what if ?

what if #115: form and function

many times i start out with a plan, but rarely does it take the original imagined form. today i am think about why that is. i suppose that part of it is changing my mind during the process. but with this one it was necessity. the floats of the stitch were becoming too long and interfering with the functionality. and so i asked myself what if i go back and slice up the larger areas into smaller pieces. and do the design has begun to morph within itself. same framework. different feel. motif/ design is often derived from the chosen technique itself.

one more thing...Sara Lechner has chosen to join me in focusing on what if on her new blog. go take a peek.

what if #120: skatchwork

this is a continuation of what if #43.... an idea i explored where patchwork can be done applique style. this time i am really looking at a similar application but moving away from the traditional pattern framework and asking what if (?) i just make a sketch of a quilt block on fabric (laundry marker and micron pen) and fill in the spaces applique style. since it is kind of a combo of sketching and patchwork...i am calling it skatchwork. i am working small( 3" square), with mostly silk and the teeniest of scraps. freestyle, some ragged and some turned edge and probably cleaning it up with a bit of thread filler. and of course changing my mind along the way..continued here

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 #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.

what if #140: shifted motifs

....just simply drawing with marker on fabric, chopping it up and playing with piecing it back together. sometimes upside down. i like very much the upside down . laundry marker on cotton yarn dyed oxford shirting . recycled. not stitched yet. what if i do that?

what if #144: one color nine patch

.....yes. more on the nine patch. because i simply asked myself ( even if it sounds silly...) what if all nine patches were the same color? ...is is still a nine patch? right after that i started asking a lot more questions. so there will be more of these. paula is doing some great 9 patch what-iffing. she did this which has me thinking that the nine patch is a frame. it has a center and that is one of the things that is  so pleasing about it. and now she is continuing (scroll down a bit). i am enjoying her thought patterns. i have made a nine patch category. lots to do here.

.....so i immedaiately moved on to asking what if (?) i create the alternating element in the nine patch with texture. quilting. alternating stitched and not stitched. i have purposely quilted this to a dark background because thise shadowy boxes have caught my fancy. the cotton muslin squares are 1.75".