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The Third Block

This is the third block.  The last one for this moment.  I may do more...or not.  I have no idea what I will do with them next, so I'm going to set them aside and work with other White etc.
If you have a suggestion, please share in the comments, as I love reading all of the creative ideas everyone has!

This one is called: What if the clouds were made of rainbow colors? And here are all 3 together... These What Ifs remind me of the great children's book If.
A game of the imagination.  A wondering game.

My kids and I used to creatively answer the questions from this book.  One of the questions was "If you came downstairs to find a unicorn in the kitchen one morning, what would you do?"  We pulled that question out of the jar so many times it became a running joke between the three of us!  These open-ended questions (which I had written on small slips of paper to be pulled for discussion during family dinner) are a wonderful way for children to learn to think creatively about problem solving, among other things.

In the end, isn't this a skill needed in today's world?
Don't we need to look at things in an open-ended manner to solve problems, issues, concerns we couldn't have dreamed up years ago?
This is the way teachers work with young children.
This is the way we work with our art/cloth/whatever.

This What Ifing we're doing with Jude seems to be more than just a way to work with cloth.  More than particular techniques and skill sets.
Instead, it is a way to look at life.

*Note: Check out some of the other titles suggested, linked on these pages.  These children's books can be an inspiration to our own creative outlets.

The Important Book has always been a favorite of mine.  And I noticed: Imagine a Night (Day, Place), which were not familiar to me.
Every time I go to Amazon, I get sucked in for a long time looking at all of the wonderful books out there!

I have the pedestal fabrics to consider and I found some plain white blocks from an old 'with children' quilt project.  There was also some that looked like it had been watercolored.


Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2013
Posted by Nancy at 3:49 PM Labels: books, children, process, What If? montana joe said...

ha! seems we are thinking along similar paths. how all this what-iffing is emanating out into many other areas of our lives! i just posted about re-discovering the cigar box guitar and having read your thoughts here put me in mind of how i am what-iffing with music and the tools with which we create it! ha! jude has a way of nudging us even when we don't realize it...

April 8, 2013 at 2:36 AM Marti said...

These blocks are terrific and with your permission Nancy, I am going to pose the questions to my almost 4 yr old twin grandchildren when I am with them in August. We do these kind of what if games and it is always an eye opener to listen to their responses, usually quite silly but as they get older, some of their answers have become quite thoughtful.

April 8, 2013 at 4:58 AM Mo Crow said...

love the playfulness of this what-if-ing!

April 8, 2013 at 9:51 AM saskia said...

another one, what if the clouds were rain bow coloured, what a great what if, I love the bold designs of all 3 cloths and the humour, just super!! they really brighten my day
we had a story about a dragon called Jack, he appeared out of nowhere one day and we adopted him, so he moved into our tiny attic space, the boys loved talking about him and all of his adventures, they were so proud to have a house dragon, we all kind of believed in him......I'm going to check out the book you mention.

April 8, 2013 at 12:03 PM 
Joe~ Ha! I love a good cigar box guitar! Yes, Jude has a way of doing that :)

Marti~ Oh, but Of Course!!! Please do ask your grandbabies! And do check out some of the great books I've been including :) 4 is such a fun age!

Mo~ Thanks :)

Saskia~ I'm glad to be a day brightener :) Love the dragon story. A house dragon...nice.

April 8, 2013 at 9:16 PM 
what a lovely set of memories... the notes in jar, the play with imagination... I agree that these are essential skills... as is handling ambiguity.

as for the trio of cloths, my instinct would be to cut each into vertical thirds and move them around.

probably not your instinct, though.

April 20, 2013 at 9:00 PM 
Dee~ Vertical thirds, eh?!! I never thought of that!

April 21, 2013 at 8:14 PM The Magic Feather Project