I went too long without posting anything and now it’s hard to get back into that mindset! I have been doing lots of creating, I’ve just been bad at sharing. I’d also love to have finished something before I share it and I guess that’s where I’ve been stuck; I have too many WIPS (works in progress). BUT, it can be fun to share a WIP, because then you can see how things transform. Time to share a WIP!
Last weekend I went to my hometown thrift store and sorted through the fabric options. There really wasn’t much but I found a nice little bundle of solids for $2.00–can’t beat that! When I got them home I realized they were scraps from someone else’s project (dying to know what they made!) and they look mostly like they were cut up sheets. They feel like cotton but might be a blend. I got right to messing around with them.
The first thing I made was a flying geese block because I’ve never made one before. Easy peasy (uh, except the point got buried in the seam oops). Then I made some four square patchwork pieces, a log cabin block (pictured further below in the post) and kept adding checkered pieces and strips here and there as I saw fit.
I think I love improv quilting without a plan like this so much because that’s just it: I don’t need a plan. I can just make little pieces, add to them, cut things off as needed to make it fit. I don’t have to measure, sometimes I don’t even use a straight edge to cut! It’s so much fun and a great way to get into sewing and quilting if you’ve been wanting to start but it feels intimidating to you. It’s also just such low stakes if you’re using cheap fabric scraps because who cares if you make a mistake? I also love to collage and playing with fabric in this way reminds me of that. However, it’s disappointingly slow sometimes. I often sit and analyze too long about what should go where, how can I balance things, but for the most part I get into a good flow and have fun.
I’m surprised how much I like these colors together too. I probably wouldn’t have picked out the beige and the green but here I think they work well with the other colors. I especially love the green with the pink and the green with the greyish-purple.
I’m not sure what I’m going to turn this piece into (Edit: I turned it into a vest in January 2025! Read about it here). I usually, automatically think I need to go big(ger) and make a throw quilt but there’s so much satisfaction too in working small and getting something done. I don’t have any quilted wallhangings or pillows, so maybe that’s where this is going. Stay tuned.
A Perfect Sandwich 