Off the Cuff

It was weeks ago when I agreed to make a quilted wall hanging for a friend's auction, so it was silly to wait till the week it was needed to get started. But that's what went down, basically because I couldn't decide what to do!

Rummaging through my solids scrap bin for bee blocks the other day, I unearthed some leftover Improv Under the Influence strips from my class with Krista Hennebury last year. [Here's my original project.]  I found a yard of Essex Linen in Graphite in my stash, and the ingredients were sorted out.

As you can see in the top photo, my design wasn't earth-shattering, but I figured I could spice things up a notch with some improv quilting, echoing the shapes in the strips. Most of the quilting was done in Aurifil 50wt #5004 (Grey Smoke), but I did a ghost strip in #2140 (mustard), then did the same quilting in the colored strips themselves. This was fun quilting! 

In the areas without a colored strip or ghost quilting, I stuck with straight-line, in 3/8" increments. Sadly, the ghost strip isn't that noticeable in the finished quilt - a good reason to try some thicker thread for accent quilting like this. Note to self!



Of course there was one strip that called out for some matched-binding, and why not?

Finishing at 34 x 42", I'm not quite sure this little quilt has a style that will most appeal to the auction crowd, but I managed to create it from stash and had fun making it up as I went, which was a good deal for me.

W.I.P. Times

Nothing like starting a new project two weeks before the deadline knowing full well half of that time you would not have access to your sewing machine. Yup. That's what I did. Or am doing. Whatever.

I had fabric cut and piecing started as I headed off to the SMQG sew-in last Saturday. I was using Krista Hennebury's "improv under the influence" technique again, basically cuz I loved it last time.

 Call me focused, but before long I had rows pieced and my first section up on the design wall.

I was able to complete one more section before I had to leave for home, but at least when I got there, I was able to put them both on my own design wall, and be assured I was headed in the right direction.

 

Two more sections, and I had a quilt top I loved.

 

When I was ready to start quilting later in the weekend, I got out several threads, you know, hoping they would speak to me. In the middle of a teal vs. gold debate on Instagram, mom called. Now she doesn't do this often, but she happened to see the Ig action and had to chime in. Let's just say she was pretty convinced no color was necessary. And with that, I set my quilting course. Those two grays on the left will be used for the majority of the quilting. And for a bit of a focal? That black.  

So I've begun . . . willy nilly just like in Room Temp. Déjà vu all over again.

Linking up with W.i.P. Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

Blogger's Quilt Festival :: Room Temp {Small Quilt Category}

If we're lucky, every once in a while we find ourselves working on a project that's so darn enjoyable, you know, every step of the way, that we think to ourselves, "this is why I sew." Room Temp did that to me. It's my own version of Krista/Poppyprint's Improv Under the Influence quilt, begun with Krista herself at a recent class here in Seattle. I've worked steadily on it this past week, hoping I could finish it in time to enter it in the Blogger's Quilt Festival hosted by Amy/Amy's Creative Side. Well I made it, and am happily entering it in the Small Quilts category.

This quilt's process was unique in that I was using Krista's technique, with a relatively good idea of what my finished quilt would look like, yet most of the sewing and all of the cutting was improv, so there was definitely room for flexibility and personalization.

When it came time to quilt, I did some improv straight line, basically stitching wherever I felt like in the moment. Echo-quilting here, a spiral there, boy this is a fun way to quilt! I used three thread colors, all Aurifil 50wt - #2805 (Light Turquoise), variegated #4658 (Limoni Di Monterosso), #2975 (Brass). As usual, the threads chosen just added to the overall enjoyment of the process. I especially enjoyed sneaking a little turquoise into the gold sections, some limoni into the turquoise, and just two sections of brass for extra interest.

Some of my favorite parts of this quilt are the little "mismatched" bits placed in the contrasting colorways, and spots like the one below where I quilted something unique in one little section.

A faced binding seemed a perfect fit for this quilt. In the past, I've always used a miter when I've wanted to face a quilt, but this time I tried the quilt facing tutorial by Terry Aske Art Quilt Studio. Honestly, it seemed a tad less stressful that a miter, and allowed me to keep the quilt corners squared up nicely.

With solids not too warm nor too cool, I found Room Temp a very comfortable place to be.

Quilt stats:

Finished size: 29"x31"

Pattern: Improv Under the Influence by Krista Hennebury

Fabric: Kona Cotton Solids - Turquoise, Mediterranean, Lagoon, Bahama Blue, Aqua, Curry, Grellow, Corn Yellow, Sunflower, & Banana
Thread: Aurifil 50wt - #2805 (Light Turquoise), #4658 (Limoni Di Monterosso), 
#2975 (Brass)

Quilted by: myself, using a walking foot 
Helpful tutorials: "Chess on the Steps" by Krista Hennebury,

available to members on The Modern Quilt Guild website

Category: Small Quilts

My previous entries in the Blogger's Quilt Festival:

Keychain, 5/19/15

Red Hots, 10/27/14

Unlocked, 5/16/14

Crazy Rainbow, 10/25/13
Absolutely Mod Pop, 5/19/13

HST Love, 5/17/13

The Stars of Summer, 10/26/12

Hopscotch, 5/19/12

Mango Revisited, 10/28/11

Supernova, 5/13/11

Also linking up with Finish It Up Friday.

Improv Under the Influence

When I heard that Krista Hennebury/Poppyprint was going to be in town teaching a class on her Improv Under the Influence quilt, I just couldn't resist. To make a good thing better, the class was to be held at Drygoods Design, a delightful Seattle quilt shop that had recently moved to a larger, light-filled location that I was eager to visit. Perfect.

Our 'homework' before class was to choose 5 cool and 5 warm solids and do some pre-cutting. I chose all Kona Cotton Solids in gold and turquoise.

from top to bottom, Curry, Grellow, Corn Yellow, Sunflower, Banana, 

Mediterranean, Turquoise, Lagoon, Bahama, Aqua

First off, we made our center 'checkerboards', using both our warm and cool colors. I added a skinny strip through mine, because I could. (improv, right?)

The space was really lovely to work in, and one of the great features about taking a class at Drygoods is you only need to bring yourself and your fabric and thread. The machines and all supplies are there in the shop for your use.

I was pretty pleased how much I got accomplished! Most of us were able to surround our checkerboards with the first of three borders, with lots more pairs sewn and ready to go.

Here's a photo of our class with our projects at the end of the day. See Krista with hers on the far right? That's the goal! 

A special treat was being able to learn and sew with 4 of my SMQG buddies, Michelle, Sandy, Chandra, and Rachel. 

All in all, it was a really fun day. Krista is a terrific teacher, and just a delightful person.  I'm glad I made the time to take her class, and am anxious to keep working on my improv!