cascading pools

I actually haven’t been very productive yet this year (well, that’s not totally true – I’ve tried really hard to be productive, but keep ending up overthinking things and wasting precious sewing time. Alas.) Luckily I can now show you this quilt, which is one I made nearly a year ago, and look productive all at the same time!

I rarely say yes to these kinds of things, but when Sherri Lynn Wood posted that she was looking for contributors to her upcoming book, The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters, I decided to submit a quilt for consideration. I was very much intrigued by the concept for her book, which provides a series of ‘scores’ to guide you to make a number of improv quilts. You already know I’m not much of a pattern-follower. I seem to work better by piecing fabrics improvisationally and allowing the work to evolve as I go. The scores that Sherri provide fall somewhere between the two – giving you certain parameters and a set of guidelines, yet still allowing your work to evolve as you go. I think it’s a really great way to explore a variety of improv techniques (I’m excited to see what type of score she provides for piecing curves).

Don’t worry – I’m not giving anything away by showing you this quilt. It wasn’t selected to be included in the book, but I’m really happy to have made it. The score I followed was a lot of fun, and I really loved seeing how the quilt turned out. [Interestingly enough, I feel like I may have actually been overthinking this quilt – having an idea in mind of how I thought it would/should turn out, and therefore having a bit of trouble letting go and just piecing fabrics as Sherri describes.]

I used some fun fabrics in whites, grays and turquoises, including one of my favorite Maze & Vale prints (that great gray heart print, which is being retired, so if you love it too, be sure to grab some now!). That gray solid is a double gauze and it makes me want to make all the quilts out of double gauze fabrics – so soft (I’ve already been dreaming of a Bespoke quilt, despite not yet having any of the fabric in hand!)

The backing is a solid piece of an Anna Maria Horner print. I usually piece a backing from leftovers from the front, or use a larger piece of one of the prints I used in the quilt top, but this time I opted to go with something different. I like how it adds another fabric to this quilt which uses a relatively small number of prints/solids. (Binding is Kona Raisin, a long time favorite – and one I particularly love with turquoise)

I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy of Sherri’s book come March. I know I’m going to want to give a few of her other scores a try!

_ _ _

P.S. Thank you to those who notified me of a blog issue, and apologies for those who received strange email notifications and/or noticed random posts about restaurants. It’s being looked into now, and hopefully should be all sorted out soon!