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What is Form, and how does it differ from shape? 

Geometric forms come with specific names to identify them and are usually man-made.

Organic forms are often irregular, asymmetrical, free-form, and associated with nature.

Form in the simplest of terms is a three-dimensional figure (i.e. cube, sphere, cylinder, cone, etc.). Form has length, width, and height. Think of it as something you can pick up, set something on, or casts a shadow. Form can bear weight due to it being three-dimensional, while two-dimensional Shape cannot.

Take a look at the two illustrations above. The house on the left is the shape of a house, while the house on the right is the form of a house. The house on the left cannot be lifted, create a shadow, or have anything placed on it. The house on the right can be lifted, cast a shadow, and can support a front porch roof.

Let's look at a few excellent examples of form depicted in quilting:

    
Apples by Valentina Maximova (Left) ; Heirloom Pumpkins by Susan Brubaker Knapp (Right)

Notice the shadow created under each apple in Valentina's piece as if there is a light shining on them from the top right hand corner of the quilt. Susan Brubaker Knapp's (Show 901: State-of-the-Art Quilting - Tradition Meets Innovation & Show 1709: From Pineapples to Photorealism) pumpkins seem to be pushing their way out of the quilt.

Seashells by Velda Newman.

Velda Newman (Show 903: Realistic Imagery - How Does She Do It?), known for her oversized subject matter, expertly uses a combination of subtle hand painting and shading for this grouping of shells. But it is the machine stitching that emphasizes each shell's form and realistic hard edges.

Upon closer inspection, each individual three-dimensional cube of Marci Baker's (Show 1810: Quilting Tools & Techniques) Hollow Cube is actually constructed using a combination of diamonds and triangles.

Hollow Cube by Marci Baker.

Using thousands of printed photos that finish at 1" (below left), fiber artist Deborah Langsam (Show 1710: Conquering Abstract Fears) creates a three-dimensional portrait entitled Every Woman (below right).

Understanding space and form allows the quilter to manipulate patterns to create stunning effects. British quilt artist Peter Hayward shares how his love of optical illusion led him to create a unique interwoven design that combines color, shape, and form using a traditional quilt pattern. The resulting Lone Star Explores Space is truly a fool-the-eye experience.

Creating Illusion with Color
By Peter Hayward

(all images by Peter Hayward unless noted)    

 
   Radiant or Lone Star. JinnyBeyer.com

Lone Star Explores Space by Peter Hayward.

I began designing "Lone Star Explores Space" knowing that I wanted in some way to give the traditional lone star pattern a new 3D look. I am a big fan of the optical illusions that typified the Op-Art movement in general and the works of Victor Vasarely in particular. The key to success is the use of strongly contrasting lights and darks, that is what makes the shapes leap out at you.

I had already chosen the collection of ombre fabrics I knew I would need--it had to have a wide selection of pure colours with a slow and steady gradation. Though it might sound obvious, it is crucial for me to find fabrics I really like, to the point where I am actually prepared to modify my design a little to suit the requirements of the fabric if I have to. The collection was called "Pointillist Palette" by Debra Lunn and Michael Mrowka for Robert Kaufman.

Though the next stage in the process is not one I am aware of anyone else doing it is the absolute key for my computer-free technique. I photocopy the fabrics and though the quality of these photocopies does not have to be great, it does incur a small expense. This is, however, a lot cheaper than cutting up your precious fabrics and then wishing you hadn't!

The basics behind the effect I am trying to create are relatively simple--the eye assumes that small and dark areas are further away than light and large ones. With this in mind I cut up the photocopies, stick the bits of paper back together and see what I think of the result. The early attempts almost always need several adjustments before I am happy that I am getting the maximum 3D effect in terms of the correct colour contrasts, both within an area and between neighboring areas. As a rule I like to place opposing colours next to each other to enhance the contrast.

At all times, however, it is important to bear in mind how you are actually going to make the quilt once it moves on from the design table. In my case, I had chosen to use interwoven strips of fabric, so there would be no point in coming up with some spectacular design that was incompatible with that technique of confection.

As well as contrast, my rather OCD mind enjoys symmetry and logic which means that once I find an effect I like, then I play around to achieve its opposite. Thus the orange and blue tubes that come out from the centre of the quilt are covered whilst the red and green ones are hollow. The left and right pyramids go up and up whilst the top and bottom ones start by coming up but then turn round and go back down. The spheres and crosses inside the corner boxes are actually made of identically shaped interwoven strips. The only difference is that the diagonal areas of the spheres are light whilst those of the crosses are dark.
Lone Star Explores Space, Detail by Peter Hayward.

The design process is actually my favourite so I don't mind that it takes me a long time before I end up with a full size version in paper. In the case of Lone Star, out of the seven months, which the quilt took from start to finish, I spent a full two on design. But I think they were far and away the most important two.

Practice Exercises: Op Art Hole and Checkered Sphere

Try your hand at making an optical illusion drawing following the instructions in videos by PIN KORO & VamosArt Drawing.

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We continue our feature on quilts from the Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) exhibit, Layered & Stitched: Fifty Years of Innovation, as featured at the Texas Quilt Museum. The exhibit is described as:

Studio Art Quilt Associates presents Layered & Stitched: Fifty Years of Innovation at the Texas Quilt Museum in Galleries I and III. These studio art quilts, dating from 1968 to 2016, represent the extraordinary range of talented artists working in contemporary quilt art. Featuring a balance of abstract and representational styles, Layered & Stitched includes several foreign artists, with a wide geographic distribution of makers in general. The curatorial vision of this exhibition embraces diversity and excellence, including three-dimensional works. Juried by Nancy Bavor, Director of the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles; Martha Sielman, Executive Director of SAQA; and Dr. Sandra Sider, Curator of the Texas Quilt Museum, who says, "Jurying this spectacular exhibition was one of the highlights of my career! It is an amazing show of historic significance."

The exhibit has also been collected in a companion book as well, titled Art Quilts Unfolding: 50 Years of Innovation by Nancy Bavor, Lisa Ellis, Martha Sielman, and edited by Sandra Sider. The book is described as:

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Terry S. Peart recently retired and began thinking about the changes in life as you go through different phases. Seasons is her interpretation of those changes reflected in light and color.

Seasons by Terry S. Peart won Third Place, Piecing, sponsored by Aurifil, at QuiltCon 2020.

Photos by Mary Kay Davis

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Ricky Skypes with textile artist Pam Holland, who just made it home "down under". Pam unveils a portrait quilt that she has been working on of Ricky. It is made with four different types of cheesecloth, Tsukineko markers, and thread painting. They also discuss what she has been working on, now that she has some free time, including The Bayeux Tapestry.

Pam Holland visited TQS during our very first season, watch her in Show 110: A Quilter Connects with History.

Since this video was filmed, there has been an update on The Bayeux Tapestry. See below the video.

From Pam's Facebook page.

 

(Photo by Pam Holland)

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Sandra writes, "Animals make wonderful subjects in raw edge fused art quilts. I bring them to life with eyes that are inked and colored with color pencils on fabric."

This quilt, The Mute Swan, is derived from a Ken Miracle photo.

Watch Sandra in Show 2609.

Original Photo: Sandra Mollon (From her website)

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We continue our selection of quilts exhibited in 2019 at the Houston International Quilt Festival as part of their 45th Anniversary, the Sapphire Anniversary. The Sapphire Celebration exhibit is described as:

"Quilters have long used the color blue to symbolize trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven. Sapphire is also the chosen gem to celebrate 45th anniversaries—which International Quilt Festival is doing this year (2019)! These new and antique blue and white quilts will be suspended from the ceiling in a spectacular and unforgettable display."

To be a part of the exhibit, quilts had to fit the following criteria:

• Entries may be Traditional, Modern or Art.
• Entries must have been made between 1974 and 2019.
• The minimum size is 50” x 50”

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Audrey Esarey is NOT afraid of circular piecing. Her quilt, Red Hot Radial, is the 3rd in her series of high contrast, circular, paper-pieced designs, and it's an award-winner!

Red Hot Radial won Second Place, Piecing, sponsored by Aurifil, at QuiltCon 2020.

Photos by Mary Kay Davis

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Alex talks with Sue Benner about Door County, Wisconsin, silk organza, freezer paper people, dye painting, mono printing, fabric storage, a quilt of Packers Football Stadium, landscapes, abstracts and more. All of this is topped off by a studio tour and a review of her art and work. Don't miss it!

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Alex has a center of a block she wants to use as an example of how to do Foundation Paper Piecing. She was LIVE Friday, April 24, 2020 at 10am PST, 1pm EST, and 6pm London time. It's more fun live, but if you don't make it, just play the recording.

Watch the video to learn more about working with Roseberry Cottage Fat Quarter Bundle and the Sequoia Sampler Remix pattern.

Please (see I'm using that word!) try out our $19.95 6 month Stay in Place membership and start watching Quilt TV shows today.

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   African Jazz #10 by Michael Cummings (Left) ; Square Turn by Gyleen Z. Fitzgerald (Right)

Regardless of your preferred style (traditional, contemporary, art, etc.), working with shape can make your quilts visually dynamic. Let's look at two quilt examples that use shape with stunning results. African Jazz #10 by Michael Cummings (Show 711: Quilting - Where Imagination and Reality Meet) features flat, organic hand-cut shapes surrounded by a more geometric free-form half square triangle frame. The figures, plants and instruments are layered in an overlapping collage effect, while the selection of fabrics is kept to prints and solids of black, white, brown and olive to create an overall unifying effect.

Gyleen Fitzgerald's (Show 909: Techniques, Tips...and Turning "Trash" into "Treasure", Show 1403: Build Beautiful Quilts with Butterfly Seams, and Show 2012: Modern Scrappy Quilts) Square Turn presents a more controlled and mathematical approach. Using shot cottons that read as solids, each block is cut to a specific size and shape. It is through her careful use of subtle color change within a number of the blocks that the large square on point seems to float on the surface. The eye is tricked into thinking that the two-dimensional surface is not actually flat.

Alaska quilt artist Maria Shell (Show 2208: Improv Patchwork) shares how she uses basic shapes to create visually interesting and exciting quilts.  

Shape
by Maria Shell

(All images provided by Maria Shell unless otherwise noted)

According to basic design principles, shapes are two-dimensional areas with a recognizable boundary. Any contained space can be a shape. In the traditional nine-patch block each square of the nine-patch is a shape.

In the traditional Drunkard’s Path quilt block, the shape is the quarter circle patch of the block. One of the interesting things about shape is that when combined together, new shapes can emerge. For example if the Drunkard Path blocks are combined in an interesting fashion the other part of the quilt block can become shape too.

Shapes can be open or closed, angular or round, big or small. Shapes can be organic or inorganic. They can be free-form or geometric and ordered. I work with shape in several different ways—usually all at once—to create interest in my quilts.

First, I like to use line or pattern to create shape. Basically that means that I piece my shapes out of an assortment of fabrics instead of using just one piece of fabric. I will piece stripes, checks, polka dots. These different textures create visual interest inside of my shapes. Boulevard is essentially an elongated four patch, but I have used line and pattern to make the shapes interesting.

 
Boulevard by Marial Shell.

Second, I use color to create contrast between my shapes. I use all of the colors of the color wheel frequently in the same proportion. I consider brown, gray, black, white, turquoise, and pink to be primary colors, and I use them just as I would purple, blue, green, red, yellow, and orange. I create contrast between colors by selecting colors opposite each other on the color wheel or by using different values. Using an assortment of color in my shapes helps them to stand out in contrast to each other. Force Field features fabric of a similar color but highly contrasting value. This allows each shape to stand out.

Force Field by Maria Shell.

And finally, I cut many of my shapes without a ruler. The real trick to cutting without a ruler is to control your cut by placing yourself squarely in front of your fabric. As you move your rotary cutter, move your body as well. Keep yourself directly over your fabric. This will greatly improve the quality of your cut line which will in turn improve the quality of your shapes. I will, at certain points in my construction, use a ruler to keep things in line. I will also frequently cut one block with a ruler and then use that block as my ruler. This creates a bit of wonkiness, but things still fight together in the end. Cutting without rulers creates interest for the eye. Funky Monkey is a good example of improvisional cutting. The lines that form the shapes are interesting and fun to look at.

Funky Monkey by Maria Shell.

I hope these pointers about how I use shape will help you create dynamic quilts. If you would like to see more of my work you can visit my website, my blog, or Instagram.

Practice Exercises: Select one or try them all

Geometric coloring using Lines and Circles

Supplies for Lines and Circles:

• 1 sheet of white paper
• Ruler
• Circle templates, empty pill jars, small glasses, etc.
• Pencil
• Colored pencils, markers, crayons

Using a piece of white paper, draw a straight line from one side to the opposite side. Repeat with two more lines.

 
Draw in circles of different sizes (use templates, thread spools, small jars, glasses, etc.). Add lines in several areas. Once you are happy with the number of lines and circles, color in the areas. Notice how the interplay of shapes create new and different shapes.

Positive/Negative Paper Cutting

Supplies for both paper cutting exercises: 

• 2-3 large pieces of colored paper at least 8 1/2" x 13" (or tape two pieces together, like we did)
• 1 piece of 3" x 7" colored paper (for apple exercise)
• 1 piece of 6" x 6" white paper (for leaf exercise)
• 1 piece of 7" x 7" white paper (for apple exercise)

1. Leaves - Using the (6" x 6") white piece of paper, carefully cut basic leaf shapes from around each side. Try to cut the leaf in one smooth cut. Position and glue in place the white paper on top of the pink paper. (our paper was not large enough, so we taped two pieces together). Glue your cut out (white) leaf shapes so that they continue the pattern into the pink area as in the example above.

2. Apple - Using the (3" x 7") colored piece of paper, draw 1/2 of an apple, stem, leaf and core. Cut out drawn elements. Position the colored cut 3" x 7" paper to the left top and bottom corner of the paper with the white and glue in place. Glue the cut out shapes to continue the pattern into the white area as in the example above.