One Week of Improv

When I saw Amy of Amy's Creative Side post about her One Week Improv Challenge, I was in the middle of quilting my I Heart You quilt, and I thought it would be a nice break between quilting sessions. I was right!

Day 1: Strip sets, or improv stripes, are one of my very favorite techniques to play with, so this block was a great way to start.

Day 2: I didn't really have many scraps from block one, so I just sewed straight from my scrap basket. Good news, it was fun; bad news is it's way more colorful than I'd planned for this project, so it probably won't be included with my other blocks.

Day 3: Oh improv triangles, you're always interesting to dabble with. Amy suggested the stitch and flip method, so I pretty much stuck with that.

Day 4: Of all the improv techniques, I think I've turned to the log cabin block more than any other. It didn't disappoint this time either.

Day 5: My first instinct with gentle curves is vertical, so I went with it. I could have gone on and on, but play time was up.

Day 6: Improv paper-piecing didn't come as natural as the others; in fact at one point I had to cut my paper in half and then seam it back together. But it all worked out and I kinda like it.

Day 7 was supposed to be making more of your favorite technique, but instead, I'm forging ahead in sewing my blocks into a cohesive project. Like I hinted before, I'm planning on putting the multi-colored block on the back. So stay tuned. More improv will be needed to get where I'm going.

Amy's One Week Improv Challenge is still available on her website, and you can start your own week any time. If you do, be sure and use the #improvwithamy hashtag to add to the improv block collection!

Craft Book Month

The last few weeks, it's been fun to hear fellow bloggers talk about their favorite craft books and share project from them. There's been quite the expansive blog hop as part of the celebration of "all things craft book". In all honestly, there are about 10 stacked at the foot of my ironing board, 3 or 4 of which I've gone back to repeatedly over the last year for inspiration. One of my favorites is Quilting Modern by Jacquie Gering and Katie Pedersen.

I love that though this book has projects you can do, it strongly encourages you to let the techniques inspire you to create your own unique designs. So it's very conducive to newcomers to improv as well as those that want to move in their own direction.

Though I'd dabbled in improv quilting a few times before, it was a whole different thing to actually take a class with one of the Quilting Modern authors. To put it simply, we practiced every technique in the book, ending the day with an odd little assortment of pieced blocks, and a wad of Katie's scraps to finish whatever.

I decided to make a sampler quilt of sorts with my blocks, and felt full license to put them together however I felt moved. And I started by taping a grid up on the wall of my sewing room, and 'building' each panel, as described in the book. 

Here's my finished quilt, loosed based on the book's "mod tv quilt".

I used the same panel technique as I pieced the remaining class blocks into a backing.

This quilt was a fun foray deeper into improv, with a book that I know will continue to inspire me.

Linking up with Craft Buds.

Fresh Sewing Day

Overall, this summer has seen numerous "littles" created, and very few actual quilts, but it's been fun for a change, and I've tried all sorts of new (to me) patterns and techniques, so it's all good in my book. Fresh Sewing Day at Lily'sQuilts is, of course, an awesome way to show them all off!

The Zakka Sew-Along has been the instigator of weekly small projects. This month, it was two "I love it"'s to two "um, I'm not so sure about this." All still good fun though.

1. Water Bottle Holder, 2. Delightful Linen Pouch, 3. Patchwork Ribbon, 4. Spoon Bookmark

Bee blocks were minimal, but they were definitely enjoyable to put together.

1. Gemstone Blocks, 2. Floating Frames

And these two little polaroid blocks sent me off into the crazy arena of swap-hosting! The *Picture-Perfect* Polaroid Block Swap seems to have a life of its own, and I'm just anxious to see it through! What great participation in the swapping group!

A couple of random littles - a triple-zip pouch I've been meaning to try for ages. I'm pretty pleased I was able to figure it out and I love the finish. Then there was another of Jeni's drawstring bags, my go-to bag pattern.

1. ">Triple-Zip Pouch front, 2. Lined Drawstring Bag

And though these aren't finished projects {yet}, they are important bits in my quilting journey, all from the Improvisational Patchwork class I took from Quilting Modern author, Katie Pedersen last weekend. Maybe next month I'll have a finish to show from this set. (I hope so!)

1. Improvisational Piecing, 2. Improvisational Piecing, 3. Improvisational Piecing, 4. Improvisational Piecing, 5. Improvisational Piecing, 6. Improvisational Piecing

And there were two quilts this month - A Taste of Marmalade in baby-size . . .

and my pride and joy this month, G.O. Modern. Finishing up this quilt with my 4x5 modern Quilt Bee blocks was a great feeling. The quilting alone was a major challenge and accomplishment for me, and it definitely has given me confidence to move ahead with my free-motion quilting. 

The photo-shoot itself was a highlight of my month as well. Talk about having the quilt in the right place at the right time. Of course you can see some of my fav shots in the blog post links above.


So it's been another full and productive month - just the way I like it!


Linking up with Fresh Sewing Day!

::Improvisational Free-Piecing Workshop::

So the workshop with Quilting Modern's Katie Pedersen was great fun! Since this post is photo-heavy, I'll just comment a bit about each . . .

 Ready to go with fabric 'kits' from Katie . . .

 Katie's stash - brought to share!

 Playing on the design wall with our strip sets for strip-piecing.

Katie's advice: "distance is your friend". ie. step back to get a better view.

Just my strips, ready to piece

 My strip set all stitched up

Using strip-pieced strips, including "slice & insert" technique

 Example of a way to use the cut-up strips in Katie's "Anything Goes"

Practicing stitch and flip triangles

 Katie telling about wonky stars using stitch and flip triangles

 "Split Decision"

 Mocking up my Improvisational Log Cabin block on the design wall.

Finished Improvisational Log Cabin block, for which I have further plans!

 My try at Improvisational Curves

My modern crazy-pieced block - still in progress.

 The scraps, rummaged.

Basically, we covered the techniques in the book, with lots of room for questions, playing with fabric, and Katie sharing from her experience. I'm anxious now to incorporate what I've seen and learned into future projects!

A Swap and A Class

Well, the *Picture-Perfect* Polaroid Block Swap is well underway! 70(!) swappers are making blocks like crazy, and more are arriving at my house every day! The mosaic below shows most of them! Thirteen packs have actually arrived, a total of 525 blocks. Savinggrc/Karen has added up 2025 committed blocks so far, and has agreed to keep tabs on the total as the blocks continue to ship.

1. Materialmoments', 2. CityHouseStudio, 3. IMG_0290, 4. 45 Polaroids to swap, 5. Polaroid Blocks, 6. Polaroid Swap, 7. Whew! I'm done!, 8. Picture perfect polaroid swap blocks, 9. Polaroid Swap, 10. 50 Polaroids Ready To Go, 11. All done with my polaroid patches!!, 12. more for the Swap - Sign Ups Open

As for the class, how would you feel if you received an email from the teacher saying, "I'll be making up fabric kits for each of you to use while learning the techniques, as well as bringing my scrap bins for you all to dig through." Uh yeah, me too. Especially when the teacher is Katie of Sew Katie Did. So I'm pretty excited this morning as I pack up my sewing supplies, machine, and copy of Quilting Modern, and head off to take her Improvisational Patchwork class. I'll be sure and report back, but meanwhile, see ya later!