improv circles quilt tutorial improv circles quilt tutorial

And those curvy, abstract quilts you love? Jul 31, 2014 - Let's make improv wonky circles, shall we??? There were over 500 quilts hanging at QuiltCon this year, which is quite the number to take in. This fall I finished the large version of the Modern Patchwork Trees that I started last year. 4. Piece your strips together. I was very excited about the Color Builder thread boxes that Aurifil had recently released. None of which were the assignmentthis was a problem. After every seam, I continuing to shape the units so that they fit together. As you sew, gently stretch the (only the) longer fabric between each pair of pins. In this post, we will be demonstrating the Large Improv Blocks using templates from the Pasadena Curves Quilt by Sylvia Raschella and Pasadena Quilt Studio. In that case, the process would be reversed. Pin and sew the curves together. I have been thinking about you and wanting to make the time to send you a good email. In the third photo from the top of this post above you can see my in progress work on my cutting table. Here I have chosen to use two straight pins, one in the khaki and one in the brown. Do you want to get access to additional resources and connect with other quilters too? Looking at how much fabric I had left, I realized at this point that I was going to have to keep moving around the colorwheel and use the teal greens I had set aside to have enough fabric to make the quilt that large. Choose just 2-3 fabrics from your scrap bin, pick a basic quilt shape like HSTs, and decide if you will be using rulers or not. Step-by-Step Free-Motion Quilting: Turn 9 Simple Shapes into 80+ Distinctive Designs Best-selling author of First Steps to Free-Motion Quilting by Christina Cameli Paperback $22.99 Creative Grids 10 Degree Wedge Ruler - CGRCP1 91 5 offers from $31.49 Step-by-Step Texture Quilting: 65 New Free-Motion & Walking-Foot Designs Christina Cameli 182 Now you can download individual chapters. Thank you for sharing your processes! I think the obsession started in Nancy Crows Workshop called Sets and Variables. The sizes of the triangles will vary quite a bit at this point. Full Circle by Audrey Esarey, Bob Bosscher, Carson Converse, and Jen Broemel. Open and press, then repeat until the fabric scraps cover the interfacing square, or open and sew over the seams. So if the large triangle were one of those colors, then the skinny triangles were not. 3. I love Barbara Brackmans blog. Improv stack and whack quarter circles block - video tutorial Teresa DownUnder 187K subscribers Subscribe 15K views 1 year ago Sewing tutorials This block is a lot of fun. You can read more about process behind Break Up in this blog post. Those are great! Improv Cross block tutorial. Victoria Findlay Wolfespoke about her technique for using scraps to improvisational (improv) piece together fabric and then use that fabric to make traditional patchwork blocks. Wow, really beautiful, Yvonne! Put you foreground fabric underneath your block, positioning it at the bottom of your block (make sure you leave enough to make the block the right size) and trim along the slope line. The products featured in this post were given to me by Aurifil, OLFA, and Michael Miller. The more you use your ruler, the more controlled the lines will be. Curved piecing is easier than you think! Looking forward to hearing from you! I was forced to rethink my original plan due to time constraints, and I think I came up with something even better than what I started with. All comments are moderated and published at the discretion of the moderators. At this point it was Tuesday evening, so I decided to think about it for a while and sleep on it. I wish the SAQA conferences had hands on workshops for its participants. Mailing Address: P.O. If you need more guidance on sewing curves, here is another blog post and video tutorial to walk you through the process. Improv Block Article Published in Quilting Arts! Easy Improv Quilt Pattern for Charm Square Precuts. Money well spent! thanks *. I hope you are doing good! You can find the Youtube tutorial on how to make an Improv (ish) tree quilt here. Photo by Humble Quilts. Youre quilts are beautiful, fun, and true works of art. Slice off a bit of the black strips, leaving about 1/2" attached to the white. The tutorial format is photograph followed by descriptive text. Get the weekly edition of Gnome Gnews filled with free patterns, tutorials and virtual fabric fondling, plus a little gift from me. Day 2 was putting it all togetherat least mostly together. I read your blog. As in Step 2, take your ruler and trace 1/2 inside the markings from Step 5 to create your seam allowance. Slowly and carefully (keep those fingers out of the way!) QuiltCon 2020 Austin - Quilts From the Show Floor. She is currently visiting guilds virtually to present lectures and workshops on Zoom. I usually use a ruler for this step, but you do not need to do so. 9. Custom quilts are the kind of heirloom craft everyone longs to create, but stitching together a unique pattern can be seriously overwhelming. Its a creative, sustainable way to use all of the beautiful fabric hiding in that scrap stash and design one-of-a-kind quilts. Dont run away!! In the real world, scraps are dropped into a bottomless basket, never to be seen again, so sorting your fabric is a MUST. I'm excited to share that I'm today's stop for the final 2020 installment of the Aurifil Slice and Stitch Challenge. Those are already a stretch. Niagara is not always warm in March but you would be used to that! The tutorial is just perfect too, as I had forgotten about a lovely holiday runner I made this way. As I was sewing the blocks together to finish the quilt top, my Oliso iron stopped working. As a former math teacher Sarah loves the geometry and math of quilting. Did you apply any tension on the fabric as it was stitched? Cut one strip of fabric from each color. Some colors may turn out to be duds, and they never find a pair. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Look for the FOLLOW button in my blog: http://mypatchwork.wordpress.comFollow me on: Blog: http://mypatchwork.wordpress.comFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/teresadownunderInstagram: http://www.instagram.com/teresadownunderPinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/antipodasTwitter: http://www.twitter.com/antipodas The beauty of this method is that you can use orphaned blocks, excess binding and all those little half square triangle offcuts to continue growing your scrappy fabric. The fastest path to that is taking a workshop with me. I use the lines on the mat and no ruler for this step. The angles appeal to me given the linear nature of the other blocks, and I like the happy accident of the red stripe in the block on the top right flowing into the red stripe in the middle block. SoI headed there to see if I had anything that might work. This was very helpful, Maria. Right Triangle pieces are great to place in the corners of the squares. I thought after the fact that I maybe should have used a lower loft polyester to avoid the texture that happened. Although improv quilting is being talked about a lot in Modern Quilting groups today, it's really not a new technique. Think Drunkard's Path, Orange Peel, Winding Ways and Apple Core - these are all examples of blocks with curved seams. The colors are primarily warm tones and evenly distributed throughout the top. Pingback: Current Series: Blue Ridge | Zippy Quilts. You can use your improv squares to make the quilt pattern linked above, or maybe even turn them into scrappy coasters. (See image 4 below). Iron any creases out of your fabric strips. The small scrap would be traced and the cutting line drawn 1/2 inside the original tracing line. Students will leave with a collection of circle and curve quilt blocks-great for a sampler. I know what youre thinking, Curves? In this example, the rainbow scrap is already at a usable size, so the half circle needs to be trimmed to accommodate the rainbow. I love this modern baby quilt Yvonne. Yvonne (Quilting Jetgirl) Thank you for sharing! Press the seam to the outside and then trim the added scrap to line up with the next side of your starting scrap. I see these squares as training wheels, which is why I recommend only purchasing one yard. Jumping for Joy blocks in process Cindy Grisdela. And we also got several big snow storms in a row, so my life got a bit distracted by digging out and handling other life things. This is my favorite part of the process! (Not shown.) Now check your email to confirm your subscription. Yvonnes quilts have been featured in numerous national and international magazines, quilt shows, and books. Here I have removed a little of the khaki fabric to the right of the cut and the edge of the brown fabric to the left of the cut: Step 2: Using your marking method of choice, mark points that align on the two fabrics. Those are part of the club too. Really great colors Yvonne. That doesn't always result in this texture. Stitch, as before, from the single point at the top of the triangle towards the base. The aesthetic style of each artist effortlessly shines through while combining seamlessly into a group quilt. Not all the boxes are scraps, most of them are fabrics in half yard or yardage, trims, works in progress and non-quilting fabrics. If the fabrics are difference lengths, also mark where the edge of one fabric hits the other. Cut along the outside set of markings. Adding some different stripes to Jumping for Joy Cindy Grisdela. See more ideas about quilts, art quilts, modern quilts. If you are anything like me, you might have a storage bin (or two) full of fabric scraps in your sewing room, but are not in the mood to sort through colors and cut out the pieces youd need for a scrappy quilt. Repeat step 4 until youve sewn on to all sides of your start scrap. Using Tiny Forge theme. . My favorite kind of fabric cutting :) Step 6: Iron your circles and blocks. The colors are less consistent between blocks, but are all from an earthy palette that blends as you zoom out. Use your ruler again to cut your angled 'slope' from the bottom of the block. Right before the Baltimore Craft Show last weekend, I had a brainstorm for a new quilt. If you want a square, make your next cut the same as your previous cut. The neutral triangle units in the upper right photo eventually became Birch Woods Glimmer. This will reduce bulk in your next seam. Thank you, Kathleen! Because the blocks are improv'd each will be different from each other, just as trees are in nature. This technique is not recommended for a drunkard's path 1/4 circle where the two pieces really need to be cut from different templates. Tundra is the same composition as Birch Woods Glimmer except for three things. I love my label maker nearly as much as I like the plastic storage boxes so Ive labeled all the boxes to try and keep some order (cause having all of one colour in one box isnt enough for me). Go to your sewing machine and sew one skinny triangle to one fat triangle. Using your rotary cutter, slice off the little bit of fabric that extends past the edges of the triangle while also smoothing the edges of the skinny triangle shape. Get all your scraps ready for using. This block is a lot of fun. Head to my shop to find thoughtfully designed quilt patterns and custom curated fabric bundles, or scroll through my content for tons of fantastic tutorials to get your creative juices flowing! I enjoy planned improv piecing. When piecing curves, be sure that that there is a 1/2 difference in radii or 1 difference in diameter (throwback to 9th grade geometry). I figure it will be a way to begin to use some of the dozens of yards of Painter's Palette Solids I've bought in the past two month. All of the fabrics in the quilt top and backing were solids, so I picked out two tone on tone prints to use for the binding. Repeat the process again for the other side of the triangle. Trim around the periphery of the template and unfold. I want you to a make Jo quilt too! Do not worry about the difference in shapes between the triangles. The top and bottom edges are not aligned at all. Iron the seam away from the center triangle. Just in this moment when your post came I was looking at the Diatom Stars. (Figure 2. These are the parameters that I have set for this particular process: 1. If you need inspiration for your next quilt, you can grab your favorite fabrics and colors, start cutting and sewing and see what unfolds. Once you get the parameters, you can sit for hours repeating the same steps over and over again while appreciating the differences in each square. Spoiler alert: the teal greens ended up making their way back into the quilt. The quilts pictured in the video include (in order of appearance): Sky Top 2 by Nancy Lambert; Entangle by Emilie Trahan Jul 12, 2019 - Quilts with circles (and dots). These were a lot of fun to make so I put together a quick tutorial in case you want to give it a try. Square up the finished block so each side is parallel to the opposite side. My first one lasted for 7 years, and as I mentioned above, I suspect it met an untimely death due to a power surge. There are no individual blocks, the scraps are progressively combined into larger sections to create the top. Together? Victoria Findlay Wolferecommends you use a shorter stitch length to help keep your pieces together when youre cutting them up. Once youve made your scrap fabric piece big enough, trim down to the size you need. (Not shown.) Isnt it amazing how a basket of scraps can be transformed into art? Iron the seams toward the skinny triangle. Great tutorial for these improv curvesthanks hugs, Julierose. Now that my publisher is going out of business I have bought the rights to publish my book. Usually my improv blocks are totally scrappy, like this one-a detail of my popular Red Totem quilt-although it does have some stripes in it: Red Totem Detail - Cindy Grisdela But I wanted to try something a little more controlled and a little more stripey. Theres heaps of scrap sorting systems out there, you just have to find the one that works best for the way you like to work. Improv Piecing allows for an exploration of ideas without rules to rein in creativity. Repeat step 4 until you've sewn on to all sides of your start scrap. I picked these up from Costco (Im really sorry but I have no idea who theyre made by, etc.) Quilt Piecing . In April Ill be participating in the Charm Dash Quilt-Along with Melissa (of Ms Midge) and Ive been toying with how to work my magic with her pattern and so I decided to give scrappy improv a go. Because the quilt top finished at 39 wide, I was able to use a single width of fabric for the backing. Lets start at the beginning: Sorting your scraps. Lovely. You may borrow images if you be sure to link back to GnomeAngel.com as the original source. Thanks for being so generous with your methods. This pattern uses a large curved template (about 10.5x21), so the goal is to assemble a block of scraps large enough to accommodate this size. When you are done cutting your fabric, sort the skinny triangles from the fat triangles into piles that look like this. A closeup showing the sashing and a bit of the improv border: And, here it is in patriotic colors! I have your book, but I still learned something about your aesthetic reading this. Sew square and rectangle scraps together that are the same length, or in ascending/descending length order. The following afternoon, though the South Florida MQG, I'll take another three-hour online workshop with Malka Dubrawsky to make a "Maze" quilt, a free pattern from February 2019 available to MQG members. This is a color gradient improv masterpiece! Break Up is my most recent improv triangle quilt. it is just perfect for this one!!!! Thank you, thank you! document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Do not remove pins until you get close to them. For the backing, I picked Kona Cotton in Burgundy. Congratulations on completing this project so quickly, in spite of all the snow. Sarah lives in San Jose, California with her husband and two quilters kids. This creates interesting shapes for the eye to enjoy. Improv Quilting. Join right sides together with a quarter inch seam. (LogOut/ You can get a signed copy here. Pingback: Block Lotto August 2020 Orange County Modern Quilt Guild, Pingback: BOM 2021: March Instructions | seattle modern quilt guild. Sew your foreground on to the house. Good job! I promise, once you sit with your scraps and start making these squares, time will fly. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. http://barbarabrackman.blogspot.com/2019/05/thinking-vertically.html. Over the years, I have made several quilts using the flying geese unit. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this sites author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. . Firstly though, let me walk you through my scrap management system(that makes it sound much posher than it is!). Do not leave raw fabric edges or interfacing exposed in the middle of the square. The traditional Kawandi is a hand-stitched quilt, made from scrap fabric, including old saris. [photo from 3rd Story Workshop] Next Quilting Pattern: I respect your privacy and I won't send you spam. Improv Circles 24 Pins 6y L Collection by Jan Knell Similar ideas popular now Quilting Tips Quilting Techniques Quilting Tips Quilting Tutorials Sewing Techniques Sewing Tutorials Sewing Projects Beginner Quilting Fabric Projects Quilting Patterns five easy steps to perfect sewn curves nightquilter Circle Quilts Mini Quilts Small Quilts Art Quilts Love it.. and know this is possible if there is a sewing room that allows to work in. Thank you! And I get stripes to use in other projects like this one. *At other times, there may be a small curved scrap or inset circle that is the priority piece, so a larger scrap would be trimmed to coordinate. This quilt went together very quickly. Pinterest. It will be time to get it out and it has always been one of my favorites. The triangles will be slightly mis-shaped and have dog ears that need to be trimmed. I see more of this style in your future. 1. We are waiting for the Texas low to come up and dump 31 cm of snow, rain freezing rain mix tonight. Moreover, among the many impressive quilts on display, Sewing Parts Online has handpicked its eight favorite quilts that caught our eye. Un-stack and shuffle so that each piece is paired with one of a different color. Best $50 ever spent! I concentrated the browns, blues, and greens. I used a lot of half square triangles in KA-POW! Here are the deets: Fabric used - Makower UK and Grunge Silver (quilt top); backing Grunge Smoke. You might wonder if this is a failure of creativity. You are phenom. *Hint: This is where a mini iron and wool pressing mat come in handy. I opted to quilt soft, wavy lines using my walking foot. (They are such a feast of color!). You can unsubscribe at any time. A single pin should work fine as well. Please check your email for further instructions. Some people are good about organizing scraps after each projectand some people eat fries and ice cream for every meal and look amazingbut the rest of us live in the real world. Teresa, you brought a huge smile to my face this morning.Thank You!..I love this videoI have a scrap pile of 10 squares that I didnt know what to do withnow I do!( in addition) I have a Cuve Master foot that I can use to whiz up these blocksIm going to call it my Crazy Lockdown Quilt.haha Cheers, stay safe, Elizabeth. A dominant circular motif merges with strong vertical and horizontal . Scraps should always be cut into squares or rectangles before reusing. I immediately fell in love with the idea of the quilt being a colorwash and moving around the colorwheel. Now, over 25 years later, Yvonne has developed a style that bridges her technical background and love of bold color, specializing in transparency color play and bold, geometric designs. You want to even the sides up so that you dont have Y seams to navigate. Box 399 Calwell, ACT 2905 AUSTRALIA, Office Hours: Monday - Friday 10am - 3pm AEST. Use code JETGIRL to get 10% off any order fromCurated Quilts! Ive found that I dont struggle with tucks on my quilt backings with this pin basting method. It turns out improv and the fundamentals arent mutually exclusive! I'm notorious from forgetting to get the Halloween quilts out in time. I went to my scraps and pulled out my solids that ranged from red/orange through teal. Dear Pam! 2. Next are 3 examples of improv strategies (examples pictured below): The Improv Quilt Top uses large scraps with curved and straight edges. Make a vertical or horizontal row of them and use them to divide a pieced quilt back. The spacing between the lines varies from about 3/4 to 3/8 but averages out at around 1/2. Step 7: Fold your circle in half and press. Modern Improv Tree quilt - also popularly known as the #HolidayPatchworkForest on social media. It's fun and makes use of all your scrap sizes! Place the curve on top of the background piece assembled in Step 4. I am blown away by this quilt, especially that it is all improve and you created in a less than a week. Step 3. Step 7. Victoria Findlay Wolferecommends starting with a 5 sided scrap, and as shes the expert I follow her advice. Take the ruler to measure (or approximate) 1/2 outside the first set of markings. To complement the curved piecing, I opted for organic, curved walking foot quilting in four colors, adding a tiny splash of color with Aurifil 50wt Dark Turquoise (#4182). This will reduce bulk in your next seam. There you have it, your finished improv block! She was introduced to quilting by her paternal grandmother in high school when her grandmother offered to hand quilt a twin-size quilt to use in her college dorm room if Yvonne made the quilt top. Size - 27 square. And I admire your determination to take pictures in the snow . Even if I hate it, I dont throw it away. Add one additional white strip from the strips you put aside in Step 3. I am on the road. My color palette and tools were provided for me. My goal with the book is for people to learn how to make the units and then make their own quilts. Take care to make sure that your bottom fabric is laying flat to avoid puckers. What does improv mean to you? If something good happens, I would love to see it! Connect these points on the circle's outer edge making a square. These marks will be equal distance apart. Jo-Anne- I am so sorry to be slow to respond to this! As an aside, theres a reason why Im laying this out on the carpet instead of my design wallthe design wall is full of larger pieces that I didnt have time to finish before the show! Step 1. It's not only liberating but the end result is a beautiful modern block. After you stitch, you will be gently re-shaping them with your rotary cutter. Website by Granat Design. From the color changes to the amazing binding and the quilting!! I'm using magic numbers to sew an Improv Cross block quilt with a variety of block sizes. I really loved my Oliso, so I placed an order for a new turquoise Oliso iron. Focus on color combos and negative space to discover your personal style, and then add dazzling texture with free-motion quilting. Do you ever do that? You will make them approximately all the same size later. I do have a couple of different sizes of plastic boxes though for fabric scraps (turns out I use a lot of blue, black and white). It really proves that quilters have always been wildly creative. I am NOT random in my selection. That is really a pretty quilt and so colorful. Thanks for this. Watch. . Log cabin quilt patterns are a staple in American quilting, and first rose to popularity during the time of the Civil War. If you would like to follow along for more improv inspiration, you can find me @wellspringdesigns_co. I liked using the striped effect in just some of the blocks. And if you want to try it, pressing open can work as well. More or less than 1/2" is good. Take the two curvy scraps, and determine which scrap you want to trim to match the coordinating piece. This is a perfect for tiny scraps on a small project like a tote, pouch, pillow cover, wallhanging, etc. For the challenge I received the Florence Brown Aurifil Color Builder with three large spools of 50wt in Ermine (#2312), Toast (#6010), and Chocolate (#2360), a trio of Michael Miller Cotton Couture fat quarters in Khaki, Ginger, and Brown, an OLFA 28mm rotary blade (with refills), and a 24 x 36 OLFA cutting mat in Navy. and of course the snow really makes those colors pop!!! How to Start Improv Quilting - YouTube 0:00 / 42:19 How to Start Improv Quilting Shannon Brinkley 1.84K subscribers 15K views 4 years ago Artist Spotlight with Irene Roderick, painter,. Step 1: Lay two fabrics right side up, overlapping by a couple inches. I read this post more than once, and all your suggestions were good. Linking up with Project Quilting 14.5, Needle and Thread Thursday, TGIFF, Finished or Not Friday, and Beauties Pageant. Just think of the world of possibilities that will open when you begin to incorporate curvy scraps into your improv practice. I found some Angled Stripe blocks in my basketyou can see one of them in the middle of the photo above. Touch device users, explore by . Designing Jumping for Joy Cindy Grisdela. 2023 Cindy Grisdela Art Quilts. (Scroll down for a mini tutorial on how I cut and sew improv curves.). To start you will need a center for your log cabin block. Cut along the inner set of markings. Taking the pictures outside in the beautiful snow makes all the colors really pop! Learn how to . Initially I was inspired by work posted on Instagram by my friends Maria Shell and Elaine Poplin, which started me down this particular rabbit hole. Curved seams are a little harder to sew than straight seams but they're well worth it! Corey used a Quilt As You Go (QAYG) method, but our roses are going to remain unquilted until the top is put together. Always cut away from you. I must admit to finding improv difficult (too much of a control freak) but this technique just has me captivated. Circle mini Embroidery. I want to keep exploring this idea in a bigger piece, so stay tuned! Watch. I used layer cakes for this tutorial which makes the quilt a breeze and the layouts are many. My batting is 100% cotton. Sewing Projects Modern Quilt Blocks Square Quilt The Fizzy block - free tutorial, amazing repeat across a whole quilt! It also gives tips on making the trunks skinnier. Sew several blocks together and review your work. (LogOut/ Fantastic work! Once straight edges are created from the curved pieces, it is easier to grow the block. You can see that sometimes I doubled up the curves and other times they are just simple. Bear Paw Quilt. Still my love of triangles persisted. I'm your crafty quilting expert here to help you learn all about making your own quilts! If you have extras, turn them into coasters or use them in another pattern!