Life's a Beach...

...and then you get a blister and need a Sponge Bob band-aid to make it all better!

Graphyx, Tangram and Disco Dot

GRAPHYX, my black-and-white collection, debuted last October at International Quilt Market in Houston, Tx. I designed it to be a study of positive and negative space. Each of the prints uses a different ration of black:white or white:black (is the glass half full or half empty?)

(Image courtesy of Hawthorne Threads)

From left to right: 

Tangram, North Star, Bevel, Corset, Fishbone and Camellia

I have not figured out the exact ratio of B to W in each design, but it is apparent simply to the naked eye. I know that Fishbone is 1/2 black and 1/2 white while Camellia is mostly white with a black flower outline, and Corset is more white to black. Bevel appears to have more black than white, and Tangram? What about Tangram? I'll show you more below.

Tangram                                              North Star

Bevel                                                    Corset

Fishbone                                              Camellia

 I decided to make a little study of the group. I pieced the six patterns together and then had the pieced cloth dyed. It is interesting how the print designs are contained within a given space yet the dye transcends those borders and roams freely across the fabric. My friend Meriah of Maui Tie Dye dyed the cloth and I was reminded of an important fact about fiber. I chose a color scheme based on a silk scarf - and silk dyes vibrantly and intensely. When the same formula for the silk was applied to the cotton, cotton's super absorbency and cotton being cotton, the colors came down and didn't give the same effect. Then the scan didn't do the fabric justice but I believe you understand what I am trying to convey.

Now back to Tangram. The same design used strictly in black and white was manipulated so some of the black was replaced by shades of grey, and portions of the white substituted with color. Then to juxtapose the lines and angles of the design, we paired each of the four color combinations with my good old friend Disco Dot.

The four colored versions of Tangram and Disco Dot are being released this month. 

From top to bottom for both designs: Brite, Clementine,Jewel and Neutral.

And for those of you who might believe they're having a sense of deja vu with Tangram, I had originally designed a quilt top and then revised the layout for the fabric pattern ;)