Challenge #14 ONE SHAPE – Repetition and Theme 
December 11th/due January 8th
We have an infinite variety of shapes to play with for our quilts.
For this challenge, pick a simple shape and using only that shape,
make a quilt.
This is, of course, borrowed from traditional quilting which uses squares, triangles, rectangles, tumblers and a variety of other simple geometric shapes in classic patterns. Think about other shapes as well: circles, hexagons, pentagons, octagons, parallelograms, trapezoids, etc. Consider exaggerated shapes as opposed to blocks. Think about big shapes and little shapes, as well as horizontal and vertical. Think about layers and shadows….
Your quilt should be totally composed of that one shape… pieced, appliquéd, collaged, fused, any technique will work, as long as you only show one shape! You can embellish, paint, foil, stitch….. but just use one shape. One.
If you have done lots of pictorial quilts in the past, try to move to more abstract quilts with this challenge. This is a great chance to go beyond that mindset and stretch our wings!
Theme and Repetition: In art, a theme is the overall sense or message of a piece whether it is music, poetry or visual art. Repetition, then, is the repeating of that theme throughout the piece, often with shading or variation.
Consider Beethoven’s 5th Symphony. Did you immediately hear those opening four notes? They repeat throughout the piece with varying intensity and feeling throughout the body of the work. Spend a few minutes with this video from Fantasia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMnlxYkZKaU
Did you notice how the theme of the butterfly and the triangular shapes repeated through the animation?
Here are some fun examples of repetition and theme in art:
Check the 3rd picture from the top, Ugo Rondinone's Clockwork for Oracles
http://3rdhouseparty.typepad.com/blog/2009/01/repetition.html
(You can also Google the artist and title for lots more images!)
Amazing subtleties, Rectangular Green Heart:
http://www.kazuya-akimoto.com/2005/2005contents/4375gallery12.htm
Value and Contrast: Pay attention to all we’ve learned about value and contrast (and color theory) for this challenge. One shape can be boring if there isn’t contrast. Think about how colors play off of each other to add drama and “pop.”
Some Quilt examples:
In researching this topic, it was somewhat difficult to find many examples of non-traditional single-shape quilts. There are many traditional quilts that fit this mold (Square in a Square, Thousand Triangles, Flying Geese, Grandmother’s Flower Garden, Tumbling Blocks, Stack and Whack, One Block Wonders….etc etc etc), and you can find scores of examples on line. But those aren’t the focus of this challenge…. Unless you can alter them in some new and interesting way!
Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr of Fun Quilts have some good examples on their gallery page http://www.funquilts.com/gallery/gallery1.html - their use of lines is especially effective.
Kaffe Fassett often uses a single shape in his designs http://www.kaffefassett.com/Patchwork.html
Tessellations are sometimes traditional and sometimes art. You can find lots with a Google search.
http://www.mathematicalquilts.com – check out the gallery pages (not all are tessellations but lots are just fun to see)
http://nachograndmasquilts.blogspot.com/2010/02/transformation-tessellation-tuesday.html a nice tutorial on creating your own tessellation block from Raymond Houston.
http://www.rickytims.com/quiltgallery/quilt-gallery-1996-now Flying Colors is the last quilt in the gallery..... scroll to the right
http://www.quiltart.com/elements/html/Tseq_wetzel_where_river_joins_sea.html
