Browsing Tag
improv piecing
Just a quick celebratory moment! After a year-plus of improv piecing, the lincoln quilt top is done — and has been basted! I cannot even get over the fabulous fabric I found for the back! I’m so excited to get it finished up! Once it is finished I am planning a big post to explain the history of the how this project came to be, the way I found the image that it is based on, and the reasons I’m choosing to finish it with straight line quilting. But, for now, I’m just looking to virtual high-five the world, because this WIP is almost finished!
Happy Monday!
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” — Mary Oliver, The Summer Day
Summer. I wait for it all year long. I adore it so much that I awake early to watch its sunrise and will get out of bed in the middle of the night to see its perseids. I live it so thoroughly that two months can go by and I won’t even notice that time is marching forward. I’m in Summer-Mom mode. I’m zen, baby! I’m in the summer-moment! But as I purchased the kids’ school supplies yesterday, the realization sank in that we will be back to the routine of school and sports before we know it.
Which, then reminded me, that I need to fill you in on some of the things that have been going on around here. . . Because, while I haven’t been in this space documenting my happenings, things have been happening, nonetheless!
The first bit of news is that I am now the president of the Long Island Modern Quilt Guild. We’re looking to grow the guild and to join as an official chapter of the National MQG. We’re moving to a new location, meeting on a new day of the week, we have a new logo, and have hosted some charity events and fundraisers. It’s been exciting — and a lot of work! One of the fundraisers that we will be holding this week, is a raffle for mini-quilts that were made by our board members. The feather (above) is my contribution.
This mini quilt measures approx. 12″ x 20″ and was entirely improv-pieced based on a feather from the Painted Dreamcatcher pattern by Sarah Elizabeth of {no} hats in the house. Her pattern is paper pieced, which is not really my jam. So I improvised and came up with this.
All of the board members made their minis from the same group of fabrics so that when they hang together, they will look like a cohesive collection. I think it’s going to be great, and fingers crossed, it will be a successful fundraiser for the guild!
Other than the feather, I’ve been continuing to plug away at Lincoln, as well as working on some other charity projects, like this and this. I’ll also be participating in the Cloud 9 New Block Blog Hop, so look for that post on Monday, September 12th. And be sure to check out all of the amazing blocks created by all of the participants in this event! The fabric is seriously gorgeous, so I think it’s going to be an exceptional hop!
Hope you are having an amazing summer. What have you been up to? What are you doing to savor these last days of summery goodness? I’d love to hear!
I’ve had a pile of WIPs in a basket in my sewing room for as long as I can remember. Not that this is a surprise, as most quilters do.
Every so often I would take these WIPs out. Mull over them. Possibly add something to them. And then quietly give up on them and stick them back in the basket.
The thing about these WIPs, unassuming as they are, is that they take up space. Both physical and mental clutter. And there is a certain amount of guilt associated with each one. The money spent on materials. The time spent on getting started. And the feeling that no work should be left incomplete.
And yet, there is a reason they remain endlessly “in-progress.” Perhaps the process became less interesting as the work progressed. Or the task of completing them required time or skill that we either don’t possess or we no longer want to dedicate to the project. And so they sit. Taking their toll, ever so silently, on our psyche.
The WIPs in this quilt were a little bit of all of the above. The improv pieced stars began in Victoria Findlay Wolfe’s 15 Minutes of Play class. I was too intimidated to finish the quilt we started that day, back in July 2013. So there they sat. I picked out the polka dot fabric with Victoria, specifically for that quilt, and I felt obligated to finish it just as we had planned.
The triangles were from an entire quilt I had cut using the E-Z triangle ruler, long before it became a sponsor for QuiltCon West. Except, I hadn’t read the directions. So I cut them ALL WRONG. An Entire Quilt Worth. I tried to sew them together despite my mistake. And none of the points were matching up. Tips of triangles were getting cut off. Not so E-Z as planned. Sooooo I abandoned it; disappointed in myself and the wasted fabric.
The navy and polka dot stripe quilt was made because I was inspired by Maura Ambrose. I finally decided to use that fabric I had picked out with Victoria, and I thought for a noble cause. It was simple, it was pieced precisely, but it wasn’t really me. Because I was trying to be someone else — someone who makes perfectly simple quilts using perfectly simple hand-dyed organic fabrics. Of course it fell flat, as is bound to happen when being someone you’re not.
And finally, all of that glorious Doe fabric. Just waiting to become an Oodalolly quilt from Rachel Hauser’s Curves class. But I fell behind in the class, and with Oodalolly being the last project, well. . . it just never happened. I quit before I got past the second block, and moved on to other things.
You can see how bringing all of these perceived “failures” into one quilt that is utterly “me” has been cathartic. Not only am I clearing out the clutter from my sewing room, but I’m clearing out the guilt and the shame associated with each of these unfinished projects. It’s like a fresh start to move forward with new ideas that are entirely my own.
Will the WIP pile add up again some day? Probably. But for now, I’m starting 2016 with a clean slate, and it feels like the possibilities are endless!
Again, a very Happy New Year to you! My wish for us all: that the creative ideas from the universe find us and guide us to bring them to light in the new year ahead! Hooray 2016!
Linking up with Sew Cute Tuesday.
These blocks will probably not make a lot of sense to you yet. To be honest, they barely make sense to me, and I sort of know where I am going with this! (Sort of). They are part of a larger plan to use improv piecing to create a finished image. I think there will be about 60 blocks total when I am done. Unfinished, they are 6.5″ and I’m hoping to have a finished quilt top by the end of the summer. (taking deep breath).
In addition, my guild is sponsoring an improv challenge over the summer. Inspired by a lecture on improv piecing by Jess@ Quilty Habit, we exchanged bags of our favorite scraps with a name inside. We have the summer months to make anything we’d like — using an improv piecing method — for the person whose bag of scraps we pulled. I have some lovely scraps to work with, but now I’m feeling the pressure to create something really lovely with those scraps!
And finally, I’m hoping to get my Charley Harper quilt basted and quilted before summer is over. Since I improv pieced the tree, I’m lumping it in with my “summer of improv” theme.
So, how about you? Have you been working on any improv projects? I’d love to hear about any inspiration that you’d like to share!
Hope you have a great weekend! Our middle guy is all set to graduate from pre-K tonight, so you *may* see a pic or two of him in my IG feed! Don’t say I didn’t warn ya!
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about the direction I’d like to take my quilting. I think as a new quilter it was important for me to stick to traditional ideas while trying to give them a modern twist, either through fabric selection or by altering block sizes.
But as I think about the types of quilts that I’m really attracted to, they are the quilts that scare me as a maker. Sometimes I think I’m so afraid of messing up or disappointing myself that I don’t try. And I make another quilt that is comfortable to me.
That’s where this quilt comes in. If you’ve followed this blog from the beginning (and not many have — except for you, Michelle!) you’d recognize this Charley Harper quilt and the many, many, many variations it’s had over the past year. I finally settled on this design after much trial and error.
I hope that this quilt marks a transition for me. It still has traditional blocks. But it forced me to really push myself, in order to improv piece the tree design. The tree is the symbol of where I’d like to go. I’m not sure how bumpy of a process it will be to get where I’m going. But I’m nervously excited about the things in my head that I’d like to create.
Do you feel like your techniques and aesthetic have evolved since you first started quilting? Please tell me I’m not alone in this quilter/maker identity crisis! Ha!
In other news, I’m participating in the 2015 New Quilt Bloggers blog hop. This year we’ve been broken down into four groups (“hives”). I’m a member of Cheryl@ Meadow Mist Designs‘ hive, and we are calling ourselves the New Bees (get it, newbies! ha!). I’m looking forward to learning more about all of these great new bloggers, and sharing a little about myself as well! Be sure to check ours and all of the other hives (hosted by Yvonne@ Quilting Jet Girl, Stephanie@ Late Night Quilter, and Teri Ann@ Childlike Fascination) out!
Linking up with Finish it Up Friday! Have a great weekend, everybody!
