Category: Gallery

Independent Project Ideas – Rachel

1. Story Quilt of my life? of my time in college?

Throughout my life, I have collected part of places I have been to, whether in postcard form or a museum ticket, and I hang them up on my wall. What if I used that spirit and turned it into a story quilt of my life?

I am graduating in spring! So maybe it would be nice to make a quilt that will remind me of my five years here at CMU.

Wall in my second year apartment
Wall collecting parts of the past 2 years

2. Shibori Indigo Dyed or Embroidered Kimono

I enjoyed the indigo dye workshop we did, and want to try it at home. I would indigo dye cloth to sew together into a kimono. Or maybe an embroidered kimono?

Inspiration Kimono

3. More quilts made from recycled materials

A continuation of my quilt from the Encoded Cloth project, I would make another quilt from more recycled materials that I find

Final Project Brainstorm- Marissa

My three sketches are still very loose and undefined, but the gaps in design will be filled with meaningful symbols that connect me to my Mexican heritage. This course has given me the unique opportunity to explore chemistry through textiles, so I also want to turn this into a research project that allows me to test technical and cultural hypotheses. I am still unsure of the scale of this project, but I’m entertaining the idea of creating a single larger piece such as a quilt/poncho as well as creating a series of smaller wall-hanging pieces.

Three Ideas for Final Project – Annie

I want my final project to be embroidering a jean jacket, since I’ve really enjoyed embroidering and want to see what else I can do with it.

Idea 1: traditional Chinese symbolism/mythology (similar to encoded cloth)

Idea 2: exploring childhood, or specifically, studio ghibli since it had a large impact on me

Idea 3: some other design that I can throw LED/other electronics in, with hidden sensors that do interesting things when poked (eg. moon and fish light up when it gets dark, glowing flowers, space whale)

Digital Repeat Pattern – Jasmine

For the digital repeat pattern assignment, I chose to go with theme 3, of my environment. I sketched out some objects that were on my desk. While sketching, I started to notice a theme, so I ended up keeping some of the objects, such as earrings and a hairtie out of my pattern. I ended up doing two color variations- one a more neutral colored, and one being an almost complementary blue and yellow theme.

Some things I had the most trouble with were adding color to my sketches. I had some trouble selecting in between spaces, which influenced me to create a colored linework pattern instead. In addition, by using linework, I feel that the pattern develops two different scales from being viewed from further away or from a closer distance. A big challenge was definitely coloring certain areas and not others. This may be easier if I started out with a sketch with entirely closed lines, but I really wanted to keep the lightness of the sketch by using broken lines. Moving forward, I might want to add more objects to my pattern, in order to fill up some of the emptier spaces.

Digital Repeat Pattern 2- Marissa

Lemons & Things Pattern Trial

I chose to respond to the third prompt because I want my pattern to reflect elements of my routine and engagement with my environment. I also used the framework of the camouflage prompt as inspiration to look around for objects that may not typically be drawn repeatedly together. For my first pattern, I overlapped serendipitous objects such as shells, pennies, and flowers over a lemon and part of a To-Do list. Conceptually, I’m liking the idea of extracting beauty from the mundane. I can easily imagine this pattern on a tablecloth for my kitchen table where I spend a lot of time completing silly little daily routine tasks.

The hexagonal layout of this pattern works well with the shapes. I’m still getting used to the Illustrator tools, but I was pleasantly surprised by the formation of a triangle between the repeated stray petals.

Skullys Pattern Trial

I did another quick sketch after taking a look around my apartment with fresh eyes. I wanted to experiment with adding color, and while there were many frustrations, I was able to correct for gaps and create a scheme that enhanced the pattern’s intensity. Choosing different primary colors for the corners of the swatch design added direction created more interesting planes of movement in the repeated pattern. As a wallpaper, I think this pattern would create a feeling that’s overwhelming, but as a throw pillow cover, it would go nicely with the pillows currently on my couch. I’m enjoying how patterns can be used to evoke different emotions and convey different energies.

Digital Repeat Pattern Project Beginnings

I was inspired by the digital repeat patterns I had researched in the prior assignment, and wanted to include some symmetrical flower patterns in my design. I was intrigued by the idea of using art to represent womanhood, so I wanted my pattern to emphasize that as well. Below are some examples of the pieces that inspired my pattern drawing!

Shown below is the sketch for my pattern drawing that I have successfully scanned, but unfortunately was having extreme technical difficulties with in order to add color. However, I am very excited by the idea of this more freeflowing pattern, so I am excited to see how this turns out!