Resistance is Futile

When this layout above developed on my design wall I laughed. It sure looks "Modern" to me. It seems very much like a "Modern" quilt, and the "Modern" quilts don't really sing for me.

It would be more "Modern" I suppose if I left the layout just the way it was, and surrounded it with a lot white. (Which for me would mean as many different White on Whites as I could jam in there...) and kept the fabrics sort of blender-ish to evoke solids, and kept the large scaled prints to a minimum.

But hey, I'm allowed to be opinionated. It doesn't make me right. As my Philosophy of Art professor Duane Whittier said many years ago "If you really think artwork A is better than artwork B, then it is."

Oscar Wilde said "I can resist everything but temptation."

I know the feeling.

This layout of the big striped triangle blocks has been calling my name. A part of me wants to make this "Modern" and yet break every damn "Modern" rule at the same time. Because, I'm contrary like that.

So I thought, hell. It's too good an idea to let it go (now where have I heard THAT before?)

I particularly like the idea of making the two halves of each block to be SIMILAR but not IDENTICAL, so the viewer will be casually looking...

and think, HEY! Those aren't the same... but they LOOK alike. (I love to reward viewers who pay attention.)

So I decided to keep the blocks of fabrics I really loved, and dump the ones I don't like. I will not make multiples, but I will make specific color combinations into specific blocks and then see how it goes.

These are some examples of blocks I already have with fabric combinations I think will make interesting pairs.

And naturally I had to go poking through my stash for other possible matches.

So while I might be making a quilt that looks kinda "Modern," it will really be me getting an idea and turning on its head and doing whatever the hell I want (which is what I do anyway).

As Oscar Wilde also said, "Oh, the anxiety. I hope it lasts forever."

Oh So Modern

Never one to let an idea go to waste, I decided to take the leftover pieces and see what I could do with them that wasn't anything I had already tried. I liked the way a pair of triangles could look like a stretched out rectangle if I lined up the long sides together.

So then I thought... what happens if I make the values look like they are the same across the two triangles that make up the shape... I particularly like this pair of blue triangles.

This cream and purple is pretty good too.

So, you get the idea.

I won't be sewing this together, but I'll store this idea away for later.