improv quilt

Quilt Reveal: Making Friends from High Road Quilter

I finished the portraits quilt I showed you in the last post.

I used the index card portraits as my inspiration, so I used background fabric that would result in the same size as the index cards.

I used fusible applique to add the body and the body parts: hair, whites of eyes, eyeballs, nose (optional), mouth, and clothing.

I decided to use the binding fabric as a border instead, and since it looked like a frame, I decided to birth the quilt instead of bind it.

I used embroidery stitches to stabilize the quilt instead of stitching in the ...

added by Shasta Matova 7 months, 3 weeks ago. under applique quilt , blue quilt , green quilts , improv quilt , quilt reveal , quilting

My Checkered Past from Sew Preeti Quilts

If I could be doing anything quilty, it would be improv piecing. It is like taking a journey. "Come hither ye fabric scraps; together we will travel and see where we end up."

Here is the Island Batik Challenge for March. It reads

"March brings a free month for you to determine your own project of any size, using any theme and any technique!! This is an opportunity for you to express your creativity without guidelines. Have fun!"

And I did have fun. See how the bits and pieces grew.

Starting Point

And then there were two

Growing

Coming Together ...

added by Preeti 1 year, 1 month ago. under atlanta , aurifil thread , hobbs batting , improv piecing , improv quilt , island batik , island batik ambassador , lap quilt , pieced backing , quiltcon , rsc2023 , schmetz needles , scrappy improv , walking foot quilting

"Orphange in Blue" from Elsie Quilts

The blues are not done with me yet. Here is a photo of the leftovers at this point

All of this plus the quilt posted yesterday came from the little box in the middle of the table (except the backing on the right) and then I found a drawer of 'orphan' blocks, added the ones with blue in them and started making another one. So far this other one is nearly done and still have this table full of bits. They may not survive to go into a third quilt!

As for the second one, it is partly sewn, about ...

added by Elsie Montgomery 2 years, 2 months ago. under improv quilt , orphanage in blue , stash buster

Prism Play: Connections from Goer

I have finished and submitted to my first SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) exhibition. The Northern California/Northern Nevada region issued a call last summer for a juried regional exhibition entitled Prism Play. From the start I loved the vision for this exhibition. The quilts are all required to be 15" wide by 45" long and monochromatic, following one of the color cards from Joen Wolfrom's Ultimate 3-in-1 Color Tool. The selected quilts will hang in multiple full color spectrum groupings during the exhibition.

In phase one we each signed up for a color (or colors) and were assigned ...

added by sarah 2 years, 2 months ago. under 3-in-1 color tool , faced binding , finished quilt , improv quilt , monochromatic , planned improv , prism play , quilting , saqa , walking foot quilting (Comments)

WIPs Be Gone: 25 Day Update from Goer

A few weeks ago I shared my new daily project, WIPs Be Gone with Leanne of Devoted Quilter. Here's a wrap up of all the works in progress I worked on during the first 25 days (of the last 100 days of 2021).

My commitment to myself is to spend at least 15 minutes (though often it's longer) making progress on a WIP. My goal is to finish 4 larger quilts before the end of the year as many of my finishes in the last year and a half have been mini quilts. You'll see that I ...

added by sarah 2 years, 6 months ago. under #wipsbegone2021 , free motion quilting , hand embroidery , hand sewing , improv blocks , improv curves , improv quilt , improv quilt blocks , quilting , scrappy improv quilting , walking foot quilting (Comments)

Seasonals and Standards from My Quilt Infatuation

Hey there, friends! I am so happy that today I get to give you a little overview of the final sections of my new book, Scrappy Improv Quilting. The third section of the book is titled Seasonal Sensations and contains six adorable little seasonal quilts.

Every year, I go all out decorating for Christmas (I put up four trees!), but I don't have that same stamina when it comes to the other holidays and seasons. Even though I don't decorate my entire house during the rest of the year, it is nice to have a little holiday touch ...

added by Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation 2 years, 7 months ago. under fabric scraps , improv piecing , improv quilt , improv quilting , mini quilt , modern quilt , scrap quilting , scrappy improv

Spring Broken from Sew Preeti Quilts

The best flowers are at the Keukenhof in Amsterdam. A bit out of my reach, mostly.

Tulips in Amsterdam, 2019

Keukenhof Gardens

The Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania are huge and absolutely beautiful, but still a few hours from me.

Longwood Gardens, Pennsylvania

Water Lilies

The Cherry Blossoms in Washington DC are more accessible and I don't mind the long train ride although I will avoid the nightmarish parking in downtown DC.

From 2008. My first time :-)

So beautiful

Due to their popularity and the huge crowds (then), everyone was photobombing someone else's picture. The best pictures were taken ...

added by Preeti 2 years, 11 months ago. under cherry blossoms , improv piecing , improv quilt , improvisation , modern patchwork , modern quilt , modern quilting , rainbow scrap challenge , rebecca grace quilting , rsc 2021 , spring broken , tidal basin

Two More Quilt “Kits” to go from Heart Desire Creations

Last week I shared the flannel rag quilt kit I prepared for a week long retreat I’ll be attending. Of course one isn’t enough, so I now have two more ready to go!

First up is a string block kit. I pulled from some beloved batik greens and blues and one almost white and cut into varying strip widths. The plan is to sew them onto paper piecing paper doing a diamond design. I love to do string quilts! For me its both fun and therapeutic sewing. Sewing this quilt will also be perfect for a retreat as ...

added by heARTs Creations 2 years, 11 months ago. under art , block pattern , color , fabric , improv quilt , modern quilting , organization , projects , quilt setting , quilting , scraps , stash , string quilt (Comments)

That's it for the Red and Yellow Squares from Fret Not Yourself

For what it's worth... it's never too late, or in my case too early, to be whoever you want to be.

There's no time limit. Start whenever you want. You can change or stay the same. There are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you've never felt before. I hope you meet people who have a different point of view. I hope you live a life ...

added by Ann 2 years, 11 months ago. under #ahiqhourglass , becky chambers , hourglass block , improv quilt , reading

Improv Hourglass Quilted from Fret Not Yourself

Things get bad for all of us, almost continually,

and what we do under the constant stress reveals who/what we are.

~Charles Bukowski

Quilting

Inner borders benefit from SID (stitch-in-the-ditch) to keep them straight and that's what I did first here. But what to do next? The improvisationally cut hourglasses don't lend themselves to diagonal stitching although straight lines could run vertically. That's one of my default quilting designs.

Then I recalled the quilting design on kawandis. It's a simple squared-off spiral from the outside in. And usually hand quilted. Starting at the outside meant ...

added by Ann 3 years ago. under #ahiqhourglass , clare o'donohue , hourglass block , improv quilt , reading

Improvising My Scraps from Fret Not Yourself

Community does not necessarily mean living face-to-face with others;

rather, it means never losing awareness that we are connected to each other.

~Parker Palmer

Quilting

Cleaning out every corner of my house has been a salutary lesson. For some reason there are stacks of squares neatly packaged in different shoe boxes. Six-inch, 5.5", 2.5", and 2". Who knows why now. And why in the world are these blocks half an inch different in size? I tried to simply toss the larger ones into the scrap bag but instead pulled out chunks from the bag and cut them into ...

added by Ann 3 years ago. under #ahiqhourglass , hourglass block , improv quilt , reading , vaseem khan

My first totally improv quilt from Elsie Quilts

This top is finished. It will go on the longarm in a day or two. I just love this one. The entire quilt is made from scraps that were in my scrap bins, finding a few other colors to spice it up. I love the shots of blue (not as dark as the photo, more of a teal) and the bits of orange and green. I pulled out a few yellow fat quarters but didn't use any of them. Even the binding is already cut from scraps and will be mostly the darker pieces in the quilt. The backing ...

added by Elsie Montgomery 3 years, 1 month ago. under fun project , improv quilt , yellow scraps

How to stretch a quilt over a frame from Stitch and Yarn

How to stretch a quilt over a frame by Stitch and Yarn

If you've been on a zoom call with me this pandemic, or indeed seen one of the interviews I've done recently, then you'll have noticed a large stretched quilt behind my head. That was my first go at this technique more than a decade ago – so much wrong with that one, and yet not enough to make me take it down and redo it.

In the last year or so I've been inspired to refine my process and develop something that doesn't look like my seams are going to pop any minute! Stretching a quilt ...

added by Stitch and Yarn 3 years, 6 months ago. under abstract art , art quilt , australian artist , contemporary art , contemporary textile art , framed quilt , improv quilt , original art , quilt tutorial , sew solids , wall art

Rosie Lee Tompkins from Fret Not Yourself

"Taxes are what we pay for a civilized society."

~Oliver Wendell Holmes

We had a three month delay in paying taxes here in the US. The new deadline is July 15. Tomorrow.

Chinese Coins

With so many little projects around the house there wasn't much time for quilting this week. Someone asked how to decide on the widths of Chinese Coin columns recently and here's what I wrote:

1. I plan the overall size (LxW) of the finished quilt because it helps me determine when I have enough columns and when to stop sewing onto a column. Believe ...

added by Ann 3 years, 9 months ago. under chinese coins , improv , improv quilt , improvisational quilt , rosie lee tompkins

Working the Border from Fret Not Yourself

"Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard a work worth doing."

~Theodore Roosevelt

Last week the black border didn't add anything to the conversation but the quilt still needed more contrast. I pieced more hourglasses with some black added to the pink and blues for the border then spent a while laying them out. This arrangement makes a striking zig zag but is much too strong for the weak center. {I'll have to remember it for another time.}

Zig zag border arrangement

Black to the outside and pink ...

added by Ann 4 years, 3 months ago. under #ahiqhourglass , apron , book recommendation , designing a border , hourglass block , improv quilt , stash quilt

One Improv Hourglass Quilt Finished from Fret Not Yourself

"It has been said that patriotism is not a frenzied burst of emotion, rather the quiet and steady dedication of a lifetime."

~ George H.W. Bush

After three weeks this "quick and simple" baby quilt is finally done. Wow, that's too long but it turned out well.

Improv Hourglass quilt

Since my machine with the working walking foot was in for repairs I had to use FMQ only. No SID around the sashing. I tried using a ruler to make straight lines a quarter-inch inside the sashing with mediocre success. The lines wobble but worse is the way the ...

added by Ann 4 years, 3 months ago. under #ahiqhourglass , book recommendation , hourglass block , improv quilt

Improv Tumbler Wall Quilt from African Wax Prints from Selvage Blog

This is one of my recent quilts in a series made with African wax prints, an improv tumbler design with a solid khaki (Kona) background. I source the fabrics on Etsy.com from sellers in Africa, the US and the UK. Buying a scrap bundle now and then adds even more variety to my collection. Wax prints are a little bit shiny and stiff, but soften with washing. The fabrics come with large stickers attached. Sometimes it's hard to get the stickers off, and then there's the adhesive to deal with. So I just cut around the sticker ...

added by Selvage Quilter 4 years, 3 months ago. under african quilt , african style , african wax prints , improv quilt , scrap quilt , throw quilt , tumbler quilt , wall hanging , wall quilt

African Wax Print Quilt from Selvage Blog

This quilt is the first in a series made from African wax prints. I love the African vibe that comes from using these bold colorful prints with solid black. The triangles are pieced, but the prints provide most of the design punch. I like that eye-catching sunflower in the middle.

This quilt is available for purchase on Etsy. Four are listed now, and more coming soon.

African wax prints are available online from Africa and the US. Etsy is a good place to start collecting wax prints. Most of these fabrics are offered for sale in 1 yard and 6 ...

added by Selvage Quilter 4 years, 4 months ago. under african american quilt , african textiles , african wax prints , art quilt , ethnic quilt , etsy quilt , handmade quilt , improv quilt , original quilt , quilt for sale , scrap quilt , throw quilt , wall quilt

Woven and Felt Wool Applique from One Designer Pursuing her Dreams

That’s it! I’ve fallen down the wool applique rabbit hole. I’ve spent a good bit of my sewing time talking about ways to avoid hand sewing and here I am… HAND SEWING....

See more sewing and quilting adventures from Jen Eskridge of ReannaLily Designs

added by Jen Eskridge 4 years, 5 months ago. under blog , dawn heese , featured , hand embroidery , hand sewing , improv applique , improv quilt , kim mcclean , quilt , reannalily designs , recycle , sewing , sue spargo , wool applique (Comments)

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