I was excited when I was asked to be part of the blog hop for Lu Summer’ new book Quilt Improv. It’s a delightfully colorful and playful book that focuses on Improvisational piecing of all types. And it’s extra fun to offer a copy of Lu’s Book to one lucky winner.
I’m not going to lie…Improv piecing is difficult for me. I know, I know…it should be easier because there is no stress about matching points. It is freeing. But for a type A personality like me, I find myself a bit at sea sometimes. So a book like this is a perfect guiding point for me. It is full of plenty of eye candy and ideas.
So I decided to tackle a project inspired by one of Lu’s Quilts, Farm Building.
I was really drawn to the use of mixed solids improv pieced in particular. Lu has a helpful sketch too that was a good jumping point for me to design my own quilt.
I started with purples…all solids (I set my beloved prints aside) and worked with tiny strips of fabric cut with very slight angles.
I am probably the most rigid improv quilter out there, so I couldn’t let go of all control and just throw together the fabrics. I wanted balance with lights and darks, and that takes some thought for me.
Then I moved onto oranges…
and then realized I had a beautiful Heather Bailey fabric that tied together my current colors and needed some more.
So then greens came in and lastly creams. I deviated from Lu’s design by only using heavily pieced sections and not dividing it up with solids. It was just a personal preference of mine and how I felt my piece had the most balance.
Quilting was a big decision for me, but with the help of pals on IG I got some ideas percolating. I ultimately decided on straight line improv quilting that was “perpendicular” to the piecing of each section. I quilted each section separately with a matching top thread.
I didn’t want to lose the detail and interest of the piecing, and I think that this quilting is true to the nature of the piecing. Although admittedly once again, I was pretty planned in my “improv” quilting. Hey, you can’t change overnight!
I bound it in the perfectly matching random polka dot which I love for adding a new shape (circles) to the visual of the quilt while also keeping all the colors pulled together.
It’s a small quilt for me at around 36″ x 45″, but I didn’t want to overwhelm the piecing with too many sections. This way I can focus on each color and the subcolors. It will either be a wall hanging or a baby quilt. I haven’t decided where this one should end up. Suggestions?!
I love the combination of green and oranges.
Thanks for this giveaway¡¡
Your quilt turned out great. I find improve hard to do but I love the effect and have been using it more often – practise makes it easier to do. I would love to have this book in my quilt library. Thanks for the chance!
This looks like such a great book! I'd love my own copy!
Adorable – I like your "controlled chaos" approach to improv quilting!
You did a wonderful job. I would love to win a copy of the book. Thanks for the chance.
Sometimes I cannot tell if a quilt is an improv quilt or not. I have seen many quilts that look like improv quilts, but turn out not to be and some that I didn't think were improv quilts and they turned out to be. So, I have come to the conclusion, it really doesn't matter and your quilt is nice.
What a sweet little quilt you created!!!! Great job!
It was fun watching your progress with this via Instagram. It looks great!
Love your improv quilt. I've got to try this!
Love the solid colors ♥
I love your quilt, it's beautiful!
I'm scared of improv too! You had great success 🙂