It's been a while since I've worked on any improv projects and truth be told I have not been keeping up with the adhoc improv quilt link due to other demands on my time. I do however have a piece to share this week. Here's a detail of one of my favourite parts of this piece.
It all started out with a challenge that Cheryl brought to our small modern group. Cheryl is the co chair of the community outreach committee of the guild. She had some blocks from the block of the month program that weren't quite working with other blocks from that month. Here's the original block. It's 20 inches square. Mine had slightly different fabrics, but they were the same range.
Cheryl cut the blocks in half on the diagonal giving each of us a piece that looked like this.
Our task was to take the triangle, along with some pieces of fabric she gave us and to make a row for a quilt adding other fabrics from our stash that went with it and grey fabric.
I started cutting,slashing and adding pieces until I ended up with this piece which I rather liked.
And here's further refinement.
I worked on this row over a course of several weeks around other projects. There were some challenges for me. Some of the additional fabrics we were given were ugly ducklings to my eye and incorporating them was a bit difficult.
Another problem was that I didn't have enough of the grey fabric I was using as background so I had to figure out how to solve that problem. A couple of the improv pieces I have worked on have had size requirements and trying to get your free flowing design into a certain size can be a bit daunting.
My daughter Madeleine relaxes with rock climbing and she loves bouldering. Bouldering takes place on a three dimensional structure and a course is set that requires the climber to problem solve a way up the route. I think the process she enjoys with bouldering is similar to the process I enjoy with improv. It takes your brain into a focussed place where you work out your next step.
In the end I added a darker grey. This required me to go back and add some of that grey to the other side of the row.
Here's my final result. I'm quite happy with it. I don't think the dark grey is perfectly balanced in the row but I'm pretty sure it will balance out in the quilt.
It's interesting. I have seen rows made by 6 others in the group and they are all quite different, but the fabrics tie them together . When It's all put together I'll share a photo.
Linking with: Adhoc Improv Quilters
Lets Bee Social
15 comments:
It looks great. You're right, improv can be challenging but in the end beautiful.
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Interesting process!
I can see the relationship between bouldering and improv very clearly! I think adding the dark gray was a great solution, and I like that it isn't perfectly balanced. I look forward to seeing how all the rows come together!
You've made a beautiful row. The grey really helps to tie everything together. Congratulations on making it to the summit!
Thanks for sharing your process. It helps to see what others are doing to solve problems. The blocks are lovely, but also strong. Looking forward to more.
I like your row. I would love to see all the rows together.
It's so good to have your own project to work on. It's not improv if you have to do something you're not interested in. I rarely join quilt alongs because there are too many other projects I want to make. I've found over time that I'm happier figuring out what I want/need to work on rather than taking on challenges at times that are not convenient. That said, I'm delighted so many people wanted to join our invitation. Kaja and I hoped to encourage people who were hesitant to start improvising. I think we've been successful.
Your improv blocks are interesting. It's always hard for me to make these crumb/leftover blocks and actually have them look good but you did it. As you wrote, getting to size is one of the hardest parts. I'll be looking at this in more detail as you put the top together.
Thanks for linking this original work and explanation to AHIQ. So very helpful to see how it's done.
It's a great challenge and you have risen to it admirably. I'm looking forward to seeing it all together, improv is so much harder than it looks.
I love improv and that's a great idea for blocks that don't quite work, cut them up again. I found it worked with my red and white blocks, so they are still very structured.
Love how this is turning out and reading about your process. Thanks a million!
What an interesting way to have to start a piece of work - thanks for linking up and talking us through it. I like where you ended up a lot: the fabrics you added worked really well. I look forward to seeing how it looks with the others' rows.
The beginning of this project is genius--building cohesiveness in to a group project through bits of those common blocks. I can't wait to see what everyone did and how it all goes together.
It will be fun to see them all together! I love the narrow strips in your row. They really make it sharp!
An interesting challenge, and your result is lovely. I like the way the pink and bright green liven up the other colours.
Very cool, I enjoyed seeing how the piece progressed as you sewed it.
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