#1: re-do croquis project

i started with these drawings



tile of the main pattern



repeated:



tile of the coordinating pattern:



repeated several times:



alt color:



alt color 2:



#2 an intricately drawn pattern

here's the original sketch which i had to redo completely using the croquis method to make it repeat. they are oyster mushrooms.



here's what it looked like after i re-did it completely, scanned it in, and then repeated it several times



and here's a selection of the final finished colored thing



#3: collaged pattern

a polka dot:



weird stripe (this was my first idea and attempt before moving onto the polka dot)




#4: final final final project

so, i really loved layering those family photos i used and showed in a post below this one. i decided to create a few more of these patterns (trying out different colorways). my final plan for the finished fabric is to use them for the lining of personal items i use daily: tote bag, make up bag, possibly a garment. it's similar to the idea i had for my "failed" final project---keeping these treasured photos close to my body and available to look at whenever--but still somewhat private. each file is 40"x 36" so the sizes of the images vary...ideally i think i would scale some of them down depending on what they were going to be used for.

first one i did



different color:



another color



my favorite color change:



second pattern i did:



third:

been thinking a lot about what i want to do for my make up final project. i played around a bit in photoshop yesterday--going back to the "define a brush" technique and created this pattern. i started by building a layer of circles with an old photo of my grandmother and then did a second layer of images of my grandfather's sister that passed away at a very young age (the same sister i used photos of for my failed final project) then, for the top layer, i added this image of my grandmother and grandfather holding my aunt when she was a baby. i want to continue using these old family photos. my grandmother passed away last year and we've been very very very slowly dealing with all of the stuff left in her mexicali home so we can sell it.

i love the way this pattern turned out, but the colors just don't really fit the mood and this document is 36x40 so those polka dots are going to be huge! i'd like to think more about color and the end use of the print.

kantha quilts

i visited a friend of a friend's showroom in the garment district of los angeles over this past week and saw these amazing quilts. i was struck by the color, contrast of patterns, and of course: that stitch work! it is exactly what i keep incorporating into my work (embroidery mostly) and have been trying to figure out how to incorporate it into a print.

the woman at the showroom didn't seem to know a lot about the quilts. all she said was they came from india and she avoided saying they were handmade which lead me to believe they were not. however: parts of them are just so unique and imperfect i can't imagine them being machine made? the stitches are so very irregular. so, i did some research and found out about kantha quilts of india. "kantha" refers to the running stitch motif used in the quilts. from what i understand, the quilts were/are made of used saris. it is not uncommon to find many "vintage" ones online. whether the ones i saw were actually handmade or not, i'm not positive but i'm leaning towards yes.

here are some other pictures i found online of the quilts:

i can't figure out how to rotate this, but: yep still interested in building layers of text

been sketching a lot trying to think about what i want to do with these projects. just messing around trying to build up a hand drawn plaid to maybe scan in and use as a background for something.

tessellations

i LOVE this idea. i want to use a similar style as the background to create a really dense hand-rawn plaid and maybe scan it in to use it as a background to something