This is how I made a modern scrap quilt without a pattern. This is a quick controlled improv style quilt you can make in less than a week!
In Week 5 and 6 of the Shine quilt sew along we are finishing our improv quilt blocks. Join this online quilting community anytime!
Improv quilting. The modern scrap quilt?
This is how I made a modern scrap quilt without a pattern. This is a quick controlled improv style quilt you can make in less than a week!
Enjoy 15 of some of my favorite modern quilts from QuiltCon 2018 in Pasadena, California. All descriptions were written by the makers. Do you have a favorite quilt you s
This is how I made a modern scrap quilt without a pattern. This is a quick controlled improv style quilt you can make in less than a week!
What is improv quilting and how can you get started? Read all about why I love improv quilting, get some ideas and check out the best books and bloggers for learning improvisational quilting, even if you’re a beginner! || Pin Cut Sew Studio
It was a Tuesday morning in early April that I first heardof the official The 100 Day Project.I was sipping my coffee and catching up on my IG feed when I noticed a post byAmanda from Gypsy Moon Quilt Co announcing she was joining in. Planning a 100 day project has been on my“to-plan” list for […]
I finally get to share the 'secret' quilt!You've probably seen several Modern Quilt Guilds hosting Kona Challenges, and in Atlanta we just wrapped ours up this past Sunday.The amazing people at Robert Kaufman donated solid Kona charm packs for each of the members and then we had to create a…
Even though I loved it last year, I told myself I wasn’t going to participate in the 100-Day Project this year. My schedule is quite busy over the next few months and fitting in another project is …
Learn everything you'd like to know about getting started with improv quilting with our comprehensive guide.
My improv pieced curve quilt is finished. In my bid to practice sewing pieced curves, I got out a bunch of 5" squares that I had left over from a previous project and took to them with my rotary cutter. It was a little scary at the beginning, but I'm so glad that I made it... and finished it. I learned a lot about curved piecing along the way - the right ways of doing it, and the wrong. After watching a bunch of YouTube videos, it seems that I sewed my curves together the 'wrong' way. I had the concave and convex curves in the opposite order when I made these blocks, but hey, they worked just fine. I finished off my quilt with a cute backing fabric print and spiral quilting. I even added a hanging sleeve to the back, but just need some dowel from the hardware store. I'm counting this as my OMG finish for February 2020. Yay!!
We're taking a deep dive into Modern Log Cabin Quilts in honor of Kate Colleran's Log Cabin Quilts with a Modern Twist Online Workshop
I made this improv quilt in 2012. Here’s how I made it: How to make the blocks improv / free form quilt block number 1 improv / free form quilt block number 2 improv / free form quilt block n…
This modern improv scrap quilt was a super quick make. The quilt top took me just two and half evenings to finish. I’ll show you how I got started and how I put it all together .
The best of Modern Improv Quilting was on display at Quiltcon in Atlanta. These are the quilts that fed my soul at this particular Quiltcon, and here's why.
Learn everything you'd like to know about getting started with improv quilting with our comprehensive guide.
Expert quilter Virginia Cole is here with a fantastic tutorial on how to sew a modern improv quilt for beginners — it's sew simple and cute!
Even though I loved it last year, I told myself I wasn’t going to participate in the 100-Day Project this year. My schedule is quite busy over the next few months and fitting in another project is …
Get inspired by our modern quilt pieced backing ideas. These simple quilt backing patterns will take your quilts to the next level!
Expert quilter Virginia Cole is here with a fantastic tutorial on how to sew a modern improv quilt for beginners — it's sew simple and cute!
Master art quilter Cindy Grisdela constructs her log cabin blocks using an improvisational method and often incorporates non-standard materials.
Improv quilting is a fun and often overwhelming method to piece a quilt. I spent 100 days exploring improv quilting and want to encourage you to explore too! My History Looking around at my quilts and projects I’ve designed and made, I tend to be a very orderly quilter. I love the sequence and symmetry […]
52 of my favorite modern quilts from QuiltCon 2024.
I was fortunate enough to check out the beautifully curated Modern Quilt Showcase, sponsored by the Modern Quilt Guild. This exhibit was part of the quilt show associated with the 2019 International Quilt Market and Festival in Houston, Texas. Members of the Modern Quilt Guild from around the world
Improv quilting is a fun and often overwhelming method to piece a quilt. I spent 100 days exploring improv quilting and want to encourage you to explore too! My History Looking around at my quilts and projects I’ve designed and made, I tend to be a very orderly quilter. I love the sequence and symmetry […]
Some much-needed improvisational piecing last week led right to this little quilt. I was playing around with curvy lines, having pulled a...
Learn everything you'd like to know about getting started with improv quilting with our comprehensive guide.
A modern quilter recaps their visit-in-person visit to QuiltCon 2023. See what their goal was in attending and the lessons learned.
Have you ever wanted to learn how to make an improv quilt? This article from world-renowned improv quilter Cindy Grisdela can get you started. Once you read about her inspirations and techniques f…
I have been practicing and enjoying improv quilting for many years. I was recently asked to present my approach to an improv quilt. So, here is my best
Details Details Details Details Details Details Details Details Details Details Details Details Hand Quilted Butterfly Pillow Over The Hills Medallion Squared – Free Quilt Block Pattern …
52 of my favorite modern quilts from QuiltCon 2024.
Not all quilting borders are outdated! Get inspired by these modern quilt order ideas and use the quilt border designs for your next project!
When I blogged about my scrappy improv blocks , I had several people mention that they were afraid to try it with their own scraps, since th...
Get on top of your quilting scraps! Make mini scrappy blocks with the scraps from other projects - great way to use up small offcuts!
the creation of a Convergence Quilt, based on the book by Ricky Tims
It's reveal week of the 30 Days of Improv QAL and today you're focusing on modern improv play the final composition.
This quilted wall hanging has been a WIP since the fall of 2017! It all started as an outlet to […]
One of the things I love about collaborative projects is the things you learn and share. Case in point, a lovely (and slightly irreverent) discussion about piecing, specifically curved piecing that happened with Bee Sewcialites at QuiltCon over Chinese food. It's remarkable how many ways you can put a curve together and there are so many wonderful, detailed tutorials out there. For me, I have tried many of these, and have had great success with most of them. But since I'm a garment sewer first and had a few skills from that, I realized that perhaps some of the techniques used to inset sleeve scythes might be helpful when tackling exaggerated pieced curves in quilting. March's prompt for our Bee Sewcial (#beesewcial/ #inspiredbybeesewcial on IG), was "Layers". A word rich in meaning and potential. One of the things I have thought about, especially after making a fun baby quilt for a friend, was all the different ways maps have influenced civilization, and all the different types of maps that exist. I used a special "map" (flight path map) in the quilting of "Flight Path". Flight Path photo compliments of Nathalie Bearden But, one type of map has been calling to me, A topographical map or topo map. But instead of quilting a topo map and while keeping in mind this months prompt, I tackled piecing one. Bee Sewcial March Topo block for Hillary, Entropy Always Wins To do that, you need to have a confident handle on curves. I use a mixed skill base for that, and because I dislike using throwaway materials (paper/freezer paper), have developed a modified technique that works, I think, rather well. Felicity (@felicityquilts), also used this technique in her months Bee Sewcial block and it prompted a discussion of the steps in construction of dramatic curves. So, here goes….. (disclaimer: I'm a visual person, so I learn most by studying pictures. I read directions only when necessary, and I follow them as needed. I have included both in this discussion, pick what works for you, BUT the only way you'll become comfortable with curves is to actually practice making them). Materials: Fabrics for project Marking pencil or pen Sharp scissors (very important) Hot iron Sewing machine with 1/4" foot, thread Water solvable glue (I use Elmers, but any fabric glue that you can was wash out works). 1. Choose a starting fabric. If you have a finished size in mind, have your starting fabric several inches larger in all directions since you'll be trimming to size at the end. 2. If you have a design in mind, and are a planner, great. Just going for it is great too. 3. On the right side of your fabric, using your marking pencil/pen, draw out a curved line. drawn curve in faint white with making pencil 4. Cut away the fabric leaving a 1/4" seam allowance. 5. Using your sharp scissors, clip the curves with tiny, closely spaced v's. DON'T clip past your drawn curve. Continue along the length of your curve. 6. Turn your fabric to the wrong side and press the seam to the back of the fabric, using the drawn seam line as a guide and ease the curve with your fingers, carefully folding back the fabric and pressing as you do. Do not worry if you press back more than 1/4". The clipped v's aid in the pressing especially around dramatic curves. Concave curves press easier than convex ones. You may have to overlap some of the v's and press slowly on the convex portions. You can use Flatter, starch or just water to help you at this point. Go slow and use a hot iron. Try to keep the pressed curves smooth. Having many tiny cut v's make smoother curves. 7. Flip fabric to right side, tuck any unruly clipped curves to the back, press. 8. Select your next fabric and lay out on your pressing surface right sides up. Place your prepped, ironed fabric right sides up on top and adjust to your satisfaction. Press through both fabrics tucking back any unruly clipped seams. fabric to be added at bottom. pieced curves with clipped pressed seams at top 9. Carefully lift the top fabric at one end and add dots or a thin bead of glue part way along the clipped edge. Keep glue restricted to the clipped edge only. Gently place the fabric back in place and iron to set. Keep lifting, gluing and ironing until the entire curved edge is set in place. I use Elmer Glue in a glue dispensing bottle Occasionally glue gets on the front. Don't fret , it washes out. 10. Flip to back side and gently trim using the clipped edge as your guild for the trimming. Be careful here to not cut your recently pieced fabric. 11. Using the clipped and now trimmed edge, as your guide, clip the areas of the added fabric using the already clipped and glued v's as your guide. make sure your v's are clipped before sewing 12. Sew, in the pressed seam along the crease created by ironing. Go slowly around the curves easing the fabric out of the way, especially around the dramatic curves. I use a 1/4" foot not for measuring but so that I can see what I'm doing. sew carefully along the pressed crease 13. Go back to your ironing board, pressing the seam to one side. Your fabric will fall to one side or the other. Press to that side. 14. Admire your work. 15. Repeat these steps as many times as necessary to complete your design. I use this method for inset circles and circuloid shapes (the blue portion of the Topo block) and for the pupil in my other "Layers" March Bee Sewcial block. Pupil added with identical method. Even with many pieced seams this method works well. Have fun with curves!!!
SKETCHES FIRST THERE WERE 37, NOW THERE ARE 58 My book, 37 SKETCHES, came out in 2010 and went on to win a 2012 New York Book Club Award, in the same category as Michael Pollen by the way, which thrilled me as much as getting the award. Because it's probably my first and last actual art book, it's my personal favorite even though less read than some of the others. And truthfully, another reason I'm partial to this book is that it's about work I found to be incredibly exciting to do and work that yielded a great deal of personal artistic growth. While there are no patterns, there are 37 ideas for inspiration and I do talk about my intentions for each one. The quilts are organized in the order in which they were made, so you can see how they developed. So, while not a how-to book in the classical way, I see my students studying the book intently, figuring out for themselves what's going on and finding their own way to use the ideas to make their quilts, not mine. And isn't that just what we all want! Sketch # 22; photo became the cover of 37 Sketches Seeing these small pieces as "sketches" in the same way that a painter would, provided a way to work out both composition and color before embarking on a larger work. Working small also meant I could explore many more artistic ideas and technical possibilities far quicker than if I were working on a large scale. Working small means you are more willing to take chances, and taking chances is how you discover new ideas. My initial idea was to not repeat myself. By the time I had about twenty of them finished I began to feel as though I'd designed my own personal crash course in design. Sketch #18 Four years after beginning this work, I now have 58 Sketches chronicling my own design work, all stored neatly in a box for me to review when considering new work. And they can stand on their own as well. They have been shown in two Museum Exhibits of my work: The Taupo Art Museum in Taupo, New Zealand in 2013, and the Dennos Art Museum in Traverse City Michigan, 2014. The Sketches have been getting in my suitcase and coming with me as I go around the country teaching classes. Students have been really enthusiastic about making them, and excited about leaving class with the beginning of their own unique collection of Sketches. Some of the Sketches have inspired larger quilts as shown in the following images. I don't try to copy the sketch in a larger format, but rather I use the ideas, the colors, shapes, and scale, I've worked out in the sketch. Sketch #30, 9.5" x 11.25" Three Triangles, 34.5" x 35.5" For me and other quilters who have been making quilts for years and really don't need, much less have room for more big quilts, the Sketches are a satisfying way to explore design possibilities and stay involved and focused on the creative process which is so rewarding. I invite you to join us. Sketch # 37 Sketch # 58, the last one...so far. With Christmas coming, you might want to order this book for a friend, or as a special gift for yourself. It's a beautifully designed hard cover book, and it's a limited edition. You can order it from Gwen: gwenmarston.com
