Saturday, March 5, 2011

Curvy Improv

The "no prints allowed" challenge for the KCMQG has really had me stumped. I used to advise my writing students to use free writing when they felt blocked, so I took my own advice, in quilting form: improv piecing. (And yes, the challenge is due in five days, but who's counting.)
I've seen a new improv technique popping up all over that I've been wanting to try. Jacquie's done it, and it shows up in Jean Well's and Malka Dubrawsky's new books. Using a rotary cutter with no ruler builds subtle waves into your piecing. Then the edges of the strips are joined without pinning. See a fun tutorial on this technique here. Piecing these blocks was the quilting equivalent of stream of consciousness writing. Those strips look nice together. There we go. Now let's piece a little orange bit in there. Too short; guess I'll add another strip.
Not sure where this is going, but it's been fun so far.

6 comments:

Lynette said...

Very cool - stream of consciousness piecing - and the units are so pleasing.

Marg said...

It's looking great already. I ts good to get out of your comfort zone sometimes. I'm looking forward to seeing how this progresses.

Vicki said...

it looks great! Now that I'm almost done with mine I'm kind of thinking "what else could I have done?"

Anonymous said...

I think that looks so cool! I can't wait to see how you finish it.

Jenny @ Anything Pretty said...

Love this! It makes me wish I would have stepped out of the box with mine a little more. And no worries...I think I will be showing a quilt top instead of a completed project unless I become super sewer in the next couple of days!

Melissa said...

Very pretty so far! The colors you put together are great. Which charm pack did you choose? This was a perfect opportunity to experiment, wasn't it?