Showing posts with label Improv. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Improv. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Daydream Baskets Flimsy

Last time you saw this project, I was thinking about using the fabric crumbs left over from the improv pieced baskets to make the setting triangles. I spent a couple days sewing, and a couple more days thinking, and then I threw all the bits out. It was just a distraction, and didn't help the design in any way.

There are two main stories in this quilt -- the improv piecing, and the colour scheme. For a small wall quilt, that's enough. So, I just sewed the blocks together and cut simple setting triangles from the same fabrics already in the blocks.

Daydream Baskets flimsy, about 37" (94 cm) square 
Two of my reject blocks were cut up to supplement the crumbs, and went in the bin with the rest. But, one had survived, and I used it as a setting triangle on the lower right there. A bit of Japanese influence to go with all the Asian fabrics!

I will say that as a rule, it would be better to use sashing or alternate blocks of solid fabric with these blocks, because there are a lot of heavy points coming together in the seams. There is quite a bit of "problem solving" happening in the seam allowances on the back!  Anyway, my plan is to free motion quilt it here at home, so hopefully I can work around the lumps.

This quilt was inspired by the #basketswu sew along started by Barb, and my improv inspirations are always Ann and Kaja. Check their blogs to see what else is happening with the Ad Hoc Improv Quilters as they wrap up 2017!

I will probably be back again in a day or two with some Ringo Lake progress. I'm making changes!

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Daydream Baskets

"Daydream Baskets" is the name I have settled on for this quilt inspired by a daybed at Windsor Castle. I think that hits the right tone -- it is a potential minefield!

All three of the blocks I shared last week have gone into the reject pile. I realized that it is crucial that the centre triangle be darker than both the basket and the spikes.

I also realized that five blocks would not be enough, and added another round to bring it up to thirteen blocks. Thirteen allows for a better exploration of the block and its variations, and it just seems to make more sense.

So, here they are:


Way better, eh?

Now I am debating the setting triangles. I have been thinking about sewing together the crumbs from the piecing for some "made fabric" triangles, but I'm not sure there are enough. I've also been see-sawing on the issue of sashing. But, now that I am studying the photo, I've had an idea about that.

We'll see how it pans out! In the meantime, please check out the rest of the improv at AHIQ #27, right here.

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Improv Baskets

For some reason I thought AHIQ would be starting today. Oh well! I'm ahead of the game for once. :D

Almost a month ago Barb (Fun with Barb) and Kelly (Pinkadot Quilts) started a basket sew along ( #basketswu ) inspired by an antique basket quilt. They have both posted excellent tutorials, click the links by their names to find them. I thought I would have a crack at an improv version:


I had the idea for a small improv wall quilt with a red background right away. For some reason I always want to do improv on a red background! Then a week or two later I watched a documentary about the watercolours of Prince Charles, which was quite interesting. It included some B roll from Windsor Castle, and this outrageous day bed:


The combination of scarlet silk damask on the walls, pale jade, lavender and copious amounts of gold gilding caught my eye right away! A colour scheme was born.

I'll admit, it's a challenge to translate to my stash! But, at least the improv piecing is going well.


I'm determined to keep this quilt small, so only five blocks are planned. Three are made:


I'll probably have to make the one on the right again. I did plan to put the lavender in the spikes and the gold in the centre, but somehow I mixed them up when cutting. Argh! Since there will only be five, they will all have to be fairly strong on their own.

I'm not thrilled with the values in the other two either, but, I think the next three will have more contrast and that will make it all work. I hope! Anyway, that is the beauty of a small quilt -- it's not a big investment so it's easier to take a risk. I'm planning to make small quilts my focus in 2018 as well.

In the meantime, happy Thanksgiving to all my American readers! Technicolor Turkey is coming along, but it won't be a flimsy by Thursday. I still have two quadrants left to join, and the border as well. Definitely by the end of the year, though!

And, every day for the past two months I've had a different plan for On Ringo Lake. Right now I think I will have to pass. As part of my decision making process I've added a new page to my blog that summarizes all my Bonnie Hunter Quiltville quilts. I am happy with all of them, and I think it will be better to move them along rather than adding another.

So, that's my update for today. See you again next week for AHIQ!

Thursday, June 1, 2017

Butterflies and Break

Butterflies, Bees
and Blogging Break

I have several photos today. It's time again for the Kaleidoscope of Butterflies link up, in support of awareness of butterfly and bee habitats. Earlier this month we made a visit to Hy-Hope Farm north of Pickering to stock up on butter tarts and take some photos. It is always photogenic there! Later in the summer they will have more local produce, but this time they had a great display of flower baskets.



They also have a working apple orchard:


So, that is plenty of work for the bees. The trees were just coming into bloom. Look at this one:


Isn't that cool? I've never really noticed that growth pattern before.

It is several years now since the City of Toronto, and a year later the rest of Ontario, banned chemical herbicides and pesticides. Now every spring the city is a sea of dandelions! But apparently, dandelions are good for bees:



So, in a few more years it may well be uncool to mow the lawn!

In quilting news, I managed to sew up another six Moth in the Window blocks, from the pattern in Addicted to Scraps by Bonnie Hunter:


That one on the top right there is very disappointing, given that both fabrics are very nice. But, I'm not going to redo it! This past week I think I have finally learned my lesson about contrast, as you will see in a bit.

The first time I shared this project in April, there was some discussion about whether my lucky white butterfly was a butterfly or a moth. I looked it up, and the answer is butterfly! But, it can still be a pest. :D  And the difference between butterflies and moths is interesting too.

For the past two years I've taken a 2+ month blogging break over the summer. This year I want to try some new things before it gets too hot, so I think I'll break earlier. I find it is easier to experiment with new techniques when I'm not worried about analyzing everything for my blog.

Yesterday I got this new book by Katie Pasquini Masopust, Artful Log Cabin Quilts, and this is going to be my first big distraction. The combination of improv-pieced log cabins and abstract art quilts is very appealing. I started a new project right away!


As you see, I did not make a strong start. There is not nearly enough contrast in here to make it worthwhile. I am amazed at how many fabrics I have in the exact same value of olive green!

But, the one smart thing I did was start with the corners of my project. So, I will keep them and improve the middle.

The book has a lot of information about what makes a good photo, particularly regarding the range of contrast. Sadly, I did not pay close attention. This was my starting photo:


These are the waterlilies that grow along the Spruce Bog Boardwalk in Algonquin Park. It seemed like a good plan, but now I realize there are too many flat areas of colour for this technique. Anyway, I think I can save it. And, I have quite a few more ideas after that...

So, I'm not going to post regularly this summer, but I may pop in once or twice. I have at least three projects that are very nearly done, including Picnic...


...which is quilted and just needs binding now. I'm sure I'll post them right away if they get finished!

In the meantime, check out all the other butterfly and bee photos, fabrics, projects and info at the Kaleidoscope of Butterflies link up, right here. Happy stitching!

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Making Space for Improv

My AHIQ two block challenge quilt is a finished top! The initial design happened so fast that it is hard to remember exactly how it unfolded. I think my thoughts progressed something like this:
  1. Modern
  2. Asymmetrical
  3. Slashed "+" blocks
  4. with nine patches
  5. Grey
  6. and green
  7. Very minimal
  8. Lots of negative space
Then I tried to forget about it and focus on finishing Nettie. But, I was worrying about the negative space for this quilt already. What size should I make the blocks to ensure that there are enough blocks to demonstrate the two block pattern, and still have lots of empty/negative space? Without making a huge quilt?

My trusty clipboard and graph paper are never far away. I am good with computers, but I always design in pencil. I find that drawing is a more direct link with my creative side, and the ideas flow more naturally.

I started by drawing the outside edges of the quilt, and then worked my way in from there. Is it still improv if it's planned? I definitely think it can be. In this case, I already had the eight requirements listed above. On the design, I drew physical boundaries, and improvised inside them.

If you think about it, every improv quilt starts with some kind of limit or boundary -- colours, fabrics, size, technique or purpose. Usually a combination of those. I often think that people who are hesitant about trying improv are intimidated by the "blank page." So my point is that you get to decide how much improv to put in your quilt. Just make some space!

So, after all that, how does the quilt look?

9+, 55" x 70" (140 x 178 cm)

The idea for the grey pieced blocks, and the placement of the extra blocks across the bottom, both came while I was doodling with pencil and graph paper.

After the blocks were pieced, I laid them out to get the best flow of colours and shapes. On the graph paper I had a strip of solid grey between the green 9+ section and the grey one. But as soon as I had both sections finished I could see that they would be better sewn together. So that's what I did. And then I had to re-balance the borders, and I did that too.

Start to finish, about three weeks. It certainly is a welcome change to have everything flow together so quickly and smoothly! It is a big confidence builder. To me that has been the biggest benefit of incorporating improv into my quilting life -- I'm more willing to take risks, with the trust that I can fix any problems that arise. And, I'm no longer paralyzed by worry about the small details. Keep calm, and carry on!

And while you're doing that, check out all the other improv projects at AHIQ this month, right here.

Friday, May 19, 2017

Grey/Grey

Two of the participants in the April AHIQ link up, Mary and Sophie, had some very nice tone-on-tone piecing in their projects. Since my new improv project, 9+, has 5 shades of grey, I was able to use the idea right away!

Isn't that light grey print beautiful? It looks like a rich, grey wool flannel. It's one of the Faux Linens that Connecting Threads had a couple years ago. The dark corners are their Faux Burlap, which is fun too.


All the blocks are now finished. Next time...flimsy!


Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Two Block Construction

Moving right along, the main section of my two block improv challenge quilt is now together:


I had all the inverse nine patch blocks, with five green squares, left over. I did consider making the quilt reversible and putting them on the back. But I don't really have enough fabric for that. So, I just sewed them together:


I think it's going well!

Monday, May 15, 2017

Organic Nine Patch

Once again, just one photo today. It's the second block for the two block improv quilt challenge for AHIQ:


This is another adaptation of Sujata Shah's Cultural Fusion techniques. It's the same process as her Crossroads block, adapted to a nine patch.

When I started making them, I thought that I would be able to adjust the process and end up with just two colours in each block. But that was wrong! When you make them four at a time, you always get a different colour in the centre.

Somehow, three colours in the block was less minimal than my original plan. Should I backtrack or keep going? In improv theatre you always say "yes, and..." So, I decided to just keep moving forward.

All the blocks are made, but not all trimmed yet. My calendar is pretty full this week, but I seem to have a lot of momentum here, so maybe I'll get the two blocks sewn together fairly soon. It's a simple plan!

Oh, and now that you've seen both the blocks (the slashed blocks are here), I can tell you the name of the quilt -- 9+.

Saturday, May 13, 2017

Slashed

Just one photo today:


This is my start on the next AHIQ challenge for an improv, two block quilt. I've always wanted to make some of these simple slashed blocks, so I decided this was the right time!

I also have 3 or 4 metres of solid Kona cotton in steel grey that I want to use up, so that was my other starting point for this quilt. I rarely regret buying fabric, but that steel grey was not a good purchase. The centre top and centre bottom blocks are the solid Kona steel.

My plan is for an extremely modern and minimal quilt, with a lot of grey. I didn't think the solid steel would be enough for the whole top, so I added some grey textured prints. Do you see how only two of the nine blocks ended up in the solid? Yes, I am not doing a very good job of getting rid of it. But, I am very excited about the tone on tone possibilities of the different greys!

I think that'll be next.

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Nettie is a Top

The "wild jumble" from my design wall has been tamed:


It should be around 62" x 80" (157 cm x 203 cm), but I haven't measured it. Everything fit, so that seemed good to me! I'd forgotten how much easier it is to assemble a quilt with sashing in between the blocks. Hardly any seams to match!

To compare my layout with the inspiration quilt by Nettie Young, click here. Nettie made 15 blocks in a 3 x 5 layout. I developed my layout based on my memory of hers, rather than while looking at the photo. And every time I ended up with those two columns of dark cornerstones that she has, it seemed like a mistake. I thought it would be more balanced to have at least 3 cornerstones across the row. So that is why I increased the number of blocks to 24 in a 4 x 6 layout, and cut them down to 10" finished.

The original 12" block, with the centre seams cut out and reassembled to 10"

I made 896 hourglasses for the original, all-hourglass plan. I still have at least 500 left. But, I am going to send them to the basement for at least a year! Hopefully some new idea for them will sprout after a good long rest.

The first AHIQ challenge was for a Chinese Coins design, and I don't really consider this as a fit for that. I just liked the layout in the Nettie Young quilt. The second challenge is for a two block quilt, and I have a legitimate two block design planned. Is it improv if it's planned? I would say yes.

And I've already started it! It's going to be very modern indeed:


5 grey fabrics.


Solid fabrics in a range of turquoise and green.



So, totally different. Stay tuned!

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Wide Sashing


It's time for the Kaleidoscope of Butterflies once again, and no, this is not Moth in the Window, as previously promised.  The only progress on Moth has been that I decided I didn't want to make 90 blocks after all. My original plan was for 56 blocks, and all the fabric was carefully chosen and balanced, and I feel like it will go off track if I add to it now. I think the best plan will be to skip the border, and make it throw-sized.

Right now I am full steam ahead on my improv hourglass project, "Nettie." All 24 blocks are finished, including this tricky zig zag block:


I actually sliced the hourglasses in half to make flying geese, and then re-assembled as you see here. I won't lie, it took a while. But, I love it!

Last time I theorized that wide sashing would fix all my concerns with the dense hourglass blocks. Today I cut all the sashing, including that butterfly fabric above:


And, I put it up on the wall:


Now, I debated whether to show this photo or not, because it looks like a wild jumble. But I am really, really happy with it, and for now you will just have to trust me. It works, and it will calm down when it's all sewn together.

Hopefully that won't be too much longer, because I already have a finished design for the next AHIQ challenge, a two block quilt. But I refuse to start it until Nettie here is a finished top.

Back in March I was actually worried that I didn't have any new projects in the works! But, with Moth in the Window, Aunt Millie, this new solution for the hourglasses, and the two block quilt waiting in the wings, I think things are back to normal around here!

Saturday, April 29, 2017

Stuck and Unstuck

On Thursday we had a brief thunderstorm, and then the best sunset so far this year:


Inside, I've been wondering what to do for AHIQ. Yes,

What to do
For AHIQ?

 Last time you saw my hourglasses project, it looked like this:


I thought I was off to a good start with these big brick shaped blocks, and I spent a long day earlier this month making one more...


...and one big word:


I was very happy with the word, and ok with the block, but at the end of the day I was feeling like things were on the wrong track. I was trying to combine two projects into one, but that wasn't working. So my first decision was to save the word for later and focus on the hourglasses for now.

Now what? One day I was looking at the patio stones, and I thought it would be good to sew my bricks together into big squares, and still have the narrow green sashing I wanted before. But then I never got around to it.

Then last week I started my new Aunt Millie project, and that whole thing just fell together so naturally. Most of the quilt is already cut. Yesterday I was admiring it, and I really liked the simple and light feel that it has.

Aha! Light. I realized right then that my hourglasses were too dense and heavy. And cumbersome. Thank goodness I didn't sew the blocks together into even heavier sections! In fact, I realized that heaviness has been my problem with this quilt from almost the very beginning. I tried to change the construction method, I tried to lighten up the colours, but nothing really helped.

What I needed were smaller blocks, with wide sashing to let them breathe. I cut my big blocks in half:



And as soon as I thought of wide sashing, I thought of this quilt, Stacked Bricks, by Gee's Bend quilter Nettie Young. Back in January Ann shared this link as part of the kick off for her Chinese Coins improv challenge, and it really spoke to me. I did some math and thought about fabrics, but the time wasn't right. I've found, though, that once I start thinking about a quilt, eventually it will see the light of day, in one form or another. My plan is to use these blocks, in that layout.

My existing blocks were about 13" square, and I wanted to get them down to about 10.5" unfinished. I tightened up all the rows, and then gave them a final trim around. They're not totally exciting, but they work.

I'm banking more on the full effect at the end, rather than the individual blocks.

But, I also still had another setting idea to try for the hourglasses. It is a lot easier to make the smaller blocks! And I'm very pleased with this layout. This one is weighted to the dark fabrics...

...and this one is weighted to the light fabrics. I like them both.

I also started to take more care matching the fabrics. When I started I had the idea that it had to be random. Now I've realized that the main thing is not to get bogged down in decision making, and just look for nice combinations as I go along. I think I finally have some traction on this quilt!

I've already named it "Nettie." And, since it's also going to be Modern Utility Quilt #3 in my continuing series, I'm going to use some of this:


Riley Blake made this printed gingham in 11 colours, and I have them all. I used the red and orange in MUQ#1, Picnic, and the yellow in MUQ#2, Sunshine. So, I guess there is still room to run with these for a while. Although, there is a brown gingham and a navy gingham that are both pretty ugly. But, that is a challenge for another time!

Right now, please check out all the other improv links for AHIQ this month. And if you are inspired by the next challenge, anyone can join in!




Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Decision Time

More HSTs for Hanami

I am not a good multi-tasker, but this winter I needed about 2000 HSTs for three projects, and that is a lot of repetitive work. (About half are done now.) So, I downloaded some of Pat Sloan's podcasts from All People Quilt. There was a great interview with Gwen Marston on February 6, which I recommend. What's the difference between liberated quilting and improv quilting? None. There is no difference, says Gwen. I love her common sense approach!

I also enjoyed Pat's discussion with Linda Thielfoldt in the same podcast. Linda has been cleaning out her studio, and has some helpful thoughts on how to make decisions about what to keep and what to let go.

Since I finished Hen Party I've been thinking that it's time to stop jumping on every shiny project that comes along, and to get real about what the quilt is for, and how it will be used. So, I've pared things down to two basic categories:
  1. Quilts for Use -- throw quilts and bed quilts
  2. Quilts for Art -- wall quilts
When I thought about my requirements for those two categories, several of my projects started to change, and some dropped away. Quilts for Use have to be durable and not too precious, with no fragile embroidery or applique. Quilts for Art, on the other hand, have to be non-trivial, there has to be something special about them. And, they have to be smaller! There is nowhere in our house where you can hang a bed sized quilt on the wall.

Improv quilts will work well in both categories. My Gwennie Medallion is something that I will be quite happy to hang on the wall...


...when it's done. ;) One of a kind, original, graphic -- improv sounds like art to me.

Two recent projects are going to the orphan block box. The first is the half scale version of Brinton Hall that I started for my guild challenge:


I just don't think this will hold its own as an art piece. You have to be very close to see the embroidery, and when you stand back it feels drab. Plus, I still have the big one for the bed.

The second one to bite the dust is the 150 Canadian Women quilt along, which is not feeling good to me any more. 30 blocks are done:


I was not thrilled when I realized that this quilt was excluding important women in Canadian history, such as Laura Secord and Elizabeth Simcoe, because they were not born in Canada. I admit I did not read that part of the introduction very carefully! But last week's inclusion of Helen MacMurchy was the final straw for me.

The challenge of history is that when you go back far enough, you will almost always find something unpalatable by today's standards. MacMurchy was a significant figure for women's rights in Canada, so I understand why she was chosen. But she is not my choice, she does not represent the Canada that I want to live in going forward, and I don't think it is sufficient to say "those were the times then." This would be a quilt that I am making today, for the future. I don't want to spend the rest of the year turning over rocks in Canadian history, and making excuses for inexcusable things, so I'm going to let this one go.

On a brighter and completely different note, I've implemented a new plan for all my hourglass blocks. Last time you saw this project, I was sewing the hourglasses as leaders and enders on Allietare. That worked great, and all 896 of them were finished last year. BUT...


...the vast majority of them still required trimming. And I baulked.

I think I made a big mistake when I decided to make a large, time consuming project from fabrics I didn't like. For six months I've been thinking of ways to make it nicer. Different settings, applique... nothing seemed worth the effort.

Then last week I was thinking deep thoughts about improv, and I thought it could be a great solution for the hourglasses. Before I could change my mind again, I started to sew:


I just sewed together the untrimmed hourglasses, and used scissors to clean up the seam allowances. It turned out that a row of eight untrimmed hourglasses was about the same length as nine trimmed ones. I like those offset rows quite a bit!

My "plan" is to play around with different settings of the hourglasses, and make brick-shaped blocks like this. I've been admiring the green in Kaja's latest work, and I think I'll use something similar for narrow sashing between the big bricks. We'll see!

I've been keeping some of the hourglasses in a project box on top of my wardrobe, for "easy access."


This has been the situation for six months. Maybe there has been some creation going on up there when I wasn't looking! The Improv box has some of my early improv letters and words, and I've decided to stick them in this quilt with the hourglasses too. Would the embroidered roses from the Brinton mini work as well? Probably not, but we'll see.

Anyway, I'm still aiming for queen sized with this quilt. I like it so much better now, that even the fabrics don't seem so bad!

And I'm glad to be back at AHIQ. Please check out everyone else's work at the link up right here.


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