Modern Strata Quilted Pillow

I used the leftover bits from my scrap solids quilt to create this cheerful, improv pillow (do scraps ever really get completely used up?). This random looking piecing is called strata, and I give detailed instructions on the technique  in a section of my book, Improvising Tradition. I never really noticed, but until now all my strata has been monochromatic. The riot of color from the multicolored scraps has a very different feel, but I think it works in small doses.
 

The quilting is an easy free motion swirl that creates such a fun, contrasting texture to the geometric piecing.

For a nice plump pillow, the cover finishes at 19 x 19 inches to be filled with a 20 inch pillow form. The pillow backing is fully interfaced and closed with my favorite finish for quilted pillows - the lapped zipper.

This happy little number is available in my etsy shop.

Quilt As You Go Coasters

It's fun to pull out your own book to make a project. These are the Jewel Box Coasters from Improvising Tradition. It's so nice to have the quilt math done already by the pattern.

The center of each coaster is improv pieced strata, although really, you could put anything you like in the center, including a fussy cut square or a miniature block like the hour glass I used in this coaster set. The outer frame is pieced quilt-as-you-go. It's a simple technique that works perfectly for projects which can be made turn and flip.

As the pattern specifies, I used a layer of Insul-Bright and a layer of batting, which gives the coasters a nice weight as well as real heat protection. They really stand up on their own, and who really wants a floppy coaster, after all?

The pattern makes four coasters, but I doubled it to make a nice matching set of eight. I like that each coaster is unique because of the improv centers, but they still go together as a set.

The coaster set is a great host gift, although I'm contemplating making another eight and keeping these.

More Improv Quilted Placemats

I finished up another couple of improv quilted placemats for my charity project for the year which is placemats for Meals on Wheels (#placemats4mow if you want to join in) made using up leftover blocks and scraps.

This was originally a test panel of strata for Improvising Tradition (affiliate link, although it looks like you can buy a signed copy from me in my etsy shop cheaper than that at the moment).This panel taught me that I prefer strata that is more monochromatic, but I chose to celebrate the pops of green as is by binding in a leftover strip of Kona grass green binding.  The perfect backing presented itself as an old Denyse Schmidt print. Love those dots.

I had fun coming up with a different quilting design for each shape, although some worked out better than others and some got repeated.

I made several strips of the improv technique in the second placemat a while ago. Several of the strips became a pillow, but I had a spare strip I've been looking to use. Bingo!

These placemats are numbers seven and eight, so it looks like I'm on track to make my goal of twenty to donate by December.

Happy Christmas

Mirrored Sunset is a wall hanging from the strata section of Improvising Tradition.  It illustrates just how versatile strata can be.  In this project I used strata as the background for a Hawaiian applique, inspired by mid century starburst mirrors.  The depth of the strata comes from the Oakshott cottons.  I've used them before, and these shot cotton fabrics are just gorgeous in person.  The different colored threads woven as the warp and weft create an amazing shimmer.  I chose my fabrics from the Oakshott Ruby bundle.

photo by Joe Hancock

In these colors, it strikes me as very Christmassy - almost like a snowflake.  Happy holidays this week everyone!

 

Snowflakes

It's snowing!  At least it's snowing in my living room with these adorable snowflake pillows.  I'm feeling pretty good about checking a few handmade gifts off my list.

I made these pillows using a paper pieced pattern by Amy of During Quiet Time.  I downloaded the pattern from her Craftsy store.  The pattern includes the block in three sizes (6, 9, and 12 inches).  The small pillow above uses the nine inch size.  I finished the pillow with a self lining envelope back, using a tutorial by AmandaJean and some cute polka dot binding. The fabric on the back is Laurie Wisbrun's Brrr! from a couple of years back.

The lumbar pillow (16 x 26) uses three of the six inch blocks.  I decided to quilt it with white thread, and I like how the thread blends into the snowflakes but stands out on the red fabric (Kona Rich Red), creating a pinstripe effect.

 

With two gifts finished, I decided to make a Christmas pillow for us to keep.  I went a little crazy with my scraps and made improv letters and a strata background.  It's wonky in a festive way, don't you think? 

 

I got to play around with a new free motion quilting design I learned in a Craftsy class I'm taking by Christina Cameli.  The pebbling is a fun contrast to the hard lines of the piecing, and I love the little touch the asterisk pebbles add.  I'll be back soon with a full review of the class!

Free Book Excerpt and Download

I'm so pleased to share another project from Improvising Tradition Improvising Tradition with you today.  This project, the Jewel Box Coasters, is from the strata section of the book.  It pairs miniature strata piecing with quilt-as-you-go to create these functional and beautiful coasters.  I love how the quilting and Essex linen frame the improv center.

The exciting news is that you can read an excerpt from the book and download the project for free over on Sew Mama Sew today! 

Improvising Tradition

I've been anticipating this post for over two years, as I have been in the process of writing my first book.  I'm so excited to finally be able to share it with you!  Improvising Tradition: 18 Quilted Projects Using Strips, Slices and Strata will be available November 27th.

The book teaches several improvisational techniques, step by step, pairing them with traditional skills and methods. It is my hope that this book will give you the tools you need to create your own improvisational quilts, embracing an element of spontaneity while building on the traditional techniques you already know.

I'm also thrilled to be able to give you some sneak peeks of projects in the book, over the coming weeks.  The first is another shot of the cover quilt.  This is the Waterfall Quilt, along with its coordinating quilted sham.  This project set is from the Strata section of the book.

photo by Joe Hancock, copyright 2014

I've created a Facebook page for the book, if you'd like to stay up to speed on sneak peeks that way.  You can count on updates across all social media platforms, and the links to all of mine are now in the right sidebar.
 

 

Purple and Gray Strata Quilt

This quilt began as a pile of monochromatic strata.  I often sit down and create strata (improv, crazy pieced units) out of scraps when I need a bit of mindless sewing.  I added dark pink units around the lighter pink center rectangle, log cabin fashion.  The unit grew to include a final round of purple.
I decided to make a quilt, as the unit was too large for a pillow.  A large amount of negative space, using peppered shot cotton in charcoal, provided a nice space for some interesting quilting. I used matching aurifil thread and my walking foot to create a spiral from the center of the strata unit, outward.

I absolutely love the hand of the peppered shot cotton.  You can see a bit from the photos, how the warp and weft vary slightly from one another, since I cut the side and top borders the same way.  The warp and weft show slightly differently.  If this bothers you, pay attention to keeping the warp and weft oriented consistently in your border strips.

Shot cottons have a looser weave, in most cases, than quilting cottons, and in my experience can shift more when quilting.  As you may know, spiral quilting using a small home sewing machine requires a great deal of pushing and pulling through the machine throat and can result in a bit of distortion in a loosely woven fabric, especially if the quilt back is a quilting cotton which does not shift quite as much.

Even with some re-basting and unpicking, I ended up with some small tucks on the back of the quilt.  I have done spiral quilting on largish quilts, like the Tiny Log Cabin quilt, with no problem, so I surmise it the shot cotton made the difference.  I think straight-line in a single direction or free motion quilting would have gone over much better, but the manipulation required by spiral quilting a large quilt (60 x70) was not the best choice for the peppered shot cotton fabric.

Lesson learned, and hopefully someone will benefit from my experience.  The upside is that I get to keep this quilt!  I hope to use is as a sample for future classes on monochromatic strata piecing.

I'm linking to the Blogger's Quilt Festival for the first time.  Check out the link for so much inspiration.

Quilted Strata Pillow

This project was inspired by my overflowing blue scrap bin.  I divided the scraps into three groups, by value.  I love monochromatic strata (aka crazy piecing or slabs), and a color progression of strata is even better!

I quilted the 22 inch  improv panel with an elongated serpentine stitch on my sewing machine.

I created an envelope closure, but this time I quilted the back of the pillow as well.  I bound the edges with single fold binding, machine stitched.  This construction makes for a really sturdy pillow.  I was able to overstuff the pillow as a result. Who knew 22 inches isn't a common size for pillows? Lucky for me, a squishy 24 inch pillow form works perfectly.  I think a simple lined back would gape open under the pressure, but this fully quilted pillow holds the form beautifully.

 

You can find this quilted pillow cover in my etsy shop. sold.