Using Negative Space at QuiltCon23

When I stepped into this Category area, I was expecting to see lots of quilts with small designs and tons of empty backgrounds with lots of quilting.

I was wrong….. Here is the directive for the category…..

USE OF NEGATIVE SPACE….. Quilt design incorporates creative use of negative space integrated into the composition of the quilt.

OK…..NOT blank space but new designs created by the background.

Take this first quilt for example…..

Amy improvisationally paper-pieced the blocks and then rotated the blocks to create fun “steps” in the negative space.

When I first saw this quilt, I didn’t notice the two different arrangements from the top right corner to the bottom left. It really adds interest to the piece.

Amy also created the next one in a similar colorway…..

I love the designs that show up in the lighter white/beige fabric.

Black and White dominate this 1st-place ribbon-winning quilt…..

The quilt was inspired by a wide range of modern and contemporary art pieces that date from the 1950-1970s.

The chartreuse added to this black and white quilt adds interest…..

This quilt took the 2nd-pace ribbon in the category and was the result of a 30-day improv sew-a-long. Nice result!!

This next quilt fits more with my idea of what a “Negative Space” quilt would look like…..

Claire designed the quilt in Procreate and used English Paper Piecing to complete the top.

As you might imagine, I am quite taken with the quilting…..

The final quilt is my favorite…..

I originally thought that it was the same quilt that I had seen at Houston, but as I looked back, I found that I had actually seen two other of her quilts in a similar style…..

I am obviously a FAN!!!…..Is that weird??

Tomorrow we start looking at the “Modern X” category…. Be sure to come back for more.

If you are a fan of straight-line quilting, you might be interested in this online course teaching 8 (or more) ways to use a Straight-Edged ruler….