Meander Pattern Design
Scratchy Lines
Aiming for a curving design I created a series of uneven vertical scratches. I experimented to find the right line thickness and width of the curves. Only when I combined a series of these overlapping shapes did I realise the similarity to Meandering.
Carolyn Forster
Meandering is one of the quilting techniques used by Carolyn Forster on some of her amazing patchworks. This example is one of my shots for Carolyn’s website, which I also created.
Colouring the Design
I felt the design worked best with simple black or white Meanderings. I then worked through a variety of sophisticated background colours. Khaki greens and other dusky colours create the luxurious appearance I was looking for.
Defining the Pattern Repeat
It might not appear it, but there is just one Meander of 3x left curls and 3x right curls. This then joins straight onto its copy. So hopefully you won’t spot the join! I could have made the pattern absolutely perfect but I think that would have destroyed the fun playful vibe.
Testing The Pattern Repeat
All of my full screen patterns use actual real pattern repeats. I can define the scale of the repeat using the website’s CSS file (Cascading Style Sheet). This is the ideal way to test if a pattern repeat works. It is also a quick way to see what the pattern looks like at different scales. Sometimes a large scale pattern looks totally different when shown much smaller.
