Doodles and Darwin

Or.....the evolution of an idea.

Grandma Coco must apologize for the lack of fibery goodness lately. It's not like she isn't busy quilting and knitting. It's just that everything is Top Secret. All will be revealed in good time.

Until then, I thought I'd show you how her design process works. Almost everything begins with the sketchbook. Sometimes on purpose and sometimes, seemingly by accident. When things are slow, she just likes to sift through the events of her life as seen through her pencil. Sometimes little sketches and doodles that she did on a whim just catch her fancy, evolve and become something unexpectedly wonderful. At least to her. And if you're reading this blog, you have to know this is the Kingdom of Coco and Grandma Coco is pretty much the most important person in this kingdom.

Copyright © Cheryl Coville 2011

 Here's a drawing that came from who knows where. The kitty has wings. I have no idea why. She just showed up with wings. It may be the Kingdom of Coco but there are still some things beyond Grandma Coco's control.

Copyright © Cheryl Coville 2011

From this pencil drawing, came a simple line drawing.

And from the line drawing came the appliqué. The flowers were fun. They are just circles of printed fabrics with embroidered spirals. Don't they look like real roses? As usual the circles are simplified by drawing up the raw edge with a running stitch around a cardboard circle. Press with steam and then release the stitching to remove the cardboard. Simple. The circles are very easy to appliqué in place. Embroidering leaves here and there in a very organic and unplanned way is extremely relaxing.

 

Grandma Coco used this motif on a small bag. You're welcome to the appliqué motif. You can find it HERE. 

There was a time when Grandma Coco worried that there could only be so many ideas. What would happen when they dried up? And then, she realized that the supply is endless. Every night she dreams and although there may be repeating themes in her dreams, there are no repeated images. Every single night ....and she knows this because she is one of the fortunate who remembers her dreams....it's a new scenario. What about you? Do you remember your dreams? Are they vivid? In colour? Do you get new ideas in your dreams? Do you solve problems? Now THAT would be cool!