Quiltmaker#193• QuiltingDaily.com 57
Beyondsimplicity
Butaswe’velearnedafterseven
QuiltConeventsandmillionsof
Instagramposts,thesquare
doesn’tneedtobearrangedona
grid,inrepeatingformat,asa
uniformsize,orevenastheonly
geometricshapeina modernquilt.
Butwhenusedeffectively,you
don’teventhinkaboutthisshape
asbeingthestaroftheshow.Forexample,MalkaDubrawsky’s
“OmbréGingham”is a masterpiece
ofsimplicitybasedonthesimple
grid.Sheusesjustthreeblocks
(actually,theblockscontainsquare
andrectanglepieces,butthe
overalleffectis thatofuniform
squares)inshadesofgrayand
yellow,andbalancesthevalues
makingit seemmuchmore
complicatedandnuancedthanyou
wouldexpectfroma simplequilt.
Thecompositionis effectiveand
worldlybecausethecolorand
weightofthevariationsare
balanced,whiletherepeating
squarepatternprovidesunityand
rhythm.Soonafterexperimentingwith
squareshapesforrepeating
patterns,modernquiltersbeganto
lookatthesquaregridwithfresh
eyes.Whynotusethegridasa
methodforcreatingrealisticquilts?
KristiDaumwasoneofthefirst
modernquilterswhouseda gridas
a waytopixelateanimage.Her
portraitsofactorsBenedict
CumberbatchasSherlockHolmes
andDavidTennantasthetenthDr.
Whoareshowstoppersandgreat
examplesofusinga simpleshape
tomakea compleximage.
Tenth by Kristy Daum • 65" x 95"
British actor David Tennant is portrayed in Kristy
Daum’s fi rst pixelated portrait quilt celebrating
the popular cult TV series “Doctor Who.”
Ombre Gingham by Malka Dubrawsky • 54" x 60"
This quilt celebrates the movement of color across a
surface, creating an ombré effect by using a gradation
of solids.Look to the masters, but quilt
your own truth
Just in case this is not enough
inspiration to help you fall back in
love with the square, take a quick
trip to your closest museum and
fi nd examples of modern art that
celebrate this shape. You will be
surprised at the depth of complex-
ity and nuance this shape has in the
hands of a genius. Two of my
favorite painters, Josef Albers and
Ellsworth Kelly, could have been
designing quilts when they put
brush to canvas.The reality is, our design walls are
just like the canvas when it comes
to creating modern art. Find ways
true to you and your own inspira-
tion to move the viewer. Whether it
is through color, design, or the
repetition of a shape, let the simple
square be your muse!Checkerboard by Lisa Swenson Ruble,
quilted by Diane Oakes
Each improv Log Cabin-style block adds depth and
movement using different values. Notice how this
arrangement is both a slightly on grid and a varia-
tion of the nine-patch.