I belong to a group of art quilters called Fearless Designers. The group started a couple of years ago studying Fearless Design by Lorraine Torrance. I started with the group, but, as often happens, life got in the way and I wasn’t able to finish the book with them.
We’ve decided to stay together and use another book, Design Explorations for the Creative Quilter, by Katie Pasquini Masopust. We thought this book would help us experiment with more abstract forms of design. We meet once a month for a full day and share the work we’ve done in the chapter being studied that month. The group has learned a lot along the way especially in how to critique our work and offer constructive critiques that will help improve our work.
The piece shown above is my attempt with chapter one. We had to use a geometric shape in different sizes and placed into a pleasing design. Then 3-5 sizes of a second shape were superimposed on the design.
I started with triangles but wanted them a bit curved. The circle was the superimposed on the overall design. Unfortunately I didn’t take a picture of my first attempt which was the one that the group critiqued. Suffice it to say that the first try was WAY too busy and complicated! Using the suggestions from the group, I simplified and the final piece is shown above. I’m actually happy with this final look. Title is Regatta.
The really nice thing about this group is how supportive they are. We all stay focused and don’t allow ourselves to get too side-tracked on other topics. It helps that one of the women has agreed to be the moderator and she does a wonderful job of keeping us on topic. We’re very conscious of allowing an equal amount of sharing time so no one gets shortchanged just because they’re the last one to share.
Next week I’ll share my second piece and some thoughts about it.
