another what if? project

The wonderful thing about assembling fabric scraps into art is the variety of ways to approach it. After finishing the Shattered quilt I encountered my ever-growing Stash of Scraps.

I save all fabric and that requires some management skills.

With little else inspiring me and a frozen world outside keeping me from enjoying the garden, I decided to start another what if project. This time my query is: What if I assembled scraps without plan and separated each scrap composition by a slice of black for one row and a slice of white for another?
The rules of the game:

  • I can not fussy cut or design the scrap compositions,
  • I can not measure or calculate; and
  • I have to pull colors in a random fashion to create them.

Here's the first set:

The first round of random compositions, one row of black and two rows of white.

Of course, my motto is always More is More, creating quilts is often a study in multiples, so I continued without regard to success for a couple of more days. Make enough Log Cabin blocks and put them together and you get something pretty spectacular right? So I continued.

These sets measure about 50" across and 30" deep.

At this point I start to realize that the color sets are creating their own world. See that set of black legs in the lowest white row? Or the little white doorway in the third row from the bottom? The cat ears in the third row from the top? This could be fun when the stitching begins. What better way to use up those pesky accumulations. And what if I recompose the rows?

The composition phase will take some time. And I might have to inject some planning soon as I can see some pieces that are not pleasing me.  Serendipity is all well and good but not for a lifetime. And sometimes it feels like a lifetime till I finish one of these pieces. For now I'm having fun. I haven't run out of scraps, so this journey will continue. Perhaps the final composition will tell me something about the way my thoughts run rampant

And I have already reduced my scrap heap from this to this:

hmmmm … Now what can I do with those little strands of color with thread tails?

Can't help myself

Our new shower curtain, courtesy of the folks at Cafe Press and my sketchbook.

Our new shower curtain, courtesy of the folks at Cafe Press and my sketchbook.

So I'm working along, happily creating ART (that's the one with the capital A) and my mind starts wandering. What if I made a set of pillows using this design? Could I create a product line? Would it translate to a fabric pattern? What about copyrighting the idea? Should I open a shop on my website? Does my creative vision extend to others who would be willing to pay for these products if I did? And...the big one...what to do about marketing? Oh, yeah, that's why I don't finish the thoughts.

It's the design mind butting up against reality.

The multi-layered opportunities for creators in this have-it-in-an-instant-my-way society are confusing enough to make me wonder where I put my brain cells. I can enlarge my drawings to the size of king size sheets. I can wear my images on my feet, in my backpack, on the face of my watch if I took a hankering for it. Soon the print on demand services will be selling homes with preprinted and customized wallpaper. Self marketing through Etsy, Spoonflower, Society6, CafePress, etc. (ad nauseum), creates instant links to the products and service industries (for a cut of my action). Should I stay or should I go?

I think I'll go back to ART. It's sleeting outside and the phone is quiet.

how deadlines affect decisions

I spent the weekend finishing a piece I have been working on for over a month. The slice and dice and reslice method led me to a shattered array of black and white shapes that inspires me to do more. The last stitches added detail, structure and narrative.

Shattered, detail, Paula Kovarik

I wouldn't have finished this one without a deadline. I've been asked by American Craft magazine to provide a number of photos of my work, past and present. When I set about cataloging the work I realized that the most current works were not photographed and many are not done. It made me think that perhaps this habit of starting new projects rather than finishing works in progress may be changing the way I do my work. Is finishing important? If I leave a piece undone is it because I can't make a decision about the final look? Would I dawdle forever without a deadline? What stops endings?

My career as a graphic designer required that I make important decisions within limited time frames. Doing a layout 12 different ways didn't make it better, it made it late to press. I often said that the reason I could do the job so efficiently was that I had the power of arbitrary decision.  So now I am the decision maker without boundaries. And I dawdle, second guess and recombine with vigor. And the work improves ... mostly. But it also dies sometimes. Death by losing the original spark, death by fussiness, death by construction disaster.

I'm pleased with the results of this weekend. The piece spurs new ideas and gives me a sense that I am on the right track. It also opens up a new space on the design wall. A gift of space and inspiration. Who could ask for more?

density

I spent a couple of hours yesterday finishing up this little study. It had lingered on my side table for over a year. I am calling it density. Slowing down to stitch by hand is a way to organize my thoughts.

Density, 10.5" x 10.5", hand stitched on cotton napkin, Paula Kovarik

serendipity

Pile of scraps

This latest exploration has me excited about the possibilities. I start with a pile of scraps. Stitch them randomly together, slice and restitch, slice and restitch, trim, iron, trim to 4" squares. (oh such fun to use rotary cutter randomly, no measurements -- just the feel of the wheel on the cutting surface.....)

The resulting compositions of floating and jagged objects start speaking to each other when placed in groups. Like shards of reality exploding in a shattering space. The scraps in this case are from a linen table cloth and some black kona cotton.

linen squares

I created 49 squares and assembled them into a grid with more black cotton yesterday. Some of them are a little wonky and I had to trim overly thick seams down to size before the final trim. I gave up being perfectly flat a while ago in an effort to respect the character of the fabric. I may even intentionally unravel some of the edges. Or hand sew some suture lines when I see a wounded piece. I will probably battle some of the bias edges when I start to stitch. But I love their texture, and the randomness of the pieces and I suspect that the wonkiness will add to the character of the piece.

Now, another what if process...What if I create tangent lines next to all of the floating black objects? Let them travel across the piece to intersect willy-nilly with other floating black objects.....

You can see the start of that stitching on this shot. Many more lines to go. I am using a variegated thread that goes from black to white. Love how sometimes it looks like a little spark is ignited where the white threads hit each other.

You can see the start of that stitching on this shot. Many more lines to go. I am using a variegated thread that goes from black to white. Love how sometimes it looks like a little spark is ignited where the white threads hit each other.

It is cold and shattery outside this week. Lovely ice for inspiration. And such a good reason to stay inside and work on new ideas.

It is cold and shattery outside this week. Lovely ice for inspiration. And such a good reason to stay inside and work on new ideas.