I was just doodling, I promise.

After doing some computer work that required notes my mind was wandering. I had the computer open and a pad of graph paper next to me. Ignoring technology I picked up a pencil and started doodling on the paper. That night I started sewing some quilt blocks.

There isn’t anything fancy or revolutionary about what I doodled or the play I started, but it was relaxing. Knowing my solids scrap bin was overflowing I started there with my fabric. My doodle required contrast so I chose to explore warm/cool contrasts rather than any specific colour. And it’s just play, not a quilt, so I could try different combos and see what happens, right?

The only really shocking thing about this is that I chose to play with precision piecing. Definitely shocking with me. I’m making 2.5” x 4.5” flying geese blocks. Accurate cutting and piecing required. Still mindless, but definitely not improvisational piecing. I’ve got improv in the colour play, so I am still left satisfied.

As is usually the case with play rooted in experimentation it may not always go how you thought. When pairing fabrics to make the flying geese blocks I paid more attention to warm/cool contrasts than value contrasts. It totally works. But then the overall effect isn’t the same as what I initially sketched. My original idea was to effectively have one giant medallion. Without value contrast, however, it was looking like a mess of triangles only, no design visible. So I started sorting the blocks by the cool values. This has potential.

Like most of my quilts this one started with a “let’s see what this does” kind of attitude. If you are a little kid with a stick and a light socket, that means danger. But an adult with some fabric, it only means fun.