Quilting Design Elements: Line and Shape

Line and shape are both very important elements of design. We use them all the time in Quilt making, and other types of artwork. Line can be defined by something that is longer than it is wide, and usually is not enclosed. That means the line just continues going and doesn't cross over itself. We use Line a lot in Quilt making in the actual quilting stitches, whether by hand or by machine.

Here we can see lots of different types of lines. lines can be real, or they can be perceived. A line that is real is actually there, like these lines here. And a perceived line is the line that our mind makes when we link one item to another item to another item. So here as we look at lines, we can see lots of different types.

This is a very Curvilinear line, it's got curved to it. Here we have very straight lines or linear lines. These are also curvy, we have some lines that make us think of things that are actually happening, and those are called Gesture Lines. Here we have lines that actually look a little bit like fire, and here lines that look like lightning. When it comes to shapes, shapes are actually enclosed by a line.

So here we have lots of different types of shapes. And shapes can be realistic, they can be geometric, they can be abstract or non objective. A realistic shape basically looks like something that we'd actually find in nature, a geometric shape would be something like, here we have a star, or we have triangles, circles, those are all geometric shapes. An abstract shape is something like this flower, it doesn't really look like a real flower. It's a simplified version of a flower.

And these kind of amorphous shapes here are Non Objective shapes. So shapes are used widely in quilting also. And I want to show you how the two are used together to really make dynamic quilts. Here in this first quilt, we have circles as our main shape, we can see them repeated and they're done in a lighter gold color than the rest of the colors in the quilt. And they're very enhanced by the line that is present, we have this very dark black line that crosses over some of the circles and moves your eye from end to end in the quilt.

We've repeated both those shapes and line in the quilting. So when you look out here in the border, I've quilted with a slightly lighter colored thread than the fabric is. And I put in shape repeating the circles. And then lines that form shape with the squares. And then lines that do not form shape because they don't cross over each other.

So I'm really enhancing the line and shape that's already present. In this next quilt, we have the same thing happening with line and shape. We have more shape than we have actual line. But I'm going to show you where the line is really present. Here we have squares that are all sewn together.

And on top of some of the squares, we have some shapes, we have a star shape, and a round swirl and a triangular swirl. Now these swirls really aren't shapes because they're not closed up. They're really lines that are just moving in a way that gives us the impression of a shape. We're repeating this curvy swirl with the quilting line. And that's a very strong Bold Line that swirls and crosses over the shape of the squares.

We also have some unity in the coloration. And that's really important when we're working with line and shape. Both entities need to make sense. And that's why we've repeated the line over and over again. This next quilt is very simple.

It uses the same 2 inch by 4 inch block over and over again. I've just changed the direction in a lot of different ways. We have only one type of line just like we have only one type of shape. The line is in a very thick heavy quilting line and it's black. So it contrasts well with all of the colors present in the quilt.

It also pushes the eye of the viewer around the surface of the quilt. So you follow that black line to see new colors. Our final example is too small quilts and I made these to hang together and one of them is definitely better than the other in my opinion. This one has quite a bit more line and the line is really supporting all these large circles quite well. Here we have a lot of really large circles and not enough line in my opinion.

The circles are dominating and they're not that interesting. It is the combination of the line and shape together that makes it interesting and so this one has a greater visual impact. So the next time that you're creating your own unique quilt, consider both line and shape and how you'll use them together to really tell a nice story with your quilt.