Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Things are sketchy at best!

A houseful of company all weekend and then DD and DSIL with the grand kiddies decided to stay on for the week. So...
I'll just say that my fabric is glued together with marshmallows and the Grand sonny would rather paint my paper than his! It's all good, right!
The first colour class went well. We talked about The Stash as an investment that needs to be varied and useful. An understanding of what makes for a successful stash is necessary. A flashy theme fabric may be the star but without a great supporting cast, the quilt will not be a great success.

A useful tool in a quilter's tool box is a colour wheel. One can be purchased but making one's own with the fabric in one's stash shows up the strengths and weaknesses in the inventory. It is helpful to make several, one in solids, one in prints and one in your favorite fabric style. Just using the fabric squares last night showed a deficiency in the blue violets and blue greens. So we'll dig deeper in our respective piles and try to fill in the gaps better when we gather again to meet the colour families and see how they all try to get along.
My sketching on a daily basis has been sporadic this last bit. The theme for the sketchbook project is Highly Prized. Time can be highly prized!
I'm trying to find what is going to characterize my sketchbook. I definitely want words.

Colour is also a prized possession. I like the idea of a black outline but I think I want things to blend better with many layers. I can only hope that the end of the sketchbook is going to be an improvement over the first! ;^)

3 comments:

Dandelion and Daisy said...

What a great idea, making a color wheel with the fabrics in your stash. I'm impressed with your sketchbook, looks like you're having fun with it.

KatieQ said...

Your discussion about what a stash should be really hit home with me. I've been trying to organize and inventory my stash this week. I have come to the sad realization that although I have a lot of fabric, the colors and styles are not well balanced. Hopefully, after taking a good look at exactly what I have, I will make better choices in the future.

Unknown said...

Of course the sketchbook will improve, it can't help but do that in the hands of a talented artist like you. :D

Don't be afraid to come back in days, weeks or months later and work back into old pages... you stumble onto some of the neatest designs by doing that.

Good luck with color theory... it's an important skill to have, you're going to be glad you took it!