Diving Back Into Improv.

I've been feeling a little lost without a new AHIQ prompt, but that's just absurdity. There have been several improv. ideas hanging around on the back burner for eons and I never seem to find time to get them started. So this week, instead of doing all the million and one things that I should be doing, one of those ideas finally got going.

2 finished rows for Score #5

I've been looking at Score #5 in Sherri Lynn Woods ' The Improv. Handbook for Modern Quilters' for a very long time. There's just something about the utilitarian look that is very appealing to me. The fabric has been gathered up for ages and it's all stuff that I shouldn't agonize too much about chopping and hacking to bits. The biggest problem has been that I'm a scaredy cat. I've read through the chapter so many times, but after a little bit, my brain just sort of shuts down. I DON'T GET IT. Blah, blah, blah is about all that gets processed. Okay, fine. I decided to start out by copying one of her vertical rows {only in my own colorway of course} and see where it might go from there.

The first row

Aha! Imagine my surprise when I discovered that there was already a major mistake. If you look at the previous picture, you will see that the dark orange strips don't extend out to the edges of the block on either side. Things would work so much better if at least one of them did! It really makes this {Rhythmic Grid} Score idea a bit problematic.*sigh  That single row remained on the wall while I went downstairs and did normal life things. Apparently I can't even copy correctly....

Considering adding in another fabric

The next day found me diving in and starting to play regardless. Who cares if I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing? Anybody with an quilting eye and a playful spirit can figure out a basic grid, right? I tried to add in some random bits, switching up fabrics from the original four. I don't have a lot of the lighter orange so will run out sooner than I'd like. But no, it's not time to introduce it into the equation yet. More green please!

Going back to the original four

I free cut and sewed, and just pretty much let all the anxiety slip away. The beauty of working with improv. {and something that is destined to have a utilitarian look} is that nothing is 'too precious'. It took awhile, but eventually I started getting a feel for the flow of a 'grid'.

Trying to figure out the grid

Is it going to be what I originally found to be so appealing? I honestly don't know, but it feels like I'm learning something, even if my approach always feels so completely backwards from what the instructions might be. Does anyone else have trouble following quilting instructions like I do?

This sort of play is {still} sometimes amazingly difficult. I find myself wanting to rely on things like, A + B = C, but it's so helpful to occasionally break away from precision and formality, from rules, have-to's and should-do's. There's something very freeing about breaking things down and learning the basics of relying on instincts and our quilting 'eye'. Again. And again and again. And then from a different starting point altogether. Does it feel like stepping out on a very wobbly limb sometimes? You betcha! And posting pictures of my very doubtful progress can make me positively squirm. But learning is such good stuff when we consider the end game. I still maintain that everything we learn {whether it's what we set out to learn or not} is a valuable gem for our quilting toolboxes. I am still so amazed and gratified to see the finished quilts getting richer and warmer, deeper and more complex--in technique, layers, texture and a wonderfully personalized feeling. That never gets old!

Not enough room on the wall

Another improv. project I attacked recently is 'Shattered'. It was way past time to deal with this problem child. This project has often made me scratch my head and wonder what in the world I was thinking. It's been years in the making and I am so very tired of it. The entire middle of the quilt is made out of 'made fabric' squares straight from the scrap bin. That was an awesome idea. Until it got tedious.

Shattered finally a completed quilt top!

The plan was for the whole quilt to be made in that vein, but somewhere I just folded things up and said enough. Then my brain couldn't really find a way forward because nothing else made sense.

Looks better close up...

Finally, emboldened with a long awaited laissez-faire attitude, I just approached the project with an idea to make it large enough to call it a proper quilt. However that happened, I could really care less. Just get it off the UFO lists! Honestly, I was surprised at the fabrics and colors the quilt wanted to include into the quilt--Older than the hills Debbie Mum country blue check? Reproduction yellow gold? But it was an easy fix and also used up most of the remaining scrappy triangles which really gave me a rush. It's kind of an interesting quilt and not one I'm sorry to have tackled. Just wish I could have finished the quilt top back when the interest was running high. For the record, the quilt top is now around 57" square, which should easily translate into a nice comfort type quilt. Linking up with Kaja and Ann for AHIQ #33. Neither of these projects had anything to do with 'playing with scale', but everything to do with improv. I'm gonna say that's good enough.