When I joined the
Bee Sewcial bee, I expected it to be challenging. And it has been, as we've dabbled with
Chihuly-inspired improv, poster blocks, and now in March, transparency. In fact, transparency is something I notice and admire in quilting, but I'd never gotten around to trying it.
So when I did over the weekend, I found my encounter to be a stretch. We were asked to make 2 blocks - 1 at least 14" unfinished and 1 at least 9" unfinished. Using mostly blues and mostly greens, and a slight dash of light gray, we were given free reign to construct the blocks however we liked in order to create a sense of transparency. Strips, squares, circles . . . whatever!
So I got a little carried away, and my blocks are about 14"x20" (top) and 14" square (bottom). One thing I enjoy about making our blocks for this bee - we can usually send them untrimmed. So they may look a tad different in their final layout.
Even though I struggled a bit to get the transparent look I was after, my bee-mate Melissa/
weshallsew approved my blocks, so that's a relief. This is definitely a 'look' I'd like to explore more in the future, but for now I'm happy to have tried it, and glad to move on. If you'd like to see more of our Bee Sewcial blocks, check out Instagram hashtag
#beesewcial.
interesting! something I have not dabbled in....
ReplyDeleteThis would be a major stretch for me to accomplish the blocks as you did. Love your 'transparent' interpretation.
ReplyDeleteWell done
ReplyDeleteWowie! I adore that first block! I've never tried this technique, it's moved up on the list, now, though!
ReplyDeleteI like both blocks, but for the idea of transparency, I think the second block, where the royal crosses the aqua, and the intersection is green ... that's just perfect. Would love to see something that used more of that, even creating a sort of plaid. Thanks for showing us!
ReplyDeleteI think you nailed it (I favved your block on Flickr so I can always find it). I loved reading about transparency in Weeks and Ringle's book, and tried it a bit myself, finding it -- as you did -- to be extremely challenging. This bee is fun to follow and to see what they are up to next, so thanks for the write-up!
ReplyDeleteElizabeth