Begin Improv II

Wow this is a quick pace to keep up! I wish I had more time to work on these improv pieces. I will be teaching a class on improv piecing at a retreat at the end of February and want to have a good body of work to show. I am hoping for about 6 or 7 little pieces with quick demos to get the students familiar with how to work with improv and get them going on their own designs.

I finished the top for Improv I. I do not think that any additional lines will add to what is there so the top is finished. I will quilt this at a later time and there are many directions the quilting can take. But for now here is the finished top:

I decided to forge ahead and begin the next Improv II. There are so many things to choose from that chosing just the right one was hard. I finally decided on a few pieces to be the inspiration, or at least the style of piecing. The first piece is "Risky Balance" by Janet Steadman www2.whidbey.net/jandon The second piece is by Cinda Langjahr and and it is called "A Clearing in the Woods". It can be seen on: http://beadlust.blogspot.com/2009/11/bead-embroidery-quilt-show-bead.html just scroll down the page. There are some close ups of the work as well.

Here is a little project I pieced a few years ago that has a similar piecing style. I am not sure if this will be incorporated into this piece or not.

I began with a palate of browns from dark to lights and then a few other colors (blue, green and purple slipped in as accent colors). This is just a starting point and will be the background fabrics.

 Here is the first component of the quilt. The colorful pieces were gleaned from the scrap bin.......nope not enough to even call it microscopic dent. It is a good starting point to work from. The next steps will be to make more similar pieces and then plan how they will go together. At this stage I am thinking more long lines the first piece "Risky Balance and they will be vertical instead of horizontal. But.................and this is a big part of improv.........that might all change. With an improv piece I never know what direction the piece will take me, I just have to keep up with it and follow where it leads.

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