What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

 It's been a minute since I shared the blocks I've been making for my improv bee, Quilts Unscripted. 

January blocks were inspired by architecture in gray tones for Isabelle. I loved making these and used photos from recent visits to New York City as inspiration.

My first block was inspired by the Oculus....

March block for Emily was actually one large slab, inspired by a ...

 Well, hello there! It seems I up and stopped blogging about six months ago! That was totally unplanned. I've still been over here creating and learning new skills. I'm not sure why I stopped blogging here, but now I am back with all of the good intentions a new year brings. 

I thought I'd start by reviewing all of the bee blocks I made last year for the Quilts Unscripted Bee! Our improv bee is currently in the middle of it's second year and going strong. Here are the blocks I made in 2022.....

January

In ...

In October, Allie asked us to make ladders for her Quilts Unscripted Bee. She asked that we make blocks that are at least 8" on each side with a ladder going all the way across the block, edge to edge. "The ladder can be curved, straight, leaning, have mismatched rungs, be missing rungs, anything. It can go halfway up the block and make a sharp 90 degree turn. It can be wide at the base and narrow at the top or vice versa." Allie provided the white background fabric and asked us to use choose from a palette of bright ...

In May, E. A. asked us to make two-color blocks that contained the word "hope."

For my first block I chose Kona Cerise and green to make some skinny strip letters. My skinny strips finish at 1/8" wide. I created boxy letters improvisationally, but aimed for the letters to all be about the same height. The letters are about 6 1/2" tall and the block finished at about 12" x 10".

In my second block I chose a much lower contrast color combination with dark purple and dark grey. I improv cut all the pieces for my letters ...

In April, Isabelle asked us to make confetti inspired pieces for her. She gave us tons of flexibility in what we made for her. "Please create blocks that are abstract, and feature small pieces (1”-ish) within the design. The percentage of small piecing that makes up the block is less important than the impact of the small pieces used in the overall design of the block. Negative space, strip piecing, curved piecing, geometric design – anything goes."

I pulled out my smallest solid scraps, including some pieced bits. Do you see the legs from my "watch me grow" block for ...

This month Carole asked us to create some improv slabs to use in half of our half rectangle triangles (HRTs) for her, paired with solid black. She provided a wide range of color options: red, blue, turquoise, aqua, yellow, yellow-orange, orange, purple, red-violet, green, and yellow-green. She gave us a variety of Kona and Bella Moda colors in these hues and asked us to avoid pastels and dark shades. I dove into my stash and pulled fabric from some of these colors.

I was immediately drawn to Kona Acid Lime and aqua. In many cases I used small scraps and ...

In June, Chris asked us to make improv blocks using her chosen palette of colors in five color families: purplish, red-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, and green. I started by pulling solids that were a direct match for the Kona colors she listed for us, then filled in a little with colors that were close. She asked for our signature style improv piecing. I'd love to hear what you think of as my signature style of improv. Since I had just taught Improv Log Cabins I was inspired to make one of my blocks a log cabin.

There are a few ...

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 ...

 Whew! What a year! While it would be easy to focus on all of the crazy negative things going on in the world right now (no, I'm not going to list them. you already know!) I'm choosing to focus on the positive. And there sure was a lot of it in my world this year. Here are the highlights.... so I never forget how blessed I was in 2021.

Urban Emergence

 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.

 It is my sweet friend E.A.s turn to request bee blocks from our Quilts Unscripted bee, I'm telling you, every month I appreciate the quilters in this bee more and more. Each one offers up such carefully thought out prompts that encourage me to dig deep. This month was no exception.

E.A. asked us to explore the idea of holding space for someone, whether that means thinking about people who hold space for us, being fully present for us, or us holding space for others. She wanted us to think about how that feels and ...

 Quilts Unscripted is in our second month. Chris requested summer themed blocks in blues and yellows and it was fun coming up with different ideas. In the end, I made her three blocks, which have been delivered.

second was a tall glass of lemonade, which is so refreshing on hot summer Texas days! It was fun to create movement with the improv curves and add a tiny ...

 Several months ago, The Solid Seven, a modern solids improv bee I was a part of wrapped up. While it was great to step back and take a break for a bit, I was missing the community that comes from participating in a bee and the inspiration and challenges beemates always provide. When I talked to Sarah about it, turns out she was feeling the same way. We decided to invite other improv quilters whose work we knew and admired to join us in a new adventure.

We invited 10 quilters (including ourselves) to play along and.... what do you ...