“Tiles” - Reflections on Day 50/100
I’m halfway there! In today’s post I want to talk about the process of creating a composition, and introduce the third project in the “Tiles” series, for which I’m using up more of the scraps and cutoffs from the main project.
The composition is changing constantly. I keep the blocks on my large design wall so I have the freedom to move them around anytime. Once I sew a new block I sometimes just put it aside, and sometimes I immediately try to find a place for it within the whole, acknowledging that this may change again, probably multiple times. There are always gaps in the composition, and sometimes it takes a while to fill those gaps. Periodically I reach a point where I can form a fairly cohesive block of circles and I use those moments for an update on overall progress. I take those pictures as much for my own satisfaction and motivation to continue, as for sharing on Instagram. Interesting is that a few blocks have consistently stayed where I first put them, somehow they’re resistant to being moved, while others move around constantly. When I spend time in front of the design wall to let the composition speak to me, it feels like I’m solving a puzzle or a Sudoku. I keep a few things in mind as I analyze the composition: avoiding the repetition of colors adjacent to one another, both in the background and the curve, balancing the distribution of color and value, and creating interesting but not wildly disproportional circles.
I’m not picking my daily color combination or the way I shape and position the curve with any specific placement in mind. Instead I leave it up to post-production puzzle solving to bring the pieces together. That means sometimes a specific block is sitting aside for a couple of days, or a whole week, before I find or create a spot where it fits. And then it’s still subject to relocation over and over again. I’m enjoying this process. It satisfies the part of my brain that loves problem solving, the analytical side that during my corporate life was such an integral part of my day-to-day. Finding compositions that work creatively while inserting the analytical process of certain parameters is a great combination for me. I’m not asserting this always works. It’s very dependent on the type of project I’m working on. But for this one it does, and it’s a satisfying part of my day during this 100 day process.
For this third project I’ve taken a very different approach to a third project in the Tiles series. I set out to make this a no-waste project, with the objective to use most if not all of the scraps. Due to the nature of the blocks in the 100 Day Project I end up with fairly large scraps. In Tiles No. 2 I used up some of those, but as the 100 Day Project continues I keep gathering more cutoffs. When I finish one of the daily blocks I randomly cut the leftover curved pieces in squares, rectangles and strips and put them aside.
I’ve been taking this stash and have started to sew pieces together. I form them into blocks with no particular composition in mind and make decisions based on color and value as I go. I also keep an eye on varying the shapes and sizes for a cohesive whole. An artist friend once said to me “it takes a lot of time to get random right”, and I couldn’t agree more. Once a block reaches a certain size (mostly somewhere between 10” and 16” squares or rectangles), I start a new one. Over the last few weeks the assortment of blocks has grown, but considering I’m only on Day 50 this Tiles No. 3 project has the opportunity to grow into a sizable quilt by itself.
I’m about to start basting and quilting Tiles No. 2 (see previous post), using recently purchased pool noodles for the first time for basting, and matching the threads for each of the 16 colors - more about that in another post.
Thank you for following along on my journey. I appreciate the encouragement for my 100 Day Project and your reactions on Instagram. And since I finally figured out how to open up comments on this blog I’d love to hear from you here as well.