Repetition: E
Reclaimed garments, vintage sheet, and other cotton and wool fabrics, machine pieced and quilted. 44" H x 39" W, 2022. $850 Click here to purchase.
Quilt Blocks Are Small Problems.
A small problem, created and solved, over and over. That's how I think about making a quilt. Build the blocks, then build with the blocks.
But wait - Sarah, aren't you an improv quilter? I thought you didn't make quilt blocks.
I actually make a ton of quilt blocks. I just don't make them all the same size or shape or color. That's where the improvisation comes in.
In Repetition: E, the building blocks are easier to see.
This is one of the quilts I started in early 2022 during the Abstract Piecing workshop series with Sherri Lynn Wood. It had snowed that week, and I was noticing the shapes made by different tire treads in the show.
The blocks are composed from very simple elements. All rectangles, one horizontal, the rest perpendicular to that one. Most of them are only two colors, to make the brain read the shapes as letter E's. Kinda like those charts at the opthamologist's office.
As with Don't Stop Me Now, I challenged myself to use mostly striped fabrics, which enforced the rectangular motif.
More Rule-Breaking
I could have made all of the E blocks the same size and shape. But my curious mind says, "Never make a rule unless you intent to break it." And rubs its little brainy hands together a-la-Mr.-Burns.
What if this block had 3 colors instead of 2? What if this one had 4 stripes, or 5, or 6? What if this one didn't make the E shape? What if this one was longer, or shorter, or wider? And so on. I can't help myself. I gotta try everything.
Basic Split is another example of this approach: Start with a very simple block construction, and make multiple variations on that theme.
Repetition: E is now available in my web store!
Click here to bring this bit of coziness into your own home.
Not Quite Right? Commission Your Own!
Like what you see, but want it in a different size? Different colors? Another variation? Let's talk about your custom quilt! Check out my Commissions page and book your Quilt Customization Session today.
