Improvising Tradition Sneak Peek, Video Promo, and a Giveaway!

With a little over a month before Improvising Tradition hits the shelves, I'm pleased to share a little video promo created by my publisher, Interweave Craft. Thanks to Alison Korleski for the lovely introduction.



Here is another sneak peek from the book, as well.  This quilt, Shattered Chevrons, is from the Strips section of the book.  I show you how to create the irregular chevron design, shattering into the negative space, using simple strip sets and an easy to follow pattern.

I'm excited to offer a copy of the book to one of you!  To enter the giveaway (for US residents with a street address only as it will be shipped by the publisher),  please leave a comment.  I will choose a winner on Monday morning.  I will announce the winner here on the blog and contact you by email, so be sure I can reach you.  You can comment however you would like, but if you feel like sharing, tell me what improvisational technique you would most like to try.

Low Volume Quilted Pillow

I finished my quilted, lumbar pillow, which is based on a pattern in Malka Dubrawski's Fresh Quilting.  There's an affiliate link, if you click the photo below.

I used strips from my scrap bin, slightly larger than the pattern indicates, so the pillow ended up being 16 x 35.5 inches.

I quilted the top with simple straight lines to emphasize the zigzag pattern created by alternating the direction of the print and solid rectangles.

I backed it in cream linen with a lapped zipper, using this favorite tutorial again. The edges are bound in Kona Glacier for a pop of color to help the pillow stand out on my friend's cream couch. I stuffed the homemade pillow form firmly, so this lumbar pillow should be very functional. I hope it fits into the elegant, understated decor of its new home.

Wonky Zigzag Pillow Tutorial

I used my happy stack to make this wonky zigzag pillow.It is made from a simple, improvisational block, arranged together to create a wonky zigzag shape. I’ve combined purple, pink, and orange fabrics with Kona medium gray for a fresh, modern feel. It is backed and bound with fabrics from Denyse Schmidt's Hope Valley line. The striped binding fabric actually inspired the whole color combo.You can find other wonky zigzag quilts on flickr. Tong created a lovely one using solids for the Robert Kaufman challenge, and Emily designed a gray and green pillow that inspired mine. You can easily use charm packs and/or jelly roll strips to make these blocks. They are also a great way to feature your favorite scraps!

Want to make your own wonky zigzag? I created a tutorial for this pillow, which you can find here:
Wonky Zigzag Pillow Tutorial

But if you just love this one, it is listed in my shop!

Redbud Blossoms Quilt Top

The New Wave pattern by Oh Fransson is very simple and easy to follow, if you read the directions. Do read the directions, or you, like me, may sew the sashing on the wrong edge of half of the blocks and have to rip them all out again. I persevered nonetheless, and here's the finished top. That makes three completed tops in my closet now though, so I'm determined to get at least one completely quilted and bound before moving on to the three new projects I'm already collecting fabric for. It's like a sickness!
I also made another potholder for the swap tomorrow. It is inspired by these by Amy. Super modern and fun to make. The grommet went in much more smoothly this time, although, alas, it is backwards. Maybe on my third attempt I'll get it right.

Urban Garden Zigzag

I finished machine quilting and binding this beauty last night. This is a very fat quarter friendly project. One fat quarter does one zigzag row with some leftover. You can see I used leftover bits on the back for a scrappy zigzag. This measures 39" square, so a nice baby quilt.

Stacked Coins Doll Quilt

With the scraps from my zigzag quilt, I thought it would be fun to make a coordinating doll quilt. The size and shape of the scraps lent themselves to a stacked coins quilt, so off I went. Here's the pieced top. It is 17 x 23. Next up, piecing a single zigzag for the backing of the original quilt

Finished Zig Zag Top

Here she is all pieced. I'm thinking about piecing a back of all white with one zig zag row across. I'm not very satisfied with my color arrangment in the quilt, but I did really enjoy learning a new technique, making a zig zag quilt for the first time, and working with a very saturated fabric line. Fun!

New Project Revealed

I've joined my first quilt along! This is the first four rows of the zig zag quilt by Park City Girl for the Old Red Barn Co Quilt Along on flickr.
The triangles are definitely a little fiddly, but I've found as long as I pin carefully I'm not loosing any points on my zigs or zags. Fun stuff. If anyone is interested in joining along, Park City Girl's directions are super!