Chapter 9: Fibonnacci is golden

I thought that I hadn't heard of either Fibonnacci or the golden section before and, although I grasped the sequence quickly enough, it took me a while to get my head around working with it to produce patchwork designs. Actually, whilst looking for something else I came across this image in one of my needlelace books so it turned out that I had actually heard of it before - it just hadn't registered in my maths-averse brain.

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The first exercise was to cut four patterned papers into Fibonnacci proportions (1cm; 2cm; 3cm and 5cm wide), stick them down and then cut into strips, again in the Fibonnacci sequence and lay them down with small gaps between. (Fig.2)

 

Fig.3

Next I again cut four different patterned papers into the Fibonnacci sequence, again cut at right angles into the Fibonnacci sequence, making two strips of each size. I then laid these in alternating directions to make this pattern, which expands as it moves outwards in both directions. (Fig.3)

 

Fig.4 

Figure 4 shows one patterned and one plain paper cut in the Fibonnacci sequence laid with gaps, which are also in the Fibonnacci sequence between the strips.

 

Fig.5

Figure 5 has again one patterned and one plain paper cut in the Fibonnacci sequence. This sheet was then cut at right angles in the Fibonnacci sequence, again with two strips of each width. These strips were then laid with alternate strips flipped. This pattern reminded me of some of Bridget Riley's geometric paintings as you can see the beginnings of a piece that appears to bend.

 

Fig.6 

In Figure 6, five strips of patterned paper were copied and doubled up, cut into equal strips and arranged in a stepped design to give a 'fractured' appearance. For something which is actually so precisely cut, this design has a surprisingly random appearance. With the paper that looks a little like leopard spots this is reminiscent of how well camouflaged big cats are when in their native landscape.

 

Fig.7 

This has exactly the same sequence of papers as in Figure 6 above, but this time arranged in an overlapping square.

 

Fig.8

In Figure 8 the same sequence of papers was used again but this time the resulting sheet was cut at a 45 degree angle and some strips were flipped to mix up the pattern even more.

 Fig.9

My final design with this sequence of patterns is shown in Figure 9 where the sheet has been cut into four triangles which have then been put together to form an 'on point' square.

The Golden Section:

The golden section is a series of squares whose dimensions fit the Fibonnacci series, a design often found in nature, for example in a snail's shell, or the pattern of seeds on a sunflower centre.

I began by drawing my own version of this, connecting the corners to show the resulting spiral.

 

Fig.10

I then made a copy of this in patterned papers (sample 9 in Figure 10, above).

 

 

Fig.11

I made a block design using the golden section  ...

 

 

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... and finally two more versions on a theme, both of which would make interesting patchwork quilts!

This chapter caused me quite a few headaches as I struggled to get my head around how to cut the pieces to such a strict ratio. My attempts at patchwork in the past have only consisted of scrap quilts and one Liberty masterpiece made from a pattern, but that is only a log cabin design. Having worked my way through these exercises though I'm feeling much more confident so more ambitious quilts may well follow.

 

 

 

Chapter 8: Not what it seams!

The object of this chapter was to find many different ways of decorating seams ...

Fig.1

Samples 1 and 2 show two different ways of using prairie points - firstly side by side and all the same size; and secondly varying sizes overlapped. These could look like the ridges and overlapping spines and scales on lizards.

Fig.2

Sample 3 has tabs made from folded fabric, again of different sizes and overlapped, though these too could obviously be made in identical sizes and arranged side by side. Sample 4 has strips of knotted fabric stitched into the seam. Sample 5 has machined cords inserted in the same way and Sample 6 has strings of beads laid between two parallel seams.

Fig.3

 

Sample 7 has a frayed strip of cotton fabric stitched on top of the seam which was then topped with ric-rac braid held down with zig-zag hand stitching in perle cotton thread. Sample 8: an uneven line of french knots worked in perle 8 thread hold down a strip of white cotton on top of this seam. Sample 9 has triangles of alternating plain and patterned fabric stitched along the seam and in Sample 10 these same triangles have been frayed.

Fig.4

Sample 11 has a number of wrapped bars of uneven length stitched across the seam. Sample 12 has couched gimp and Sample 13 has assorted threads stitched into the seam, which were then plaited and knotted in random groups.

Fig.5

I made some trimmings and cords - Samples 1-3 consist of several strips of calico fabric in varying widths stitched together with different machine embroidery stitches. Sample 4 is a small collection of machine stitched cords and in Sample 5 these have been plaited together.

Fig.6

 

More machine embroidered strips of calico

 

 Fig.7

and finally a collection of buttons and toggles - dorset buttons (samples 1), beads made from fabric (samples 2); fabric folded and knotted to form a loop (sample 3); toggles stitched with button holed ends (samples 4) and chinese knots worked in gimp and in thick piping cord (Samples 5)

Chapter 7: Piecing

My coursework took a big hit over Christmas when I had visitors for three whole weeks. By the time they'd gone (it was lovely to see them all) and I'd got my house straight again and ready for work over a month had gone by and it took me a while to get back into the swing of things. I'd taken a short course on basic patchwork last autumn organised by the Quilters' Guild so felt far more confident about my ability to piece something accurately than I had before, though I have dabbled from time to time over the years as I absolutely LOVE patchwork.

Fig.1

First designs for log cabin patchwork were worked in paper. I found a few interesting quotes about the origins of patchwork, which I added to the page. I particularly like this, which I found unaccredited on pinterest I think - "Pioneer women made quilts as quickly as they could so their families would not freeze. They made quilts as beautiful as they could so their hearts would not break."

The centre square was traditiionally often a piece of red fabric which represented the warmth of home. Sample 1 in Fig.1 is the traditional layout with the small square in the centre. Fig 2 has the initial square moved up to one corner.

Fig.2

Sample 3 (top left of Fig.2) again has the initial square in the centre but with matching pairs of strips placed on opposite sides, rather than placed in a circular motion. In Samples 4 and 5 I worked with first a diamond shape and then a hexagon.

Samples 6, 7 and 8 are designs worked in the Seminole method, a variation on strip piecing which originated with the Seminole Indians in the USA following the 1832 clearances. 

Fig.3

I then worked up some of my designs in fabric, using my purchased fabrics. These first five samples are worked using the Log Cabin method of piecing. Sample 1 relates to the paper sample 1, sample 2 is the same as paper sample 3.

Fig.4

Sample 3 above is the same design as paper sample 2. Sample 4 is worked around a triangle and Sample 5, below, around an elongated hexagon.

Fig. 5

Fig. 6

Samples 6-11 use the Seminole method. Here two strips of fabric were stitched together then cut and pieced in different ways.

Fig.7

Sample 8 consists of four blocks of three strips stitched together.

Fig.8

Sample 9 again uses three strips of fabric stitched together then cut horizontally, with alternate strips being flipped and alternated with a strip of the black fabric. Sample 10 uses more of the same three strips, again cut horizontally and flipped, but this time without the alternating black strips, which are now placed only at the ends of the block.

 

 Fig.9

Sample 11 consisted of four strips of two contrasting fabrics arranged alternately then cut at 45 degrees and pieced together. 

I'm struggling to see 'animal print' in the vast majority of these samples, other than the obvious hexagon which is reminiscent of a tortoise shell and the last sample which maybe looks like the bars on a bird's wing, or scales on a lizard or snake. However, I did thoroughly enjoy making these samples, so I guess that's something at least.

Module 2: Chapter 6 - Fabrics

A trip to the Knitting and Stitching Show in November proved to be a happy hunting ground for monochrome abstract fabrics and I bought quite a large selection. These are what I've used for all the patchwork samples in the next chapter.

Fig.1

My attempts at dying fabric using Dylon Velvet Black cold water dye, met with mixed results. I am delighted with the patterning, but the colour was a long way from black. I love the blue and if it proves to be unusable for this course I shall have a very attractive patchwork throw for my settee.

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After some thought and another trip to town where I bought a dark brown dye, mixed that with the black dye in equal amounts, and voila! Black samples. The difference in shades are down to the amount of time the samples were left in the dye bath.

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I did some samples of black fabric (100% cotton) in bleach using the same techniques - tie dye and stitched samples - with some interesting results. These, it seemed, depended on whether I used a thin bleach or a thick bleach.  First the samples using thin bleach ... some of these have developed some very attractive coppery toned areas.

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Then those where I used thick bleach ... much paler greys despite them having been left in the bleach for only the same amount of time as the earlier samples.

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The dyeing and bleaching proved to be quite addictive as I never knew exactly what I would find when I unwrapped the little bundles, or removed the stitched threads. However, it was time to stop and try other ways of colouring the fabric. I used fabric paint on my gelli plate to do a small selection of samples.

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I did a couple using white fabric paint on the black fabric ...

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And finally brushed a black markal paintstick across fabric from a mask cut from card.

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