From Photo to Abstract

I’ve been having SO MUCH FUN working on my current quilt!  It’s an abstracted design, which always pushes me outside of my comfort zone.  But, I love the way it’s coming together.

First, I needed a design.  I took my cues from a Quilting Arts TV segment featuring Pat Pauly.  She suggested cutting up a photo and rearranging it in order to create shapes and lines for an abstract design.

Okay, then.  This is the photo I chose.

Photo to Abstract. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

I cropped it to 7.5″ x 10″ and then cut it into 12 – 2.5″ squares.  I selected my six favorite squares and created a composition with them.  (Thanks to the square shape, the pieces can be easily rotated and still fit together nicely.)

Photo to Abstract. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

Gee, I was really loving this!  Next, I outlined the major shapes and traced them.

Photo to Abstract. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

Voila: an abstract design which can be worked in any values or colors.  I decided to create it in colors similar to the original photo and I did a little coloring on the computer.
(As you can see, I changed my mind about the orientation.)

Photo to Abstract. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

However, I had leftover “hot” fabric from my last quilt and decided to kick it up with vibrant colors.  Like these.

Photo to Abstract. Ellen Lindner, AdventureQuilter.com/blog

On to the fabric selection!  I can’t wait to show you my progress.  Check back soon.

Ellen Lindner
P.S.  Since I did this design step a while ago, I have an earlier post with a little more info.

 

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