Improv Curve Quilt Finished

Here's the final photo of my Curved Improv quilt. It was in the guild quilt show last weekend.

Improv Curve quilt

Because the sides are definitely not straight of grain, I wanted a straight edge binding. But the circle at the bottom needed bias binding. So I used bias on that curve only and switched to straight of the rest of the quilt. So far so good. I think it helps stabilize the quilt and minimize waviness.

Although the curve sections look may look like they are uniform width, that's not quite true. For each curve I started on one side or the other stitching parallel with a walking foot. Then I echoed that curve until I ran off the section. That side has quilting lines that run into it. This is probably the first quilt that I did NOT stitch-in-the-ditch. It was pretty scary to start quilting without the stabilization ditch quilting provides but it turned out well. Sometimes we need to try something different.

Because of the improvisational nature of this quilt, a few tucks developed. Each time I re-stitched some of the blades (by machine or hand) to re-flatten the quilt top. One of them appeared while I was quilting. That was a new experience but wasn't too difficult to fix.

The thread is Aurifil 50/2 cotton in beige, pink, green, blue, red and grey. The batting is Mountain Mist Blue Ribbon Cotton. The back is the same two fabrics as the binding. The quilt finished 50" by 58".

When I had trouble deciding how much to trim the sides of this quilt, Lara B. suggested cropping photos to test different amounts. That was a great idea. Here are some of those examples.

This first one has a bit more taken off the sides than the finished piece. Although this is my favorite view, I simply couldn't bring myself to cut off so much of the top.

First possible crop
of Improv Curve

 I wondered if cropping part of the large circle would make the quilt more active.

Second possible crop
of Improv Curve

Or if the blue circle would be missed.

Third possible crop
of Improv Curve

Here are links to previous posts about this quilt (in reverse order.)

1. How I Finally Sewed the Curves
2. Curves Continued
3. Curve Quilt Progress
4. Curve Quilt

What Sherri Lynn Wood wrote about her Mod Mood quilts here inspired me to try this process. I'm so glad I did!

Enjoy the day, Ann

Curves Continued

One of my difficulties with this quilt has been limiting the size. I can't see the edges of the quilt. At one time it seemed it might not stop before the edge of the design wall. Yikes.

Finished size of curve quilt

Then I thought of using string to outline a rectangle. It's a bit more visible in the photo below. Basically, I'll square up the quilt near those lines but at least I'm aiming at a general size now.

Detail of string used to outline the perimeter of the quilt

I was planning to make some straight-ish sections to fill in the background but most of the quilt was already filled once I marked an area with the string. So I just made a few more to finish the corners.

I also rotated the bottom right curve. Q just wasn't cutting it. (That's what last week's photo looks like to me.) This layout connects with the rest of the quilt better. I'm still thinking about the other curves.

Enjoy the day, Ann

Curve Quilt Progress

I'm learning so much while working on this quilt.  More of these sections need to be sewn together but it's almost impossible to take one off the design wall and get it back in the exact same place. I machined the coral/orange white circle and interior but may switch to hand sewing or Vikki Pignatelli's method for sewing curves.

Vikki machine appliques the curves with Invisifil thread: 100-wt. 2-ply polyester. My takeaway from her Crazy About Curves class was to turn narrow seams on the top layer and blind stitch from the top (although I recall using nylon monofilament at the time.)

Curve Quilt detail

Tight and gentle curves  and some straight sections are all needed. Most of mine are mid-range radius. More curve variation would help.

I thought Sherri Lynn meant to assign a specific mood to each single color based on how one felt that day. I chose these colors but felt the mood assignment was artificial. Anyway, here's my explanation:

1. red - energy
2. coral - happy
3. orange - annoyed
4. green - health
5. white - tired/sleepy
6. blue - peaceful
7. yellow - questioning

Upon re-reading her post I realized her moods are more general, covering a section of values and shades rather than an individual color. This makes more sense to me; a group of values conveys my mood more than an individual color. 

There is very little yellow in my stash. Rather than buy fabric I removed that color. Then I used a bit of each of the remaining colors and sewed some curves. The curves are too ambiguous. If all the colors are in each curve, it's hard to distinguish one curve from another. So I switched to smaller groups of two to four colors. Each color can have one or more fabrics. This is working better.

It's obvious in the photo below which curves were sewn first and which were sewn later. I also decided I needed a new, discrete section rather than having everything unfold from a single center. That's how the Q appeared in the bottom right. It may be too disconnected from the rest; we'll see.

Curve Quilt in Progress

Every time I add a curve, the quilt gets bigger. It's a bit like children - we keep them once they arrive. :-) I don't want to trim any of them away but I don't want a large quilt. Continually adding curves is not helping me square it up. Perhaps I should piece strips in straight-ish sections to finish it out. Another point to ponder.

The technical points are starting to pile up. I'm deliberately not looking at anyone else's postings again until mine is sewn in order to see how I work this out. It will be fun to compare later. And having completed one, I'll have a better understanding of how and why others made their decisions.

Enjoy the day!
Ann

Curve Quilt

I finally have a few days to quilt! Although several projects are basted I'm not in the mood. Instead, I want to make a curve piece scrap quilt. Sherry Lynn Wood showed some when she spoke at our guild. She also has instructions on her website. Look for the Mod Mood Quilt button on the side. Other people have posted theirs on her Facebook group, Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters. In particular, Sue Kelly posted an interesting photo and explains more in her blog, Sizzlewaggle.

Since I don't have many solids, mine will look quite different. That's ok with me. Here's what I finished today. There's one green solid and a tiny bit of hand-dyed coral, pink and blue. I'm now officially out of solid.

Curve Piece Strip quilt

First I pulled some fabric.

First fabric pull

Then I culled it.

Starting fabrics

The colors in this set were too limited so I added a few fabrics back in. I cut 6.5" widths then subcut into wedges.

Enjoy the day, Ann