Tag Archives: Kona Peapod

Improv Bee Block: Any Improv • 2 Comments

sarah • January 4, 2026

In August, Emily pointed us to Bow Bridge in Central Park at spring sunny day by Helen Denisevich for our color inspiration. She asked us to choose two color groupings inspired by the vibrant colors in the watercolor and ink painting. She wanted a 12" x 12" block with a small section of one color group surrounded by the second color group. Any improv we'd like!

I loved the greens in the painting, ranging from yellow-greens into blue-greens, so I pulled fabric for that to be one of my groupings. Then I focused on the pinks in the tree and chose a variety of pinks, light to dark.

My finished block is approximately 12" x 12". The pink section in the center was informed by the shape of my scraps, starting with the largest triangle in the center.

The green section to the left of my center section was informed by scraps that were wedge shaped.

I pieced green strips for the top section, but when that was too boring for me I made a couple vertical slices to insert additional pieced sections.

I love having beautiful, saturated bold colors in a prompt. And the freedom to do any improv pieced we'd like meant that I could just play with the fabric. It was such a joy to create.

Improv Two Color Sash Bee “Block”

sarah • February 14, 2022

I owe you some bee block show and tell. Back in December, Elizabeth asked us to make a 2-color sash. She wanted us to pick two rainbow colors (no black, white, or grey) and create a long skinny "sash" created of numerous improv components. Target 4”-6” wide and 30”-60” long.

I chose Kona Cerise and Peapod for my two colors and went to town. I had so much fun creating the components and piecing them together.

I started with a pair of improv triangles and some wonky strips.

This piece came from a tutorial by Cheryl Arkison, week one of her 2022 Quilters' Playcation Adventure Sew Along.

My full sash finished at approximately 6" x 60". I can't wait to see what Elizabeth does with her collection of sashes!

Update: Elizabeth finished her quilt!

Positivity Mini Quilt – Book Blog Tour • 6 Comments

sarah • October 13, 2021

Welcome to my stop on the Scrappy Improv Quilting blog tour!

In 2018, I created Citrus Beach Retreat, my version of Kelly Young's Beach Retreat pattern from her first book, Stash Statement. Today I'm sharing a mini quilt from her latest book, Scrappy Improv Quilting. Both books are available from Kelly's Etsy shop or from large retailers like Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

One of my favorite ways to use fabric scraps is to sew them together into what I call a Scrappy Slab. My newest guild offering is a live lecture/demo on Zoom demonstrating my technique. In August, during my presentation for Tuleburg Quilt Guild, I sewed together my turquoise scraps which was the beginning of this quilt.

I chose to make Positivity, a 20" x 20" mini quilt. Mine features turquoise and navy scrappy improv paired with Kona Peapod for the background. I quilted with a variety of colors and weights of Aurifil in irregularly spaced vertical lines.

Kelly's book features 22 mini quilts in a variety of styles, all using her scrappy improv as the feature of the design. This is such a great way to get some of your fabric out of the scrap bin and into a finished quilt! And the book is packed with tips and tricks for every step in the quilt making process.