The Elements of Art (in Quilting!) Part VI: Form

Form and Shape are close, close buddies and often find themselves overlapping.  Form is the physical, three dimensional shape of the piece, or the effect of three dimensions on a two dimensional surface. Where to the eye a basketball is a circle, to the hand it is a sphere. That's really the basic differentiation.  

MC Escher was a master of using Shape and Form together in the same piece visually.  You see the shape of the arms on the paper, but the hands have taken three-dimensional Form.  

Form takes Shape a step further and determines size and function too.  For a quilt, it is a very important thing to consider - does it need to be large enough to fit a California King bed, or is it just meant to hang on the wall? How much loft do you want to your batting? Are there any three dimensional additions to your quilt, changing it's Form - buttons, ribbons, Trapunto, folding? Do you want certain blocks to jump out that the observer, appearing three dimensional?

A tumbling Block quilt is a great example of visual form, and Art quilts are famous for incorporating three-dimensional forms to the work.  Here's some good examples of Form in quilts:

Have you ever made an art quilt with 3D components?  What would you use to give your quilt and added layer of Form?  Tell us about it in the comments below!