Technique Improvisation

Or should I say, Assembly Improv......sigh, no idea what to call my process these days.

Actually it's sort of a  Layering of Techniques. I'm finding myself changing techniques along the way, mixing several and experimenting, as I go. If that's not improv, than I don't know what is.

 

 

 

Here are some samples of the whole layered technique process.....sometimes it almost feels like I'm building the blocks.

 

Below are some shots of the techniques I have utilized in some of the blocks.

 

Assembly-line piecing for the background of the blocks, if you will.

 

I learned this amazing method, from the book Crazy Shortcut Quilts by Marguerita McManus and Sarah Raffuse. I have incorporated this concept in so much of my work.

                    

 

I used this method for a background of sorts....but I only thought of it half way through, so not all the blocks are done this way....more mish mash!!! Well, that's what mixing techniques and experimenting along the way is all about.

 

 

Here are the Elongated Triangles I started with in Katie Pedersen's Workshop.

 

 

Here, I decided to applique the triangles to the "pieced background".

 

Cutting away excess fabric, from the back......

And what about the raw edges, on those appliqued triangles? On one edge of the triangle I "stitched and flipped" and on the remaining two, I used appliqué strips...applied to all the layers, appliqué as you quilt.

 

And there you have it. Who knows how I will join the blocks.....  

 

Note: On several of the blocks I used a few other techniques besides applique with those triangles but, I will save that for another day. It's probably time to write a few more tutorials....but I'm still in experiment mode.



Well....I sort of fell off the Blog Wagon

Yes, that's exactly what happened this last year.  Every time I would attempt to find some "Normal" another crisis would present itself. "Normal" whatever that means, seems to have eluded me. I am one of those people, who loves the ordinary, simplicity of everyday life. Holidays and Special Occasions aren't on my list of highs. It's the days in between that touch me. So the drama of the last year or two have definitely put a damper, on my ordinary days. 

 

Coping with loss is never easy, but we usually aren't given a choice. Some of the aspects of my life which I thought were strong, were in actuality quite fragile and oddly enough some the aspects that I thought were fragile were in essence very strong. To find strength in weakness and experience brokenness in what I trusted to be strong has both broken me and strengthened me at the same, odd as that might sound. It's left me spinning in different directions and it shows in my creative life as well.

 

 

 Today, I had a lovely ordinary day. I had the afternoon to myself, which seems rare these days and spent it playing with my fabric. I'm back in Victoria and hoping for several more lovely, ordinary days.

 



 



I'm not sure where this is going..........but oh my, it felt good to play.

 

Yesterday we took a little road trip to Nanaimo.....

a bit of a shop hop.

 

 

 

As you can see, I might have fallen off the Blog Wagon but I certainly haven't fallen off the Fabric Buying Wagon....even though it might be a good idea if I did!!!!

 



 

Unexpected Delight

Every new learned technique is like another tool in the tool box or another colour in the palette, to be explored and applied in anyway you like. The more tools in the box the more options available to you as a quilter.  You don't have to use any technique in the same way a particular book or teacher does....just add it to your arsenal of tricks and apply it your way.   Or,  mix it up with other techniques and see what happens.  After all, this your creative journey

 

After arriving in Victoria,  I had the unexpected opportunity of going to a workshop, on elongated triangles, by Katie Pedersen, co-author of the book Quilting Modern.  I have been reading Katie's blog Sewkatiedid for several years, so I was thrilled to spend some time with her, here in Victoria.  Katie teaches a very informative workshop with a relaxed and calm vibe.  I  love having the freedom to take the technique in any direction I wanted. A few of my quilting buddies were waiting to see how long it took me to deviate from the instructions.....darn, I messed up my first triangle.....but hey, I loved the result anyway and just went for it.

 

 

Of course, I couldn't resist turning it into a QAYG project.

 

 

 Katie, sharing all of her beautiful quilts!!

 

 

 So lovely seeing Katie's quilts in real life.

 

 There are those  lovely Elongated Triangles

 

 Not only did Katie bring a carload of quilts, just look at her beautiful display of cushions.

 

 Jo-Anne and Katie

 

 

And as usual, me with that goofy smile I seem to reserve just for photos and Katie (just sharing a laugh over something outrageous Jo-Anne said to get us smiling).

 

All in all, what a lovely unexpected week.