Quarter Circle Improv quilt: a Make Nine finish

We’ve all got projects in various stages of “completeness.” Truth be told, I have too many to count. In fact, this project has been in the “just needs to be quilted” stage for years, but has finally moved to the “completed” list. And it’s fulfilling my Make Nine 2024 “UFO” prompt.

Quarter circle improv quilt.
23.5” x 23.5”

This quilt was a result of a class with art quilter, Carol Taylor, at a Zonta Quilts for a Change exhibit. The year was either 2005 or 2006. (Yep, a UFO from about 18 or 19 years ago!) The top resurfaced while planning for my upcoming Intro to Improvisational Quilts workshop at the JC Campbell Folk School at the end of the month. The quilt top and the workshop provided a synergy to get it finished.

Quilting and finishing an improv quilt

I pondered how to quilt this quilt for a while. My favorite quilting method is free-motion, but I needed to make sure the quilting highlighted the improv patchwork. The solution was a mix of free-motion and ruler work. 

Free-motion quilting and ruler work.

Reflecting on a conversation with improv quilter, Maria Shell—who says she likes to quilt each patchwork unit separately and changes thread colors to match the fabric—I decided to pull threads with colors that blended with each of the fabrics in my quilt and give her method a go. 

Beginning with the center, I began with free-motion quilted pebbles (my FMQ choice). Moving to the outer rings, zigzags and echo quilting in each fabric of the quarter circles reinforced and highlighted the improv curves. With all the fabric colors, there were many changes in the top thread. The bobbin thread remained the same throughout.

Free-motion pebbles, zig-zags and echo quilting highlights the curve piecing.

The black/white inner border was stitched in the ditch on both sides. Each quarter circle patch on the outside border was quilted individually with a different pattern—some with the ruler, some were free-motion. The thread color was matched to the background fabric. The texture of the quilting shows without a distraction of a contrasting thread.

Here is view of the quilting from the back.

Back view: Free-motion quilting.

Rather than a binding, a facing was used to finish the edges.

Quilt stats

• top thread: 50 wt. 2-ply cotton in a matching color to the fabric.
• bobbin: 80 wt. poly DecoBob in a pre-wound bobbin.
• quilting: 8.5 hrs. free-motion and ruler work; approximately 2 bobbins.

A Make Nine finish

My improv quarter circle quilt has been documented on my 2024 Make Nine Challenge tracking sheet! And, I have an improvisationally pieced quilt sample for the workshop.

UFO prompt for Make Nine 2024.

Quilting the Lonely Hearts Club quilt: free-motion and rulerwork

This is the second post chronicling the process of my 2021 Guild Challenge quilt. See Part 1 here.

November 6, 2021: With a week before the Challenge deadline, and a quilt top approximately 70" square... A LOT of quilting needed to be done!

Pin basted quilt top.

Although I had done a digital mock-up of potential quilting designs, the plan for the quilting was not solidified.

Quilting sketch to audition the quilting design.

Free-motion quilting and rulerwork

November 7, 2021: I started in the center with rulerwork frames surrounding the characters in my highrise heart-building. I wanted the characters to seem as if they were seen through windows in a highrise building. Alone in their individual apartments but together in the same building.

Framing the fussy cut images with quilting.

Rulerwork around the fussy cut patches.

Overlapping squares and angles were quilted in the dark values.

Free-motion and ruler quilting in the center section.

Curvilinear motifs were used in the lighter values—to contrast with the geometric angles and accentuate the heart shape. The swirls and bubbles were quicker and easier to quilt than the straight lines around the "windows."

Contrasting quilting motifs in the center section.

November 12, 2021: The scrappy heart blocks were lots of fun to quilt! These were free-motion quilted in an improv style. Each heart had a different doodle design.

Quilted heart block.

Quilted heart block.

November 13, 2021: Various strips between the blocks [sashing] were filled with free-motion zigzags. This is a favorite geometric motif for me. I can pretty much eyeball the zigzags, so I don't mark any of these.

Rulers were used for the radiating lines in the corner triangles and to stitch in the ditch around the heart blocks. 

Free-motion zigzag in the sashing strips.

Rulerwork was also done in-the-ditch surrounding the lettering. I am particularly pleased with the lettering—the improv patchwork, the letter spacing, the whimsical appearance and the rulerwork outline quilting.

A ruler was used to free-motion stitch in the ditch around the improv block letters.

Binding, backing and label

November 14, 2021: I decided a scrappy flat piped binding would be a good complement to this quilt. Leftover strips from the patchwork were used and the binding could be attached by machine (a good thing!).

Strips for the flat piping in the binding.

Flat piped binding, zigzag quilting in the sashing and other quilting motifs.

November 15, 2021: The binding and label were attached the day of the Challenge Reveal... and I know mine was not the only entry that went down to the wire. 

The backing is a 108" wide back from Northcott. The print reminded me of brickwork on a highrise apartment building.

"Alone Together" backing and label.

"Alone Together" label

My First Place Winner

Our guild does a member vote for the Challenge entries. My quilt, "Alone Together," won the 1st Place Award this year! There were 11 entries in the Challenge.

"Alone Together" 65" x 67.5"

Award Ribbons

As a member of the Challenge team that coordinated this program, I also made the award ribbons. We had 4 top awards and all participants received a goodie bag of fabrics, thread, sewing supplies and coupons.

2020-2021 Challenge award ribbons. 

2020-2021 Challenge award ribbons (backs).

Quilt Stats

Threads used for free-motion quilting.

I changed the thread colors quite frequently on this piece. It added to the scrappiness of the patchwork and additional whimsey to the composition. Here are the quilt stats:

• 40.25 hours of free-motion and rulerwork quilting
• top threads: 80 wt poly DecoBob [WonderFil Specialty Threads], 50 wt. cotton [Aurifil]
• bobbin threads: 80 wt. DecoBob, 60 wt. poly The Bottom Line [Superior Threads]
• the backing fabric is a 108" wide backing from Northcott Fabrics. 
• 100 % washable wool batting [Hobbs Tuscany]

Detail of letter blocks. Improv patchwork.

In a final blog post about my Challenge piece, I'll summarize my experiments, lessons learned and the feedback from viewers.

Stay tuned...

Make Nine 2020 finish: charity quilts for cats

I’m feeling good about checking off this item on my Make Nine 2020 list. It's because it's my Charity project goal. I finished this stack of 12 kitty quilts for the Cat Clinic of Chattanooga during shelter in place.

Make Nine 2020 Charity project: 12 kitty quilts. One for each month of the year.

Early in March, when the Coronavirus quarantine went into effect, I needed a purposeful project to counteract all the upheaval and uncertainty in the world. Improv patchwork and running fabric scraps and orphan quilt blocks through the sewing machine was good medicine.

Improv patchwork kitty quilt with scraps and fabric samples.

There is little precision required for improv patchwork and the 25” x 29” size of these quilts made this project achievable. I felt productive and useful with each little pieced top.

Flannel samples were strip pieced for this quilt.

Scraps, a leftover border print and a Christmas panel were all transformed into useful objects.

Charity quilt from a holiday fabric panel.

Charity quilt using a border print remnant.

It was satisfying to use up orphan and test blocks such as the star block in this quilt...

A single star test block and strip set cut-offs assembled into a quilt top.
(I rather like how this quilt turned out.)

... and several technique test samples—curved piecing, random string inserts, a paper pieced star and leftover strip stratas—that were languishing in the fabric stash.

Several technique samples are combined.

These four quilt blocks were from a block swap. They seemed to shelter in place for 11 years... until now.

Four 9" blocks from a block swap.

Making these quilts also gave me the opportunity to practice free-motion quilting and test new quilting designs. Hooray for a learning opportunity!

Detail of back side showing the free-motion quilting of radiating petals.

Free-motion feathers.

Free-motion leaves.

Several of the kitty quilts have cat fabric prints on the back.

Cat prints for the quilt backs.

Some backs are pieced.

Patchwork backs.

Bindings were done by machine and a good use for leftover 2.5" precut strips.

Bindings by machine. 

When our city reopens and the Cat Clinic is open to visitors, these little quilts will get delivered to the cats and kitties.

12 kitty quilts going to the Cat Clinic soon!

Four other items from my Make Nine list are in progress so I feel I'm on track this year.

Make Nine Challenge goals for 2020.

Projects inspired by Aboriginal fabrics

If you need a color "pick-me-up," reach for these contemporary Aboriginal fabric prints from M&S Textiles Australia. The motifs on these cotton fabrics are magical, mystical, and bursting with color. They're one of my favorite quilting fabrics to "make" with.

Fabrics from M&S Textiles Australia.
From left: Yalke Green, Womens Business, Bush Banana, and Gathering by the Creek.

The designs on these fabrics are created by Australian aboriginal artists. They illustrate the symbiotic relationship between man and nature, and tell the story of the Dreamtime.

Inspired by Aboriginal fabric designs
Looking beyond the fabrics themselves, here are ideas for using them in quilts, bags, clothing, and home decor. And they can even inspire free-motion quilting designs and other techniques. Quilt shops and independent sewing centers carry these fabrics and links to a few of these shops are listed with the projects below.

"Cat City" [Villa Rosa pattern] using a variety of fat quarters from M&S Textiles fabrics.

The "6 Pack" quilt featuring Womens Business, Flowers in the Desert green,
Bush Dreamings of Utopia purple (border) and other Australian prints.
 Supplies available at Busy Lady Quilt Shop.

This quilt uses a precut Dreamtime strip roll from M&S Textiles.
The exclusive Star quilt pattern and other supplies available from Sew Many Blessings.

Show off a variety of Aboriginal prints with this "Aboriginal Stained Glass" quilt.
[Melissa and Mom Quilts pattern].

Log Cabin quilt with an on-point setting. Supplies available at Calico Rose quilt shop.

An assortment of black Aboriginal serve as the background to set off Sandhill red.
"Crossroads," fat quarter pattern from Villa Rosa Designs.

Garments

Don't be afraid to use these cotton fabrics for clothing.

The Cottage Shirt [The Sewing Workshop pattern] in Yalke Blue [M&S Textiles].

Details about making the Cottage Shirt in Yalke blue are at this blog post. And see my Sandy Creek Siena Shirt blog post with more photos of the shirt below.

Siena Shirt [The Sewing Workshop] featuring Sandy Creek and Spirit Dreaming.

Siena Shirt [The Sewing Workshop pattern] featuring Women Dreaming burgundy.

Pocket lining or pocket accent with Spirit Place Ecru.

Bags and Totes

Give a bag or tote some attitude with Aboriginal fabrics!

Totably bag [Quilts Illustrated pattern] in Summertime Rainforest black.

Expedition Tote [Swoon patterns] in Yalke Blue and Bambillah.
Made by Debbie at Calico Rose quilt shop.

Expedition Tote [Swoon patterns] in Kingfisher Camp with Sandy Creek accent.
Supplies available at Calico Rose quilt shop.

The Melba Pintuck Bag [The Textile Pantry pattern] with Salt Plain and Sandhill White.
Supplies and pattern available at Kentucky Quilt Company quilt shop.

Summertime Carryall featuring Dreaming in One.

You can take this water koozie with you on the go!

"Walker's Water Bottle Sling" with Bush Medicine 2 blue and Dancing Spirit purple.
Supplies and pattern available at Sisters Side by Side Quilt Shop.

Dreamtime precuts
Precut strips, charms, 10" squares and fat quarters are available in several colorways such as red, yellow, purple, black and assorted. These projects were made with M&S Textiles Dreamtime precuts.

Bag pattern and supplies available at WV Quilt.

The jelly roll race quilt. Dreamtime strip rolls and supplies available at Calico Rose quilt shop.

English paper pieced hexagons from a charm pack or strip roll adorn a pillow.
Class and supplies available at WV Quilt.

A mini tuffet [Tuffet Source].

English Paper Piecing and selective cutting
Try selective positioning and fussy cutting of the Aboriginal motifs for fabulous results.

Fussy cutting and English Paper Piecing with Aboriginal prints.

Detail: from "Oh My Stars" guild Challenge.

Inspiration for free-motion quilting, collage, art quilts
The free-motion quilting on my 2018 guild Challenge was inspired by the fabrics. Details about the process are in this blog post.

Free-motion quilting inspired by Aboriginal fabric designs.

The Winter 2020 issue of Art Quilting Studio features the work of Joan Anderson and her use of Aboriginal fabrics from M&S Textiles in her collaged art quilts.

Article in Art Quilting Studio magazine featuring the work of Joan Anderson
and her use of Aboriginal fabrics from M&S Textiles.

Winter 2020 issue of Art Quilting Studio magazine.

So many possibilities!