Rhythm & Repetition 13.5

We are on Week 5 of this years Project Quilting Season. I don't know what is different about this year, because usually the weeks drag out and it feels like forever before a new challenge is announced. This year I feel like its flying by so fast! 

This week our challenge was Rhythm & Repetition, as Trish, who is our challenge creator each week, said in her notes about what we were to create this week- 

"In language, music and visual art repetition is used for effect. It can be used to create calm and peace- a feeling of Zen brought on by doing, seeing or hearing the same thing over and over again, When you know what to expect, your mind is at ease.

Conversely, the disruption of rhythm can be used to cause tension and drama: to draw attention to a point in its difference from the norm." -

Quilting is full of repetition, repeated patterns, colors, shapes that all tie a quilt together in a visual rhythm. Other examples of repetition can be found in Art, Poetry, and Music.

There were some articles to give us some ideas and thoughts to work with, and a song for inspiration. I read the articles and I looked up different ideas, I even listened to the fun little song about Love, but this week I was not inspired. 

I decided I needed to think about this for a few days, and almost decided to not even do the challenge this time around. But you know what they say, quitters never win!

 The only rules we had to follow was that we had to intentionally repeat something in our design at least 3 times for visual effect. Then there were the normal rules that we have to follow every week. It must be a finished project and we had to start and finish it in the challenge timeline, and it must stand alone as done. It does not need to be a traditional quilt but it must incorporate at least one of the traditional quilt requirements, either patchwork, appliqué and have 3 layers stitch together. 

I think I got stuck on the repetition of 3 times for visual effect rule and just couldn't get past that. 

On Monday night I needed to escape from the constant sound of the news blaring from the TV in the basement, I really didn't feel like sewing, but sometimes I find it calming to just cut strips of fabric and sew them back together without a plan or a pattern. So that's what I did, I grabbed a scrap of fabric, cut it into 1/2 strips and then sewed them back together, pretty mindless work but it created a sense of calm in a somewhat stressful day. 

While I was sewing and thinking about the other projects I needed to get done this week, I realized that I could use these sewn strips and "make it work" for the challenge this week. Since the rules stated we just had to intentionally repeat something in our design at least 3 times, I figured that my strips would count as the repetition, but it was pretty boring looking, so I added one strip of blue. After I had my little scrap all sewn back together, I decided to cut it up into 2 1/2 inch squares and sew them back together. I turned one to create a disruption in my design. 

Then I quilted it to another scrap and put a binding on it. It burned up 3 hours of my evening, which I could have been folding clothes instead, but that has never been a calming project! 

I didn't put a lot of effort into this week, and it's kind of like the Elementary Science Fair where your best friend wins the Grand Prize Trophy and you get a P for Participation. LOL 

My finished piece is 2 1/4 by 9 inches. I thought about adding some buttons or some sequins but then decided it would make a great book mark and just left it as is.