our improv gallery
What fun to see the improv quilts waltzing into my inbox! I'm sure there are more out there, but these make a good start.
Joanna Mack sent two. This one is Damask and Denim. Clever use of the muted blue and shades of gray. I wouldn't have thought of doing that, but it works so well.
And here is Big Red 2. Fabulous 3D effect, and the quilting really makes it! Joanna said she was inspired by a quilt in my book, but this is so different that I had to think hard about what it could have been.
You can't tell from this photo, but Joan Delony used a black dot fabric as a background and it works really well! IMO, so much better than plain white!
Sue Erdreich has been doing improv quilting since I met her about 5 years ago, and her work just gets better and better. Love the transparency effect in the lower right.
And Annie LaBruyere sent two pieces that she created improvisationally and did the improv quilting that enhanced them.
Isn't this irregular shape wonderful?
Thanks, everyone, for sending your photos. It's so much fun to see what happens when you just start playing!
As for me -- I spent the afternoon working in a non-improv way. Yesterday, I cut out brown paper patterns for my wedge bolsters and then cut whatever fabric I could to make the pieces. Of course, I ran out of my Michael Miller Chocolate and had to order another yard or two, which will come who-knows- when.
As you know, I flunked 7th grade sewing - but I was determined to make this cover fit. Of course, I had to find a youtube on how to make a wedge pillow cover and it wasn't exactly the same shape, but I got the idea of what to sew to what from the video. By the time I was ready to add the top strip to the front and sides I had forgotten what the woman in the video had said. BUT I remembered having made this bow tie baby quilt a few decades ago (hand quilted and probably hand-pieced), so I figured it out! Y-seams. Yes!!
The corners came together! I haven't added the back or the bottom (waiting for the extra fabric to arrive). And I still have another whole one to do, but this is what is looks like so far.
You cannot imagine what an accomplishment this is for me -- the person who makes quilts because they never have to fit. And these probably won't fit perfectly either, but they will be good enough.
