Embrace

It was Émilie's @mili.tra turn to choose the BeeSewcial prompt this month, and unsurprisingly, she asked us to focus on color by using the Zorn Palette and the overarching theme of Embrace.

The palette, named after Swedish painter Anders Zorn (1860-1920), "is a limited palette created by the use of only 4 base colors: white, black, ochre and vermillion. This palette is mostly used for portraits, as it can recreate every skin tone. It is also a great way, by limiting the colors, to focus on value. So the goal is not to use only 4 colors. But to create a palette by mixing those colors. Yes, I know, we cannot really "mix" colors, but we can train our eyes to select colors that are derived from the mix of those pigments." Émilie provided several photos to use as reference. She also provided the photo below of her own fabric pull.

Wow! After checking my stash, I was able to pull a more limited selection of approved fabrics.



Another important aspect of Émilie's request was that we should create "blocks" that were not square or rectangular, but rather "blocks" that didn't have any sharp dents or concavity. The sides could be curved or straight. Here is her visual for us.

And finally, Émilie provided a pin board of inspiration images for the Embrace theme. Let's just say I was feeling very uncertain as I grabbed my fabric and rotary cutter.

My first block measured 14" x 15" at its largest dimensions, definitely improv, yet maybe too structured? Simply said, I was imagining the striped half 'embracing' the solid half.

So I tried again! Using some of the same fabrics, yet adding in more, I created this blob, which measures 12" x 14". It definitely felt softer, with just a bit of the stripe element from the previous block repeated. And I tried in a more curvy way to illustrate the two 'halves' reaching out to each other.

Émilie had requested a minimum of three blocks, and considering the shapes and sizes of the first two, another definitely seemed in order. The third was smaller at 7" x 8", and I tried to make it feel related to the previous two.

Gotta say, I found this prompt very challenging! I have no doubt though, that Émilie will bring all our blocks together in a beautiful way.