Mirror, Mirror, Let's Design

I've been busily working on a surprise gift project so can't post... argh!....  But I do want to share a wonderful experience within the last week where I attended a class... YES I got to take a class with Sharon Schamber for fun!   What a ton of fun this was.  This is definitely not a comprehensive description of the process or artistic discussion on composition and design, but gives you an idea of how things work. You'll want a class with Sharon to get a detailed understanding. Sharon does have a DVD on this process so you might want to check it out.

.... on a piece of graph paper, with an angled perimeter representing 45 degrees of an ultimate 360 circular medallion design...
... I found and drew in multiples ( on tracing paper) a simple standalone motif.
 ...I placed reflective mirrors along the left and right edges of the 45 degree wedge.
...  Beginning from the center or top edge of the pie wedge and working outward  I arranged/rearranged motifs to positions that appear complimentary in the mirror view. Once happy with the reflected image....  I glued the repeated motifs in place.
Click on photos for enlarged view.

... I drew something (linear)  integrating the motifs.
 ... Continuing to work outward toward the edge nearest the viewer, I drew on tracing paper a butterfly, cut it in half vertically, and glued one next to left side of the mirror wedge, the other to the right.

The mirror reflections are starting to show what the medallion will look like.

 ...    I added new elements and 'am preparing here to create feathers on these draped spines of circles.

 ... I am creating a structured border adding an additional motif on the left and another feather spine where later feathers will layer behind the horizontal lines.

 ...  I also did draw in the type of background fillers I planned.

The end result is mirrored and duplicated til the final design is complete.  The ultimate design is targeted to be 40" x 40" as a whole cloth quilt.

I look forward to doing another design maybe a wee bit more simple but I do like this result!!! Check out www.SharonSchamber.com and TheQuiltShow.com to really learn about Sharon's approach to her work. Sharons classes are a ton of fun!!!   I'll be posting a quick overview of a second design on 6-26-2013 so scroll to that entry if you'd like.