The Swamp Thing Continues

Green Improv #2 (The Swamp Thing) in process
Green Improv #2 (The Swamp Thing) in process

Slowly, but surely I am making progress on this green improv donation quilt. I am exclusively using it as leaders and enders so I can finish it for the guild Community Quilts project.

It is about 40 inches wide and I want to make it that long as well. That is about the minimum useful size for a baby quilt, I think.

It is fun to remember quilts and bags I have made with the various fabrics in this piece. I am pleased to be cleaning out the random bits of green, but it is hard going. Piecing ‘made’ fabric takes time.

Grey Improv Donation Top

Grey Improv donation top start
Grey Improv donation top start

The grey improv top is looking good! It’s been a few weeks since I talked about this piece. I am very pleased.

Yes, I have made some good progress and I really like the way it is turning out. This piece is approximately 24.5 w x 17.25 tall. I have some sewing to do before it can be considered large enough for a donation quilt. Still, I really like it and it is shaping up nicely.

I am still concerned I won’t have enough scraps to make it large enough. I am trying not to worry about it. Sometimes I can’t help it.

Black Improv Donation Top Continues

Black Improv donation top in progress
Black Improv donation top in progress

It’s been a few weeks since I talked about this piece. The black pieces are getting larger and my scrap bin is getting emptier.

This is a lot more active than the grey, which you will see in a few days. Those stripes really make this piece dynamic. I think it needs some space for the eye to rest, though. I’ll have to work on that.

Black and Grey Improv Donation Tops Start

Leftovers from black/grey strip quilts
Leftovers from black/grey strip quilts

Because it can’t really be helped, I have started the Improv color quilts for the black-grey-brown scrap drawer. These miscellaneous pieces will end up being two donation quilts at some point in the Color Improv series.

Ignore the pink and grey 16 patch at the top. Design wall space is at a premium these days.

As you can see I have a lot of black pieces from working on the black strip donation blocks. There is also a slowly growing grey piece that I think has promise. One thing I notice about it is that most of it is made up of squares and rectangles.

I am not sure if I’ll have enough to make two whole quilts, but we will see.

Improv from Strip Quilts

As you have seen when I have made other Color Strip donation tops, they have been followed by an improv version. I have been putting a few pieces together from the black/grey/brown (mostly black and grey) scrap bin, but it isn’t going well.

Leftovers from black/grey strip quilts
Leftovers from black/grey strip quilts

Well, I have made chunks of improvisationally pieced fabric, but mostly they are unsatisfactory. Also, I am not sure if I have enough small scraps to make three quilts. I also am not sure I want to combine the three colors into one quilt.

The grey piece looks really good and I don’t really want to ruin it. The others are meh.

I am tempted to bring them to the guild and see who wants to work on them.

Yellow Improv Donation Quilt

One of the good things about writing my 26 Projects posts is that I sometimes find projects I forgot to write about. This is one of those times.

Yellow Improv Donation Top
Yellow Improv Donation Top

I can’t believe I forgot to tell you about the Yellow Improv donation quilt. Yes! I finished it. I was super happy to do so. Peggy already has it and I think someone already decided to quilt it.

I am not fond of those big chunks on the left, but I used every yellow scrap I had so I had to get some yardage out to use.

The piece turned out ok. I am not a huge fan of yellow.  Still, I am glad I did it.

Yellow Improv In Progress

Yellow Improv Donation Top in progress
Yellow Improv Donation Top in progress

I decided I needed to get this one finished. All the projects left on my design walls when I put them away were a lot less interesting when I saw them again. I didn’t want to toss them, but I did want them finished.

I started it last year sometime. The first time I talked about it was July, which was right before we dismantled my workroom. I was concerned at that time that I wouldn’t have enough scraps to make a decent sized baby quilt. It’s still a concern as I am piecing tiny scraps together and expect to have no yellow scraps left.

I spent time over the weekend making good progress.

Blue Improv Donation Quilt

Blue Improv Donation Top finished
Blue Improv Donation Top finished

The Blue Improv quilt top that I thought I might turn into pillows for my SIL is back in the donation top pile.

I found a piece of fabric that I don’t have to piece for the backing. Less bulk will make the quilting easier.

The page with all of these Color Improv quilts has been updated as well. I was amazed to see that I have made 6 of these scrap improv donation tops!

Blue Improv Good News -Bad News

Blue Improv Donation Top - Finished
Blue Improv Donation Top – Finished

The good news is that I have finished the Blue Improv donation top. The bad news is that it isn’t going to end up as a donation top.

My SIL came over on the weekend and when I showed her this top in progress, she examined it minutely. Then she said that if this were pillows, it would look great on her sofa. Why not? I really like this top and would love to see it  on a regular basis. I am going to make the top into pillows. They will be about 20×20. I was thinking of making 4 of them, but I may make two and have both sides be improv pieced.

I’ll have to make it up to the guild.

Blue Improv Donation Top Progress

Blue Improv Donation Top in process
Blue Improv Donation Top in process

I made good  progress during the week on this top. It is a lot of sewing since the scraps are mostly pretty small. I have only gotten it up to 30×35 inches, which isn’t large enough for a baby quilt and on the small side of what I like to donate. I went through the scraps  on my cutting table (a big pile I really need to deal with) and found more blues. I am hoping I have enough to make one more 5 inch strip so the top will be 35×35 inches. I can think about whether to put a border on it after that.

Somehow the title of “My Mind on COVID” is the way I have started to think about this top. There is some cohesion because of the colors. Beyond that, the piece looks fairly chaotic. My mind isn’t chaotic all the time, but the unknown of the future does bring a sense of chaos to my mind.

Aside from getting a top out of the process, I am also doing a good job of cleaning out my blue scrap drawer I can see the bottom of it!

Blue Improv Piecing

Blue Improv Piecing
Blue Improv Piecing

In between working on the applique’ for Red Scribbles, I have been piecing blue scraps in an improv style. I am vaguely thinking this is the start of the next Color Improv quilt, but we’ll see.

I am working very hard at not using a lot of strips that I can use for more of the strip blocks like I made for Blue Strips #2. It isn’t working 100% as I do resort to using some occasionally.

Finished: Improv Donation Top

White Improv Top
White Improv Top

I finally finished this top to the point where I felt good about handing it in. I was rather sick of it, but I also have enough pride not to donation a too-small top.

That is all I handed in. I just provided the top and will let Peggy find backing and batting. I know I could have gotten a bigger hit on my Fabric Used spreadsheet, but I wanted to move on.

I haven’t started anything new for donation, but I will soon. It will be either blue or pink. Both drawers are overflowing. I don’t feel like I made much progress emptying the white drawer, though the White Strip Donation top and this one clearly used up fabric. Since I have more white to use, I could combine it with some of the blues. I know I have more than enough blue scraps to make more than two quilts. Combining some blues with whites will spread the use of blue and make for an interesting variation.

White Improv Donation Quilt Progress

White Improv - November 2019
White Improv – November 2019

I have been making some progress on the White Improv piece. I am not working as fast as I would like.

It is looking good, I think, different than the others, but interesting in its own way.

The pieces I have in my scrap drawer are a trial, however. There are many, many pieces of great fabric in stupid lengths. They seem to always be wrong. I am making it work, though.

White Improv Progresses

White Improv Donation Top - November 2019
White Improv Donation Top – November 2019

Now that I finished the White Strip Donation Top, I can work on the White Improv Donation Top in earnest.

I spent time on it this past weekend and the slabs are getting bigger.Except for the middle, the piece is still very much in process. The strips I have are very uniform in size and I feel like the other pieces are all triangles, so this isn’t an easy piece to put together.

There is a large-ish slab in the bottom of the drawer and I don’t know if I will make a journal cover or if I will use it in this piece.