improv

Improv Piecing.....Wild Goose Chase from May Your Bobbin Always Be Full

In the last 2 weeks I have spent some time

with my latest improv project...

This is what it looked like 2 weeks ago:

I was just getting a few blocks up

on the design wall...

It is growing...

All of these flying geese units together,

remind me of a Wild Goose Chase...

My scraps are dwindling...

I am using fabrics scraps from hexagon quilt

I made a few years back.

I will keep adding geese units

until the scraps run out...

The Thread Shed has a new addition:

Sunflower Quilt Block

The Sunflower Quilt block looks great

on the ...

added by LuAnn Kessi 1 year, 10 months ago. under contemporary quilts , design wall , flowers , garden , improv , new work , thread shed

My 2022 100 Days Project from Ellyn's Place

Well haven't I been a horrible blogger these past few months? Geez. I will tell you I've been so busy making things I haven't made the time to blog! I guess that's a good thing, right? Anyways, I have some serious catching up to do. Let's start with today's finish, shall we?

Way back in February, I posted here about my plans for this year's 100 Day Project. Just to recap, I purchased recycled men's dress shirts at the Goodwill and planned to make 100 improv quilt blocks inspired by The Great ...

added by Ellyn 1 year, 10 months ago. under 100 days project , improv , quilt

Improv Piecing and Spring in Western Oregon... from May Your Bobbin Always Be Full

I am trying to finish up some improv pieces

I started back in 2020...

Improv Flying Geese

I put a few up on the design wall...

I have a good start...

I think I will make lots more !

I went through the scrap bag and found pieces

leftover from a hexagon quilt I made

quite a few years ago:

I separated the scraps by color...

Doesn't this just make you want to

sit down and stitch?

While I stitch improv triangles,

I can see how they work together

across the room on the design wall...

I haven't spent ...

added by LuAnn Kessi 1 year, 11 months ago. under birds , cattle , cows , design wall , farm , flowers , goats , improv , new work

Quilts Unscripted Bee Quilts from Goer

In June 2021, Ellyn and I started the Quilts Unscripted Bee. Currently we have 11 improv quilters and each month we create 2-3 improv blocks for one quilter. I've been so excited to see finished quilts and quilt tops in recent months that I wanted to share them with you. My beemates have shared their photos with me. Enjoy!

You may have seen Sarah Ruiz's Unscripted quilt that was awarded first place at QuiltCon 2022. She gave us a color palette and asked us to each choose letters so she would end up with an alphabet of blocks ...

added by sarah 1 year, 11 months ago. under improv , quilt bee , quilting , quilts unscripted , quilts unscripted bee (Comments)

Improv Quilt Top.....Progress from May Your Bobbin Always Be Full

I am making progress on this

Improv Quilt Top:

I completed the top last October

while attending a quilt retreat in Idaho

CLICK HERE to view

The top is pieced from my hand dyed fabrics.

These are improv blocks I played

with back in the Spring of 2020...

I incorporated solid strips of fabric

to calm the piece down a bit...

Just love the luscious lime borders...

I pawed through the fabric cupboards

and found this blue for the backing...

I plan to hang this quilt, so I chose

Quilters Dream Green batting.

The quilt will hang straight and flat ...

added by LuAnn Kessi 2 years ago. under cattle , contemporary quilts , cows , farm , free motion quilting , improv , new work

A Fingerpaints finish-tada! from Sew Sunshine

This is the Fingerpaints quilt by Quiltfortco from last summers qal.

I used her pattern but made it improv style. I used a ton of scrappy solids and tone on tone pieces from my stash along with tons of strips in my scrap bins.

I finished it out a little bigger by using a few more strips.

74" x 79"

quilted by Grace Elizabeths longarm

I grabbed a few photos but it has been super windy the last couple of days.

This was truly a fun quilt to make. I love the play on light with the fabrics and I ...

added by Kris 2 years, 1 month ago. under 2022 finish , fingerpaints , improv , modern , quiltfortco , scrappy , stash

Fabulous Finish....Number 5 from May Your Bobbin Always Be Full

This improv piece has been sitting

around for almost 2 years...

It has waited long enough.

The top consists of Pick Up Stix blocks...

This is a piece I hand dyed and

silk screened.

I sliced it up and created borders...

The quilt top is ready to be basted and

go under the needle...

This is a small quilt so I am doing the

machine quilting on my Bernina Artista 200...

I am using a walking foot for the

simple, wavy, line quilting...

The white thread does not compete with

the pick up stix blocks

and shows up nicely in ...

added by LuAnn Kessi 2 years, 1 month ago. under bernina , binding , dyeing , fabulous finishes , improv , machine quilting , new work , pick up stix , screen printing , surface design , tips

WIP 4 Pick up Sticks from Sew Sunshine

My bag eliminating continues. If you have been following me this year I have not been cleaning and organizing per say but I have been keeping things neatly together over the years. What I am finding out is that I have tons of fabrics filed away in bags waiting for whatever it is to be finished. I keep the relevant coordinates together or shades or whatever. This does have its advantages as I can pull it up and not have to rematch etc. However, it also has its pitfalls. I just commented to another blogger that I loved her blue ...

added by Kris 2 years, 2 months ago. under crib , improv , scrap , skinny inserts , stash , wip

Preparing for my 100 day project from Ellyn's Place

The "official" 100 Day Project begins on February 13 this year. I have really enjoyed doing this the last two years. You can read about my bojagi project (2020) and my monster project (2021) here on the blog. Both of these focused on learning a new skill, which I thoroughly enjoyed. This year, I'm heading in yet another direction.

I was inspired by the phenomenon of the Great Resignation of 2021, where Americans resigned from their jobs en masse, initially as a covid response then later as a general strike against workplace policies/pay and government replies. I decided ...

added by Ellyn 2 years, 2 months ago. under 100 days project , improv , quilt

Improv Quilts for Steve and Ginger from Sew........This Is My Blog

I've been blogging recently about the quilts I managed to finish during the last nearly two years while isolating because of the Covid pandemic. I was in a funk for about the first six months of isolation and not sewing at all, but then I started making up for lost time. Now I'm playing catch-up on my blog.

After I made the quilt for Shirley A using orphan blocks (read about that here) I had a few teal crumb blocks left and set them aside to do something else with.

I shopped my stash and found these 2 ...

added by Sandy Panagos 2 years, 3 months ago. under ginger , improv , oh scrap! , orphan blocks , scraps , steve , teal

Quilts Unscripted Blocks from Ellyn's Place

The Quilts Unscripted Bee continues to challenge and amaze me month by month. You can see posts about my past blocks here. I thought I'd share the rest for 2021 today.

In November, Loide asked us to make a variety of Christmas blocks. She put very few restrictions on us which was fun, but at the same time challenging!

For my first block I made a Christmas tree! Very structured yet improv as I just winged it, no pattern.

It's a smaller version of the tree mini I did for the MQG earlier this year!

Next up, snowflakes ...

added by Ellyn 2 years, 3 months ago. under bee blocks , improv , quilts unscripted

itty bitty improv from Ellyn's Place

Well, despite all my fussing, I did finish 20 quilts for my Through Ellyn's Eyes project before the end of the year! As I had speculated, it's TINY! Finishing at just 7"x9", thus the name itty bitty improv, it would make a good mug rug.

I played with some spiky triangles, one of the very first techniques I learned when Debbie (A Quilter's Table) came to teach our guild years ago. It's one I return to often and was fun to revisit in just two colors, Kona Corn Yellow and Glacier. Quilted very quickly on ...

added by Ellyn 2 years, 4 months ago. under improv , quilt , through ellyn's eyes

Scalloped Rainbow from Ellyn's Place

Even with the business of the holiday season, I managed to complete quilt #3 in my Through Ellyn's Eyes series! I give you Scalloped Rainbow.

What began as a stack of improv quarter circle blocks made on a whim at the day retreat center became this fun mini that measures 14"x24". Grid quilted and faced all on my domestic machine. I used the full rainbow of colors from my series for this one: Kona Red, Orange, Tangerine, Corn Yellow, Chartreuse, Glacier and Capri.

I might be finishing up one more (tiny!) quilt to bring the number to a ...

added by Ellyn 2 years, 4 months ago. under improv , quilt , through ellyn's eyes

Improv kerstboompjes. from M. Brito de Campos

De snelste quilt ooit!

In 2 weken genaaid en gequilt.

Dat heb ik nog niet eerder voor elkaar gekregen.

De quilt heeft nummer 40 gekregen in mijn Quiltregister.

Ik heb het ontstaan van de quilt beschreven in een blogbericht voor het blog van het Quiltersgilde. Je kunt het hier vinden.

Ik vind hem erg leuk geworden.

Vrolijk kerstfeest. Marina.

added by Marina Brito de Campos 2 years, 4 months ago. under improv , kerstmis , kerstquilt , moderne kerstquilt

Computer Geek! from Crazy Quilter on a Bike!

What has happened to me? I've been feeling a bit of a cold coming on for a couple of days. Instead of doctoring myself up and drinking lots of water and hot rum - OK, maybe not the hot rum, I let it go. How could I possibly get a cold when I haven't really seen anyone. Although one of the ladies who came to the retreat did stay home the first day because she wasn't sure she wasn't getting a cold herself.

Anyway, as the day progressed, so did my sniffles, and when I went to ...

added by Elaine 2 years, 4 months ago. under decluttering , improv , mysewnet , virtual challenge

window zippered pouches from Charm About You

Back with another Aurifil Artisan project! This month I was sent some gorgeous Free Spirit fabrics to play with, along with a spool of 50 weight thread. I received two cuts of the stunning Little Fluffy Clouds in Cloud, Daydreamer by Tula Pink and a deep purple solid (which I think might be Tula Pink Solids in Tanzanite?!). The Daydreamer collection has some really stunning prints, including one called Lucy!

The Little Fluffy Clouds print is a beautiful ombre, from yellow to green to blue - you get a better sense of it in this picture from the Free Spirit website ...

added by Lucy | Charm About You 2 years, 5 months ago. under aurifil , aurifil artisan , bookmark , fabric scraps , free spirit fabric , glitter vinyl , improv , ribbon , sewing , sewing gift , thread , tula pink , window pouch , zipper pouch

Improv Line Bee Blocks from Goer

Last month, Chris gave us the open-ended invitation to play with line in our improv blocks for her. Straight lines and how they intersect, or how they don't. She asked for black background (I used Kona Black) and as many colors as we like (at least two) for our lines, preferably brights.

My lines all vary between 1/8" and 1/2" in width. I really enjoy the look and process of piecing a skinny 1/8" strip. So I started with that.

This first one is about 12" x 12" with 1/8" strips in three colors. Technically ...

added by sarah 2 years, 5 months ago. under bee blocks , improv , improv blocks , kona black , kona cotton , quilting , quilts unscripted bee (Comments)

Welcome to my Neighborhood from Ellyn's Place

The more I play with buildings in quilts the more fun I have! This one is the 14th quilt in my Through Ellyn's Eyes series and I had so much fun creating this little rainbow neighborhood...

I especially love the way the slant black roofs look on this one. I think I'll probably be moving into the yellow house.... I like the big window! You?

This one measures 16"x18" and I walking foot quilted it on my domestic machine. The colors I used are Kona black, red, tangerine, corn yellow, chartreuse, glacier and capri.

added by Ellyn 2 years, 5 months ago. under improv , quilt , through ellyn's eyes

Improv Time Bee Blocks from Goer

In September, Carole asked us to use time as our inspiration for her blocks. She asked us to use solids only with any shape or image that relates to time. And she chose the stunning tetrad palette of blue-green, red-violet, red-orange, and yellow-green (including recommended Kona suggestions to help us out).

My first thought that I couldn't shake was the idea of time passing as my children grow. I created a "watch me grow" block of sorts where I improv pieced the bodies of the three images and then added needle turn appliqué for the heads.