Rhythm, Repeat and Flow

A few weeks ago I did a post about rhythm, looking at pattern like this which sets up a rhythm, isolating a  design with neutral intervals between the design. These isolated motifs with a rather cool and calm rhythm have been a feature of patchwork quilts since Americans started making block quilts around 1780.

See that April post here:

There are other kinds of rhythm and repeat.

After the Civil War isolated blocks had strong competition from designs in which the blocks interlocked and formed secondary patterns.The log cabin design was a very popular example.

Log cabin designs achieve amazing variety mainly with shading.

Variations on the theme were pineapple log cabins.

The Drunkard's Path pattern, popular after the 1880s, sets up a flowing rhythm.

The rhythms in these interlocking patterns like the Split Nine Patch create a sense of movement.

Quilters were eager to find new patterns. The more complex the secondary designs the better.

Notice how that one accidentally misplaced triangle upsets the flow a bit here.

(It's in the center strip just below the center point.)

The all-over designs sometimes make it hard to see where one block starts and another one ends.

When I started making quilts in the 1960s

these were the kind of patterns that knocked me out.

I made one of the Indiana Puzzles above in red and green

for my niece. (Hard to focus on it to quilt it, though.)

I made one of these for my brother.

What impressed me was the interaction between the blocks.

I was not the least bit interested in this kind of static rhythm.

But everybody dances to her own beat.

See more about design on my other blog---