Tag Archives: all about angles

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My passion is planned improv piecing. I enjoy giving myself a set of rules to follow (or break!) as create.

While demoing my technique in my All About Angles classes, I always cut up some fabric to show how I create my starting pieces. Sometimes these are part of a work in progress, but sometimes I just start with a new pile of fabric I'm excited to work with. In this case it was the latter. I started with five Alison Glass Kaleidoscope solids: Tomato, Sunflower, Raisin, Cherry, Goldenrod.

I was drawn to this autumn palette. As I put together my improv piecing, I was reminded of the changing colors of the Fall season. I find labeling the selvage edge of my solid fabrics with a sharpie to be a helpful way to remember which color is which. In this case "AG" is for Alison Glass.

I opted for a variety of weights and colors of thread for walking foot quilting echoing my piecing lines, Aurifil 12wt Paprika (#2270), 40wt Brass (#2975), 50wt Yellow (#2135), and 12wt Burgundy (#1103).

I finished the quilt with a faced binding and a mini sleeve. (Label coming soon!)

Fractured is 12" x 12". It is my first SAQA donation piece, for this year's SAQA Benefit Auction, which will take place September 10 through October 3. Be sure you are subscribed to my newsletter if you'd like to be reminded of the auction in September. If you'd like to have me visit your guild or group to teach my All About Angles piecing technique (or one of my other workshops), please send your program chair to my Teaching page.

Thanks for visiting!

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I've been teaching All About Angles workshops since 2019. This project is actually the first quilt top that I pieced for myself in this style, way back before that time. I had selected the color palette, because these sunset colors called out to me and the pile of fabric hung out together on my shelf for quite some time before I cut into it to create this small quilt top.

Like many quilters, I've been wanting to finish up some of my WIPs. I participated in a 100 Day Project January 30 - May 10, free motion quilting for at least fifteen minutes a day. I prioritized finishing up quilt tops, including this one. I spent 33 days quilting this 24" x 19" quilt, meaning I spent well over 8 hours quilting it. I really enjoyed the process since I worked a bit at a time and wasn't hurrying to meet a deadline. This is important for me, because I am generally a procrastinator who is super motivated by a deadline, which can really limit the possibilities for the late stages of making a quilt. Can anyone relate?

I started by extending the diagonal lines from the piecing as well as reflecting them, continuing until I had divided the quilt into many areas of a variety of sizes. This step could have been done with a walking foot though I chose to free motion these lines. I marked my lines with a chalk pencil or disappearing marker.

Then I really had fun, choosing a different motif for each section, I started by echo quilting within the section before filling it in with the chosen motif. These motifs came from my usual FMQ toolbox as well as inspiration from Step-by-Step Texture Quilting by Christina Cameli (my newest quilt book) and The Ultimate Guide to Machine Quilting by Angela Walters and Christina Watson (affiliate links). Everything is quilted in 50wt Aurifil: Magenta (#2535), Red Orange (#2245), Bright Orange (#1133), and Medium Purple (#2545).

Pin for reference. Some of my motifs were very small patterns.

Sunset All About Angles was finished with a faced binding, which was a choice to further emphasize the quilting as the star.

My All About Angles class is available to guilds on Zoom. I teach a set of rules to create improv units that use the same angle, with no math or special tools. There are so many ways to utilize these units in a final composition. Please send your guild program chair to my teaching page for all the info. Thanks!

 

I've linked up to May's Favorite Finish linkup with Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs.

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I've really been enjoying connecting with guilds on Zoom. I recently joined the Ocean Waves Quilt Guild in Lewes, DE to share my Rules and Options of Planned Improv Piecing lecture and teach All About Angles. This workshop is one of my Planned Improv workshops where I present a technique and set of rules to follow, with lots of options for students to make the composition their own. From fabric choices to color placement, sizes and angles of cutting, and other unique twists, I love that everyone's finished projects look unique in the end. Here are the progress or finished photos I've received from students in that workshop.

by Allison

by Linda Grigsby

by Dottie Vuono

by Kathy V.

by Trisha Moller

Quilt of Valor by Carol O.

It's hard to tell from the photos but these projects range from mini quilt to lap quilt, with a variety of sizes in between. One of the things I love about improv piecing is you can keep going until it's the size you want (or as long as you're still having fun). Students sometimes set a size parameter as part of their own initial rules, for example, planning for a placemat-sized finished quilt. The use of additional elements, borders, and strips of fabric really add to the variety of options with the All About Angles technique.

You can read about all my workshop and lecture offerings on my Teaching page. I'd love to visit your guild on Zoom.