squares are all on point (standing on one corner). Trim the upper and lower corners off the neutral squares (see the dotted line in the first picture).The resulting piece of patchwork should look like this:Being a woman herself, Nea Dodson must know what it was like for the women of the Seminole tribe. All that cutting and hand sewing must have been very tedious. It wasnt until the 1880s that the hand operated sewing machine made its debut into Seminole villages. This made the process much easier and patchwork soon flourished. The sewing machine could do more tasks and incorporate more features into Seminole clothing. Around 1900, women were putting built in belts into mens shirts. (Blackard and West) Then around 1920, the Seminole women began to put bands of contrasting colors into their clothing. A Seminole named Judy Bill Osceola remarks: There wasnt any designs then, there was just pieces of cloth . . . When they put all of the pieces together, they saw it was colorful and that was that (Downs, 1995, 89). Design plays important part in the making of any craft or piece of artwork. The elements of design in patchworking can be easily seen.There are four predominant elements of design found in patchwork garments. These four elements are color, texture, rhythm (motion) and pattern. Color is very important because it brings attention to the garments. Bright pieces of fabric are used in patchwork clothing, giving life and spirit to the wearer. Colors were sometimes a bit contrasting in that a bright warm color may be put into a predominately cool colored garment. This contrast brought attention to certain designs and patterns. Next, the texture of patchwork garments started out just having a plain, nappy cotton look, but once satin began to be used, the texture had a smooth, shimmery look. The texture of these garments lies heavily in the material used. The rhythm or motion of the patchworks is very important. All patch...
