One of my quilt groups recently resurrected the Ricky Tims convergence quilt and we all gave it a try.
On my first attempt, my fabric didn’t look very different after all that cutting-and-piecing! Oops, was that a “fail”? Nope, I added a lime strip and a border and that improved it, though it still was far, far from Ricky’s dramatic results.
Then came to mind Tara Faughnan’s remark that Sherry Lynn Wood is “definitely a ‘yes-and’ quilter” so I started to experiment with adding things. (The yes-and idea comes from improv theatre: whatever happens you must add onto it rather than backing up/starting over/throwing it out.) I kept adding, etc, until I came to this.
Then it was on to two more attempts at convergence.
My conclusion from this is (1)Ricky probably made hundreds of convergences that didn’t make the cut for his book, and (2)This technique may be a good way to create an interesting background for something else in future.
On to the next experiment!
Zippy Quilts 
You are so inspiring! I love your quilt!
Thank you! And thanks for visiting and commenting.
Yes, and yes! You did the right thing, moving on to add more rather than undo. The result is marvelous! I like those big leaves and the trailing stem. Makes me think of the Cindy Grisdella quilt you gave up on. Would you give it another go now, if you still had it? But I agree that sometimes a quilt can be a big “fail” and one simply must move on. Every failure is a good lesson-learned though.
Well, yes, I should have saved those Cindy blocks and re-designed the quilt. Lesson learned!
I love the add it bit. I have recently made a scrappy quilt top that I’m not happy with because it doesn’t have enough contrast so am thinking I should use it as a background for something that pops.
Yes! Applique something on it! Thanks for visiting and commenting.
The addition of the applique completes the lime thread (punny, eh?)…But I think you re-orienting the quilt top so the strips go horizontally makes a huge difference as well as the circular/arc quilting. I’m thinking your name for the quilt is a bit of a pun in that Kudzu (the bane of the south) is always ‘adding’ and expanding its territory… 😉
I love the idea that it’s a pun! You are always on top of the word play. And, much as it is popular to disparage kudzu, it is holding a lot of banks that otherwise would erode, and is covering a lot of junkyards that otherwise would be visible, so it has its uses.
Wow – never thought of those ‘attributes’! 🙂
Your “Yes-And” additions really make that quilt pop. I love your fearlessness in quilting. I agree on the Convergence thing; I think it has to be two fabrics with a high contrast to make it work, but even then there’s no guarantee!
Thanks, Elizabeth. I’m going to try to be more “yes-and”, especially as Linda pointed out I would re-make the Cindy Grisdela blocks if I hadn’t donated them…
I remember when the convergence quilts were a big thing. I always thought that I might be missing something since I never made one. After reading your post, I don’t feel that way anymore. But I sure love what you did with your version!
I never thought of kudzu as a positive plant, either, until you mentioned junk yards. 🙂
You didn’t miss much. It’s a cool idea but difficult to make into something more than a background. A couple of folks in the group did better; maybe they’ll let me put their accomplishments on the blog.
You must be the most adventurous quilter. I really really like the leafy, swirling addition to the converged background
Thanks! It’s always good to be able to “save” something!
Nice moves on enhancing that quilt!