Scarping is Done; Improv has Begun

Tah-dah! It's a quilt top - 72" X 86". Since my March 17 blog post, I've been scarping my scrap bins to make fabric that I cut into these Harvest Moon and yin-Yang blocks (my name for them) to make a total of 50 ten-inch (finished) blocks. 

Every convex and concave section was created with mumbo-jumbo pieced fabric, using-up as many small pieces as possible. Indeed, there are lots of seams in this quilt. 

If, after cutting-up a scrap, and even a 1½" square scrap remained, it was cut for my leaders-enders basket. The remaining littlest bits were tossed into a pre-made bag that will become a pet bed. 

Yesterday I cut setting triangles from black and white striped fabric - a Moda Essentials stripe purchased at QuiltCon - and pieced the top. 

As proof of the success of this "scarping my scraps" effort, below are the four scrap bins I worked from. Each had been full to the top with scraps.

Before, this first bin needed to be pushed down to fit into its cubby. The bin is labeled Neutrals/Yellow. Still it remains the bin with the most fabric scraps, not only neutrals and yellows, but also grays, and black and white prints. 

This Brights bin contains only multi-colored prints, many of which were not used in the Harvest Moon quilt top. Pressing scraps, and then cutting pieces to make an Unallocated quilt (free design by @mckillopmichelle) had more to do with this bin's reduction. 

This is the Green/Blue bin with aqua in there too.

This Orange/Red/Purple bin also has pink scraps.

Did you notice how short the piles are?! I am certainly pleased with the success of this scarping effort! 

Since last weekend's Two-Step: Dancing With the Wall virtual workshop with Irene Roderick @hixonir (in Austin, Texas), that's the project I most want to work on!

This workshop was fantastic! What Irene taught me about improv is invaluable!

I learned that improv is a technique that's truly "all about me." How do I feel about a shape? What do I like about a component? What do I think about how components look together? What do I want it to look like? How does the design make me feel?

Saturday, April 15

The most valuable lesson was to recognize that I must not plan ahead! It was challenging for some of the students to grasp that notion. We're so accustomed to thinking ahead:

"I'll put this component here, then make another one for over there, and maybe another one here in this color, and..."

That's exactly what not to do when creating improv. I must design as I go. Let what I see on my design wall dictate what comes next. This is not an easy thing to do!

Sunday, April 16

Since the workshop, I've learned I can't simply sit down for an evening - three or four hours - to create, sew, and design. It's much too draining. Instead, I will work on it for an hour or two before "letting it rest," give myself time away, and then come back later with fresh eyes.

Monday, April 17

At the end of each four-hour workshop, each person's work was spotlighted. We learned from Irene NOT to comment about what we were "seeing" in each piece. Don't say:

"That looks like handcuffs." 

"That looks like a Martian." 

"I see a woman's profile."

... as I did. 😔 (My apologies to my classmates.)

Keep your thoughts to yourself! The reason is that when you make such a comment to the creator, the creator will not be able to UNSEE what you've suggested... and the result is that your comment may make the creator dislike their design. 

Except for a positive comment about a particular component, keep your thoughts to yourself. 😊

Tuesday, April 18

Another realization... not one of the 17 of us is making a two-color quilt that looks like someone else's two-color quilt. I love that!

Because I always like to "go big" with my quilts, this will take more-than-usual "cooking time." As well, I've had to order two more yards each of my two fabrics - Painter's Palette Sachet (light lavender) and Patriot.

In any case, if you have a modicum of interest in improv, check out these Instagram hashtags suggested by Irene: #quiltdance #dancingwiththewall #contemporaryquilt

I also highly recommend taking a workshop with Irene. She encourages you to be you.

Book Recommendations

Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan is an enjoyable book, read by the author herself. The story provides an inside look into the world of an audiobook narrator. As this book points out, and as I've learned myself from listening to several hundred audiobooks over the last three years, the best narrators are actors.

That's the case with Sewanee Chester whose dream had been to act. However, a disfiguring accident sent her on a different path. She's now go-fer for her friend who owns a studio recording business where Sewanee herself records books under a pseudonym. However, Suwannee has sworn off narrating romance novels.

When she's asked to narrate a romance novel - the last one written by a famous romance novel-writer - with the mysterious narrator Brock McNight, she can't say no. The income is too good, and Sewanee needs the money to pay for her grandmother's nursing home care.

If you listen to this, be sure to also listen to Julia Whelan's author's notes at the end. There she explains how the characters came to be, and writing during the pandemic,  

Linda's score: 4.2/5.0

A Flicker in the Dark is Stacy Willingham's debut novel, and it's good.

Chloe was 12 when her father was convicted of the serial murders of a half-dozen teenaged girls in their small Louisiana town. Now she's living in Baton Rouge, a doctor with a physiology practice, and engaged to Daniel, in pharmaceutical sales. 

She's feeling anxiety as the 20th anniversary of her father's imprisonment approaches, as well as needing to make wedding plans, and visit her mother who's been in nursing home for years. As Chloe is going through self-analyzes, she's contacted by a New York Times reporter who's writing an article about what happened 20 years ago. In the meantime, a Baton Rouge teen has gone missing. Between the reporter's questions and this new threat, Chloe resurrects her 20 year-old feelings - guilt for the girls' deaths, and for being the person who turned in her father. 

This is one of those books begging you to guess "who did it?" I think I'm becoming jaded because I pegged the person within the first few chapters. Maybe I should be writing these types of stories! Ha!

Linda's score: 3.9/5.0 

Four days ago our front yard 25 foot-tall Bismarck was removed. (Previous blog post is a tribute to the palm.)  It will be a long time until we get over seeing this emptiness. 

Linda