Art Quilts by Kathy York

No. 2

45" x 45"

This one was an experiment to use HST to make a quilt with a reference to log cabin blocks. I think this variation of log cabin is called square in a square. I learned a lot making this quilt. I thought I could imagine what it would look like when I picked the color palette and started. It did not look like what my head imagined, which was both interesting and frustrating. 

Also, I continue to fight with photography of art that has both blues and oranges in it. I can usually get the exposures right if I shoot outside. That was not the case here. If I adjust settings to make the blues look right, then the oranges are wrong. And, if I get the oranges right, then the blues are wrong.  Also, some of the fabrics bounce light differently than how they look in real life. ???? What's that about? I used to shoot in the RAW camera mode, which was excellent, but my computer got corrupted and I don't have a way to process RAW images now. I should probably explore that more and find a new program that I can download and use. And, I will also probably reshoot the finished quilt and put a more color accurate photo in place of the one at the top, but not today...

The colors (below) more closely approach correctness when I shot some process photos in my studio while I was working. I really enjoy making different shapes while I work on sewing the blocks. When the blocks are completed is the BEST time to play with design!! This first one is called the big C. 

The next arrangement reminds me of those old tabletop rotary telephones.

Of note regarding design. When I made the center blocks, I was not expecting the yellow to look like an arrow pointing left. I think anyone with ANY experience with HST would know that, but I did not. I ultimately rotated the final design so that the yellow arrow would point right. And, I am still not sure why that mattered to me, but it did. When I finished the top for this one, I put it in a pile. I didn't really like the outcome, and was in no hurry to finish it. 

 

Later, when I made No. 4, I realized that it was the same size as No.2. And also, No. 4 did not appeal much to me either. So, I decided to cut the quilting work in half and make them a two sided quilt. One quilting motif, and two quilt tops quilted simultaneously.  Voila! This also went wrong in a number of ways which I will talk about when I get to posting about No. 4..... Suffice to say, that it did NOT decrease the amount of work.  Ha ha! I am still learning. And the learning is exciting regardless of the intention of the work. The 'failures' inspired me to keep working because I learned that I still had a lot to learn.