Improv Piecing Doodles

Sometimes I feel like an impulsive child. The one who just barreled ahead, without thinking, infuriating their parents as they went. “What did you think would happen?” I am totally that parent. And I am totally that child.

I had an idea and just wanted to see what it would look like. I grabbed some scraps to play. Of course it would turn into a quilt! And here I was trying not to start any new quilts.

What did you think would happen?

Well, I didn’t think. I was just playing. And now it seems I’ve started a new quilt.

This represents 10 days of Morning Make sessions, plus maybe one or two stints in the evening. Just 20-30 minutes a day. For now I am calling these doodles. Lines on fabric. Pieced, not applique. I started in the scrap bin then pulled out from my actual solid stash. Initially I only went with orange, but after sharing the blocks on social media a few people mentioned that it looked like line drawings on the human forms, just in detail. That got me thinking so I started adding the browns. And I have a stack of pinks that will likely join in.

Other people said it looked like deconstructed basketballs, which I also see, but it less inspiring..

Like that impulsive child, I have no idea where it is going. Obviously it will be a quilt - I should have expected that - but what it will be is very much up in the air. Will I add sashing? Will I lay it out in a colour gradiant or by shape? How many blocks will I actually make? For now, I am just going to keep playing.

Setting myself up to sew right in front of the design wall feeds the creativity. Usually I am in this spot when I am machine quilting - so that the weight of the quilts does not pull off the table. I had moved the table here for just that, actually. Then I discovered I needed a new spool of thread. The delay meant the time to play. And now I am like “what quilt needs to be quilted?”

And oh, yes, there is a second, concurrent sewing project going on there. More on that next week.

Modern Star Sampler Quilt

Ah, that mid fall snow storm. At least it makes for good quilt photos. Plus the motivation to stay inside and finish up a quilt top!

This stars quilt is probably at a decade in the making, if not more. It started as a Block of the Month. I fell behind by the third month then completely lost track of the online pattern. So I made it up. I’ve spoken about it before, that even when you are doing precision piecing, it can be improv.

So there you have it, the top finally finished. Such a pretty thing, if I can say that myself.

This is one of my favourite block styles in the whole quilt. It’s paper pieced, not exactly improv. I sized up a free pattern offered by Amy Friend to get my 12.5” squares. But the spirit of those hand drawn triangles we all made as a kid was exactly what I wanted. And it was the perfect foil to all the other star designs in the quilt. It needed these stars for balance.

I’m already sure I will do a simple all over pattern for quilting this. Nothing fancy, just let it live as a finished quilt as opposed to fussing about outlining each star or obsessing about matching thread colours. In fact, I’ve already started on the backing. I took all the trimmings and scraps from this last run of blocks and put them together. In a few Morning Make sessions I had one big improv block. It would make a great table runner, but I need a quilt back more than I need a table runner.

Oh, and a quick shout out to my 7yo son. He took the outdoor shots for me while I held up the quilt. I also wasn’t kidding about that snow. This was last week, before September ended! Then it melted. Then it snowed again. I’m not complaining, it did get me some pretty shots in the end!

Round and Round - Improv Log Cabins in a Circle

Round and Round

80” x 80”

Definitely not my oldest quilt in the construction pile, but 5 years later this one is done. I looked, and I made the original handful of blocks in September 2014. Oddly enough, also on a September snow day. Yet this quilt is the antithesis of a snow day. It is bright and obnoxious, full of energy and noise, not quiet, serene, or peaceful. But it will keep you warm during not that freaky, obviously, snowstorms.

So I started it 5 years ago, finished the top 3 years ago, and it took me all summer to quilt it. Sounds about right!

It ended up being a bear to quilt. I really wanted to get it done but it was at a peak of pain for me. So I got my friend Philippa to thread baste it for me on her long arm. But then I fought and fought with my machine on quilting it. Thread kept breaking and my bobbin sensor went haywire. Even a trip to the spa didn’t solve the problems. But I kept her clean, got new bobbins, and eventually learned to turn off the bobbin sensor. Oh, and adjusted that top tension. We will not mention my tendency to speed through corners and the impact that may have had on quilting.

I did use a go-to thread colour for scrap quilts - olive/sage green. It would truly be my last choice of colours given a stack of fabric or rack of thread, but it works brilliantly with scrap quilts. It blends better than grey and falls in a nice medium value so as not to pop out anywhere. With a scrap quilt like this an all over pattern is precisely perfect.

Hot pink binding for the win!

Plans are underway for something more for this quilt. I’m pretty excited to see what I can do. The snow needs to melt and health needs to return to our house. Both should happen by the weekend. After that, we’ll see if my plans can come to fruition. It just takes the time to do the work! Hard to do with that regular family business job, shingles, and sick kids. In the meantime, this quilt is already in rotation for snuggles.

Summering

Like most self employed parents, summer is a twisted evil. Yay for free time! Oh crap, how am I going to get anything done? This year I’ve prioritized the family and the family business. Which has meant odd hours of working and as much play as we can fit in. It’s meant cabins and camping and fancy hotels. It’s meant friends and cousins and celebrating.

And only a little bit of quilting. I won’t lie, it’s been nice to take a break from the churn, from the need for More. Content. Now.

Morning Make with the kids, quilting when I can figure out my tempermental machine, hand stitching by the lake or on a plane, storm watching, getting our feet dirty, eating as many cherries as our bellies will hold, milkshakes in the afternoon.

Summer so far…

Johnston Canyon Lower Falls

Castle Mountain

Sunset swim (plus moonlight and all the day swims)

Best friends on the beach

Euroa on the beach

Vegas pool views

Actually went to Vegas to work (Woodworking tools trade show - a little bit bigger than Quilt Market)

Plugging away at quilting this scrappy beauty

Here’s to summering where ever you are. Or wintering, for those in the Southern Hemisphere. Either way, let’s raise a glass to enjoying each day and prioritizing what is right for you right now.