So a couple weeks ago I mentioned that I won a bundle of Cirrus Solids by Cloud 9 and that I was having trouble cutting into it. I asked for some advice and got some much needed tough love to get me motivated to use the fabric!
So I sat down and started playing with some designs. These are all just sketches and I don’t think I’m done with the sketching stage yet. Right now, all the designs use just the Cirrus Solids, and I often like to mix my yarn dyes/cross-weaves/shot cottons with regular solids as it’s a nice way to highlight their texture and depth. So I’ll likely do a set of sketches bringing some solids into the mix to see where it ends up.
Currently, the last two are my favorites I think.
And yep, still playing with curves. I’m apparently not done with them yet! Overall this turned out to be an interesting design challenge. QDAD has gotten me very used to working with a much more limited palette, and I found myself struggling to use so many colors. Definitely a sign to get more practice!
30 thoughts on “Sketchbook Dump”
The third in the series jumps right out at me! It is great to see what you are thinking with this grouping, I need to play around with my own grouping of designs to make something with my bundle, too.
I think I called that one the “Windmill” design because it looks like a windmill to me! I’ve been making progress on this project, and I should have shared about it yesterday but my week’s just been too hectic to blog. Boo! Maybe tomorrow. 🙂
Nice! I like all those curves and sorted colors. You know I need some color order in life, lol.
I LOVE color ordered things (see: everything in my house) but I’m trying to break out of my sorted color order thing, but man it just looks so messy!! I kinda need some messy right now though, so I think I might go for it. I’m goin’ in, wish me luck! ^_^
All lovely! But I would be remiss as a Canadian if I didn’t say that #2 looks like a more colourful version of the CBC logo! (The CBC is our public radio/tv broadcaster)
HAhahaahha I keep forgetting about that! I keep making this design and thinking “this looks like something…” and then someone mentions CBC and I discard it again. ^_^ Maybe this time it will stick!
My fave is the next to last one. Very bold statement!
Thank you! I /think/ I might have enough fabric to do the central motifs of both of the last two. I think it’d be a really striking pair of quilts. Or maybe I’m just wishy washy and can’t decide! 😀
Like all of them, but the next to last one is the most striking for me. I think it’s because of the little squares block proudly showing its independence.
Thank you! Those little grellow holdouts, refusing to like that wasabi color. ^_^ I’m definitely leaning towards the last two, and I’m going to try to actually make both of them!
The first one is attractive, but frankly, I”m bored with the HST quilts. Like others, I like the next to last one; however, I think the white draws too much attention to itself.
I love HST quilts, but the thought of making one doesn’t really interest me right now, so I’ll probably be doing the curve thing again! I really want to incorporate all the colors, not sure how to make the white play without drawing all the attention. I will play some. 🙂
as I look at the designs, I keep thinking, “take the white and or the black out and see what you get. Then decide if you really want them in there. (the navy works as a black to me too).” In the next to the last one, the center tan/white block needs one curve in one of the squares to add an note of unpredictability. I can see you are using color combinations for the contrast in your designs and I wonder if you want to add some of your own (reads as a solid) color.
Thank you for the feedback and ideas, Barbara! I know the white caused a lot of consternation although I do like the black in there. 🙂 I took the white out and gave it a try but I found it flattened the design a bit more than I wanted. I ended up keeping them both in and trying to knock back the colors a bit with dense quilting. I’m not sure if it worked exactly, but the design challenge was to use all the colors and I wanted to give it a go!
Lots of loveliness here. I think I would have had to keep that stack of solids intact… just so I could pet it. Frequently. But I digress. My straight line lovin’ heart is in love with the first design. The second (and fourth) one(s) look a little like the old school logo for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Go ahead… Google it. 🙂 I, like Yvonne, really like the third. Though the lazy quilter in me would worry about filling up all that negative space with quilting. One’s design process should not be driven by laziness… or fear. Mine sometimes is though!
I won’t admit how much of my design process is fueled by fear and/or laziness! ^_^ The CBC logo thing cracks me up. Mooovinggg on then! ^_^
I’ve had the stack sitting on my shelves for quite some time, I just feel like I should do something with them because I can’t bring to mix them up with the other solids. 🙂
I love the last two and the first one, but they all are great designs!
Thanks Katy!! 😀 I’m planning to make both of the last two. I should check that I have enough fabric to do that (although I’ll have to supplement for the backgrounds) but I think I do. 🙂
I love all the designs,but leave out the white. It tries to be the focal point, but it isn’t interesting enough for that purpose in my opinion. Fun designs!
Hmmm I’ll have to consider the white. I want to use all the colors, although I guess that’s just stubbornness on my part, not any real reason other than that. Although when I lose the white, it loses a bit of contrast and feels flat. I’ll see if I can’t find a way to incorporate it without it taking all the focus. 🙂
All interesting but the fifth one is my favorite of all.
Thank you! I am going to try to make that one and the 6th one and see if I can’t squeeze them both out of the bundle I was given. 🙂 Although I’ll need to get a little backup fabric for the backgrounds!
I have that same bundle and I, too, am struggling to find a worth design. I’m very inspired by yours here!
It’s such a pettable bundle, I’m hoping I can cut into it when the time comes! :O Did you make any progress on designing for yours? The colors are all beautiful but also strong, it’s an interesting design challenge!
Ooh yes the last one!
The last one was my original favorite, but then when I sat down to make it realized I’d need yardage to finish it. So I decided to make the 2nd to last one instead. 🙂 I can get started on the last one with what fabric I have leftover and maybe it won’t require too much extra fabric!
Reallylike the last one – reminds me of a singers wall of fame with vinyl platinum and gold!
That’s the one I ended up making. 😀 I really liked both of the last two, but the last design could actually be done with just a fat quarter bundle, while the other one I liked would have required extra yardage. I’m trying to use what I have instead of purchasing fabric, so it worked well. 🙂 Now to just quilt the dang thing!
I used to hate samplers and album quilts, but I think this would make a great sampler style quilt. Maybe that’s why it took me so long to get interested in quilting when I’ve always loved a good quilt – I didn’t really like the old fashioned calico look of most quilts. I love the half-circle one with the gradation of the gray background colors.
One of the things that I had to come to terms with is that while I like looking at other people’s sampler quilts, I have zero interest in making them myself. Hahaha So it goes. 🙂 In the end I went with the design that I could do without ordering extra fabric. 🙂 There are a couple in here that I’d still like to make, though!