The Endeavourers, No 4, Improv

The theme chosen by the Endeavourers for this quarter was Improv.

Probably everyone has their own idea about what improv means in quilting terms.  In general terms it means "to create spontaneously without preparation, or to produce or make something from whatever is available."

Anyway, thinking about the two definitions I started with the idea of producing something from whatever was available.  I thought that this suggests making the most of limited options so rather than pick and choose from my stash I artificially limited the options by choosing to use a pile of small pieces of interiors fabric (possibly linen shot with silk) from a sample book I picked up in a remnant bin.

Then I tried to be spontaneous!  First, I spent a lot of time thinking how to be spontaneous....  Then I worked out a plan for spontaneity...   I decided to make piles of samples and cut them stack and slash style.  Then I mixed them up prior to sewing them back together.  I tried to be random but couldn't help making a few changes when too many pieces of the same colour or tone ended up together.  Having pieced my blocks I spread them out randomly, but again I had to make a few changes because I wanted to have an even distribution of colours and tones, without any distracting clumps. 

Because I cut the piles in different ways, some of the blocks turned out a slightly different size from the others, but I didn't trim them down - yay, spontaneity.  As I joined the blocks into the quilt I threw some gold fabric into the mix, but I think this was less spontaneity and more obsessive tweaking. 

The quilt was very insistent that it wanted organic (spontaneous) pinstripe quilting in Aurifil wool, but unfortunately it only made its mind up about this once I had already quilted in the ditch, so I had to do a lot of unpicking and I'm still not convinced the quilt was right.   

I did enjoy making it, and it was fun trying not to overthink things, though it somehow took a very long time.   I do wish I'd been more adventurous.  Setting the personal challenge of using the sample book fabrics limited the options a bit and this theme has made me think about future experiments where I had more materials to choose from.

I think the idea of improv suggests that the results are random but in fact that's not really the case.  In (successful) improv comedy nobody just stands and shouts random words.  There's usually some underlying structure, like a chord progression in improv jazz,  that makes sense of the result.    In quilting you actually have to get your pieces to fit together into quilt form, and aesthetic considerations mean that you might be spontaneous only up to a point.

I'm looking forward to seeing how the other members of the group treated the theme.  You can find us all together on the blog, where there are also links to each individual member.

Quilt photo fail

Quilt details:

Approximately 2 x 3 ft
Furnishing fabrics, content unknown, possibly linen/silk
Quilted with Auriful lana