Improv piecing is basically just choosing random sized pieces, sewing them together, and adding more as you go. 6. Please check your entries and try again. I thought after the fact that I maybe should have used a lower loft polyester to avoid the texture that happened. 1. I had put on my wellies, but by the end I would have been better off using my snowshoes. It looks like you brought a piece of your tropical Hawaiian garden out to play in the snow. Please try again. Keep up with Sarah by signing up for the Sarah Goer Quilts Newsletter. Good job! I used layer cakes for this tutorial which makes the quilt a breeze and the layouts are many. Adding some different stripes to Jumping for Joy Cindy Grisdela. I am blown away by this quilt, especially that it is all improve and you created in a less than a week. I am a huge lover of the plastic storage box. I cut a rectangle approximately 2 x2.5 inches. Since I had two pins that were used for marking I have pinned twice at each point. Victoria Findlay Wolferecommends starting with a 5 sided scrap, and as shes the expert I follow her advice. 1) Complete Blocks & Trim | The first step is sewing together the cast off blocks along their angled edge to create the mitered log cabins. Improv Piecing allows for an exploration of ideas without rules to rein in creativity. If you want a rectangular shape make your next cut 1 bigger than your previous cut. Step 7. I'm notorious from forgetting to get the Halloween quilts out in time. Slowly and carefully (keep those fingers out of the way!) This is okay and all part of the process. Cant believe you made it in a week. The piece finished at 12 x 24 and I mounted it on painted black canvas. Once you get the parameters, you can sit for hours repeating the same steps over and over again while appreciating the differences in each square. Quilter | Designer | Tech Editor | Blogger. The beauty of this method is that you can use orphaned blocks, excess binding and all those little half square triangle offcuts to continue growing your scrappy fabric. 6. I think of this as controlled wonkiness. Thats a great suggestion to add to the conversation. Use your marks as a guide for pinning the two pieces at those points only. Don't despair about cutting up your scraps, just add them back into your scrap box and use them again. Cut off any excess black. There really are no mistakes with this technique. My favorite kind of fabric cutting :) Step 6: Iron your circles and blocks. From the color changes to the amazing binding and the quilting!! I really loved my Oliso, so I placed an order for a new turquoise Oliso iron. Thanks for sharing this technique. A quick path to a bold quilt design, wedges are versatile and captivatinga must-have shape in the modern quilter's toolbox. If you want a square, make your next cut the same as your previous cut. Repeat step 4 until you've sewn on to all sides of your start scrap. I read this post more than once, and all your suggestions were good. Especially because cutting and sewing curves creates a lot of excess fabric, and it can be hard to repurpose the scraps. The products featured in this post were given to me by Aurifil, OLFA, and Michael Miller. Thank you! It also gives tips on making the trunks skinnier. It can be a bit wonky if you choose. Youre amazing! Step 7: Fold your circle in half and press. I want to keep exploring this idea in a bigger piece, so stay tuned! The fastest path to that is taking a workshop with me. Circle Machine Embroidery. * The small scrap would be traced and the cutting line would be drawn 1/2 inside the original tracing line. I have (loosely) covered the top with Mexican oil cloth (its pinned to the underside of the table) to help fabric slide over it while I work. I knew I wanted to add a little bit of another color. I want you to a make Jo quilt too! Required fields are marked *, Check here to Subscribe to notifications for new posts. Jul 31, 2014 - Let's make improv wonky circles, shall we??? This simple block is a breeze to cut and sews together quickly. Niagara is not always warm in March but you would be used to that! The spacing between the lines varies from about 3/4 to 3/8 but averages out at around 1/2. The triangles, at this point, will very a lot in size and many of them will be mis-shaped. Scraps should always be cut into squares or rectangles before reusing. Improv Quilting. Sarah lives in San Jose, California with her husband and two quilters kids. Category: Tutorials. You will probably choose to do this with 1.5" strips, and your best bet is to pace yourself. If you make something from a tutorial and post on your blog, please give credit with a link back to Elm Street Quilts. Step 2. Head to my shop to find thoughtfully designed quilt patterns and custom curated fabric bundles, or scroll through my content for tons of fantastic tutorials to get your creative juices flowing! I love your quilt. *At other times, there may be a small curved scrap or inset circle that is the priority piece, so a larger scrap would be trimmed to coordinate. Jo-Anne- I am so sorry to be slow to respond to this! For the backing, I picked Kona Cotton in Burgundy. I was very excited about the Color Builder thread boxes that Aurifil had recently released. And you do it in a such perfect professional way. Jumping for Joy blocks in process Cindy Grisdela. I just want you to know your work inspires me. Step 1. Repeat the process again for the other side of the triangle. In that case, the process would be reversed. Designing Jumping for Joy Cindy Grisdela. This pattern has an improvisationally pieced border. I wanted to work with the flying geese unit. One year I will get around to doing the Project Quilting prompts. Chances are youre not going to have a five sided scrap just laying in a box waiting for you to use it so using your rotary cutter just make a 5 sided scrap. You must have a lot of tiny little helpers in the night we call them Heinzelmnnchen to help you to do. Its a rough sort and I tend to not keep anything under 1 square. Detail of Jumping for Joy with new stripes Cindy Grisdela. I have a couple of choices at this pointgive it up and come back to it after the show is over, or find a way to finish ithopefully without staying up all night! Nice. The MQG Award of Excellence went to.. She said that the quilt was based on a traditional "Courthouse Steps" pattern but added the improvisational sawtooth design in each of the "steps"! Take 3 strips of fabric and lay them on the curve. Learn how to create twelve stunning contemporary quilts and develop your own designs using improvisational methods.Take inspiration from simple objects to create twelve beautiful, contemporary quilt blocks. Use the lines on the mat to help you make sure the diagonal line lands in the center of the rectanglethat is where you want it. Click here for full tutorial, or click here to purchase a printable PDF version. The vibrant colors and movement in the quilt are super! Today. You can start with a square or a rectangular shape. Watch. 2. Let me know what you plan on making with your scraps in the comments below. It is okay to chop off points. Improv quilting is the process of making a quilt without a pattern and little to no preplanning. Initially I was inspired by work posted on Instagram by my friends Maria Shell and Elaine Poplin, which started me down this particular rabbit hole. You can also depart from those guidelines a little bit and fussy cut 5 with your ruler, with the extra room you provided by piecing 1/2 over the edges of the square. That doesn't always result in this texture. Improvisational quilting or 'improv' quilting is all about your creativityNO PATTERN IS REQUIRED! Maria and Elaine made blocks out of stripes, and I didnt want to do exactly that, but I liked the idea of adding some stripes to my blocks. The angles appeal to me given the linear nature of the other blocks, and I like the happy accident of the red stripe in the block on the top right flowing into the red stripe in the middle block. Sign up with your email address to receive Quilting Jetgirl news and updates. Did you use a shrinkable cotton batting, and then machine wash your little quilt? Improv PatchworkDynamic Quilts Made with Line and Shape, http://barbarabrackman.blogspot.com/2019/05/thinking-vertically.html, Current Series: Blue Ridge | Zippy Quilts, Block Lotto August 2020 Orange County Modern Quilt Guild, BOM 2021: March Instructions | seattle modern quilt guild. By the time the Zoom chat was finished on Sunday afternoon, I had made really great progress on the blocks and decided that I wanted to make 6 rows of 7 blocks for a 39 wide by 48 1/2 quilt top. We are waiting for the Texas low to come up and dump 31 cm of snow, rain freezing rain mix tonight. Thank you for sharing. When autocomplete results are available use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. Stitch, as before, from the single point at the top of the triangle towards the base. Thank you Heather! Batiks would also work great with this block like these Malibu batiks for moda. More or less than 1/2" is good. Improv? Your email address will not be published. Sew square and rectangle scraps together that are the same length, or in ascending/descending length order. The pieced quilting looks so good and all the colors work so well. This year, QuiltCon 2023 did not disappoint with its stunning display of creativity and craftsmanship. January 25, 2017 . And if you like piecing shapes, you might want to check out my book. Taking the pictures outside in the beautiful snow makes all the colors really pop! Again, shes the expert so this is also what I did. Just in this moment when your post came I was looking at the Diatom Stars. Sew your foreground on to the house. All comments are moderated and published at the discretion of the moderators. Againnot something I could have planned. Using Facings Instead of Binding on Your Quilts premium Video 21 m Four-Patch Prism Block premium Video 18 m Simple Methods for a Diagonal-Set Quilt premium Video 7 m Aligning Blocks by Folding Free Video 29 m Labels & Hanging Sleeves premium Video 21 m Petal Applique premium Video 11 m Reading A Pattern premium Video 9 m Using Border Prints Free You can find the Youtube tutorial on how to make an Improv (ish) tree quilt here. Get the latest news, stay up-to-date with sew-alongs + events and receive the occasional free offer! As an aside, theres a reason why Im laying this out on the carpet instead of my design wallthe design wall is full of larger pieces that I didnt have time to finish before the show! This fall I finished the large version of the Modern Patchwork Trees that I started last year. I find it handy to have them there so I can rummage through them and get pieces that I want to work with. Free quilt pattern! If you feel like doing something a little different, why not try making these improv birch trees. Victoria Findlay Wolfespoke about her technique for using scraps to improvisational (improv) piece together fabric and then use that fabric to make traditional patchwork blocks. Love all the curves and colors! It is FABULOUS!!!! Sarah, this is a lovely project, and sharing your how-to is a real bonus. but never overwhelming. Trim the pieced squares to 5 x 5 Squares. I opted to quilt soft, wavy lines using my walking foot. Use code SUMMER to get $5 off a purchase of a single Quilt Keeper! Iron the seam away from the center triangle. on Improv stack, cut and sew quarter circles videotutorial, Paper pinwheel quilt block videotutorial, How to make 4 quilts starting with a single shoo flyblock, Michael Millers Krystal Neutrals Square0167 layer cake set, 10 Free Stack-N-Whack Quilt Patterns Quilting, Turnabout patchwork - Modern shoofly: 1 block 4 quilt patterns, Watch 90+ tutorials for non-square quilt blocks, Adding corners to a four patch quilt block, Video tutorial: Disappearing 4-patch variation block, On Instagram please tag me with @teresadownunder and hashtag #teresadownunder. After you stitch, you will be gently re-shaping them with your rotary cutter. Lets bring curvy scraps into the improv world! If you cant do this then just grab handfuls of scraps and put them into a bucket or box to use and work with smaller amounts of scraps at a time. I didnt take any pictures while I was piecing, but here is a photograph of one of the blocks after squaring it up to 6 wide by 8 1/2 tall. This was very helpful, Maria. Not quite parallel is good.) Some people are good about organizing scraps after each projectand some people eat fries and ice cream for every meal and look amazingbut the rest of us live in the real world. Sew the strips to create a 3-sided rectangle with one open edge. Similar to #6 of our list, this quilt features sweet flower applique along with square-ish scrappy rings. This is my favorite part of the process! Mailing Address: P.O. Thanks for visiting Elm Street Quilts. Thanks for being so generous with your methods. Thank you for sharing your processes! I made these blocks using a mix of my red, purple, pink, orange, blue and yellow scrap boxes but you could use all the one colour if you wanted the possibilities are endless. Here I have chosen to use two straight pins, one in the khaki and one in the brown. When the prompt came out on Sunday for Project Quilting, Sew Not a Square, I knew immediately what I wanted to do: I wanted to create a baby sized quilt using improv curves. Food for thought! I am on the road. If the fabrics are difference lengths, also mark where the edge of one fabric hits the other. http://barbarabrackman.blogspot.com/2019/05/thinking-vertically.html. I have your book which I got in Houston in 2017. Un-stack and shuffle so that each piece is paired with one of a different color. Day 2 was putting it all togetherat least mostly together. Notice that the pieces go over the edge of the interfacing square by about 1/2 on all sides. I used 2 different 50wt Aurifil variegated threads for the quilting: 4650 (Leaves) and 4662 (Creme de Menthe). Improv Cross block tutorial. If you need inspiration for your next quilt, you can grab your favorite fabrics and colors, start cutting and sewing and see what unfolds. How to Start Improv Quilting - YouTube 0:00 / 42:19 How to Start Improv Quilting Shannon Brinkley 1.84K subscribers 15K views 4 years ago Artist Spotlight with Irene Roderick, painter,. You may also note in the photo that I opted to use a two tone binding, an orange and green. As you know, Im fascinated with improv log cabin blocks. Dear Pam! Pingback: Current Series: Blue Ridge | Zippy Quilts. All Set Up at the Baltimore Craft Show! So thats my sewing room set up, I hope it might have given you something to think about when it comes to scrap sorting. I love this modern baby quilt Yvonne. In this project, I group similar color families, and if youre new to improv piecing, this is a good way start. Advanced features of this website require that you enable JavaScript in your browser. Improv quilting is an approach to piecing fabric where one goes by a system or process of piecing rather than following the sequential directions of a quilt pattern. Falling in love with IMPROV quilting is no laughing matter! Eventually, I landed on improv curves as my plan. My batting is 100% cotton. The aesthetic style of each artist effortlessly shines through while combining seamlessly into a group quilt. This part take a little finesse, so practice until you like your results. In 10 Ways to Love Improvisational Quilting, Malka Dubrawsky will introduce you to new forms of quilting with fresh color combinations, techniques, and patterns. (Not shown.) In general when I create improv curve piecing I make units that are oversized and trim them down after piecing. It will be time to get it out and it has always been one of my favorites. Still my love of triangles persisted. If you have extras, turn them into coasters or use them in another pattern! Yvonne (Quilting Jetgirl) Improv Block Article Published in Quilting Arts! When the auto-complete results are available, use the up and down arrows to review and Enter to select. If a thing is done overnight, we say ohhh, the Heinzelmnnchen did it. I respect your privacy and I won't send you spam. You want to even the sides up so that you dont have Y seams to navigate. Enjoy! Theres not a square in this quilt: just curves and rectangles. You can see that sometimes I doubled up the curves and other times they are just simple. *Hint: This is where a mini iron and wool pressing mat come in handy. New patches are laid on top as needed . The seam shown above is the left seam below on the finished back of the quilt. Using your rotary cutter, slice off the little bit of fabric that extends past the edges of the triangle while also smoothing the edges of the skinny triangle shape. I want to make a Marie Shell inspired quilt not a Maria Shell Quilt. As well as the instructions and fabric needs to make the blocks youll find a section on quiltmaking basics at the end of the pattern that discusses: I LOVE THIS!! The quilts pictured in the video include (in order of appearance): Sky Top 2 by Nancy Lambert; Entangle by Emilie Trahan It really proves that quilters have always been wildly creative. Step 1: Lay two fabrics right side up, overlapping by a couple inches.