Improv – Sew Bittersweet Designs

Anne’s Sunrise

3 Comments / 2016 Finishes, Improv, Innova, Spike, SSMQG / By Melissa Dunworth

In 2015 I was the president of my local Modern Quilt Guild, South Sound MQG. One of my outgoing acts as President involved working with the outgoing Vice President to come up with a challenge for our yearly quilt show that takes place during Spring Arts Walk in Olympia, WA. The fabrics we selected were from V & Co Color Theory. I got the Navy Poppies colorway.

This color way is right up my alley, I pretty much love all things blue. The other part of the challenge, because picking out one fabric wasn’t enough for us, was that the quilt needed to be an improv quilt. Meaning that there should be no real pattern used, make it up yourself.

As I was pulling fabrics for the challenge I got in my mind this image of my daughter, Anne, standing at our upstairs window looking at the sunrise before school this winter. The sky turns these brilliant shades of blues, pinks and yellows and it always makes her so happy, mostly because when we see these colors it means it isn’t raining and in the winter in Washington we always enjoy a rare break in the rain!

I decided to make a sunrise quilt for Anne. I pieced together different width blues and grays for the sky and then I sliced the piece apart with slight improv curves and inserted curvy rays to make a sunrise.

I had so much fun quilting this quilt on my new long arm! In the background I used Magnifico by Superior Threads and quilted flames, and in the rays themselves, I quilted pebbles with a yellow thread by Signature. I absolutely loved quilting this one, it is a custom design and while there is at least one pucker, which is mostly due to the nature of improv quilting and I’m still learning, I am 100% happy with how the quilt turned out, and more importantly, so is Anne!

So yet another finish f0r 2016! If you live in the Olympia/South Sound area, South Sound Modern Quilt Guild will be exhibiting at Canvas Works in downtown as part of Arts Walk on April 22nd and 23rd. Stop by and see all of the incredible improv quilts that were created by the talented members of the guild!

Improv Weekend Sewing

5 Comments / Improv, Mini Quilt, Sew BitterSweet Designs Patterns / By Melissa Dunworth

This weekend I did some improv sewing. Improv is hard for me, I like the control that a plan gives you. In some ways, improv sewing pushes me outside my comfort zone in the best possible way. I tried some things I never would have done if I had a plan. The key for me is telling myself over and over again that it is just fabric!

I wanted to work on improv geese – which is my favorite improv technique and also improv curves, which I find intriguing and I love the movement they add. Do you see the wave on the bottom right and the big curve with an inset fussy cut on the upper right? Believe me, those are easier to do than you may think! I also wanted to do a couple of special fussy cuts, like the little fish that says “swimming” and the river ferry.

My friend Kim, over at Persimon Dreams, is taking over the Scrap Quilt Challenge for 2016 and I am one of the bloggers who will be giving some tutorials and inspiration on how to use those lovely scraps I just know you have hanging out in your stash!

On February 15th I will have a tutorial on scrappy improv geese and how to do that gentle wave at the bottom right. I am excited to share how I do it. I’m certain that my way isn’t the only way, but if you are new to these techniques, I will give you a good idea of how to do it! You can see the rest of the bloggers here.

In the meantime this beautiful blue mini will be quilted with some matchstick quilting for a friend of mine and I just hope she loves it as much as I do!

Happy Sewing!