Designing <i>Tequila Sunrise</i>

Designing Tequila Sunrise

Susan spent the first couple of months of this project doing a lot of sketches, exploring methods and ideas.  This page begins where she discovers and begins work on her first spiral mandala quilt.

Susan 5-22-09:  More mandala play.  [Click on images for a larger view]

   

Below, two color variations of the same design.

  

Two rows below, mirrored symmetry on the left, same wedge in rotational symmetry on the right.

 

 

Two colorings of a 14-wedge design.

  

RaNae:  These are all really strong designs.  My favorites?  The right one on the top row and the first one on the last row, one of two versions of a 14-wedge mandala.  I particularly like the warm blues with the golds and russets.  The 14 wedges are an unusual number, and they work well here.  This entire group are your strongest designs yet.  I would be happy to see you make up either of these two that I’ve mentioned.

Susan 5-24-09:  Here are today’s attempts. 

(Previous version on the left, new on the right, for easier comparison)

 

 

RaNae: Susan when I said I liked the mandala on the right of the top row in the last post, I was referring to the one with the really swirly spirals — maybe the page appeared differently on your computer.  In any event, looking at the one you thought I was talking about, it definitely has a different look from everyone else’s, and seeing what you’re doing with it, I’m inclined to let serendipity take its course and tell you to go with it.  One of the things that is unique about this quilt is even though it had a big hunking 2-to-1 right along the side of the wedge, you’ve handled it in a way that makes it a very important and striking part of the design.  It makes a strong case for the notion that if you treat 2-to-1s right, you don’t have to avoid them.  And that might be a really good piece to have for the book.

The second mandala shown here is beuatiful as well — if you were to go with this one I’d be inclined to go with the first coloring, and just tweek the blue in the center a little more toward the turquoise in the outer ring.  There’s something about the turquoise, gold and olive green that really speaks to me.  Maybe it’s because I was born in October and love the fall.  In any event, this design is less unique than the first one, so for variety’s sake, I would probably say go with the first one. 

Susan 5-26-09:  I have drafted both spirals you suggested from the last batch. I’d like you to look at them and see if they look like they’ll work. The first is 517B which is the top of the two mandalas above. This is a picture of the first and second wedges in the first quarter of the block. The last third will be the first one mirrored. The second and third pictures are the second mandala above. This is the wedge of the rust and blue sketch. The drawings are different because I used different increments for the inner triangle in the two pictures. Which one looks the best to you?

 

RaNae:  Susan, from what I can see in these photos, the wedges look fine.  Looking at the two versions of the second wedge, I don’t see that the change in increment length makes a significant difference in the spiral at the point of the wedge, so I would use the version with larger increments and fewer pieces — no sense in doing more work that you have to.  I can’t tell whether you drafted this spiral as a Nesting or a Pinwheel, but Nesting would be the best choice to reduce bulk at the center point where all the wedges meet.

Susan 6-16-09: So here it is. The outer edges of each wedge have not been sewn together since I decided that I might carry out that seam into the border. I’m pretty happy with it! So how does Tequila Sunrise sound for a preliminary name? All that orange and red brought it to mind.

 RaNae: I think the name suits it perfectly!  Yahoo!  One down!