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A few weeks ago, Creativebug (an online creative learning site) had a watch for free week and I made use of that to watch three improv piecing workshops by Sherri Lynn Wood. You may have seen her work if you are into improv or modern quilting?
I bought her book a few years ago but never successfully made anything inspired by it. So I thought watching the workshops would help me try it properly. And it did inspire me to try it! made me slightly obsessed for a few days, to the point of dreaming of improv piecing at night!
I started with three solid fat quarters I was given a few years ago, in red, magenta, and dark pink, plus a bunch of random large scraps that was on top of my box of small scraps.
In improv piecing there is no pattern, only what Sherri Lynn refers to as ‘scores’. In my case that was making triangles. Oh, and you don’t use a ruler or measure anything so it actually feels a bit daunting. But also freeing, because there is no pattern and you can’t make a mistake because a ‘mistake’ is just the project nudging you in an unexpected direction.
The ‘block’ in the top left corner is made from smaller blocks I made when I started the project. The rest were made a bit further on in the process, when I started to pull some random pieces of fabric from my stash.
The large purple piece at the bottom is the last bit of a large piece of fabric I have no recollection of when or how I acquired. It is more a decor weight but this is improv so I thought, “what the heck, I might as well include it.”
I don’t know how I am going to put all these sections together. I have too many to be able to lay them out on the table in my studio so I guess I’ll have to put them on the bed. I still haven’t cut into the third of my original fat quarters and I think I may use that one to add to different pieces so they will fit together.
As I am looking at these random layouts, I don’t really like the look of the two largest pieces of pink with white dots, not sure why. I may have to shorten those…
Improv is a lot of fun, I am really enjoying it. I wouldn’t say that it is outside of my comfort zone, I am quite happy to go with the flow and embrace ‘mistakes’, but it certainly is a different way of approaching patchwork piecing.
If you are a quilter and you want to try something different, I can recommend trying some improv. Whether it is in the style of Sherri Lynn Wood, or perhaps Lucie Summers who has also written an improv book that I really like.
So I eventually got some of the blocks put together in this larger piece. Overall, I am pretty happy with it. Except for that large purple rectangle in the middle.
The green line is where I think I will cut across the piece to break up that purple rectangle. I have no idea what I am going to do after I cut it. Maybe turn one of the pieces upside down. Or piece together a wide strip to insert between the two. It might be interesting to have the original layout still visible. I dunno.
I guess I’ll report back when I have done….something! :-)
