AHIQ - share your improv #29

Welcome to the first AHIQ link up of 2018, and the start of a new invitational. We're thinking that we will run two this year rather than three, just to allow people some breathing space.  In the same spirit I have been trying to think about setting a challenge that might fit in with existing plans, for some of you at least.  I have hummed and hawed around this; there are 3 pinterest boards on the go and I have made notes on all 3 possibilities.  Even as I started to type this post I hadn't absolutely settled.  I do this in restaurants too - never know what I am going to order until everyone else has chosen and the waiter is looking at me expectantly.  But there comes a point when prevarication has to stop. So here goes...

I am suggesting that we have a play with the idea of scale.  When I started to think around this, I came up with lots of different possible approaches you could consider.  Here are just a few:

• Mix large and small versions of one block.  This sounds, perhaps like the most obvious option, but could range from something quite ordered, like this  to something much more wild and organic, like this quilt by Rosie Lee Tompkins, this one, made in the 1850s in Wales, or this variation on a Blazing Star (IQSCM; Robert and Helen Cargo Collection - you can click on the images for more details).

• Make one really big block, if you tend towards small bits (I'm looking at myself here).  I always admire single, large log cabin blocks but how about this giant pinwheel
• Try working with some smaller units, if you tend to head for large ones.  This quilt, made in the early 1900s, is mind-blowing (the smallest pieces are about 1/2"). Or how about this one? (IQSCM: Ardis and Robert James Collection).

• Throw some large scale prints into the mix.  This could work if you simply add large scale prints in with solids or small prints - here's a nice example - or what about this quilt by Alethea Ballard, who has used a large scale print to sash her housetop blocks?  A quick rummage through my fabric boxes threw up lots of stuff that I like, but that has been passed over lots and lots of times, mostly because I couldn't quite figure out what I wanted to do with it.

Try adding very fine lines to a piece, like Kathleen Loomis or this quilt by Paula Kovarik Find an inspiration piece that fits, like the ones above and then see where it leads you

Given that this is improv your end result doesn't even have to look like it started here - it really is about the process as much as the product.  Of course you are more than welcome to come up with your own take on the theme and push it in any direction you like.

I'm calling this Playing with Scale, so if you post on instagram you can use #AHIQ or "AHIQplayingwithscale and there is  a pinterest board with lots more lovely examples. 

Playing with Scale: done and dusted

I may be (still) behind with a lot of things, but my quilting is going just fine and as a result I have my second finish of the year, which makes me feel a whole lot better about everything else.

It's quilted with wonky concentric diamonds, largely following the shapes in the piecing. 

As usual you get a better idea from the back.

The binding is a black and white print - random letters, I think it's an old Cloud 9 print.

And the details.

Finished sized 65" square.

Pieced from a pile of shirts (you can see where I started here) and fabrics from stash.  The wadding is an organic cotton, new-to-me option.  There's been a wee bit of bearding showing on the black fabrics as I quilted, but it's pretty much settled down already so that wouldn't put me off using it again.  The quilting is done with perle no. 8 - I just pulled out everything in greens, browns, black, white, that I had in the box and got on with it. 

This was started on 30th January 2018 and the piecing was finished on 13th March that year.

I started quilting on 3rd February this year, finished on 9th March.

I feel like I met the challenge, to play around with scale pretty well, since I worked with much bigger units than I normally would and also used that large-scale black and green print.  And I made my first string quilt into the bargain, so all round I'm pretty happy with things.

A productive week

My finishes, like buses, all seem to come at once.  Of course this is not finished, as it still needs quilting, but the piecing is done.  I learnt my lesson on the left-hand side and didn't try any clever stuff over on the right, just stuck with geese and wedges.  Since we are still in the time frame for the AHIQ playing with scale challenge, please note the change of scale, from big to small geese, and, for that matter, big to smaller wedge-y bits too. I do like to stick to a brief!

Not only that, but it is backed, sandwiched and ready to quilt.  This needs to be done by September and given that I am currently quilting slower than the slowest snail I thought I'd better let it jump straight to the front of the queue.  I've never quilted something straight after I made it before, so it will be interesting to see if I like it.