Monday, July 1, 2024

Minimal Shapes

It seems that most of my Bee Sewcial quilts over the years have turned out pretty maximalist. (Click to see them all!) So this year, especially considering my month is smack dab in the middle of our summer, I chose a more minimal-leaning prompt, Minimal Shapes.

I found this simple definition of 'shapes': "Geometric shapes, such as circles, triangles, or squares, have perfect, uniform measurements and don't often appear in nature. Whereas, organic shapes are associated with things from the natural world, like plants and animals." -Google.com

A collection of the kinds of shapes I'm looking for - organic, but reminiscent of geometric shapes - can be found in my pin board, Minimal Shapes. I'm thinking bold shapes with both straight lines (improv-style, meaning ruler-free is fine) and maybe some gentle curves. 


As for a palette, I'm asking my beemates to work in a palette similar to a purple and orange collage by Liz Roache - ie. orange, purple, brown, and gray. More specifically, colors such as Kona:
  • chili, tangerine, pimento
  • raisin, eggplant, hibiscus
  • chocolate, brown, mocha
  • lighthouse, overcast



Other guidelines I'm asking are:
  • use two to five fabrics per block, in at least two colors
  • each block should contain at least two but no more than six shapes
  • shapes inspired by those shown in the pin board, but not exclusively those
  • no transparency, no applique, 100% quilter's cotton only please
  • two blocks, each at least 12.5" square 
One of the layout ideas I'm considering would involve minor trimming, so blocks need to be at least 12.5" square; but anything much larger risks being trimmed off. That said, blocks may be left untrimmed, as long as they fit the 12.5" minimum request.


So pictured throughout this post are the two sample blocks I made. I'm hoping the prompt is fun but not too demanding. Plus I'm curious to work with more minimal blocks than my usual Bee Sewcial prompts provide. I'm anxious to see how the project evolves.

2 comments:

  1. Oh, this is a great prompt, and I'm super curious about your idea for trimming / pulling them together!

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  2. This is a great prompt! I like that you're trying to keep blocks simple - minimal. Personally, minimalism is the most difficult design element for me to achieve. You've provided thoughtful definitions and guidelines for what you're requesting, and your color combination is pretty and unique (you know me and brown ). It will be interesting to see how everyone's blocks turn out, and how they look together.

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