what if ?

what if #131: connecting things

since i was playing and connecting the dots, i also asked myself what if this works with anything?
......it certainly seems to work with hearts. (cotton floss and  silk on cotton velvet)
i have been away for a while here and i have high hopes for pulling this together as a community this year. there might be some changes in appearance and links etc. over the next weeks, but please stay with me.....i am a bit scattered at the moment. comment string has been enabled here so i will reply here on this blog and not by email. it seems to fit to the concept of sharing and conversation about what-iffing. yes. connect the comments.
happy new year!

what if #132: pattern play overlay

.....so i suppose i am revisiting this. and this time i am asking what if i play with 2 different patterns. and what if one is static and the other flowing. and what if i use dots as windows and use a spool to trace perfect circles....what if the circles don't need to be perfect? what if i use the cutouts as applique but what if i just darn them on with a quilting stitch, will they just melt into the web of the surface. what kinds of patterns can i create by tilting the pieces? what if i use the stripe as a stitching guide and play with the thread color a bit?
....well then... what if i write all my questions on the back as a document of process? cool...
now the last and craziest what if today.  what if....this could be a bookmark. a bit big you say? ( 4" x 12"). nah... a "book mat" perhaps? nah... i think it will work fine and i will call it a .....'question mark' !!!!!  a new series with a function. place keepers.  keepers of the evolution of creative thought. oh yeah. my new format for what-iffing 2009.

what if #133: dots and grids

 since i have decided this is the year of the dot, i am continuing with my nature of dots series over here at what if. and i suppose at first i was  asking myself what if a dot is just a point where things meet or intersect? 
 so i began marking the corners of a ninepatch which i arranged using woven stripes facing in different directions when i asked myself what if the intersections were also a change in direction?
then somewhere along the line i wandered into what if x marks the spot and what if patterns can be formed by a series of questions? which is a mighty big question i want to explore more.
this is also #2 in the bookmark/ question mark series. 3" x 14" not including fringe. linen cotton ans silk. hand stitched and pieced using english paperless piecing. 

what if #134: weaving a ninepatch

.....i have chosen the nine patch as a focus for a new project so i am experimenting with the idea a bit. first i asked what if i weave the nine patch?  while i was asking myself what if i start a different way so there is more indigo i realized that if you flip it over, the color arrangement is the opposite.
then..... since i am also focusing on dots i asked why not just tack it with thread beads for now to hold it to the foundation...
1.5" strips, white linen and cotton indigo
woven and tacked to a striped cotton indigo base.
i need to adjust the width of the outer strips  so i have the proper seam allowance... more on this. lots more.

what if #135: what if black and white can be more?

.....a study in black and white, free pieced and mended and then became more.

what if #136: what if i simplify?

it's a new year and i am trying to clean up my approach to things a bit. slowing down more and simplifying my life. less commitment and stress, more stitching. continuing to refine my style. i feel that trying to manage too many things just results in a tangle. i have run into some unpleasant competitiveness and weird email encounters and that is not what i had in mind.  SO i am revamping this site a bit, possibly combining it with spirit cloth...possibly starting over with a new compact style. i just don't know what but i need change.  i see a lot of you have started what-iffing and sharing stuff on your own blogs and flickr groups and that is so cool for me to see.  i am wiping my links clean here and laying low for a while. it will all come together sooner or later. there is no way change that really. thank you all for your continued support.
today i also asked what if i play with birds a bit. simplify them for some quilt block ideas. i am inspired by this old onei did years ago but never actually stitched it.

what if #137: nine patch cover up

....the question was, after noticing the nine patch within the woven check, what if (?) i cover up parts of the woven pattern to isolate certain areas, highlighting the normally unnoticed nine patch motif. and what if (?) i arrange the cover-up to produce another 9 patch configuration.
each applique square was cut to the size of 3 x 3 woven squares. it is interesting to notice that most woven checks are slightly elongated so the patches are not exactly square. i used my skatching method here, that is a piece was cut slightly larger that the area to be patched. it was needle turned to fit into the space i wanted to cover. TIP- when working with straight edges it is easier to start by finger pressing a fold on the first edge, matching it to the first edge to be sewn.  there are many other options for block variation here.

dobby woven yarn dyed check cotton ground, cotton, linen and silk skatches. overall size of skatched area is approximately 4" x 4"

the dots are part of another thought.

more about undoing pattern over here.

what if #138: ninepatch by extraction

working with the same check groundcloth from the previous post, i was inspired by a comment by  eva *** to cut out the hidden  nine patch motif and actually piece/integrate it into a nine patch block. the center piece is made by alternating 9 square cutouts with solid natural linen. i cut larger sections of the check ( 9x9 squares) as another play on the number nine. so i would say this is a very nine patch. 6.5" square. cotton and linen. hand pieced.

*** eva does a lot of interesting pattern/color play which you can see on her blog.