Monday, July 6, 2015

The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters Blog Hop - part deux- and a Giveaway!!

It was December of 2013 when I first heard of Sherri Lynn Wood. A guild member had suggested her as a speaker. Curious, I popped over to her blog to check her out. I hadn't done a lot of improv quilting up to this point (that was about to change!) and was intrigued by her quilts. It just so happened she was putting a call out to quilters to test some ideas she had for her upcoming book The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters





I'm a hand raiser. I said yes. A week later I was given my assignment.

I was to test her Bias Petals  score. Sherri gave us some general guidelines and links to helpful videos. Then it was up to us to create.

From the beginning, I knew I would improv piece the centers of my petals. 






From there, I figured I'd arrange them in a flower shape and call it a day. 



Eh, it's okay. Not great. I took the shapes to my design wall. There they were, all lined up like little kayaks. Or surfboards. 



This felt right. 

I'd love to say that the rest was smooth sailing (see what I did there?) But it wasn't. How to fit an oval peg into a rectangular hole, or something like that. I struggled for a while. Tried some things, ripped them out. Then I quit. ("I don't have time for this. I don't owe her anything. She doesn't know me. She'll have plenty of other testers.)

And after I talked myself off the ledge, I figured it out. 

But really, it wasn't until I got to the point of squaring up the rectangles, that I felt comfortable again. That's what improv (and this book) will do to you. Push you out of your comfort zone, make you try new things, make you make things you don't like, until you get to the other side and realize you love what you made.

Here's my quilt: Surf


I took a picture. Sent it off. Hoped for the best.

And a few months later got this email from Sherri Lynn: 

Thank you for submitting your quilt, "Surf". We love it and would like to publish it in the Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters. There were 164 amazing submissions and 22 were chosen for publication. Congratulations! 

And there you have it!

Here's my page in the book ( I'm neighbors with the awesome Sarah Fielke I might add!)



About that giveaway.....would you like to win a copy of the book?

Just leave a comment about improv piecing. Love it, hate it, never tried it, etc. For an extra chance, follow me on instagram, then come back and let me know.  A winner will be chosen July 13th. Please make sure I have a way to reach you by email.

Please visit these other quilters included in the blog hop:

July 1: The Quilting Edge by Marianne Haak with giveaway!
July 6: Heather Kojan Quilts with giveaway! (you are here!)

Thanks for visiting and good luck!


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