Sunday, September 1, 2024

Those Colorful Cobblestones

The blocks for the colorful cobblestones really annoyed me. There were some blocks that didn't seem to be colorful - they read as grayish, so I removed them.

I thought perhaps the colored blocks should be separated by other blocks, so I tried to imagine them as perhaps single colored blocks, like the blue ones and the red ones in the photo below. In between those diagonal rows I arranged the colored blocks.
But that didn't really do it for me, as you can see from all the blocks scattered about on the floor. When I get stuck like this, I set it aside and think.

After a day or two, I realized I was overthinking this, and I simply needed to arrange the colored blocks so they looked like they belonged next to each other. 

 I knew that if I took some blocks away I would need to replace them with other, lighter blocks. Once I had those I began to arrange the blocks one at a time, placing blocks that connected to each other via color, because I believe the PATTERN or the PRINT of the fabric CARRIES the COLOR and the COLOR connects the blocks and helps move the viewer's eye around the quilt.

So this is getting there. 

NOW! This design is easier to make successful if done in one color or a monotone. Making this quit in many colors is really a balancing act.

Which, of course, is my jam.

2 comments:

Quiltdivajulie said...

I think I would need to set up diagonal rows with the insert strips all running vertically in order to create a pattern/flow for the eye to follow. Or even alternate one diagonal with horizontal inserts and the next with vertical inserts so that my brain would stop trying to make sense of all the colors and relax into the jubilant cacophony of colors.

Mystic Quilter said...

I do like how the second photo of Cobblestones is looking, and love the words in your previous post
"Just because most folks think it's OK doesn't mean that I do." Very true.