Even though the 90-degree temperatures don’t feel like it, September 22, the Fall equinox, marked the beginning of Fall for inhabitants of the Northern Hemisphere. The term, equinox—when the sun is directly above the equator—is derived from the Latin for “equal night,” ostensibly dividing the night and day into equal parts.
 |
| Improv patchwork. |
Fall’s changing landscape
In Fall, the landscape begins to change—not all at once, but in fragments. As the light softens and the colors outside begin to shift, green leaves are becoming less green. Patches of yellows, golds and reds start to appear in landscapes. Shadows grow longer. Blooms fade and drop. Trees loose their foliage, exposing barren branches against a pale sky. Colors become muted, less vibrant, as the landscape turns to the greys, browns, and neutral color palette that coincides with colder temperatures.
 |
| Improv units on the design wall. |
Exploring abstraction in an improv quilt class
This color and value transition is mirroring the work I’m doing in an improvisational quilting class where we’re exploring abstraction, color, and value. The process of abstraction is asking us to look beyond recognizable and identifiable objects in a photo. Instead, we’re observing shapes. The quilt compositions are depicting the relationships between shapes which are being defined by differences in color and value.
About midway through the work, I became “un-enamoured” with the progress of my piece. After a small group meeting with three other students, my “posse mates” provided a more unbiased view and suggestions for re-approaching the assignment. Through our discussion, I realized and concluded that creating a good abstract composition is the goal—not using patchwork to realistically reproduce the photo.
 |
| Cutting apart and reassembling patchwork units. |
Note to self: get the idea of “that’s supposed to be the water, the bridge, the land, the building…” out of my head and look more at creating symbiotic relationships between shapes, angles, foreground, and background. I’ve decided that my composition is going to be more successful if I’m not tied to replicating my photo exactly. This is abstraction! The photograph should be a starting point without becoming a blueprint.
With that, I went back to what was on the design wall with seam ripper and rotary cutter in hand.
Something similar outside
 |
| Plumbing remodel project. |
There is a plumbing remodel happening at the house as well. Here is a picture from my studio window. It seems the universe was also sending the message to take out the previous pieces, recut, and rejoin… to make things work better.
 |
| Original pipe removed. |
The season is repainting the landscape. The plumbers are updating the water lines. And my abstract improv composition is being reassembled… one fabric, one seam line, and one shape at a time.
