Improv - how it started for me

Improv piecing seems to be getting more and more exposure these days with new books written, just-made quilt tops shown off on blogs of many quilters, and attention from the (modern) quilt community. Thanks to a mention by my friend Lara B of BuzzinBumble, I recently found a new initiative from Ann (Fret Not Yourself) and Kaja (Sew Slowly) to get together quilters interested in improv quilt making. There are regular posts on their blogs, showing their own work, but also with ideas, suggestions on things to try, a button, and even a monthly link-up! Not wanting to be left out (I haven't enough to do, ha!) I intended to start on one of the many ideas I have swirling in my head and start a new improv piece. However, with less progress on the current QUIP (as mentioned in my previous post) than wished for, I felt I couldn't. And since I am not without improv work to show, here is the story of "one I made earlier".

For me the improv journey started several many years ago, around 2008. At a weekend retreat organised by the Quilters Guild of Ireland I did a workshop with a guest teacher from England (I'll edit to include her name when I remember it, sorry!) on the use of large prints. Until then I had been piecing my quilts with accurate measurements (using templates and/or the one or two rulers I possessed) and a plan (though they often did get adjusted halfway through). I had never heard of improvisational piecing, and the online quilting community wasn't much on my radar either... As it turned out we were making large(ish) blocks using our large print and coordinating fabrics, and chopping them up to make the print not too overwhelming.

The result was a collection blocks of varying shapes and sizes without any further plan or pattern:

As I worked on these blocks, my work got more improvisational with each subsequent one. The blocks were reasonably large, and though they started with a block "recipe" in mind, most were made without ruler, and definitely without accurate measurement. I got more daring as I went on, and I enjoyed myself more and more that day.

As often happens with workshops (with me anyway), it was a year or so later when I dug up the blocks again, remembered how I had enjoyed the process, and started to put them together into a top. I laid out the blocks I had (about 8 or so), made a few more, and started sewing them together, filling gaps with strips and pieces anyway I felt like. I added some new fabrics (I could not find all of the previously used ones by now...), and chopped, trimmed and changed what was already there. Eventually I ended up with a top of reasonable size (49" x 76"). I did have to deal with only one partial seam to make the piece lie flat, and even that could have been avoided if I had been willing to unpick a few seams.

I think starting off my first improv piece doing one block at a time was great. I started playing with some regular block ideas and got gradually more "free" with each next one. Because I used the one large print as a focus fabric I knew that all pieces would happily live in the same quilt, even when the quilt as a whole was never planned in advance at all. It has become a quilt that I would not have made if I had thought about the finished product when I started, and it is not my most favourite quilt, but I do like it a lot. And I learned this: 

I love most types of quilt making, but working on improv gives me a buzz! Almost like knowing how to walk and run, and then being allowed to dance...

The blocks are all quite simple, many are just strip pieced, then sliced and sewn together again. Others have inserted strips across the main print. There are some wonky log cabins, and variations of four-patches and nine-patches. The two in the middle are what I started with, as you can see, not that much improv yet; the star is barely wonky! I got a bit more courageous as I made more blocks.

The plan was (and still is) to use this quilt to practise my machine quilting. The striking colours and busy piecing would hopefully distract enough from my "trial and error" ability at that skill, although I have done some quilting in the mean time so it will hopefully not be as bad as envisaged at the time.

In the years since this "Sunflower" top I have done quite a few improv pieces. A few are finished, quite a number are not, and one has even deserved a place on a wall in my home. But there are still so many ideas I would like to try, I am surely not finished with improv for a long time...

Linking up with

sewslowly

fretnotyourself

And now I better get on with quilting, I'm off to sew, of course!

Sandra

Accountability and getting things done

There are too many quilts-in-progress in my house. Some don't have their own space and are stepping in my way regularly to remind me of the need to get them finished. Some others are hidden away in their own little corner, and only confront me now and then. Generally, these quilts-in-progress (is QUIP a known abbreviation?) deserve to be finished. I like them still - well most of them - and even though they got overtaken by an other project, I would not like to leave them as they are. They are worth it! And since their existence alone is making me feel too guilty to start a new project, they NEED to be finished, and the sooner, the better. There are just too many new ideas tumbling about in my head, fighting for their turn to be worked on... I need the old ones to be finished so I can enjoy starting some new!

QUIPs in different stages vying for my attention

So, when my boys all went back to their respective educations, I started my project "getting it done". I am focussing on one unfinished project at a time, which I will stick with until it's completely done-done-DONE!

First up: My bed quilt, the feathered star medallion. It is awaiting some more hand quilting and I will only be able to receive my course certificate when I show it to my tutor completely finished. So while the course administrators are writing out my cert (all approvals are in place bar "finished"), I am putting the last quilting stitches in my quilt. It is the last step for this one; since it had to go to an exhibition several months ago (as a work in progress) it is already bound and labelled. I know, not the usual order of things, but well, sometimes protecting your work with binding is more important than finishing the quilting completely before the binding goes on.

And, for the sake of accountability (which will keep me focussed, too, I hope) I am keeping track of my progress. The eighty spaces between the HSTs each needs a drop shape to be individually marked and quilted. Eight were done before the exhibition to show which way the work was going, so two weeks ago the score was 8/80. Now the score is up to 43/80 and all 80 drops are marked, too. And I am considering finishing off with a few more waves added to the existing one on the very outside border. Anyone interested in more detailed progress reports can follow along on Instagram, too.

For now I'll be spending some more time with this QUIP, so I'm off to sew, of course!

Sandra

Just Curious

As well as trying to keep this little blog going, I love to read other people's blogs! There are so many lovely things to read, patterns to find, tips to absorb you could spent whole days reading blogs (I don't think anyone could have enough time to read it all, though). Now, I read my favourite blogs through Bloglovin' which kindly lists any new posts that I haven't read yet. If I want to comment on any post I also need to be logged into my email, which is a gmail account. And since a while that only works properly if I do that by logging into (or opening) Blogger as opposed to logging into gmail alone. This all works fine for me.

It has an unexpected side-effect though. Every time I open my Blogger account I see this little graph right below the name of my blog. And while that usually gives a rather flat line and gets ignored, sometimes it spikes unexpectedly and that makes me sit up a bit straighter. Like a few days ago:

Blogger stats today, showing the spike of a few days ago

On that day, I had not published a new post for more than 6 weeks (my previous post was only published hours later). A new post sometimes causes a spike of interest, be it usually small (after all, this is only a little blog, and I have never actively worked at getting more readers or followers). This time the interest could not have been caused by a recent post.

Now I do know strange things happen on the internet, artificially changing statistics. But I have not otherwise noticed anything odd or suspicious. No spam, no hacking, no strange website coming up in the list of traffic sources.

I like to think there may have been someone(s) looking at my blog. Browsing the pages, looking around a lot. Sitting at their screen, clicking and clicking. And apparently, finding it very interesting. It makes me curious about my readers, and such an unusual reader in particular. What makes you find this blog? What makes you click and click and click, maybe browsing several pages?  And even for my followers (I do have a few), what makes you coming back, again and again?

While it feels enough for me at the moment to just write for myself in this blog, it is nice to know that now and then someone (apart from my mum, hoi Mam!), somewhere actually reads this blog. And I know that it can be a bit much to comment on every blog you're reading, I don't mind at all. After all, many people have not enough hours in the day to even read all the blogs they find interesting. However, if you find my blog really, really interesting it would actually be nice to hear that in some way. Just to satisfy my curiosity, you understand. I usually even reply to comments or emails, though never if you let me know you don't want me to.
 

Sandra