Piecing component of Improv II tutorial

Here is a play by play of how the parts of Improv II are pieced. There is no exact piecing here. Cut, sew, cut, sew. It is important that the pieces not be square. Wonkey is the best word to describe how this is going to look. For the tutorial I used squares and cut them up a bit but you can just pull stuff out of the scrap bin with non parallel edges as well.

Below is the base piece which is a nice rust to go with the brown theme I chose for the quilt. I auditioned squares of fabric and finally selected the following four. They are positioned they way I would like them in the finished block.

 Beginning with the base fabric (it is important to ensure that you have a piece the size you will need. Cut off a strip of fabric which will be subcut into the pieces that will go between the pieces of fabrics selected above. Think of these pieces as spacers between the squares above.

Below are the spacers subcut and placed between the pieces of fabric. This gives a rough idea of the look of the pieces.

Now comes the fun part of cutting and sewing the above parts together. Remember the look for this is "Wonkey" so the pieces need to be cut so they are irregular. Be careful with this as you do not want to cut too much of an angle of the finished strip will be way to "Wonkey"

Below left you can see one unit sewn together and the parts above and below it have been subcut. Notice that the parts that will fit together have wedges that go at alternate angles. The green piece halfway down angles down to the right. The top of the piece below it also angles down to the right. 

Below right the strip is all pieced and placed on top of the base fabric. With the amount of fabric sticking out on the left where it should be after the cut is made in mind.

At the right you can see the cutting line. With a rotary cutter the line is cut so that it has a nice smooth curve that trims off just enough of the strip so that there are no angles.

At the left is the seam being sewn. Because of the way this is cut it needs a very narrow seam so that it will lie flat once sewn. A 1/8 inch seam is used. The top piece is moved to line up with the bottom piece as the seam is slowly sewn. Once the seam is sewn the seam is pressed away from the center strip. This piece is then laid down on the base fabric again and a cut is made on the right side of the center strip like the photo above.

And.................here is the finished unit! I will sew another part that will be attached to this to make the strip longer. The base fabric will be different but it will use the same kind of piecing. I will make about 5 of these long pieces as each is about 6-8 inches wide. I will make another tutorial to show the next steps once all these 5 pieces are sewn together. I hope that the photos and instructions are clear. This is a variation of piecing methods that I figured out by looking at other similar types of piecing. It is fun and fast. There is not precision.