Tag: Color Improv Series

Yes, I sewed the last piece (bottom row??) to the top and it is done. I need to make a back, but I haven’t done it yet. The top is 41 in x 43 in, slightly smaller than the others,  but in the range.

The funny thing is that I have, perhaps, 5 orange scraps left and they are super tiny shards. I might as well just toss them out.

When I do a lot of work on Flying Around, a lot of work gets done on donation quilts or other projects. You already know that this Orange Improv quilt is currently on my small design wall as my leaders and enders project. I made a lot of progress over the weekend.

The size is about 34″x34″ right now. I like to make these quilts about 45×45, but I am really running out of orange scraps. I have 3 large, marginally orange at best, scraps left in my scrap drawer and a handful of scraps that SIL #2 gave me on Craft Night.

I worked hard during the past week to make this piece large enough to call it done. I am scraping the bottom of my orange drawer to have enough! I am still liking the way it looks.

I mentioned the Orange Improv donation top yesterday and realized it had been awhile since I showed it. I just finished adding a major piece, so it was time to post it again.

It is progressing. The orange scraps in my drawer are significantly fewer than before. I have some large-ish pieces and am wondering if I should add them as is or cut them up. I like the look of the piece now, which is mainly small pieces.

Over the weekend, I worked on Flying Around and on the Orange Improv donation top. I am pleased with how the Orange Improv top is looking.

I am trying not to insert big strips in as I didnt’ like the effect with the Purple Improv Donation top. I am inserting bits of strips in. I don’t think the ones I have added take the focus away from any other part.

While I was vacillating about the sashing color, size and fabric for the Orange Strip Donation Top, I still needed some leaders and enders. I started in on the Orange Improv Donation Top.

This part of the project is also coming out quite well. I am starting to think that I pick my oranges carefully and they go together well.

I really like the orange dot at the bottom of the left hand photo. However, it really stands out in real life. I might have to use smaller bits of it, so it doesn’t dominate.

The top piece (in this post) is about 8 in x 10 in right now. I have some sewing to do to get it to a larger size.

The smaller piece will be added on to the larger piece when it gets to the right length or width to fit. I am at the point now where I make smaller pieces fit together to attach to the larger ones.

Tim and I had lunch, then worked together on the BAM website this past week. After we were done, we looked at his projects and considered quilts.

One thing he did since the last time I saw him was quilt the purple improv donation top. Now it is a donation quilt!

His skills are improving tremendously and I think this quilt looks really good. I love the designs he chose.

This will be part of the exhibit we are planning, so we won’t give it in just yet. We need someone to bind it and Tim was going to see if Mary could do it.

The Red Improv top is finished. No back yet, but I will do that soon.

I am pretty pleased with the way it came out. It doesn’t have those bold graphic lines that the purple improv top did. I like that better, though it might look a little chaotic as well.

This is the last of the red scrap quilts for now. My red scrap drawer isn’t completely empty, but it is much less full than it was. Essentially 3 quilt tops came out of the drawer. Amazing.

Maybe orange next. Stay tuned for your break from red.

I am still working on the second Red Strip Donation Top, but I needed a leaders and enders project, so I started on the red improv version of my series. Yes, I have a lot of red scraps.

This doesn’t look like much. I hope it will look like the center of the green improv donation top when I am finished. I haven’t taken out any yardage yet. I have some large strips in the drawer and am using those before I dig into yardage.

I want to use as many of the scraps as I can. Strangely, I am fascinated by how much I can make from a drawer full of scraps. I haven’t yet made anything with  just the scraps. I always add yardage, but I am still making my way through the scraps.

It took me awhile to get the back for the Purple Improv donation quilt finished. It is now done and I, unexpectedly gave it to Tim at Sew Day yesterday.

Making the back was slightly delayed, because I couldn’t get my purple fabric bins. I don’t use purple that often, so they are slightly buried.

I did it a little differently this time. The top was on the design wall. Instead of pulling it off and using the design floor, I pinned fabrics from my stash to the design wall in the place I wanted to use them. This worked pretty well as I could see where I still needed coverage.

I didn’t think he would want to quilt the Purple Improv quilt, but he took both the Purple Strip quilt and this one to quilt. He is such a rock star.

This is what I am making in order to clear out some more purple scraps after finishing the Purple Strips donation top. I started with some shards that I had made for some forgotten project. I have added to the original pieces quite a bit.

Because of what I started with, this is less like the Green Thing in that it is less of a medallion style. It may end up a little like that, but we will see. I don’t yet know where it is going except that I need to add some larger chunks or strips to the piece to provide some breathing space.

As I said the other day, I still have a lot of purple scraps. I also found some large purple shards in my purple scrap bin. I immediately pulled these out and have decided to use them for another improv donation top like the Green Thing. I can’t say I’ll make a companion quilt to each strip quilt I make, but I have a lot of scraps and this seems like a good way to use them up.

I know these shards probably started out as potential journal covers. I don’t know why I didn’t finish them, but now they can go to a good home.

The triangular shard is really strange. I wonder what I was thinking when I made it. Of course, I have to make it into a square or rectangle, so I can use it. I do like it. If I can use lighter purples and lavenders around the triangle, I can preserve the triangle quality of the piece.

I have already added to the smaller piece shown above the triangular shard, using it as a leader as I was getting towards the end of the strip blockmaking.

The last shard is good sized as well. The three pieces make a nice start to a donation top. They are all purple and that is good, but I hope the shards go together well enough to make something cohesive.

I do know that I am finding all this purple on my design wall to be oppressive and dark. Perhaps that is my issue with the darker purples? I know I felt like this when I was working on the purple bullseye. I do know that I have a good start to the purple donation improv top and that pleases me.