Improvisational Quilt Challenge

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Above:  The scraps in the box I was sent for the GA/SC SAQA scrap challenge.)

I've never really been one to go in for quilt challenges. Perhaps this is because I've never been a member of a quilt guild where challenges are popular, but perhaps it stems from the fact that I don't generally make the sort of work expected. So, I wasn't really sure what to do when my region of SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) decided to have a scrap challenge.  I wanted to be supportive but I worried that whatever I might do would look foreign when compared to the others in the group. 

(Above: Improvisational Quilt Challenge I.  13" x 10".)

Had the pandemic not forced my region to turn to Zoom meetings, I might not have participated at all.  Before COVID-19, the regional meetings were held in a venue four-and-a-half hours from home.  I never went.  I didn't feel connected to the group and wouldn't have felt compelled to be supportive.  (Please note, I'm not feeling sorry for myself regarding the distance or the disconnect.  I've been a member of SAQA for over a decade. During the first several years, my region didn't do much of anything. It never made a difference to me.  Meetings and challenges and "show-and-tell" were never part of my reason for being a member!)

(Above:  Improvisation Quilt Challenge II.  19" x 15".)

Since the pandemic, however, meetings were virtual.  I could log on easily. Suddenly, there was an opportunity to participate, and there was also a demonstration during the last Zoom meeting.  The demonstration was on improvisational quilting.  Unfortunately, the recorded Facebook Live session didn't sync with the Zoom platform. I can honestly say that I really didn't understand most of the process, especially something called a "wallpaper cut" (which I never did), but I think I got the gist of it (or at least I got the notion of stitching and whacking apart material almost randomly in an attempt to get a pleasing arrangement of colors and shapes.)  To me, it looked a lot like paper piecing (something I did about seventeen years ago for about a month) except without the paper. So, I signed up for the scrap box challenge in order to "try improvisational quilting."

(Above:  Our new kitten, Ernie, who helped with every bit of the stitching whether I needed help or not!)

The challenge was to "make something" out of a box of scraps donated to our region.  Nothing was to be smaller than 12" x 12" and nothing longer than 36".  I vowed to use every scrap in the four-pound box before it actually arrived.  I might not have done this had I seen the Crayola-colored creatures, the pirates with eye patches, the one-inch strips of batik, tiny pink floral prints, purple chicks on the brightest lime green background, black-and-white and multi-colored checkered fabrics, and pieces of blue and silver lamé.  Had I not promised to use every piece, I might have kept the 1961 Marimekko piece for something else.  (I did keep the salvage!  When in Finland in 2005, I couldn't afford any of this fabulous material!)  Thankfully, I had help with this entire challenge.  Our new kitten Ernie watched every one of the nine resulting pieces come into existence!

(Above:  Improvisational Quilt Challenge III.  19" x 17".)

I did not create these pieces one at a time.  I tried to simply stitch pleasant colors together until several seemed to "go together".  Because I was only using the scraps from the box, I ran out of many of the prints I preferred and had to figure out how to use the pieces I would have preferred not to use.  The lamé was decidedly NOT a fabric I'd select.  It is also not particularly good on the reverse ... but putting it there meant it didn't have to go on the front!

(Above: Improvisational Quilt Challenge IV: For Love of Electric Blue. 19 1/2" x 16".)

The Zoom meeting demonstration also included something about finishing each piece as a pillowcase.  I did that but I also turned the reverse into binding on the front.  Still, I much prefer blanket stitching the edges.  That's "my thing".  I never did figure out how to "piece a curve" but I like dense zigzag stitching better.  The paisley styled fabric on the reverse of Improvisational IV is from my stash but it seemed like a nice place to put the scrap of five materials already stitched together.

(Above: Improvisational Quilt Challenge V. 15 1/2" x 15 1/2".)

The demonstration also included a tip about using black and white to make other colors "pop". Frankly, I had problems with the white, especially the piece featuring script text.  Again, my blanket stitch edge pleases me best and I also like putting vintage pieces on the reverse side.  

(Above:  Improvisational Quilting VI. 27" x 11".)

Yet, I really did try to use black and white in high contrast ways.  The demonstration included making "crosses".  So, I tried that too.  I'm considering this piece a table runner even though I don't have a table for it! LOL!

(Above:  Improvisational Quilt Challenge VII and VIII, a baby's changing pad and quilt.)

Making something functional is a rather new idea for me, but this challenge also resulted in a baby changing pad and quilt for my nephew Tony and his wife Mara who are expecting their first child in early October.  This became a great way to use all the fabrics that truly shocked me.  

(Above:  Improvisational Quilt Challenge VI, a baby's changing pad. 24" x 16 1/2".)

For these two pieces, I used a piece of upholstery fabric from my stash (all materials acquired at auction or yard sales) for the reverse.  Steve gave me a piece of thin plastic for the inside.  It came between two panes of museum glass, a regular supply from our custom picture framing shop.

(Above: Improvisational Quilt Challenge VIII, a baby quilt. 26" x 30".)

Most of the planning for these quilts was done according to the size of the scraps.  The red inner border was selected simply because that piece of fabric was big enough to be cut into four strips.  The same goes for the four corners.  Most of the other scraps weren't this large.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Above:  Improvisational Quilt IX. 30 3/4" x 20 1/2".)

The last piece finished was actually the first one started.  It has the Merimekko, bright orange fabric in it.  I can honestly say that I learned quite a lot during this challenge, mostly what I like to do and what I'd prefer never to do again.  Although the demonstration didn't suggest free-motion quilting, I already knew that was the only way I'd complete any of the work.  I learned, however, to be much, much looser with the stitching. Improvisational quilting will not be something I'll do regularly but I'm glad I spent much of last week doing it.  Learning something new is always worth the effort!