Improv Sampler - Completed Top

So, would you hire me to teach you improvisational quilting?

My improv sampler is done - apologies for the crappy photo, Hubby was an unwilling partner as we photographed quilts yesterday.  And the quilt ended up much larger than my brain was thinking it was going to be.  Right now it is 76 inches square.  I think I should quilt it before I start pitching, what do you think?

This was the first time I used a solid white for the sashing.   I'm not sure why I resisted solids.  I do like the texture you get from a nice white-on-white, but the solid makes the blocks pop that much more.  Even better is that it is cheaper!

The colour scheme for this quilt came from one fabric alone.  It is a sweet print with birds and trees on it.  It actually was a scrap from a crib sheet that my mother-in-law made for my nephew, born almost two months ago.  I pulled the rest of the fabrics, other than the white, from my stash.  Each block contains that bird fabric as a way to tie it all together.  

Now, if only we could pin down a nanny and I could get out to stores and start pitching.  In the meantime, I'm plugging away on a baby quilt for the latest addition to the family, my nephew that was born today.  More on that this weekend.

Improv Sampler - Building Blocks

If I wasn't so anxious to get to quilting while both the little ones are done I would figure out how to get all four of these photos as one image.  Oh, and I could have cropped them a little. No big whoop.  The truth is that I forgot to take photos of these blocks before I put the quilt top together. They are now in with the others, awaiting the border.  

And yes, I am adding borders to this quilt.  It's not normal for me and it isn't normal for most improvisational style quilts.  But I am using this quilt as a teaching sample.  Going in to traditional shops I thought I should try to pay homage to more traditional quilt construction. Perhaps that will make it less scary for people?  Change is often feared, and improv style construction is new and different.  But I'm hoping the sunny colours will draw people in and curiosity, at least, will get the better of most!

These blocks are true improvisations.  I started with the scraps from the other blocks and just started sewing pieces together.  As I got going I could see some different opportunities, so you see 4 very different blocks.  All of them were made at the same time, with the same scraps.   And such different results.  I love them all.  I'm really tempted to do an all strippy quilt now. Nothing but rows and rows of scrappy stripes.  Hmm, this whole process is giving me so many more ideas.  

Either I have to give up sleep or I need the girls to sleep a heck of a lot more!  That being said, we are having a gorgeous day and we've already been to the park.  A soccer game in front of the house is on the agenda for later.  As long as I keep them away from my nose.  Oh, did I mention I broke my nose last week?  Fun times.  Yeah, I'm off to sew and ignore everything else!

Improv Sampler - Wonky Log Cabins

It's been said before here - I'm not a huge fan of wonky log cabins.  But they are an excellent first step into improvisational quilting.  It takes one of the oldest patterns/techniques and turns it on its head.  No templates and no precision cutting.

Most of the time when you see a wonky log cabin they are set as individual blocks within a quilt.  This makes for very bold, graphic designs.  In my searching though, I would be curious to see what wonky log cabin blocks look like set in traditional log cabin settings.  Hmm... I might yet tackle the log cabin again.

I won't pass on a tutorial, but I will send you to this one.  I couldn't have said it better.  The important thing to remember with wonky log cabins, really in any improvisational technique, is to still remember basic sewing principles.  Use a consistent seam allowance (preferably 1/4 inch).  Trim your excess fabrics so you aren't left with a mess of extra fabric on the back of the block.  And square up your block at the end. 

One final tip with these wonky log cabins: Try to make your final logs at least 3/4 inch wide (finished).  Any narrower than that and you will have these teeny strips that get lost when you piece the blocks into a quilt.

We can thank Denyse Schmidt for providing the true inspiration for all of us on these wonky log cabins.  But they are some amazing examples of these modern quilts all over the place. Some of my favourites can be found here, here, and here.

Improv Sampler - Free-Piecing

Welcome to free piecing.  This technique is definitely about the process.  And sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.  In other words, don't look too closely at that 'sun' block in the photo.

It does help to plan when you are doing free piecing, or at least have an idea of the general shape you want to finish with - a house, a flower, a star.  Quite often I actually make a sketch if my brain is baby addled and I can't figure out how the pieces should go together.  (I should share my sketches one day - if a quilt block could be a stick figure then I am an expert at drawing that!)

Free piecing in this context is about the process of cutting and piecing.  There are no templates and often no rulers when cutting.  Sewing is just one piece to the next.  You often start from the inside of the block and work out.  You have the be creative and improvise along the way.  For example, in the house block above I didn't cut a piece long enough to encompass the angle of the roof.  That means the roof doesn't overhang the house that much and the roof is smaller than intended.  Oh well.  I compensated by adding another strip of the background fabric to make the block big enough.  Problem solved.

This technique also works well in combination with freely cut applique pieces, like this artist.