Scrappy Improv Runner

I bought a copy of The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters by Sherri Wood last month and was fascinated by her ideas about quilting. Rather than working from a pattern, she works from a "score," a set of guidelines for the quilt instead of specific measurements and precise directions. So when Mom asked if I would make a small runner for the top of her bedroom dresser, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to give these techniques a try.

For my score, I decided to use rectangles cut by hand with scissors instead of a rotary cutter. For the color scheme, I alternated a rainbow of colors with low volume prints -- a look that I adore. I love playing with fabric to find the right balance of color and light in my projects. This has a cheerful look that's so bright and happy.

I backed the runner in a woven aqua gingham print from the new Checkers line by Cotton + Steel. It's quilted in straight lines about half an inch apart and bound in a low volume text print by Zen Chic.

I have to admit, improv quilting is fun. While I get a lot of pleasure from working with traditional patterns, there's nothing like sewing things together without worrying about matching points or perfect seams. That kind of freedom is so appealing, and I will definitely be doing this again.

Recipe for a Table Runner

Sew together a stack of prints by Anna Maria Horner.

Add some dense quilting courtesy of Aurifil thread in a lovely shade of gold. Be sure to sew back and forth in different directions to tug at the center seam so that it waves gently down the runner.

Include a Juliana Horner print on the back and some Kona Ivory for the binding.

Sit, stare, and be happy.

Summer

I considered so many different names for this quilt, but in the end I realized that the best one was simply "Summer."

The colors and prints that made their way into this piece remind me so much of the lazy summer days we spend here in Southern California on the edge of the desert. Blazing hot afternoons that fade into quiet evenings on the back patio. Long walks at local botanical gardens where my girls play hide and seek between the fruit trees. Our annual road trip to Arizona for a week with my husband's parents where we swim and hike and look for bunnies among the cactus each night before bed. These are the moments, I tell myself often, that I'm going to want to remember someday.

Fabrics by Heather Ross are the star here, but there are also a variety of other prints from my stash included. I tried not to stray far from a color palette of pale blue, orange, yellow, brown, grey, and white. The chocolate brown print by Lotta Jansdotter that I chose for the binding makes a nice frame around it all.

While I enjoy designing a quilt, I'm not always as big a fan of the quilting. Remembering how long it took me to make all those straight lines on my first Heather Ross quilt, I felt a little tired when I sat down to work on this piece. Then I decided, why not have fun with this one? So I did straight lines, wavy lines, echo quilting, free motion boxes, and even played around with several specialty stitches on my machine. Is it perfect? Nope. But I can tell you that this was by far the most enjoyable afternoon of quilting I've ever spent.

I finished the quilt this afternoon, the same day that my husband wrapped up another year of teaching and came home to start two months of summer vacation with me and the girls. And I intend to enjoy every minute of it.

Linking up with Finish It Up Friday.

Once Upon a Time

After a more than a year of collecting fabric and just over a month of sewing, my Heather Ross quilt is finally done. I love this quilt dearly, though there were times when I wasn't sure it was meant to be. I've never taken such an improvisational turn at quilting before, and though it was way out of my comfort zone, I'm not one bit sorry that I took the trip. I'm calling this one "Once Upon a Time."

Making a quilt this way is crazy. I wasn't even sure where to begin. After thinking and sketching and thinking some more, I finally decided to start by making some blocks that I loved and then building around those. I looked at my favorites on Flickr and Pinterest and pulled out a few that I liked: the wonky star, the postage stamp, the winged square nine patch (favorite block of all time -- I can't wait to make another one of these).

But putting them together was difficult. I wanted things to look a little more random than your basic sampler quilt. I also realized that I was going to need more than only Heather Ross fabrics, so I pulled some extra prints that coordinated. A definite color scheme began to emerge, and I had to rip out some things that didn't go, add some things to balance what stayed behind. I spent one evening just picking up fabric sections and moving them around over and over again. Panic hit me when I began to fear that this was all a mistake. Half of me wanted to rip it all apart and admit defeat, but I just couldn't give it up.

But, oh my goodness, that moment when I started to like it -- when I started to love it. It was worth every hour of angst that came before. As I began sewing the different sections together, it came alive for me, and suddenly I loved the challenge and excitement of seeing what was going to happen next with this quilt.

I had intended to hand quilt this piece, and I even spent about two hours on that, but in the end it just wasn't working for me. I ripped out all the hand stitches (even though it about killed me to do it) and did it all by machine. Again, I'm learning: if you don't like it, don't leave it that way -- even if it means taking apart something you've poured a lot of time into. You'll hate what you don't like every time you look at it, so you might as well start over and do it right.

I'll be perfectly honest, the back is nothing fancy. This quilt is going to be hanging on the wall in Bunny and Bear's room, so no one's going to be looking at that side. Just in case it ever comes down, though, I picked out some pretty fabrics for the back.

And there you have it: so many lessons wrapped up in one little quilt. It somehow seems fitting that I'm passing this one on to my daughters. They're still growing up so much every day, and strangely enough, I am too. It feels good to know that challenges -- even little ones...even sewing ones -- don't have to beat us if we don't let them.

Linking up to Finish It Up Friday.