Chinese Restaurant Plate Inspiration

Over spring break I was at a Chinese restaurant in California with my family.  This is the plate they set on our table.  I love the whimsical flowers on it.

So I decided to try drafting my own version of the flower in the lower left corner.  Since it is almost symmetrical I started drafting half of the pattern.

Once I had half the drawing done I took it to the window and traced the other half on the opposite side of the paper to get the full image.

The result is similar, but to me it looks more like a butterfly than a flower.  I'd need to go back and stretch out the flower so it is a lot wider.  I always learn things when I doodle!

Happy Doodling,
Suzy

Red Robin Inspiration

I was at Red Robin with my family the other night and I discovered a great pattern on one of the seasoning containers on the table.

What I specifically love about this container is the leaves that come out from the corner.  I could totally see them as a fill pattern for quilting.

Yes, this would be really fun if done on a large scale.  I can't imagine doing this design on a small scale!

Suzy

Playing with Possiblities

I started designing this motif from an element in a friend's mirror frame.  I like what I have, but the question is how to set it into a quilt.

I updated it a little by making the shapes overlap.   I am going to talk below about "feather in" and "feather out" designs.  The extra feather is on the left below.

Then I put it in front of my mirrors to see what happened.

Eight repetitions seems like too much.

5-fold symmetry is nice.

4-fold symmetry with the extra feather in.  I like it.

4-fold symmetry with the extra feather out.  It was better with the feather in.

5-fold symmetry with the feather out. I liked it better with the feather in.

Mirroring with the feather out.  Could be interesting in repeated strips?  I like the feather in as show below that the feather out.

Now I have a lot of possibilities to decide on!

Suzy

Inspiration from Europe...Now if only I could find the Picture

I know I started this drawing based on a photograph I took in Europe.  However, I can't find the original photograph.  It is lost somewhere among the 1,000 or so pictures I took over the two weeks when I was there.

Here is the progression of the design:

I didn't like the shape of the curl and decided to make it more curvy. 

Better. 

 Now I traced the image using a light box.  I tried adding an additional curve inside it, but wasn't happy with it.

I tried adding a shape going up.  Not happy with it. 

I put a small shape on the inside, but it didn't feel big enough or strong enough compared to the existing shape. 

Possibilities for the bottom of the shape. 

Now I add in a larger interior shape. 

Should I change the shape at the top?   

 Adapting the shape at the bottom to make it more interesting.

Can I add in more shapes?  No...they really don't work.

I like this flower.  It's interesting, however, it is rather large in size and I'm not sure how to arrange them.  I'll have to play with a mirror and figure out how many repeats to do in a circle.  Eight?  Twelve like a clock?  That would make this pattern VERY large.  Perhaps not.  Obviously I need to think more about what to do with it, but overall I am happy for now.

Suzy

Inspiration to Pattern #2: Curly Butterfly

I have recently purchased my first smartphone.  I must admit I love having a camera with me all the time, though it is huge.  I saw this window cling on a car the other day and snapped a picture.  I must admit I thought the owner would catch me at it and wonder what in the world I was doing, but it turned out fine.  I really like the dots that help to make the wings of this dragonfly.

So I started drawing.  I decided right away to make a butterfly instead of a dragonfly.  This is the body that I started with.  I decided it was traditional and boring and erased it completely.

Then I tried drawing one with a curl for a head and a elongated curl for a body.  Then I drew in some curls and dots for the winds.  It's okay, but I didn't love it.  So I erased the wings and tried again.

Next I tried long S shapes and curls to make the upper and lower wings.  It's okay, but I don't like the lower wing.  

So I erased the lower wing and thought about making it a dragonfly, but in the end I still wanted a butterfly.

I used the window and traced the left wing so it was exactly the same as the right wing.  I decided that the perfect symmetry really didn't suit this more organic butterfly.

Now I felt I knew what it needed.  Similar wings, but not symmetrical.  Here is the final design:

I think the antennae will have to be either quilted or embroidered.  I like that it turned out whimsical and kind of modern.  I am thinking I will either quilt the design and then paint it in or applique it.  Fun for later!

Suzy

Turning Inspiration into a Pattern

I've been home from Europe for a few days and have yet to sit down at my sewing machine.  That will come once the house is in shape again.  However, I did decide to design an applique pattern from some European inspiration.

This is a picture I posted in my last blog post.  It is from the Jewish Quarter in Prague.

Here is the progression of drawings to final pattern.  I decided to create some kind of interesting flower.  Here is the design I started with based on the circles from above.  I didn't think I wanted four curls on the outside because once I added the third one it looked funny.  I did the circle work in Adobe Illustrator because it makes drawing circles so much easier.  I don't like drawing irregular curves in Illustrator however because I'm not proficient enough at it.  Someday I would love to take a class on Illustrator, but it probably won't be any day soon.

Then I started playing around with turning this into a flower.  I tried many ways to make a curl to connect the circle, but this is the one I finally liked.

Next I used the window (you could use a light box) to trace the other side.

Then I tried adding a third curl again.  It looks okay, but I wasn't sold on it.  I decided to try something else.  I wore out a whole pencil eraser in this process!

Next I decided that maybe I needed to add a curl going to the bottom of the circle to make it look like the base of the flower.

Then I decided to try adding another layer to the upper curl.  I didn't like this one at all.  It seemed to skinny and didn't really work.

Next I got frustrated with adding a line to the upper curl so I decided to try playing with the space between the upper two curls.  I added a peak which is common on applique flowers.  I tried a curved shape, but this pointed one worked better.

Then I decided that the upper curl really did need another piece.  I went with a thicker piece to match the line I added to the bottom curl.  I redrew this line half a dozen times until I was satisfied with it's thickness.

Finally, I used the window again to trace the right side so the flower was symmetrical.  I am very happy with the final result.  It was definitely inspired by original ironwork picture, but has been manipulated a ton and I feel like it's now my own design.

That was fun!  I love design work.  This probably took me 30 minutes total to create.  Sometimes designs come fast like this and other times it takes me days.  Now that I have a flower it would need a stem and some leaves and a block arrangement.  Someday soon I'll get to that, but this enough for today!

Suzy