Tag Archives: improv piecing

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Our July prompt for Quilts Unscripted Bee was from E.A. She asked us to make two 13" blocks, one in solids and one in blenders. We could choose any color combination for each block and piece in any style of improv. We were asked to ideally use the two colors equally in each block. And we were encouraged to consider choosing our high school's colors for one of the two blocks.

I went with maroon and grey for the solids, maroon being the school color of my high school. My fabric choices were Kona Garnet and Kona Iron (I think). For this block I started with two rectangles of fabric approximately the same time. I sewed them together, then trimmed pieces off, leaving the remaining parts approximately equal areas. I sewed the opposite fabric onto each side and repeated, cutting and moving pieces around always keeping an eye on staying about 50/50 with each color.

For my second block, I chose purple and teal blenders from my stash. I made a bunch of improv 4-patch units in varying sizes and then arranged them to puzzle together into an oversized square, purposefully avoiding a full checkerboard layout specifically because the units were different sizes. I added a little bonus teal to fill out to square.

This was a fun opportunity to play since we had free rein on style of piecing. E.A. also asked for a signature block for each block (since she intended to make one quilt from the solids and one quilt from the blenders). I included a bit of my scrap fabric in each signature block.

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This is my submission for the "Just the Top" category of the Pantone Quilt Challenge 2023.

  • Viva Magenta Confetti
  • 32.5" x 32.5"
  • Sarah Goer, USA

I spent 25 days of daily practice building these improv blocks. Then trimmed them all to the same size block. My background fabrics are pinks, oranges, and yellows, including Kona Pomegranate (my Viva Magenta). My strips are all turquoise/aqua in a variety of values. And my corner triangles are mostly greens in light to medium values. I tipped close to yellow with the inclusion of Kona Acid Lime and Kona Limelight.

I'm linking up with "Just the Top" for the Viva Magenta challenge. Thank you to Sarah and Elizabeth for hosting, and to all the judges and sponsors!

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In May, E. A. asked us to make two-color blocks that contained the word "hope."

For my first block I chose Kona Cerise and green to make some skinny strip letters. My skinny strips finish at 1/8" wide. I created boxy letters improvisationally, but aimed for the letters to all be about the same height. The letters are about 6 1/2" tall and the block finished at about 12" x 10".

In my second block I chose a much lower contrast color combination with dark purple and dark grey. I improv cut all the pieces for my letters in a variety of chunky styles.

Here are my finished blocks and here's a peek at the full quilt.