Friday, September 21, 2012

Square spiral: a Reveal Day posting


     If you were asked to design a spiral quilt block, what would you come up with. Below is my offering at Material Mavens. After you try to draw the pattern and color it (it is tricky), I recommend your visit to see, enlarge the photos, and read the explanations given by 12 participants in this international journal quilt group. For my 12" x 12" offering, I wrote:

     Because I am often in a spiral, I felt confident to work with this theme for September. I have earrings galore which have spiral designs. I often feel like a dancer in a spiral; and I like the zany and untraditional that the symbol connotes.

     At a recent quilt show, I obsessed over a seemingly simple spiral block quilt that did not seem to interest others. I casually tried to sketch how to compose the mildly tricky block; so I was pleased to have an excuse to work with the block in detail. All I needed was the two colors of fabrics.

     At the NH Mancuso quilt show, in the last vendor booth which I visited,  there were batik spirals fabrics perfect for the job. I chose colors opposite on the color wheel to hint at, somewhat like yin and yang, the good and the bad spirals in life or the world today. I set the small erratic fabric spirals inside the larger architectural spiral of achieved calm. The back of the quilt is a hand-dyed spiral of a same color which I found in my stash.


6 comments:

  1. I continue to be amazed at the wonderful effect of transparency that this quilt exhibits! I remember reading about transparency in one of my quilting books--I think in COLORPLAY by Joen Wolfrom. But I don't recall that her explanation of how to achieve this effect mentioned what you've done here. Perhaps it works because of using colors opposite on the color wheel? I really like how the square spiral contrasts with the curves of the spirals in the two fabrics, too. AND I loved the way the bright pink (magenta?) echoes the reds used in other of the MM quilts. When you look quickly at the composite, it is interesting the way yours pulls the eyes in first, and then my eyes were drawn to other quilts with reds in them. Not that I didn't go to each one eventually, but that describes my experience of looking at the mosaic.

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    1. Yes, if you want something to come off strong, color wheel opposites do the job. I was more interested in yin and yang, not that what I am doing communicates the opposites!

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    2. Definitely I see the Yin and Yang aspect of this quilt. It came thru loud and clear, in addition to that transparency effect that is so very striking and then so many MMs mentioned!

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  2. Fascinating to study the different spirals and "watch" their interaction. Depending on my focus, they "trade off" receding and coming to the forefront.

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  3. Crazy wild about the spiral. It is stunning. I sent it along to Andrea and my sister, Pam. She is a quilter. Hugs,js

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  4. Interesting perspective by all you MM. It all makes me dizzy, I confess :). ss

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