quilt improv blog tour

I'm happy to be participating in the Quilt Improv book tour today.


(photo from Quilt Improv, used with permission)

This book, by Lucie Summers, grabbed me from the first page. I read it in one sitting, almost every word on every page. The photography alone is inspiring! The quilts are gorgeous. I love that they were inspired by everyday life. It's a really beautiful book.


(photo from Quilt Improv, used with permission)

I've done a fair amount of improv piecing, so I wanted to try my hand at something new-to-me. I chose the quarter circles block, which Lucie describes as a freehand version of the drunkard's path block. I was a little nervous to jump in, but I had a blast!

My quilted storage boxes provided the color inspiration for my project. I saw them stacked precariously upon one another and the color combo caught my eye from across the room. (That was probably over a year ago.) I knew that I would use this color scheme for something, someday.

This is what I came up with when I combined the two. I'm very happy with it! Notice that there are LOTS of polka dots. Always. I thought that the mis-matched curves would make me a little crazy, but I was able to embrace the improv. Yay! (You never know until you try it!)

 I quilted the patchwork with some honeycomb quilting, then turned it into a pillow cover.

 The backing is a fun and bright print by dear stella. (I'm dreaming of spring, apparently.)

The pillow cover is about 20" square. This was such a fun project to make! I'm glad that I branched out and I'm looking forward to revisiting the technique again, on a larger scale. So many possibilities!

(By the way, this is scrap project #46/101!)

F & W Media is kindly offering a giveaway of this fantastic book. If you would like to win a copy of your very own, please leave a comment in this post. In your comment, I'd love to hear what inspires YOU. Please, only one comment per person. Be sure I have a way of contacting you, should your name be drawn. Good luck!

edited to add: the giveaway is now closed.

Be sure to check out the other stops on the blog tour and the stitch, craft, create blog, too.

December:

Mon 16^th – Summersville
Wed 18^th – The Long Thread
Thur 19^th – A Stitch In Dye
Fri 20^th – Fresh Modern Quilts
Sun 29^th – Quiltville’s Quips & Snips
 

January:

Mon 6^th – Diary of a Quilter
Wed 8^th – Blueberry Park
Thur 9^th –  Sew Take a Hike
Fri 10^th – Very Kerry Berry
Mon 13^th – Sew Justine Sew
Wed 15^th – Lily’s Quilts
Thur 16th – Cut To Pieces 
Fri 17^th – Happy Zombie
Mon 20^th – Freshly Pieced
Tue 21^st – Fresh Lemons Quilts
Wed 22^nd – Crazy Mom Quilts
Thur 23^rd – Gen X Quilters
Fri 24^th – Handmade by Alissa
Mon 27^th – Don’t Call Me Betsy
Tue 28^th – I’m a Ginger Monkey
Wed 29^th – Sew Mama Sew