Learning to See Design 2

In the last post, we tried to become aware of what our eyes did when they looked at a quilt, and I gave you some questions that related to that task.
 
Here’s the quilt again to refresh your memory.

​And here are my observations about my eye’s journey:

• My eye goes first to the largest horizontal applique block in the middle of the quilt. It goes there because the light background fabric draws my eye, and because it is bigger than the other light blocks, I also think, because the horizontal orientation provides stability of that block in the whole conglomeration of blocks.
• Next, my eye does a quick loop through the quilt, following the other light, narrow applique blocks.  The horizontal and vertical orientations facilitate this; they are almost little arrows.
• After that, my eye goes more slowly through the 3 big, stable, square star blocks and returns to the one with the gold background, probably because it's the lightest and simplest and cleanest of the three. 
• Then I hop around, finding the other blocks with gold elements.
• Finally, I focus on the blocks that have softer, subtler color gradations, ending up at the big snails trail block, probably because it's the biggest. I follow the spiral around for a bit.
• The dark green inner border initially stops the motion of my eye, but the broken corner treatment lets my eye escape and keep moving.
• Feeling? To me, the quilt has a controlled energy.  The overall darker fabrics are lightened up by the gold and the applique backgrounds. The applique motifs add lightness to an otherwise very solid collection of blocks. The borders ground and stabilize the whole thing. Flirty and grounded, all at once. Cool.

Have we used any design terms yet?  No, not really, but we've certainly touched on what could easily be turned into an evaluation of some aspects of the design. Allow me to translate into Judge:

• Careful value placement provides a strong visual path through the quilt.
• Light applique blocks provide unity, while mixed vertical and horizontal orientations of the applique blocks add energy, direction and movement to the composition.
• Placement of subtle, gradated colors in muted blocks throughout the quilt is an effective foil for the high contrast pieced blocks with strong, clean lines.
• Delicate applique motifs provide needed detail and whimsy for this strong composition.
• Borders provide an appropriate frame for the blocks while offset corner treatment maintains airiness and charm.

Any of these could be a decent comment on a judging sheet. And all that from just paying attention to where your eye goes and asking yourself why!

In these comments, I’ve hit on contrast, movement, unity, variation in scale, variety and line. These are certainly not the only design elements and principles at work in this quilt, and they are not the only comments that could be formulated from my observations.

They may not even be the best ones…..maybe you’ll come up with those!

At the bottom of this post I've included three additional quilts, in three different styles.  Try answering the same questions for each quilt. This is a technique that is pretty useful, no matter the style. 
 
Feel free to post your ideas in the comments section of this post. I would love to hear what you have to say. Refer to the numbers under each photo. 
 
Next: What’s Important
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Stacy Koehler, Secretary, NACQJ
NQA Certified Judge
Qualified to Evaluate Masterpiece Quilts

Quilt 1

Quilt 2

Quilt 3