This week's tangles began with the letter 'Q' and we used them on TanglePatterns String 066 - or as my grandmother used to say - "Schixty-Schix".☺
The challenge brought back some very warm memories of our grandmothers - a sweet and unexpected reward for participating.
Let's take a look ~
The first tile arrived from the Netherlands. Carmela wrote ~
Nice tribute to your grandmother.
I like the Q patterns, but with Quandary i loose the sight,hahaha. Therfore I made only big ones in the curves.
Thanks for this challenge,
On my blog.
Carmela used a large and lovely Quandary. The way she darkened Quiltz makes it an anchor the other tangles.
Lori Byerly wrote ~
What a sweet tribute to your grandmother. Aren't they special in the lives of little girls.
Here's my tile using string number "schixty schix" and a couple of "q" patterns.
Also posted here.
Yes, grandmothers are invaluable, especially to little girls. Lori tangled Quib so beautifully. It sprouts from the four sides of her tile and in the corners Quandary is shaded to make it rise off the surface of the paper. The dimension she achieved in this is extraordinary.
Katie Booth wrote, "I've submitted 2 tiles because I couldn't choose :-) I tried to implement the string more but my mind seems fixated on this particular shape. Just had to go with it."
Katie describes a perfect Zentangle® experience - she let her lines move where her mind wanted to roam and she has two wonderful tiles to show for it. Notice the half section of Quares in her second piece - that is a nice touch.
Ilse Lukken said ~
Thank you for another great challenge! I love Quib, Quandary is always a challenge ;-) and Quiltz was new to me. I had fun with these 3 tangles and put the tile on my blog as well.
Isle shaded her Quiltz in an opposite way from one corner to the other. It makes the pattern look like two different ones. She also added little triangles to one section of Quandary - a wonderful idea for that pattern. That very dark space continues through all of Quib and makes for a dramatic look.
Caroline Moore wrote ~
These were challenging tangles this week. Quandary and quib took lots of practice. I enjoyed learning quiltz, but didn’t find room to include it. I’ll be sure to use it in my other work though!
I have posted it on my website.
I enjoyed hearing about your Grandmother!
Thanks for another fun challenge.
Caroline included so many details - the fanning of
Quare from the corners,
Quandary within
Quandary, darkened arua-ed spaces and lots of dots - delightful!
Sue Jacobs wrote of her tile~
Back to black and white techniques for string 66 today. The tangles used are Quandary, Quib, and Quiltz.
I was glad that the string is merely a suggestion as I found I wanted to adjust it slightly to accommodate my version of Quib. Quiltz was a challenge to draw behind the Quib. It took a little longer and more increased focus to work out which part of the tangle went were. Quandary is a tangle that hasn't grown on me as many others have, so I was glad to do it in smaller areas.
Quiltz behind Quib may have been a challenge, but look how that turned out. It flows so effortlessly into Quandary the way Sue shaded her tangles. Note how the scallop of her Quandary edges and how they show up so nicely along the border line.
Christine Forrester said, "I started this as a multi-tangle pattern but Quilted took over and it became a mono-tangle – I am not sure that I am totally satisfied with it."
By the time this is posted, I am sure she will be most satisfied with it. Sometimes it takes a bit of time to appreciate ones own work. Christine's monotangle is marvelous - from the variation of size to the variation of darkened spaces.
Annemarie wrote this sweet note ~
The String Thing of this week brought back some sweet memories about my father. Thanks for that. On my blog I wrote:
Adele's grandmother would have become 109 years this week and as a tribute to her this challenge.
My own dad, who passed away in 1971 (he was only 71 years old), would have been 105 on October 22nd. Hard to imagine, already so long ago; I was only 21 then and missed him for a very long time. Especially when 'big' things happened in my life.
What a very loving mention of her father - and her tile is a wonderful tribute complete with splendid shades and spatters of brown, intersecting Quib, and corners of Quiltz and Quare.
Ragged Ray wrote - as only she can - this wonderful reflection on her tile ~
I chose to work with such two tangles this week - as Quandary kept me entertained for ages, and it just asked to have Quib popping through those rice shapes! A few variations, and a little cross-hatching behind a couple of areas. It made me think of fabric - nibbled by the moths of time, of family ties threading their way through the generations. All apt for where the challenge started from.
Thanks as always for the fun.
I find myself reading and re- reading her glorious descriptions. It helps me to appreciate all the more, the mood she creates in her work - with word and Micron.
Note how she used multiple portals for
Quib that just happen to be
Quandary - that is very clever!
A very warm welcome to Sandra who sends her first tile in all the way from Germany. She wrote ~
it is the first time that I send a tile to you for your string-thing-challenge and I hope, everything is correct!?
I really liked the string but I had problems with the quandary-pattern. But in the end I got it, I think ;-)
I started with Zentangle only a few weeks ago and I really love the different patterns. I have started a blog too and I would be happy, if you would visit me :-)))
I hope my english is not too bad - it is a long time ago that I learned it in school ;-)
My goodness, new to Zentangle and resurrecting English - both with such admirable results. She turned Quandary into flowers, added a three pronged Quib, and two variations of Quare - so very impressive. Willkommen Sandra! (I studied German for two years and that just about all I can remember :)
Another warm welcome to first timer Karla Smith who hails from Canada ~
I am a new zentangler from Canada. Only 8 weeks, never before picking up a pen. I love your site and am so inspired by the work of the many many talented people who submit tiles to you. So attached is my first submission
What a very marvelous thing to think that Karla - as with so many others - discovered her talent through tangling. Karla created a beautiful blend of the patterns and her shading is is superb.
Cheryl Stocks sent three tiles along with a note guaranteed to produce a smile ~
I had fun with this one and have collected a batch of drawings, some good, some ok, some not fit for human consumption. That's how it goes while learning new tricks!
Here'are an ok one, a good one and my what I think is the best effort of the bunch. (don't know which order you'll get them) If I can, they'll be on my blog along with some of the others. If not, you see them here and nowhere else! woohoo! Don't act now, I'll throw in a set of Ginsu knives, too! OOPS, carried away again!
Glad my thoughts made your day. Have another brilliant day!
One tile is more clever than the next - just like her note :) - Quandary as shoe strings, intersecting in hues of pink, and sewn as button threads - pure fun!
A very warm welcome to my fellow CZT and Floridia Barb Burgess who wrote ~
Hi Adele. I am entering this challenge with a tile that I also used for The Diva's challenge, this week. I hope I am doing this right...first time. 
Hope it's okay to add another tangle.
Yes, it is OK to do all of that - especially when the results are so pretty and pink. Barb also sent along links to both her sites:
Barbs Cards and Gifts
Tiles, Tangles and Strings (OH MY!)
Do give them a visit.
Dorothy Allison wrote ~
Thank you Adele for your welcome weekly challenge, your Wednesday Words of Wisdom and your tangle tips. Here is my entry for this week - in a Quib with Quare and a variation of Quandary
Cheers.
That is wonderful. Great takes on the tangles and Quandary pops up everywhere!
Another warm "willkommen" to Heike who sends her first tile in from Germany. She said, "It was fun for me to draw this tile, especially because two of the patterns - Quare and Quib - were new to me."
The tangles are lovely and the shading gives them great depth. Note how
Quandary curves and tapers to the corner.
Lily Moon sent her best wishes along with this dynamic duotangle ~
The dark Quandary is striking. Lily managed such a pleasing balance of light and dark, large and small scale tangles, patterns and white space. She topped it off - as she does so beautifully in her work - with just a bit of brown.
Ingrid Coventon wrote ~
I loved to do this one. It looks like a battle between some giant jelly fishes. In dutch we call these big ones: Portugees oorlogsschip. (Portugese warships in English? perhaps?) And I had also fun with Quandary.
Yes, in English they are Portuguese man o' war. How fun to learn sea life through tangling :)
For Ingrid to say that she had fun with
Quandary is an understatement. Look at all of those variations, one more creative than the next.
Jane Glotzer wrote ~
I always find it interesting how things in the world seem to line up in seemingly coincidental ways...this week both you and Laura the Diva, mentioned your grandmothers in your weekly challenges--:)
I went with a very light hand this week...unusual for me, since as you know, I love a lot of inky darkness, but of course, it's always good to try different (and maybe less comfortable!) approaches. I started with Quib in the middle, which is a pattern I love, and because that large center space seemed to cry out for it--:) I thought I might explore both Quandary and Quare a bit but then I chose to use only Quiltz to fill in all four corners instead, which created a "background" for Quib. I was planning to darken in the empty space around the cords of Quib, but when I tried some pencil first, just to get a sense of how it would look, I ended up liking the lighter contrast. I left everything else pretty pale, just darkened the holes where Quib emerges and shaded a little for the overlapping cords and the center of part of Quiltz. I very much like my finished piece! :)
Yes, I do love those coincidences as well, especially when they have heartwarming associations.
Jane's thought process for her tangles are a treat to read as you look at her work. She created a very lovely piece with a lighter touch.
Susan Theron said, "I have to put a lot of practice into quandary, because it also puts me in a quandary, before I will feel satisfied with the result and therefore did not try it."
What she did try turned out very nicely. Note the detailed
Quiltz and the fun of her open ended
Quib.
LonettA wrote ~
Here is my tile for this weekly challenge! It was a wonderful challenge with a wonderful string and wonderful tangles.
After a hard week I had a lovely flow and relaxation during tangling this tile! For me Quiltz and Quare were new tangles. Especially I like Quare because of the possibilities for shading and the resulting effect of depth.
Now I´m looking forward to your post on monday. Thank you again for your wonderful challenge and your lovely comments for each tile!
This is a masterfully tangled tile. LonettA did indeed create great depth especially in the way she shaded Quare, tucked Quib under Quiltz and continued the tube shape of Quib's points of origin. Note, too, how she has the tangles breaking away from the grids and floating about. That is fabulous.
Sue Agnew said this one was "fun, as always!" Her note:
Here's my #63. I really like Quandary and expected to use it, so I was surprised that I didn't. I had hoped to fit it in the corners, but it works as a 60-degree angle rather than a 90-degree angle.
Usually when I try a new tangle I like to look only at the step-out and not at anyone else's interpretation of it ... however, for Quare I couldn't quite get it to work for me, so I went back to Tanglepatterns and saw Beth's variations, including the diagonal split and the rounded lines, and then I liked the way it looked.
I enjoyed Quiltz because I like "magical" 3-D tangles.
For Quib, when I hooked the ends over the "edge" of the "hole" they suddenly turned into snakes and kind of grossed me out, but I persevered.
Persevered and and even sparkled :) Look at the amazing amount of lines Sue managed to tangle in Quare. The detail lines in all of her tangles are really lovely. Yes, fun, as always!
Sharyn Penna wrote ~
While I've seen others use them, Quare and Quiltz are new tangles for my hand. With so many lines to the tangles, I used a pencil for the grid lines...I think a pencil grid sometimes lets the seed fillers pop. Quare does pop, but Quiltz on my tile got a bit dull when I started shading. Since my grid was small I probably should have just left the grid lines alone. I like both tangles...will work with them more...hopefully I'll find a balance between grid size and shading.
I just love the challenges your prompts offer...the many interpretations all together is such a great learning source for me. Always thankful for your posts!
Ditto for me as well - I learn so much from reviewing all of the submissions. Take for instance what Sharyn has done so creatively here with the patterns. Note how Quandary breaks away and morphs into the twist of Quib's tendrils, the rounded corners of Quare, and the pattern her coloring produced in Quiltz.
Along with a photograph of her dear grandmother, Cat Trask sent a note that said, "Except for Quiltz, which I made WAY too tiny, I had a lot of fun with this one."
Quiltz is very tiny, but look how she carried the pattern through in that minute detail. That is determination - and hopefully it provided a bit of 'zen'.
Quiltz and
Quandary provide the perfect balance to the lighter
Quare with its wonderful shading.
Kathryn White returned from a recent trip to Peru where she said she learned much about the Incas. She wrote ~
"...I believe the Inca's have it right. It takes opposites to find completion.
And so it is with our Zentangle, light and dark, straight and curved, black and white. Perhaps you remember the Monkey's: "But Today there is no day or night/Today there is no dark or light/Today there is no black or white, Only shades of gray." True, life becomes more nuanced with advancing age and wisdom, but it is still filled with glorious color, black, white, and gray among them.
This tile designed itself. It seems so obvious. I'm looking forward to what others have done. The Incas say, "One head thinks, two heads think better together."
Thoughts to ponder and a tile to admire, a gift for us all, Thank you, Kathryn.
In addition to the pretty patterns, the shading really adds depth to this tile. Note how she used Quib two of the corners - the lines loop back around.
Elena Müller wrote ~
Here's my take on string #66 by Melodie Hampshire. You can also see my tile here on my Pinterest Address.
Ich wünsche Ihnen einen wunderschönen Tag.
The look that Elena managed to give
Quare is brilliant. It folds and curves and stretches. The other patterns border it and yet it still holds its own as the center focus.
Annie Taylor wrote, "Great string and super tangles - lovely idea and what a wonderful name your grandmother had! On my
blog here."
The deep dark background makes the light lines of Quib glow as they spring from pretty patterned corners and crisscross through the center. That is terrific.
Joan Delony said that she was "in a quandary while drawing Quandary." She found that drawing oval shapes instead of rice shapes made a difference ~
She also shaded it to create a raised look - very nice.
She also posted it
here on her blog.
Peggy Kohrmann made time to tangle while traveling ~
Her tangles are lovely and the white space she left through the middle makes
Quib as well as the other tangles shine.
AND now, the tile for honors this week was sent in from Germany's Joya.
Congratulations Joya!
She wrote, "Here's my contribution for this weeks' challenge. I tangled with Quib before, but the other patterns were new to me and I totally fell in love with "Quiltz". I love stars!"
It must be love - Joya's stars in
Quiltz are spectacular - as is her depth of shading in all of the patterns.
Quandary continuing on and around the border line is a playful addition. Her deliberate lines and light and dark contrasts make this piece very special.
Congratulations Joya. I have a little something coming in the mail to you.
Thank you to everyone who sent in a tile for the rest of us to enjoy and learn from.
Many thanks to the creative minds behind the string and tangles used this week ~
TanglePatterns String 066 created by Melodie Hampshire
Quandary by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas
Quare by Beth Snoderly
Quib by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas
Quiltz by Kym Barlow
Stop by Tuesday afternoon for "It's a String Thing" #64!
