More Improv Round Robin

I had two recent opportunities, the IRR post and the BAMQG Meeting post, to talk about my round robin piece, which is still circulating, and missed both of them.

Jaye's IRR - December 2015
Jaye’s IRR – December 2015

I was able to glimpse the work done on my piece at the meeting last week. I think my piece is looking spectacular. There is a lot of interest because of the improvisational piecing. There is also cohesion because of the limited palette of fabrics.

I am so thrilled that some of that Philip Jacobs (or perhaps Martha Negley??) fabric was added (shells at the top). I love the boldness of it. I would like to take a better look at it as I see some other fabrics tucked into that top section.

As I said before, the pieces are getting quite large and mine is no exception. I think it is probably NICU size right now, or slightly larger. I want it to be larger, but may have to add bits of my own at the end. People from other groups are still working on it, which is great.

Improv Round Robin Again

Angela's IRR - Before
Angela’s IRR – Before

At the meeting the other day, everyone doing the IRR challenge got together and we swapped pieces. We changed things up and I now have Angela’s IRR piece. We were not originally in the same group. Her group was small and everyone had worked on all of the pieces at least once. I didn’t have one to work on so I volunteered to work on Angela’s.

The pieces are getting quite large. I quickly put a signature strip on the side and then started thinking about what I could add that would look great. I liked the castle fabric, but wasn’t sure about just putting in a big strip of towers.

The diamond motifs caught my attention and I started working on adding free form diamonds.

Free Form Diamonds in Process
Free Form Diamonds in Process

I have a hard time being completely free form/improv-y, but I did my best. I tried to make the diamonds not in alignment. I didn’t like the way they looked. I sewed the diamonds to backgrounds and played around with them a bit.

I looked at the piece and saw that dark grey kite fabric. I played around with that fabric and came up with a kind of checkerboard effect.

Finished Angela's Piece
Finished Angela’s Piece

I like the way it turned out. I think the dark fabric adds a bit of a frame to the piece and sets off the diamonds as well. I also like the visuality of the dark fabric going around the corner.

Angela's Finished Piece
Angela’s Finished Piece

Improv Class Piece

I made major progress on this piece during the weekend before Thanksgiving. I have had a lot to talk about, so posts are getting backed up. For someone who hasn’t had  much of a chance to sew recently, I seem to have a lot of content!

Potential Red & Black Improv Back
Potential Red & Black Improv Back

I walked around my workroom trying to get comfortable with the blue and green backing. I really tried hard to like it. I tried to convince myself that another color scheme would provide a different look and make a good addition to the piece.

No dice.

I had already cut one piece into two and I still couldn’t like what I saw. The blues just didn’t work with the red and black and I couldn’t do it. I admitted to myself that I wanted to save the large piece of red solid for another project and that cleared the way for progress. I found a piece of American Made Brands red solid on sale and bought it. That kind of freed me up to use the large piece of Kona red for the back, which is what I did.

I spent a whole Sunday piecing the back. I wanted to finish and it took me a long time. I did. I just need to make the binding and then I can take it to Colleen’s to be quilted. I like the way the whole piece came out, but I am glad to get it off my design wall.

The thing is huge and I need to take a photo of both sides outside, but that will have to wait for one of my quilt hangers to return from college.

Black & Red Improv Quilt

I was kind of shocked to realize that the last time I devoted a post to this project was back in September. I did mention it last week and meant to write a full post. I was out of town for most of the week for work and it never happened.

Red & Black Improv Top
Red & Black Improv Top

On Saturday, I got back to the machine. I worked on this top, in between other projects. For the Improv top, I seem to be able to make progress on this project, but only while working simultaneously with other projects. For some reason this project does not inspire me to buckle down and work on it by itself.

I tried Improv again and it still doesn’t inspire me. I guess I like the technical precision of regular blocks. Does that make me boring? Perhaps.

Three blocks was the sum total of what I needed to finish to put this top together. The end was in sight! (Let’s not talk about back or binding at the moment). I finished one block completely on Saturday and made major progress on two more.

Sunday, I finished the blocks and then put all the blocks together into the top.

I started on the back, for which I am making different color choices just to give it a different feel. I am choosing some blues so that the back will have a different feel.

Almost there.

Good Progress – Fun Progress

I spent almost the whole day last Saturday working on the Carpenter’s Wheel blocks and the Red and Black Improv quilt.

I was really struggling with the Improv quilt and it was taking up space on my design wall so I wanted to get it done and off. Done and off the wall meant making more blocks. Somehow making more blocks has lost their appeal.

3 Carpenter's Wheels + a Stepping Stone
3 Carpenter’s Wheels + a Stepping Stone

I decided as I worked on the Carpenter’s Wheel blocks that I would intersperse pieces and parts for the Improv quilt and make some progress at least. I am so pleased with the progress I made! And I had fun.

The Carpenter’s Wheels are very cheerful and that makes them fun to make. I sewed the second block together (top left) on Saturday and am enjoying looking at the two blocks together while the third block is in process.

Improv Quilt - Late October
Improv Quilt – Late October

 

 

 

I had started out on these blocks, but the Improv quilt was nagging at the back of my mind, so, as I said, I pulled out some black and red strips and started to work on an Improv block in between working on the second Carpenter’s Wheel block. When I finally pulled my nose away from the needle and assessed my day’s work, I found that I had completed a whole side of the quilt! I only have three blocks more to make to finish the top!

This quilt is a monster, which should surprise nobody, which makes it hard to photograph, but you should be able to see some of the work and the progress. There will be no border and sewing the blocks together should be a challenge, but not so much of a challenge that I can’t do it. The seams will be long, but over quickly, I think.

I was doing such good work that I was angry that I had to leave on Sunday for a work trip. I was looking forward to the work trip, but it just came at an inconvenient time and I was hoping I wouldn’t lose my momentum, especially with the Improv quilt.

More Improv Progress

Saturday and Sunday, when I wasn’t working on Michelle’s IRR piece, I was working on the Improv Quilt. I know both are Improv projects.

Improv Progress, September 2015
Improv Progress, September 2015

The last time I made any progress on this piece was over a month ago. That progress felt forced and unsatisfying even though I didn’t know it at the time. I had the piece up on my design, which meant I had to look at it and that frustrated me. Frustrated me, because I wasn’t happy with the work as well as frustrated because it was taking up my design wall. I need to learn to make smaller quilts.

This weekend’s progress felt good. It was fast and intuitive and right. The piece is starting to look like something I won’t hate looking at.

I am not sure the blocks will end up where they are placed now, but there is a good bet some will stay where they are.

Improv Corner Block
Improv Corner Block

One thing that happened to jolt me ahead in the process was that I laid in bed one night, trying to get to sleep. I spent the time thinking about this piece and made a plan. I decided I would cut a big piece of red to use as a start to make some corner blocks.

I wasn’t completely on board with making ‘B’ blocks for the corners, so I made corner blocks, which are similar to the ‘A’ blocks. I did what I thought would look good. I can always make something different, right?

I like the corner block shown at left, but I wish I had varied the length of the neutral strips more. I did a bit, but not enough. It will be fine once the rest of the quilt is done and I am not going to worry about it right now. I do reserve the right to change it if the design needs it later.

New 'B' Blocks
New ‘B’ Blocks

I did sort of learn from this block and the first two ‘B’ blocks. I didn’t want all the ‘B’ blocks to be heavy, so I varied the length of the strips to give them less weight — or less perceived weight. I also made the centers a bit more interesting. I want people to be interested in looking at the piece.

I have about 7 more blocks to make on this monster. I have some slim hope I can finish it by next week and take it to be quilted. I am laughing, but you can stop. 😉 I know it is a pipe dream, but I would like to move this project along.

Improv Progress

I am still feeling like I am in some weird in between place with my projects. There are projects where I am at a strange point that seems to be stopping me. I have to count up all of the FOTY squares and figure out how big I need to make the quilt. I need to cut some more squares for the Octagon Nine Patch, which has been languishing for, what feels like, a long time.

Improv Top in Progress
Improv Top in Progress

I decided to work on the Improv quilt again and get that project farther along.I finished a second ‘B’ and decided to sew it, along with the first ‘B’ block on to the quilt. I like what is happening and I can see where I go next, to a certain extent, but I think those 2 blocks look heavy. I might put them on the bottom, but I will see if I can lighten them up with more red on the three sides.

One idea I had from looking at the photo above is to make sure some red meets the red on the bottom and continues over almost to the corner. That will mean making that part of that corner side block last and making sure I remember. I think if I do that, there will have to be a bit of one of the black and white prints in the corner – or a strip of red alternated with black and white prints.

Improve top - turned
Improve top – turned

I also thought of making those blocks the bottom. Heaviness works on the bottom. The photo (left) is the same one as above, just turned so you don’t have to turn your head.

It looks ok, but I remembered that there will be other blocks on each side of those new ‘B’ blocks.

Yes, all the blocks are sewn together. I just wanted them sewn.

Improv Progress

Improv A Blocks
Improv A Blocks

After using some Flying Geese as leaders and enders, I switched to using the large Improv blocks as leaders and enders while putting together the T Donation quilt. The Improv quilt is not a good project for leaders and enders as I really should have it on the design wall and be looking at it all the time as I worked. I really wanted to make progress. This project has been shuffled from corner to corner of my workroom and I am forgetting my plan. My design walls were full of other projects, so it was what it was.

I added a few more strips to make the center (A) blocks more even then sewed the four center blocks together. This breaks my ‘Chunking It” rule, but I just wanted to see the four blocks together. Somehow with them together, I was able to start on the B blocks.

Improv B Block #1
Improv B Block #1

They look pretty good and I got excited about working the B blocks. I had bits and pieces that I made in class that I hoped to use, though I wasn’t sure what I was thinking when I made them, so I kept going. The first one went together relatively quickly and that helped me move forward with the others. I am working on about 4 at once right now and expect to have a big group of them done at once. We will see.

Improv Class

4 'A' Blocks
4 ‘A’ Blocks

Yesterday was a BAMQG Improv class at Always Quilting with Tina Michalik. I really liked it and it wasn’t  long enough, mostly because I was on a roll sewing and wanted to keep it up. Mostly I took it as a reward for smiling and being the perfect soon-to-be First Lady.

I wouldn’t really start an Improv quilt on my own in my workroom. It isn’t that I don’t  like the technique, the issue is that I have other things  to work on and the technique never comes to mind.

The last Improv quilt I made was the Women’s Work quilt I started in the Gwen Marston workshop. I like that quilt and remember the freedom I felt making the blocks. There was a similar feeling in the class yesterday. I think because of the constraints on my time lately I really liked that feeling of freedom.

I switched around the background and foreground so the red is actually the foreground according to Tina’s pattern. I wanted the interplay of the prints as the background. I may have been wrong in that choice as I am not liking what I have made so far. I like the interplay of fabric motifs and the black, white, greys with the red, but the center is too cross like. The center is sewn together, but I am considering unsewing and resewing in the way that Tina suggested. I am a little angry at myself because I did not even turn the blocks in Tina’s direction to consider laying them out with the red as the negative space.

Kelly's 'A' Blocks
Kelly’s ‘A’ Blocks

Kelly used some Alison Glass and Anna Maria Horner prints and I love the way hers looks.

Regardless, I want the prints area to be fatter, so I think taking the four blocks apart is in my future.

I’ll have to think about it.