What a foolish question to ask any quilter. You've made lots of them, so of course you do.
Or do you?....
Obviously this is not a quilt. It looks like a block. Maybe I should call it a block.
This looks like a quilt. But it is only part of a quilt. I repeated this design to make a quilt. So maybe I should call this a block.
But what if I wanted something larger? I could repeat this design to make a bed quilt.
In that case, I could call this design a block.
There is a point to all this foolishness. And it is not a philosophical point but a creative one.
When you are designing you can be more creative if you are willing to challenge your pre-concieved notions of what a block is, or what a quilt is. Take a small quilt and use it as a block. Take a block and enlarge it to make a quilt.
Don't allow yourself to be hemmed in by definitions and assumptions.
Thank you. Very thought-provoking. As always. :)
ReplyDeletevery funny!
ReplyDeleteThis is where the words unit and (sub-)section come in handy :-)
Merel, saying hi from the Netherlands
Merel
ReplyDeleteThe words unit, block, section, subsection, etc. do indeed come in handy. Especially when you are trying to describe a quilt design. Or write a pattern.
However, when I'm designing I think they get in the way. It's much more fun to ask, "What if this were treated like a block?" or "What if this were treated like a quilt?"
The "this" in these questions doesn't have a name; it doesn't have an identity. So I can do anything I chose with it. I can be creative.
When I'm done, when my quilt is whole and complete, then I can name the parts.