Beverly- The Process Begins!

Or, at least a part of the process that I can document.  So much of my normal design process goes on in my head, and as part of a conversation between me and the fabric.  

I knew I wanted to use the indigo fabrics I dyed earlier this summer- so, I started by laying them out and deciding which I would use.

This gave me an idea of how they played together.  I looked at them in my studio for a few weeks, and finally started making some rough sketches- not something I do with every quilt.  My sketchbook is not a work of beauty like Vicki's!!

I looked at those for awhile, but none really resonated.  So I sketched some more, after realizing that these had too many smaller parts- I wanted more negative space.  So, this is where I ended up.

The bottom sketch is the one I finally chose.  Then, to the fabric!

I thought this would be an easy piecing job, until I realized that piecing would destroy the lines of the shibori fabric.  So, I inset the pieces, using a modification of Sharon Schamber's Piecelique technique.  It works better on curves, but I managed.  The corners are a bit of a challenge.

Here it is with all the insets done- I can see that I will have to do some tweaking on the top portion to have those insets line up.

This is as far as I got this weekend.  As I look at it, I'm thinking I need a pop of color somewhere.  Red?  Lime green? Yellow?  I will have to think about that.  Maybe a skinny line between the body and the left side border?

 That decision will require further conversation between me and the fabric. and probably some auditioning on the design wall- stay posted!