Using THREEs in geometric designs

As anyone can see from my websites, I like to make a wide variety of contemporary art quilts.  I like geometrics, mosaics, curved abstract piecing, landscapes, circle designs, stars, suns, and have begun to dabble in poppies.  Making art quilts with curved piecing is more challenging so often after a few quilts with lots of curves or complex piecing, I like to let my mind return to the geometrics.

Recently I made two geometric art quilts in two different color motifs.  I wanted to share my design strategy and how the use of THREE of each color is an easy way to begin an abstract design.

The two geometric art quilts are shown in photos with this blog.  Both used about 15-20 different fabrics in a group of coordinating colors.  In each quilt I constructed curving line pieces out of two colors and another group of pieces with alternating strips out of two colors but  all other pieces were single fabrics.

I cut a variety of sizes of rectangles, three of each color.  Most of the piecing is straight edges but you can see a few curved piecing sections which give the art quilts just a bit more character…something unexpected!

I create these designs on my flannel design wall.  I start without any plan in mind.  I place three pieces of one fabric (or pieced pieces) on the board, then three more, then three more, filling in and creating a collage of fabrics and colors. I place the pieces in different directions. There is some sizing of pieces along the way as the pieces begin to create a quilt that fits together.  On the black and white quilt I also added dark red pieces as color accents.

Once the pieces are on the design wall and I like the composition, then I begin the problem solving task of figuring out how to sew them together.  For the quilt to be aesthetically pleasing, I have found that using three of each color is a good way to give the design balance, interest, and enhance creativity.