Start Your Improv Quilting on the Right Foot

My Approach to Improv Quilting

I have been practicing and enjoying improv quilting for many years. I was recently asked to present my approach to an improv quilt. So, here is my best attempt to make sense of the crazy swirling around in my head.

The first question you need to ask yourself is, “What is improv quilting?” There can be many answers to this and everyone’s answer can look different. I know some quilters who say improv quilting must be free cut (no rulers allowed), while others have a broader definition of just not knowing the end result when starting the quilt. This type of quilt can include precision piecing and traditional blocks but begin with not having a final plan. It can even require quite a bit of quilt math throughout the making process.

A group quilt I worked on, No Apologies, was not fully planned from the start. We knew each contributor would make units/blocks and then we would eventually incorporate them into the full quilt. As the blocks were completed we started to form a layout plan. There may have been some individuals who did some ruler free cutting but when assembling the quilt we used rulers the entire time.

I would also consider My Round Robin quilt to be improv. Although each person who added a round may have needed to do a lot of quilt math, and not every round is ‘wonky’ or free cut, the real determining factor that makes it improv is that the quilt was not planned from beginning to end. Each member of the round robin team had to develop their contribution when they received the quilt from the person who added before.

I tend to lean towards the side of just not having a plan makes a quilt improv. I don’t think that everything in an improv quilt needs to be ruler free or even “wonky” pieced. Once you decide for yourself what improv means to you, you can then proceed to making an improv quilt.

Even if you don’t know what your exact quilt will look like in the end, you can make a few decisions before starting. For my Quarantine Improv Quilt I decided that I would make a new block every week for 8 weeks. I made a list of 8-12 different types of units that are commonly used in quilt making so that I could choose from the list each week. My list consisted of: HSTs, squares, rectangles, log cabin, courthouse steps, applique blobs, triangles, flying geese, crosses, pluses, stripes, and curves. I wasn’t drawing sketches of what the blocks would look like, I was making lists of how I might move forward with the project.

I also decided that I wanted to use my small scraps of low volume fabrics and pull from my bin of small Michael Miller Cotton Couture scraps. I did not set a size requirement for my blocks but I knew I wanted them somewhat large and trimmed to a square.

For your own quilt you could set more restrictive parameters for shape, form, line or fabric and color use. Nothing I Desire made by Patti Coppock that hung at QuiltCon 2020 shows a restricted use of shape. She repeats the square/rectangle shape framed on three sides to create a very cohesive quilt design. She also restricted her colors to black/gray, white/off-white, blue, red, and gold.

Another example from QuiltCon 2020 is the quilt Out of Line by Steph Skardal that uses the repetitive curve shape. She cut everything without rulers and even left the edges not squared up.

Once you have made some decisions or lists about how to move forward with your project, you will find that the actual sewing of an improv quilt can be quite relaxing. There is some amount of freedom that comes with not needing to stick perfectly to a plan. As a fellow perfectionist (because I know it’s you perfectionists who are sitting there doubting this theory) I will say that there is something special about the imperfect parts of improv quilting.

Still questioning my logic? I challenge you to make a simple list and sew a small quilt or block. Choose just 2-3 fabrics from your scrap bin, pick a basic quilt shape like HSTs, and decide if you will be using rulers or not. Then, just sew. See where it takes you! Or you make your own improv quilt using the Quarantine Improv Quilt prompts!