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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 ...

I owe you some bee block show and tell. Back in December, Elizabeth asked us to make a 2-color sash. She wanted us to pick two rainbow colors (no black, white, or grey) and create a long skinny "sash" created of numerous improv components. Target 4”-6” wide and 30”-60” long.

I chose Kona Cerise and Peapod for my two colors and went to town. I had so much fun creating the components and piecing them together.

I started with a pair of improv triangles and some wonky strips.

This piece came from a tutorial by Cheryl Arkison, week ...

Loide requested improv Christmas blocks for November in our Bee. She told us that anything goes for Christmas and our blocks could be traditional Christmas colors or something else.

After pondering about what I would make I started with a candle block, approximately 13" x 16".

Some others in the group had made some Christmas trees, so I pivoted and made a wreath, approximately 12" x 12". As I was working I decided that it would be a chunky square wreath, though I included extra background fabric for Loide so she could add some corner triangles to soften it up ...

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 ...

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.

My second block ...

Last month, I created blocks for E. A. She asked us "to think about how it feels when someone holds space for you and allows you to be who you are in a place that is safe. Alternatively, you could think about how it feels when you hold space for someone." She asked for abstract blocks created in pairs, with no limit on colors.

These pairs of blocks were created in parallel with each other. I didn't make one block and then copy it. I made two blocks at the same time. Since they are improv you can see ...

This summer I started co-hosting the Quilts Unscripted Bee with a group of 10 quilters. It is an improv quilt bee and every month the host for the month gives us a prompt. These can vary greatly. There might be a limited palette. The prompt might be about a feeling, or a style, or creating something representational.

Sarah Ruiz kicked off our first month in June with a really fun one. She gave us a limited color palette and asked us to use solids. Then she had a sign up for each person to pick some letters of the alphabet ...

Yesterday I shared my improv hammock quilt block. The second block I made for Chris was a book.

The book block was less tricky. I started by cutting book page shaped pieces out of the blue fabric. Then I added borders of white on three sides. I used the blue and white book pages as my template for cutting the background. These strips are about 5/8" wide. Rectangles were cut for the sides and I used the curve edge of the blue fabric as my template to cut the curves white strips.

Next, I cut out the book shape ...

In July, Chris asked for blue and yellow blocks showing what summer represented for us.

My immediate thought was a hammock, because last summer my daughter and I spent many hours in the backyard hammock together reading. Eventually, I came around to making a book block for my second block. (Check back tomorrow for that block.)

The hammock was a tricky construction. It was created with improv piecing using smooth improv curves and slice and insert methods to put the frame in the right place. I used this reference photo of my backyard hammock (hello draught "lawn"!) as a guide ...