A scientific experiment & the acorn wreath top is complete!

Last month I went to a trunk show for longarm quilter Sheryl Schleicher. When she was speaking about where she begins the quilting on a quilt, she shared a bit of scientific information: most people, when viewing anything -- art, a building, a photograph, or a quilt -- scan it in a specific pattern. So I am conducting an official scientific poll of my own to test this theory. The photo below is of the little acorn wreath quilt I have been working on lately. It is comprised of four main blocks. When you view the photo, be conscious of which block your eye moves to first and which you go to last. Leave a comment and let me know your findings.

I'm going

to leave

a little

space here

so you

are not

tempted to

look at

the photo

quite yet.

Now, view.

Sheryl gave us a little diagram showing that most people scan from the center to the upper right, to upper left, to lower left, back to center and on the upper right, to lower right, then back to center. Is this what you did?

In Sheryl's talk, she said she would start quilting in the lower right near the center because that is the last place most people look. This gives her a little time to get in the groove of the motif she is using and if there are any less than perfect elements, they are not as readily noticed.

When I set my four acorn blocks together, there was method to my madness. The first block I did ended up being slightly different than the other three. I struggled with appliqueing those deep valleys on the leaves, as you might remember here. And my placement of the applique pieces on the background fabric was a little too free-style. I sent out a cry for help and got some terrific advice, shown here. One of the tidbits that really came in handy was an easy method for accurately placing the pieces on the background fabric. You can check that our here.

I toyed with the idea of remaking that first block. Then my sister reminded me of the Amish rule of quilting: only God can create perfection, so mistakes are okay. This was just the advice this recovering perfectionist needed to hear! So I set these four blocks together with Sheryl's diagram in mind and put that "slightly different" block in the lower right corner where hopefully its uniqueness didn't scream out so loud. I know it is there, so it is the first thing I see. Let me know if you noticed it, or if you had to go back and look at it again.

Trunk show with Sheryl Schleicher

Today my longarm quilting guild had a trunk show by quilter Sheryl Schleicher (in the green and black). She shared with us some really great quilts and her techniques for straight line quilting. She spent years as an engineer before becoming a quilter, and drafting and quilting geometric shapes was what came naturally to her.

It was interesting to see how others approach quilting, especially when it is so different from what you are used to. She showed several that had text incorporated into the design which were very striking.

The more I see these modern quilts, the more I like them. I may have to add these to my "someday projects" list.