Dreamlines 2023 Quilt Top

Brenda Gael Smith is the host and creator of the free online #dreamlinesproject. Each month she has designed an improv linear strip block in two different sizes for folks who registered with her. I chose the larger format.

October’s strip is the last one for the 2023 project. Next month Brenda is going to offer ideas for putting the strips altogether. But I went ahead and created my own layout. I’ve made improv quilts which were a nightmare to sew together, but this wasn’t one of those! The pieces really went together rather well, with very few gaps.

Wherever possible, I used scraps from the pieced blocks to fill in gaps between the strips. There are only 3 filler strips that weren’t part of the original blocks. The quilt is a tad wonky…not entirely a true rectangle. I could probably block it into a true shape by steam pressing the quilt top, but I didn’t make as a show quilt, so I’ll probably leave it as is.

I’m going to shop my stash to see if I can find a back. But I’m not sure that will be successful since I don’t often by multiple yards of a fabric! And I need to decide how I want to quilt it. At the moment I don’t really have an ideas about how to do the quilting. I’m going to think on it for a while, and probably will go to Brenda’s website Serendipity Patchwork and her Instagram @brendagaelsmith to see how she’s done the quilting on other projects.

Orphan Block Improv Quilt

This is my final finish for 2016!  And it's a good quilt to end the year!

This quilt was made from orphan blocks, left over bits from other quilts, sample blocks, blocks from my posts on color studies and some left over strips and bits of fabric.

There is no reason this assortment of bit and pieces who work well but they do!  I love all the bright colors and the the organized chaos in this quilt! And the fact that there is nothing precious about it! The dogs are welcome to sleep on it and I can roll it up and use it for a picnic blanket!

But most of all I love it because I have a reminder of quilts I've made!

It's just about twin size.  I quilted it with a walking foot on my domestic machine. I let each block suggest the quilting: straight lines, echoing, Bernina's #4 wave, and even a little free form wave crossing a straight line. Free motion quilting would have been faster, but following the patterns in the each block was more fun!

See if you can match some of the orphan blocks with the quilts in the gallery below! (Note: There are orphan blocks without photos matching quilts). Have fun!
 HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Vikings Modern Improv Quilt Completed: "Bjorn & Bjorn"

My Modern Improv Viking Quilt is done!  I love it!  Both the piecing and the quilting are improvisational. This quilt is based on Score #10 in Sherri Lynn Wood's book, The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters.  I made this quilt during a Quilt Along Event sponsored by JP Knit & Stitch in Jamaica Plain, MA  earlier this month.  A total of 7 of us quilters all had a great time at the shop learning to make improv quilts using the Scores in Sherri Lynn's book as guidelines. 

I had so much fun doing the quilting on this piece.  Most of the quilting is free-motion, but a little bit was quilted with a walking foot.

Here's the sun detail. I love this!

The waves in the ocean are totally unrealistic--they roll from right to left in some places and left to right in others.  In the sky there is a eddy in the breeze that echoes the waves in the ocean.

The castle walls are primarily quilted with interlocking squares and rectangles. However there is  wood grain over the castle gate and some timber in the castle wall. 

If I had to do anything over, I would have marked the sky before I quilted it. I thought I was quilting in reasonably straight lines across the sky...but apparently  not!  Clearly with improv piecing, it would be prudent to assume that is a pieced seam is unlikely to be straight!

The breeze was so crooked that I did something I rarely do with my quilting...I ripped it out and redid some of it.  Here's the before (left) and after (right).  The re-do still has some elements of the original tilted sky, but it's no longer jarring.

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The quilt's name is a bit of an insider joke.  I've always liked the Scandinavian boy's name Bjorn (pronounced Bee-yorn). Bjorn is also the word for Bear. Both man and bear are rightfully Bjorn!  

When I saw the fabric was printed with a Viking meeting the Bear, I knew  "Bjorn & Bjorn" was a great name for my quilt!   Don't you just wonder what they are talking about in those deep, dark woods??

Modern Improv Quilting, "Spinning J"

Here's my Modern Improv Quilt, "Spinning J" based on "Score #9" in Sherri Lynn Wood's book, The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters.

It was a real challenge to get it from pieced arcs to a rectangular quilt!  But the puzzle pieces did all fall into place one by one! It's now actually a fairly true rectangle but it sure doesn't look like it!  

I used DMC Perle Cotton embroidery thread for the Big Stitch Quilting.  It has a wool batt so the quilt is light and lofty.  I picked the wool batt because I thought it would best accommodate the irregular piecing in the quilt.  And that's why I did the hand quilting too. 

I had completed the quilting before I knew the technique had a name!  I just heard Carolyn Friedlander use the term on her recent Modern Quilt Guild member's webinar,  "Handwork is Fun." 

Here's more information about Big Stitch Quilting on a Craftsy.com blog post written by Diane Knott last year.  I really like the look of the Big Stitch Quilting with the wool batt. 

Even the label for this quilt has improv piecing!  

This quilt is totally fun!  I really learned a lot in the process of making it.

If you're interested in making an improv quilt, I recommend that you pick up a copy of Sherri Lynn Wood's book. I will really help you with the various improv piecing processes. 

Modern Improv Quilting, project #2

I've been working on my second modern Improv quilt using Sherri Lynn Wood's book, The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters--A Guide for Creating, Quilting and Living Courageously. 

This quilt is based on Score #9 in the book.  Working on a quilt based on Score #9 is "living courageously!"  Especially when I went from making "Woodland Friends" based on "Score 1" to this one!  These curves definitely require advancing piecing skills!  But Sherri has great "how to" advice in the Techniques section in the book which is really helpful.

Cutting and sewing the wedges was really fun. The challenges began when it was time to sew the curved wedges together.  I initially decided to hand appliqué the curved sections to a  whole cloth background. In fact, I did appliqué the whole long outer curve.  Here's a pre-applique snap of my initial layout plan.  Sorry, it's a bit out of focus...

But then I went back and looked at the book.  While Sherri states that it is fine to appliqué the curved sections, the examples of "Score #9" quilts in her book are all pieced. The pieced quilts are beautiful. So I decided I was going to rise to the challenge!  I ripped out all my hand sewing and started piecing.

The photo at the top shows the quilt in a fairly early stage of piecing.  The process of turning this from a collection of curved wedges into a rectangular quilt was much like working on a jig saw puzzle. Every evening I would look at the quilt, audition another color. cut one new piece and then sew on to the quilt.  It was mentally challenging. One new piece an evening was about all I could manage!   I was working on my "Dog Pals" quilt at the same time--doing those fast, raw edge appliqués provided the comic relief I needed to stick with all this complicated curved piecing!

Sherri writes in her book that as you start to piece these curved wedges together, the quilt form changes. So true!  You can see how different my final layout is from the one I started to appliqué. 

Here's it is sandwiched, ready for quilting.  The quilt is an approximation of a rectangle! That's improvII  A slightly lop-sided "organic look" is just fine! 

This was a great learning experience.  Now that I've pieced this quilt and understand the mechanics better, I think I'd like to try it again...but probably not this week!