comments:

Ida from Central PA said...

WHY would someone point out a 'mistake' after everything is done? Wouldn't the appropriate time have been before the article was quilted?

What does this person think that you'll do? UNPICK all of the quilting just to get to the 'offending letters' to re-do them?

Honestly!? I don't understand some people! And, what does this person have to gain by pointing this out? Her superiority?! Cripes!


Sign me ....

Astounded

connie said...

I agree with Ida, sometimes I wonder about people. I do love your piece! I have to tell you Chocolate is my favorite word on your quilt! Thanks for inspiring us!

Quiltdivajulie said...

Liberated letters can be uniform or random ... life itself leans more to the random and so do my letters.

Your letters are amazing!

Clare said...

Excuse me. Did someone miss the words "UnRuly" and "Liberated".

Pfffff.

Dolly said...

Oh, 'Millie' (I can't remember your name,.......that's the cat's name, right?), I'm so glad that YOU understood some of my comment !

How in the world did it get misunderstood so badly !

I said "mesmerizing".......I said, "I could stare at it forever". I love the piecing, the colors, the freedom, the surprises.

I pointed out the difference in size of letters because that's the freedom that I'M looking for when I make some eventually ! And I see NO MISTAKES........the letters you pointed out are not the ones I was even looking at.......yes, I remember the trials you went through making the word "chocolate" ! I was talking about the "u" and the "i" in "turquoise", and the "l" in "goldenrod"........I REALLY DIG IT, OKAY !!!!!!!

'Millie' knows that I am wanting to buy this book and try this myself, and that I am following her progress with my tongue hanging out and stars in my eyes.

Thank goodness SHE didn't mistake my comment for criticism !

Keep at it, 'Millie'......I'm on YOUR side, and atleast YOU know it.

Megan said...

I'm voting for 'champagne' as my favourite. It's subtle and sophistcated - just like the drink itself.

Megan
Sydney, Australia

Sharon said...

I'm working on trying to do deliberate things in my letters, like your 'a' and 'e' in chocolate. It certainly is a learning process and I rarely get it just the way I wanted it. And I'm also learning how to live with that. I'm also working on loosening up and going with the wonky!

Your blog is really helping me with all of this process. Thank you for sharing your failures as well as your successes.

Sharon said...

Oh wait, I didn't mean to imply that I see anything wrong with this quilt....it's wonderful! No failures here!

I just meant your failures along the way - I watched you struggling with 'chocolate'. Sometimes that is more instructive than seeing just the finished product.