Improv Quilting Class #1

Well, it happened again.

Some friends let me coax them into taking another class, this time focusing on improvisational quilting. I know, right?  Who knew that was a thing?  I really considered calling the class "Lazy Girl Quilting" but I wanted to attract participants, not deter them.  So we're going with improv quilting, and it fits.

If you've seen me sew, you know that THIS style of quilting is for me.  Not too much planning?  Only stopping to measure sometimes?  Using scraps?  Count me in.

On top of that, there is very little ironing.  This is a delightful style of quilting, my friends ... and if you've never tried it then I suggest that you set aside your preconceived notions of improvisationalism and turn off your iron.  

Our first class focused on log cabin style piecing.  There are plenty of great tutorials online about log cabin quilts.  I posted my own back in 2010 (start here and here) when I taught my first class (again, to friends.  Wow, I have really awesome friends.)  If you want to see some of the wonky/improv log cabin quilts I've done, they're here, here, here, and (a giant log cabin block) here.

Both blocks have a center square about 3.5" x 3.5".  I say about because the whole point of improv (to me) is to forge right ahead without overthinking little details like measurements and right angles.  The strips all started off 2.5" wide and I trimmed as I went along to add some wonkiness.

The block on the right was pieced exactly the same way as the one on the left, but then I sliced it up with one cut top-to-bottom and one side-to-side.  Then I rotated the top right and bottom left pieces before resewing the block back together.  Boom.  Improv.

Very little thinking, really.  I did iron at the end, just to get it to sit nicely.

Improv Quilting!  Scraps!  Trying new things!  Friends!  I have much to be thankful for.