Modern Quilt Month: Improvisation! (2)

In modern quilting, improvisation refers to a freeform, intuitive approach to design where quilters create without strictly following traditional patterns, precise measurements, or pre-planned templates. It has its own category for modern quilt shows! We hope you enjoy these photos of improvisational quilts.

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Pop Art Dandelion by Jo Avery (Stirlingshire, UK) @joaverystitch 

Outstanding - improvisational - and SO colorful!  Pop Art Dandelion is "a further exploration of my Dandelion clock block," says Jo Avery.  "I used light through dark shades of the same colour to create large flowers using my Freehand Foundation Piecing technique. The interlocking rings of petals give a layering effect. The use of bright colours with strongly contrasting backgrounds and the four block layout give this a Pop Art vibe."  The piece was quilted on a Handi Quilter MoxieXL long arm using FMQ and some rulerwork.

Tryst by Irene Roderick (Austin, Texas) @hixsonir 

Irene Roderick is the author of Improv Quilting (available at Amazon)! We love the painterly quality she achieves with solid color fabrics, making Tryst look from a distance more like an oil painting than a quilt!  She explains, "I love playing with shape and color and when it's all finished, stepping back to see what I've made. "This quilt looked like two figures meeting in the dead of night and [they are] probably up to no good!" 

Disco Robots (Vertebrae #6) by Mindy Brown (Alexandria, Virginia) @A_study_of_mindy

This improvisational quilt vibrates with energy and movement! Mindy Brown says that Disco Robots (Vertebrae #6) came from an idea to try and create the same motif with strip piecing. The use of strong contrasts emphasizes the "vertebrae" motif. Mindy Brown says, "I ended up with these funny figures and when I put them together they looked like they were at a party!" You can see more of her fascinating Vertebrae quilts on her website.

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2025 Quiltcon show in Phoenix, Arizona. NOTE: This post has some affiliate links for products we think you’ll like. Even if you don’t want to buy the items online, we think it’s helpful to see what they look like, so you can buy them at your local craft store. If you make a purchase from one of these links, we’ll make a small commission. There is no extra charge to you.

Highlights of the QuiltCon 2025 Show (1)

QuiltCon is the largest modern quilting event in the world, hosted by the Modern Quilt Guild. With attendees from around the globe, QuiltCon features a vibrant show full of competition quilts, community outreach quilts, and special exhibits. This year's show was in Phoenix, Arizona.  We hope you enjoy these photos!

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I may be Square but not Fuddy-Duddy by Jackie Pang (California) @Charcoalbull

We kept this photo uncropped so you could see this 68" square quilt in perspective against the background of the huge convention center hall. Winner of the MQG Breakthrough Award at QuiltCon 2025, Jackie Pang says: "This quilt is a tribute to my '70s childhood memories - my mother's dress, my sister's scarf, and home's familiar curtains. Retro hues and geometric shapes from that era carry warmth and vibrance, reimagined here in a fresh, modern way." 

 
The design is "a rhythmic, modern twist on tradition - proof that a square can be innovative and anything but "fuddy-duddy." Techniques: Machine Pieced, Machine Quilted on a Frame (Longarm), Machine Quilted without a Frame (Domestic).

Unicorn Barf, 50" square, by Tara Faughnan (2016).  

Rainbow quilts are always a favorite! Tara Faughnan was the featured artist at the show, with many of her quilts in a special display (we'll be showing more in the days to come!)  She says: "When I first began teaching classes on color, I thought I needed a color wheel quilt.  I cut a few squares from every color in my stash at the time, and set about to make a color wheel."

Tara continues, "This quilt taught me about the importance of value and hue, how colors can be both warm and cool depending on who they sit next to, and how context determines how we see color.  I believe Cheryl Arkison came up with the name, and I thought it was perfect."  

View from the Window by Susan Skatoff (Florida) @susan_skatoff

We loved the composition and colors of this quilt, with its thin slices revealed by exposing layers.  Susan Skatoff says, "Irene Roderick told me that everything you see will impact your art.  As we create, our surroundings can influence, direct and shape our work.  I studied with her at Madeline Island School of the Arts and [I] didn't realize, until the quilt was complete, that I had abstracted the view from our classroom."

Techniques used: Machine pieced, improvisational piecing, machine quilted without a frame (domestic machine).

Clamshell Jamboree, 43″ x 58″, by Michelle Bartholomew (Washington) @michellebartholomew

 Winner of the MQG Excellence Award, Michelle Bartholomew says: "Stuck in a design rut, I decided to explore how far I could push the clamshell shape.  Pulling, stretching, adding rows and stripes, putting them upside dosn, is it still a clamshell?  Well I don't know the answer, but I do know that the result was a joyful and vibrant quilt."

 

Michelle says this quilt "taught me that on the other side of struggle and doubt there can be something special waiting if you just keep going."  Techniques used: Machine pieced, hand quilted, machine qulted without a frame (domestic machine).

 Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2025 QuiltCon show.

 

Modern Quilt Month 2022 (4)

We really enjoy modern quilts and examining the design elements that make the finished pieces come alive. Summer seems like the perfect time to feature contemporary quilts, so it's become an annual tradition at Quilt Inspiration. Here is part 1 of Modern Quilt Month for 2022!

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For more free quilt patterns, please visit us on Twitter.

Time On My Hands by Richard Kupferer

 

Time On My Hands is an original design, made and quilted by Richard Kupferer. It won a ribbon for second place in the Modern-Solo category at the 2022 Quilt Arizona show.  Richard says that the pandemic provided "Time On My Hands".  "I used the time to sort fabric scraps and learn software on my spouse’s longarm machine.  My original design addresses pandemic broken plans (piecing) and confusion (mixed quilting)." The interesting quilting really brings this modern quilt to life.

 

 Objective 2020 by Laura Nisi

Laura Nisi turned the Single Girl quilt pattern into a “temperature quilt”,  representing temperature variations in quilted form. The twelve rings in this quilt represent the temperatures of twelve months in quiltmaker Laura Nisi’s home in Minnesota.  “There were no days over 100 degrees or below zero that year, which was a pleasant change from the extremes we often experience,” she said.

The rings show the high temperatures for each day, month by month, with the first day of each month at the “twelve o’clock” position of the block.  Laura Nisi says, "Denyse Schmidt’s Free Wheeling Single Girl pattern had been on my “to do” list for years and it lent itself beautifully to tracking temperatures.  At one point I had considered incorporating some of the news events of the year 2020 into the quilt but ultimately chose to let it stand as an objective look at the temperatures." The clever quilting creates the subtle impression of a double wedding ring block.

 We Freaking Made It by Bridget Vian @BridgetJaneCreates

We Freaking Made It is a very creative quilt that uses thin strips of solid colors to represent a year of temperature variations. Bridget Vian says, "This quilt is a representation of the first year my husband and I were married... The highs are in the center and are shorter or longer depending on how many daylight hours there were that day.  Each color depicts 10 degrees: dark red is temperatures between 90-99 F going all the way down to -1 to -10 degrees shown in purple.  The quilt is machine pieced on a longarm machine using the quilt-as-you-go technique." Bridget can be found at BridgetJaneCreates.

Countdown by Sarah Ruiz @saroy

Sarah Ruiz created Countdown during the first 50 days of #quiltingthecountdown. She says, "The design was driven by a desire to explore a monochromatic palette and improve my hand quilting.  But as 2020 wound down, I also craved a project that would let me simply sit and stitch, and find solace and enjoyment in the act of methodically piecing and quilting fabric... I was happy to join others in counting towards something fun and hopeful." We loved seeing Sarah's hand quilting and her engaging, monochromatic design.  You can see more of her work at Sarah's website, saroy.

Pandemic Reflections by Victoria Nelson & Group

Pandemic Reflections is a large original quilt made by a group of quilters from the US, Canada and Australia.  There is so much interest and texture in the finished quilt! Victoria Nelson says, "We each made an improvisational section and shipped our sections for assembly and quilting [by Victoria Nelson, who used hand guided quilting]."  We loved the improvisational design and the use of quilted words to represent the pandemic. See how many words you can find in the closeup photo below.

Pandemic Reflections was created by M. Baker, F. Briggs, L. Buck, D. Cope, R. Craig, J. Davies, K. Duling, L. Engelson, B. Holland, A. Hudson, A. Kinney, M. Landon, C. Marisco, L. Pilquist, L. Schulz, and Victoria Nelson, who also did the quilting.

Wasabi Tango by Bonnie Bobman @fabrications2b

Bonnie Bobman said she had a really fun time creating Wasabi Tango with two colors! This piece was made with "Improvisational cutting and piecing without a plan except to love it.  Quilting was simply filling in the spaces one by one." The piece, which won a ribbon at the 2022 Quilt Arizona show, was inspired by Irene Roderick’s workshop. Bonnie Bobman is a member of the Arizona Quilters Hall of Fame, and you can see more of Bonnie's work at Bonnie Bobman.com.

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2022 Quilt Arizona show (Wasabi Tango, Time On My Hands, Pandemic Reflections) and the 2022 QuiltCon show (Objective 2020, We Freaking Made It, Countdown).

QuiltCon 2022 Highlights (4)

The outstanding QuiltCon show was held in Phoenix, Arizona this year! Presented by The Modern Quilt Guild, QuiltCon is the largest modern quilting show of its kind. Hundreds of modern quilts were on display, including a juried show with entries from MQG members around the world. Here are some of the remarkable quilts we enjoyed.

Also check out our E-Bay shop for great bargains on quilt patterns, fabric, and vintage jewelry!
For more free quilt patterns, please visit us on Twitter.

Pride and Joy, 70 x 70", by Veruschka Zarate (California)

Winner of a 1st Place ribbon in the Piecing category, Pride and Joy is a self portrait of Veruschka Zarate and her sons. It is completely pieced together using Foundation Paper Piecing.The quilt is made up of 2,359 shapes and uses 20 cotton fabric colors of Bella Solids by Moda Fabrics. It took 4 months to complete. 

Veruschkz Zarate says, "Although the use of solid colors can increase the margin of error when piecing the quilt, I enjoy clean, modern, minimalistic approaches to quilting to give an impressionistic and modern effect." Pride and Joy was machine pieced, machine quilted on a frame (longarm). 

Blooming Saguaro by the Las Vegas Modern Quilt Guild

This stunning modern saguaro was designed by Anita Wilbur, Quilted by Gina Fiddes, and bound by Sue Green. These members of the Las Vegas NV chapter of MQG chose to celebrate the creative spirit of its membership by highlighting the City of Phoenix as the host of the 2022 QuiltCon.  The quilted stars lend a sparkling 1960's-era vibe.

The Big Fib by Brandy Maslowski (Summerland, British Columbia) 

This stunning Fibonacci swirl is made modern with its jagged edges. Designer and maker Brandy Maslowski says, "Imposter Syndrome is real for many of us. Whether you are dressing yourself for a job interview... or making your side gig your “real” career, we can all feel like we are not good enough. The Big Fib is a whimsical take on the Fibonacci Swirl as the creator (that’s me!) makes the leap from art quilter to Modern quilter, because Yes She Can!” Beautifully quilted by Sam Alberts of Quilting Curve Studio. 

Voltron by Irene Roderick (Texas) 

This striking improvisational quilt was made from strip-pieced elements. Irene Roderick says, "To make the piecing more challenging, I decided to make the quilt symmetrical along the vertical center axis. I started with a single small element in the center of my design wall and added one element at a time then its ‘partner’ until it felt balanced, interesting and joyful. When I stepped back to look at the finished quilt, it reminded me of the Japanese Voltron robots my boys collected when they were young."

Make Something from Nothing by Clara Stoikow (New York) 

This delightful quilt was made from denim scraps (mostly old, torn, sorted out jeans). It serves as a reminder and an invitation to start something new! Clara Soikow says, "A while ago I read somewhere how amazing it is to create – to make something from nothing, to bring something into this world that wasn’t there before. I found that thought fascinating and wanted to turn it into a quilt." 

Tiny Bubbles by Marla Varner (Washington)

Some fascinating optical illusions were created with large and small circles. Tiny Bubbles was quilted during the pandemic. Marla Varner says, "These tiny bubbles kept me occupied while isolated in my own small bubble. All of the quarter circles were traced from templates, cut with scissors and pieced by hand. The curved units were then assembled by machine."

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2022 QuiltCon show.