Inspirational Sunday (1) - via QuiltConWest 2016

Welcome!  If you are new here, Inspirational Sundays is where I post pictures from whichever quilt show I have been to recently so that we can all see the quilty goodness and be inspired.  For the next few Sundays, I will be sharing some pictures from QuiltConWest.

This week, I chose to share some of my favorites in the Improvisation category.




The quilt above is called "Tranquility" by Kristin Shields of Bend, Oregon.   I like the central block with all the half square triangles, and I particularly enjoy the neutral tones with small pops of color.

It is machine pieced and machine quilted without a frame.

Next up is "One Earth" by Kathy York of Austin, Texas.



I am drawn to circular and spiral shapes, so this one caught my eye right away.  I like the improve curves creating the center circle, but I also really like the "stems" all around the circle.

It is machine pieced and machine appliqued (fusible applique), and also machine quilted without a frame.





The quilt above is called "Lunar Orbit" by Victoria Mansfield of Alexandra Hills, Queensland, Australia.  It is machine pieced, machine appliqued, and machine quilted without a frame.

As I said, I am drawn to circular shapes.  What I thought was interesting about this one is that it looked like she improv pieced all the blue fabrics together, then cut out the circular shapes and appliqued them together and onto the background.  I also like how the outer edges of the circles are much darker in value which really makes the transitions between shapes stand out and gives you the feeling that they are three dimensional instead of flat.

I also found it interesting to read in her description that she quilted the background first, added the bigger circle with an extra layer of batting, quilted that, then added the smaller circle with another extra layer of batting, and finished the quilting.  So the small circle has 5 layers of batting under it, while the white background only has 2.  This was to help the circles appear more 3D, but I just find putting the quilt together backwards fascinating.  I have considered doing some of my landscape type quilts like this, but haven't tried it.

Next up is "Night Flight no. 1" by Heidi Parkes of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.




It was machine pieced and hand quilted.  It depicts how the earth looks at night from flight above.  Heidi won 2nd place in the Improvisation category.

Tidbit: 1st prize in this category went to "The One for Eric" by Chawne Kimber of Easton, Pennsylvania.  I already shared a pic of it on Wednesday, HERE.

Finally, there is "Kill it with Fire" by Libs Elliott of Los Angeles, CA.  This quilt was quilted by Rachael Dorr.  It is machine pieced and quilted on a frame.





Honestly, this is not one of my favorite quilts.  I guess it was created in tandem with a quilt by Luke Haynes who started with the same fabric.  I completely missed his quilt if it was at the show.

While I find some of the fabrics, jarring, I do like sections of this quilt very much.  The section near the center with all the solids, I find the combination of lines there appealing.  And the quilting, I really enjoyed looking at the quilting.  Here is a close up of some of it.




I think it is really cool how the feathers in the red section carry through the yellow polka dots in the blue section.  The quilt was filled with fun little surprises like that.

Tidbit: this quilt was for sale for $8000.  It had not sold when I walked by it on Saturday.


I must admit that I have had a rocky relationship with improv piecing, myself.  I used the technique whenever I made a Tinker Tote and have made a few improv log cabin blocks that went well.  However, when I took Sherri Lynn Wood's improv curve class at last year's QuiltCon.  It did NOT go well.  I don't think it was just the "curve" part either!

Have you tried improvisational piecing?  Did you just jump right in and try it out, or did you get direction from a particular book or class?  I would love to hear more about your experience with improvisational piecing.

Thanks for reading today,

Jen