With a full week of activities—in and outside the studio—it’s difficult to capture everything from a week-long Intro to Improv Quilting class in a single blog post. So, this is a continuation of the post from my recent week of teaching Intro to Improv Quilting at the John C. Campbell Folk School.
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| One of my 100 Day Projects incorporates trimmings and pieced bits from other improv quilts into a fabric stitch book. |
Instructor Show and Tell
In addition to digital presentations, I bring several several pieces of my work—quilts, garments, wall pieces, zippered pouches, etc.—to provide students with inspiration and an impetus for the improv process.
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| Show and Tell on Day 3 of class. |
Often, it’s helpful to see improv work “up close and in person” to see the piecing and the quilting, and the colors and prints of the fabrics “in real life.”
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| Quilting and embellishments on Blue Rhino Moon, an improv piece created in response to a Guild Challenge. |
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| Improv pieced jacket collar using vintage fabrics and orphan blocks. |
Through explanations of the parameters of a project—such as Guild Challenges or the score for my piece that was published in Sherri Lynn Wood’s, The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters book—questions arise and we have thoughtful conversations about quiltmaking.
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| Guitar Strings Improv appears in The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters, by Sherri Lynn Wood, p. 38. |
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| Detail of Guitar Strings Improv. |
Alone Together was a Guild Challenge that spanned 2020 - 2021. The piece was inspired by the lyrics in “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” by The Beatles. The story and the process is in this blog post and this post.
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| Alone Together quilt, in response to the 2020 Guild Challenge. |
For more information about the stories and processes of the pieces from Show and Tell, below are the related blog posts. At least one of them includes “Quilt Stats” that includes hours of quilting time, thread specs, number of bobbins used, and the like.
- A Tribute to Steve
- Alone Together: piecing, editing, and assembly post, quilting and finishing with quilt stats, and what I learned from making this quilt
- Improv pieced jacket with vintage quilt pieces, and continued here.
- Blue Rhino Moon and this post about the story and the label
- Break Free, Take Flight
- Guitar Strings Improv
- Quarter Circle Improv quilt (the piece in the Instructors’ display at Keith House)
- zipper bag featuring ScanFil organic cotton threads
- 100 Day Stitch Book with leftover improv fabric bits
Show and Tell from a published author
My studio assistant for this workshop was Kim Deneault, the author of Raggedy Reverse Appliqué.
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| Kim shares her story about the Raggedy Reverse Appliqué book and how easy it is for even young kids to make things with the technique. |
Students were treated to a Show and Tell of samples from her book and Kim shared her story about writing the book, her TV episode on Simply Quilts, and getting into the quilting and fabric industry.
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| Show and Tell of quilts and pillows from the book, Raggedy Reverse Appliqué. |
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| The Booby Trap quilt. |
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| Lots of texture and dimension! |
As in life and with improv patchwork: you may start with an idea, but you don’t always know where you’re going to end up. You have to pay attention, respond to what’s in front of you, and occasionally take a leap of faith.
It was a great week of making, learning, and sharing stories at the Folk School!
