Improv String Quilt: A Beginning

Ah, pride goeth before the fall! I've made several string quilts over the years including a queen size Strips and Curves so this one should be a breeze. How hard could it be? [Pretty hard as it turns out.] This quilt frustrated me all month until I finally just started cutting. After all, this is a learning experience and we are meeting to discuss this score in a week. What's the worst that could happen? More pieces for the scrap bag.

I pulled fabric, divided them into three piles and started cutting the first group. Soon I recognized some problems.

Original fabric groups

Much of my fabric is less than forty inches wide. Some are fat quarters; others are leftovers with "interesting" holes. I sewed short lengths together but ignored how long they finished (36 to 60 inches).  This mistake created a very uneven bottom that made it hard to judge how long the next strip should be. Eventually I went back and cut all the strips a more uniform length.  It seemed like a minor point in the book, but it made sewing the strips so much easier. Next time I'll decide on a length before cutting strips.

Part of Group 1

I'm not sure if Sherri created wide string sheets but I am wary of them. The very wide string sheets created for the Strips and Curves quilt quickly became long and unwieldy. This time I limited sheets to 40" or less (by the 40" width of fabric for a length.) My experience with Floating Squares taught that reserving some fabric components makes it easier to put them together in the end. I hope shorter sheets will both make it easier when they are cut across and increase the diversity of the strata. Each smaller sheet can be rotated or sewn to the others in a different order. A few single strings are left to join these smaller sections as needed. [We'll see how this works. I haven't reached that step yet.]

As pairs of strips are sewed together.
I pinned them on the wall to keep them neat.

My other problem is simple math... and the fact that I didn't do any ahead of time. This is freehand cutting but still I want forty inches of strips. Forty strips are needed if they finish 1" each; twenty strips if they finish 2" each; twenty-nine if they finish 1.5". So 20-40 strips should be enough. How many were cut? Over 150 of this first group alone. [This is how I always end up with large quilts.]

I've decided to divide the second set of fabrics into two subsets and discard my original third set (the blues and greens at the bottom). This time I'm going to count.

Two sheets of Group 1 fabrics

As usual, my fabrics range from the 1990's to last week. The green, yellow and brown print to the right of the beige and white plaid (about eighth from the left) is the oldest. I used the tiniest amount to make shoes for my sons in this quilt. It's been in the stash ever since because... I have no idea. Time to use it up.

Enjoy the day, Ann

Floating Squares Improv Top Complete

I put nine Flying Square blocks together. You can see them; this is a nine-patch quilt. Not exactly what I wanted but a good first top. It's scrappy and fun.

Floating Squares quilt

The individual blocks are too apparent. Sherri Lynn mentions creating some long strips from blocks. I didn't pay attention until this was sewn together. Having some reserved squares from a block helps when a long strip is needed. They mask the seam line and increase the random effect of the tops. Next time I will actually save some from the start rather than scrounging for the one that didn't pair up.

See the long piece of light blue filler at the top left? Once I replaced it, the seam is less obvious.

Also, the blocks don't need to finish to any specific size. While mine aren't the same, I did actively work to use all of the two fabrics in one block. That means I used more filler to reach a square. Next time, I'll leave them as two or three small blocks if they don't easily make one large block.

This was the original ninth block. The stripe fabric and the small scraps add interest. The  arrangement of the squares and (minimal) filler is much improved. Why isn't it in the top? It was too quiet. So I replaced it.



Enjoy the day, Ann

Floating Squares Begun

Four friends decided to study The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters by Sherri Lynn Wood over the next year. Having seen some of Sherri’s quilts, we were impressed with her skill and creativity. Once the book arrived we knew her ability to explain improvisational methods merited serious attention.

Reading through it (several times) is one thing; but actually following each score in order and meeting to discuss our results raises the bar to a much higher level.

I decided to make a lap quilt in order to try several ways of combining the fabrics. Fitting together blocks of different sizes was one of the most interesting skills to me.

All the fabric came from my stash but I chose to use leftovers (slightly smaller than a fat quarter) for the two squares.  Some fillers were larger pieces. I also made a rule that if/when the fabric ran out I could only pull from my scrap bag (not stash.) The smaller pieces would hopefully add some interest.

The blocks finished about 12-18 inches. In hindsight, I think their finished sizes are too uniform.

Here are some of the blocks:

The colors and contrast in this block are attractive but none of the small blue squares overlapped.  The green in the lower right was added to complete the block.

Both colors of squares overlapped much better in this block. You can see where I added different greens and browns when the originals ran out.

All three of these fabrics are leftovers from Propellers and Planes.  

See the triangular wedge of filler to get one section to fit? Including scrap bits is getting easier.

I was very pleased with the way both squares went together in this block.

The filler is a Marimekko scrap so when I ran out of greens, I cut the dark green Marimekko square to add to this block.

By the end of this exercise, my freehand cutting is straighter and I can estimate the widths needed by eye much better.

Enjoy the day, Ann

Cowboys, Pinwheels, and Presents

Patricia Belyea emailed me last Friday that I'd won an Okan Arts giveaway. Look what arrived Monday via Priority mail! Patricia graciously inscribed the book so I have a permanent memento of her kindness. I'm so thrilled to own Sherri's book. Guess what I'm doing as soon as I finish the roommate quilt? The scissors are comfortable, fabulously sharp and cut like a dream. Thank you, Patricia!

Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters by Sherri Lynn Wood
and a pair of Kai scissors from the Okan Arts giveaway.

Roommate 2 is a Dallas Cowboys fan so my son suggested using their blue and silver team colors. Blue abounds in my stash because I've been intending to make a blue and white quilt for ages. At least some of them are the correct blue (although I stretched it quite a bit.)  The centers are the most silvery of my greys. While not my first choice, they fit the color scheme and should make this man very happy.

Again I used Sujata Shah's Cultural Fusion Quilts. Several quilters have made this design. Julie at QuiltDivaJulie has a very colorful version. Don't these versions inspire you to try your own?

These look like fireworks rather than flowers or candies. When my children were very small, we sat on Galveston beach for an amazing show by an Italian firm. It was the first time I saw lavender colored fireworks. They were so beautiful!

Cowboy Celebration quilt (61"x76.25")

Since the Cowboys incorporate a Lone Star in their logo, it became the center for half of the blocks. Directions for cutting perfect five-pointed stars can be found on this site about Betsy Ross, the person credited with creating the Stars and Stripes. These were too perfect for me; I cut them shorter and a bit more unevenly.

Pinwheel before adding a star or circle center.

The stars are fairly large so I appliqued simple circles on the other blocks. The diameters of the circles vary depending on where the wedges start. In my opinion, this adds to the explosion effect.

Machine applique using a blanket stitch

Harriet Hargrave's Mastering Machine Applique has been on the bookshelf for years and... I finally tried it! Not great but not too bad. She has several methods for creating points; I tried them all. We'll see how well each holds up in the wash.

Machine appliqued star point. 

On this star the point is turned under then each side is turned under and trimmed. This point isn't as sharp as I'd like but felt safest since it has seam allowances all around.

I need to make a back, sandwich the layers, choose some free-motion quilting and bind it... by next week. Better get busy.

Enjoy the day, Ann

Tiger Stripes

My youngest graduates from LSU in Baton Rouge soon. Hooray! Their colors are purple and gold and their mascot is the tiger. So you'll never guess: he wants a tiger striped quilt in purple and gold.
Here's the top. This idea came from Sujata Shah's Cultural Fusion Quilts. I've certainly enjoyed her book; she has a great sense of design and color. It's a wonderful way to "tiptoe" into improvisation.

Tiger Stripes quilt (68"x85")

This zigzag layout looks like tiger stripes to me.

Barb at Fun with Barb made this same design in a delightful combination of red, black, and cream. Take a look.

I've been consciously purchasing yellow fabrics when I find them so there was quite a bit in my stash. I also chose to push into dark gold (almost orange.) But there was a dearth of purple. More shopping required. Two of the new purples have fish on them (one of my son's hobbies.)

Purple and gold fabrics.
You can see one light purple with fish.

Here are two other layouts I considered. In the lefthand layout all the rail fences march up to the right. The light blocks are in a slightly different arrangement in the righthand layout.

Two possible layouts for Tiger Stripes

This has me thinking about tigers, a frequent topic in high school literature classes. Who could forget William Blake's poem (or at least the first stanza?)

Tiger, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

Or the limerick by Edward Lear, William Monkhouse or Anonymous (your choice.)

There was a young lady of Niger
Who smiled as she rode on a tiger;
They returned from the ride
With the lady inside,
And the smile on the face of the tiger.

Did you read The Lady or the Tiger by Frank Stockton? I did and I still think she pointed to the tiger's door. What's your opinion?

Shere Khan in Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book was always scary. A man-eater. Last week I watched Earth, A New Wild - Episode 1: Home on PBS which advances the theory that we need to coexist with wild animals for the good of the planet. Part of the episode discussed Bangladeshi tigers that kill one person every day on average. Because people rightly fear these animals, they limit trips into the forests. So the tigers are protecting the mangroves that protect this nation of millions from typhoons.

The grizzly bear was the top of the food chain in western North America until people arrived with rifles. How would this continent differ if they were still around?

If you're not yet tired of tigers, check out these recordings of Tiger Rag (also known as Hold That Tiger) on YouTube.
When Art Tatum first performed this fabulous jazz standard people thought he had a second person helping on the piano.
The Mills Brothers sang in close harmony. I love the way this quartet created so many sounds a cappella.

Enjoy the day, Ann

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

Round Robin Improv Quilted

Next in the queue is the Round Robin Improv quilt from a workshop with Sherri Lynn Wood. Several anonymous people worked on this top which I think turned out beautifully.

 The technique is one of the scores in Sherri's upcoming book, The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters: A Practical Guide for Creating, Quilting, and Living Courageously. Her book is coming out next month but you can purchase it early at QuiltCon. See her post here.

Round Robin Improv quilt

Someone added the lovely fabric with large dots. This inspired my choice for the red and black sunflowers on the left side as well as the appliqued circles. All the circles are leftovers from Propellers. How lucky is that?

Originally I tried this little wavy zig-zag stitch several others quilters have used. The thread is a softly variegated 18-weight cotton. It seemed to pull the quilt a bit tighter than I expected. The reason shows on the back. The bobbin tension is much too tight.

Machine quilting with very bad tension.
The bobbin thread is much too tight,
pulling the top thread through the quilt
and creating eyelashes.

Several samples later with no better results, I changed to 50-weight Metler cotton in grey-blue (#0789.) Random straight lines with a walking foot cover the quilt. I considered following the flare of the patchwork but decided I wanted more uniform widths across the quilt. I started quilting about two-inches apart then came back and filled in. This keeps the quilt better aligned. The "cross angle" didn't look good when the spacing was wider; however, it improved tremendously with closer quilting. It's not as close as matchstick; more like channel quilting.

Round Robin Improv quilt detail

Remaining decisions:

1. Would you keep the quilt edges like this or straighten them out? 
2. Would you choose a regular wrapped binding or knife-edge binding that won't show at all on the front?

Previous posts about this quilt:

1. The day of the Round Robin workshop here.
2. In progress plus a link to all the quilts from the workshop here.

Enjoy the day, Ann