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Thursday, October 4, 2012

Swatching......thinking in fabric

I've just realized something, I'm not much of a sketcher but more of a swatcher. I need to start cutting and sewing and throwing fabric about the room, in order to get my creativity flowing. Maybe I just think better in fabric, than I do on paper.

Different techniques lure me almost as much as colour and fabric. I use swatches to play and push and think.  Not every swatch is quilt worthy but the every swatch has value....even the "What WAS I Thinking??" ones. Hence the reason my blog is all over the map.

I have come to the conclusion that not every swatch is a work in progress, but rather an idea in progress. This might be just a way to rationalize the growing piles in my studio but I don't think so.
 





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7 comments:

  1. LeanneOctober 4, 2012 at 1:27 PM

    Spoken like a true knitter! I totally agree that you can look at those pieces as swatches and use them or not, as it goes. I was a bit surprised to learn how little quilters seem to do test blocks or swatches as it is often a big part of knitting.

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  2. Michelle COctober 4, 2012 at 2:04 PM

    I love not calling every experiment a WIP...what if you hate the result? You need permission to toss without guilt. Perhaps we should all just blog about process? Or call them these little bits "PIP's" (Process in Progress)? Say that five times fast...hehehe.

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  3. annOctober 4, 2012 at 3:39 PM

    I like your thinking. Sure takes a load off I tell you. I will 2nd Michelle's PIP's...little ones will henceforth be PIPsqueaks.

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  4. janequiltsslowlyOctober 5, 2012 at 1:17 AM

    I really like this idea! I guess its sort of the origin of orphan blocks . . . try an idea or technique or process and only keep going if it is interesting to you. I really like the "lava lamp" ovals on hombre fabric at the top and the striped fabric circle with cheddar wedges at the bottom. If you are ever going to toss them . . . think again, you could give them away like seeds and see if someone else could make them grow into something more.

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  5. cauchy09October 5, 2012 at 5:32 AM

    I love your swatching because it's so much like what I do to get going. It's refreshing to hear that not all swatches are WIPs. My guilt has been mounting about all the doodles around my house. Oy.

    Keep on swatchin'!!

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  6. Melody JohnsonSeptember 6, 2013 at 5:57 AM

    it looks to me like you might fall in love with fusing. Any shape you can conceive can be turned into art...and I mean artquilts.
    Melody Johnson
    Dean of Music
    Chicago School of Fusing

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Thanks so much for stopping by and taking the time to comment. I try to respond to all of your wonderful comments....if you are not getting any response from me it's because you are set up as a no-reply blogger. In order to receive a response you can change your status in your blogger profile. I'm no longer accepting anonymous comments.

Thanks again for all your wonderful comments
Marianne