Improv... rather than patterns or exact methods is the way I like to work. It's a journey that's often a little difficult to describe and takes inspiration from many walks of life.

Jean Wells does a wonderful job of it, in her book, Journey to Inspired Art Quilting.
 Jean also covers the topic of presenting or displaying quilts in unique and innovative ways.

This is  a very well laid out and inspiring book full beautiful photography, where Jean's love of nature shines through.
 

 

I Feel Like I'm Back In Kindergarten.......and loving it.

 I've never been much for fusing, but why not give it a shot, with some Oakshott Cottons. 

I've been wanting to do lots of skinny strips running through circles, for a while, but I've just been a bit lazy, I mean all that piecing.

 One of the reasons I don't care much for fusing is how stiff the fabrics often feel, but with the shot cottons being so light weight, I thought I would give it a try.

How fun is this....I feel like a kid again! 

 It reminds me of playing with bits of brightly coloured construction paper....I always loved that construction paper, so many colours,  I was a colour junkie way back then.

They usually tell you to pre-wash before fusing but that's not going to happen around here, there's that lazy gene again....you know the one that stops me from mending.

The instructions said, I could just iron the fabric with a steam iron so that's what I'm doing. I'm not really worried if things don't adhere perfectly, since there will be some heavy quilting involved ...I think.

Bethan Ash's fabulous book Vibrant quilt collage arrived in the mail this week and gave me the push to go downstairs a play for a little while this evening. I'm so glad I did.

Thirty Three Buckets Later.....

I think I'm under or out of control, depending on how you look at it. Seriously, I dedicated thirty three buckets to scraps...try thinking of that many categories. I'm tired and haven't even started sorting the bulk of the scraps, that should theoretically end up in the thirty three buckets.

There are lots of helpful books written on organizing us quilters, you'd think we have a reputation for being overrun by  fabric or something. 

From all the reading I've done and my own personal experience, I think it's important to ask your self what kind of quilter you are? One project at a time or multiple like me. What type of buyer are you? Just enough fabric per project or the 58 meters, in one shot type, like me....surely there are others of you out there. 

How do you work on a project? The book Organizing Solutions for Every Quilter gets you thinking about some of these things. In order for your work space to work for you it should be personalized for you. Even if you only have a small corner in your house (trust me, I used to be there), it helps if you understand your personal habits and needs.

Just a quick example, the book Cut the Scraps, has you cut your scraps into nice neat consistent squares & rectangles, of various sizes, that all work together, making some of the really lovely quilts, in the book. It's really a well thought out system, but I want wonky scraps for more improvisational type work....so that's not the best thing for me. 

Both of these books are fabulous and very helpful.

Now for sorting some scraps....maybe tomorrow.

Drowning In Scraps??

 It's certainly an ever growing problem, in my studio. If that's the case in your space, Sunday Morning Quilts is the book for you.

 Cheryl Arkison and Amanda Jean Nyberg have written a wonderful book, addressing the ever-growing scrap problem, with some great storage ideas and plenty of fresh and innovative projects.

Fortunately for me, Cheryl was in town for a book signing and trunk show, this evening.

It was so lovely to meet Cheryl and see her beautiful quilts in real life.....so much fun meeting a fellow blogger.

Two of my fellow "BLOCKHEADS" petting the lovely quilts. 
And since no trip to the fabric store would be complete without the words "I'll take the rest of the bolt" leaving my mouth......well let's just leave it at that. 


Might I mention, that the sales clerk said " Oh I remember you...you're the lady that bought 58 METERS of fabrics!!!"
Yikes, I'm starting to get  I have a reputation!!

Silly Me...Lucky You or My first Give Away

I was so excited when the book Quilting Modern by  Jacquie Gering and Katie Pederson came out, I did what any good quilter would do......I pre-ordered, not just once, but twice. (I'm sure this never happens to any of you.) So guess who has an extra copy of this fabulous book?? You guessed right. So I'm going to do what any good blogger would do...I'm going to share it with you.

 

 If you want to try your hand at improvisational type quilting....this is the book for you. Some of the books I pre-order are a little disappointing when I receive them....NOT THIS ONE. The quilts are stunning and the workmanship is exemplary. And the quilting...ah the quilting is exquisite. A number of the quilts are quilted by the extremely talented Angela Walters.

But this is not just a book full of quilt eye-candy but numerous techniques with clear, well written instructions to go along.

If you would like to receive a copy of QUILTING MODERN, just leave me a comment on today's post, sharing what modern quilting means to you. I would love to hear your thoughts. I'll pick the winner on May 1st.
Note: If you are a no-reply or anonymous commenter please leave me your email address so I can contact you if you win.

 

  

 

 Meanwhile, I'm working on the last two blocks of the Oakshott Project.

Take the Fear Out of Improvising.....I Have the Book For you

Does the thought of improvisational quilting and design sends shivers of anticipation and fear up your spine? 


Are you scared of cutting into your most precious fabrics? 


Are you blocked, with no idea, of what you want to create...... but want to create something?


I discovered a number of years ago, that just cutting strips and improvising, can be very liberating.  Just going into your stash and cutting a number of strips, at various lengths, can be very freeing.


 After all you are only taking a strip or two...what could possibly go wrong? Not to much, I promise....you will probably find the experience very freeing.

 A little free form log cabin partnered with QAYG........ is my first improvisational quilt of this type (2007).

Block Detail

I woke up this morning, to find this fabulous book, create your own free-form quilts by Rayna Gillman in my mail box. It made my day!! 

 If improvisational is something you long to try, this book is for you. Rayna's book is fun, inspirational and very well laid out....and not intimidating in the least.

I have a number of books on liberated or improvisational quilting, but this particular one, really strikes a chord with me. I highly recommend it...my fingers are itching to start sewing.

 Rayna also incorporates the use of scraps....does anyone have a shortage of those?? 

Not Me!!

My bins are overflowing!

Crazy Shortcut Quilts

Crazy Shortcut Quilts by Marguerita McManus & Sarah Raffuse has been very influential, in my QAYG journey. This book illustrates:

• A great method for joining QAYG blocks
• A very innovative, assembly line method for constructing the quilt blocks. If you have a few of you working this assembly line, together, the quilt is done in no time. 

I have chosen to disregard the heavy use of decorative stitches that the book employs, simply because they aren't my style. Saying all that, I highly recommend this book.

The following quilts are all made using this method, with patterns from the book.  As you can see the lattice or joining strips are very much part of the design..... I will be addressing that later, because I like having more options.




Pattern:Sweet Sixteen (2007)

I off set the blocks, just for a change.

For my great nephew Julian

Pattern: Asian Inspiration (2008)

I made this quilt totally out of flannels, except for the joining strips and the binding. This quilt was  barely out of the dryer, when my oldest daughter, Sara, left with it under her arm.

Quilting detail...again with the spirals.

Pattern: Fossil Fern (2007)

This was a group effort (BLOCKHEADS).  We made enough blocks for two quilts, this being the smaller one.  Both were auctioned off, for charity.

Pattern: Think Pink (2007)

I made enough for two quilts again, one for charity and one for my lovely, great niece Madison.