Two Improv Quilts Finished

Over The Limit II

 I managed Three finishes for June. The first one was the Scrappy Trip Around the World I posted already. The Over The Limit series is something I have tried in two colorways so far. I actually decided to quilt the second one in the series first because I liked the bright vibrant colorway of the orange and blue. The quilting looks very simple and straightforward but it took forever. There were many stops and starts and Five thread color changes. Since I bury all my thread tails that made for lots of knotting and pulling those thread tails under the layers.

Over The Limit II (closeup)

 The next quilt is called Energy. It was the first thing that I stared in the past four years. I made it for a challenge for the About.com Arizona Quilt Retreat in Phoenix. The rules were very simple. The shapes had to be 2" by 2" or 4" or 6" or 8".  I had been looking at lots of improv quilts on Pinterest and found a few inspiration pieces. I loved the bright orange and deep blue colorway. I began by cutting the blue pieces. I pulled out fabrics and just cut the sizes above. Then I cut a series of orange and began laying things out till I liked the way it looked.

Energy

                     

Energy (closeup)

The quilting on Energy was really fun. I quilted lines across the blue. They are not spaced evenly........consistantly inconsistant. Some are only 1/8" apart. Then I did a swirling spike like little suns in the orange. I really love how this one came out.

Finding Your Creative Voice

Sometimes you have to be silent for some time to find your artistic voice. I have always loved creating things. With life events I had to step back from my creativity for a few years. It is the coming back that is exciting. When you have not done much in the way of creativity in some time you can begin again, but with a new prospective. This year I began my new series of Improv quilts. These are not about traditional, they are about color, shape and feeling. I really like how this one is starting to come together. I am very excited about what is beginning to happen with this new kind of work. It is no longer about thinking outside of the box. I forgot where I left the box and what the box was about. Instead I am thinking of spontaneous creation of color, shape and ideas. I really love this series of Over The Limit. It is really a variation of a very old traditional design called Drunkard's Path. Over The Limit is a more modern phrase for drunkenness.

The piece above is on the Longarm and is in progress. Only the top row has any quilting on it. I have continued to work on this and now all the blocks have quilting. I am slowly adding more quilting and more color with the threads. I not only enjoyed the piecing of this, but am now enjoying the spontaneity of the quilting process as well. This kind of quilting is new to me and I am really just making it up as I go. The color is really there, now it is about feeling and movement. I love the direction this is moving.