Blog / improv

Something I've enjoyed doing the past few years is working with local photographers to photograph my work. Through doing this, I've been able to meet other local creative women, have my work photographed in a number of beautiful spaces, and create a high-quality visual archive of my quilts.

My most recent photoshoot took place last February, in the Cause Creative space in Essex, MA. I drove out there with a handful of my quilts and a pair of pillows and handed them over to Ashley Brooks (the owner of Cause Creative), who styled them in her beautiful space, and Jesika Theos, who photographed them. 

The resulting images are some of my favorites. Because the space was so large, I was able to bring my larger throw quilts to be photographed---something that's harder for me to do on my own. Among the work I brought that day were an Amish Hourglass Throw Quilt (pictured above); a Chambray Log Cabin Throw Quilt (featured in the beginning and end of this post); and the Minimal Stripes Throw Quilt pictured below.

I also brought along two improvisationally pieced lumbar pillows, made from an assortment of neutral scraps, including treasured hand-printed fabrics from Cotton & Flax and Maze & Vale. 

Having my work photographed so beautifully in such a warm space meant so much to me, and I hope you enjoy the images as much as I do. If you're interested, you can shop all of the pieces that were photographed that day here. 

All photos in this post by Jesika Theos. 

I have a new quilt to share with you today! Pulling entirely from my bin of solid fabric scraps, I pieced this quilt top bit by bit, without a set plan, over the course of a few months. My only guideline was to match up scraps of similar lengths whenever possible. 

I stopped piecing once I reached a size I was happy with, which in this case was approximately 57 inches x 77 inches, an excellent size for a throw quilt.

I selected a wool batting for the quilt's inside, to give it a bit of loft; made a super soft backing from voile and Swiss dot fabrics; and finished the quilt with diagonal quilting lines and a scrappy binding. 

I predict this quilt will be in heavy rotation on our couch this fall and winter!

This year, I'm so excited to once again participate in the Umbrella Prints Trimmings Competition, an annual sewing competition to transform a pack of scraps from the Australian fabric company into something fun. (You can see my 2013 entry here, and my 2012 entry here.)

As many of you know, my husband and I recently purchased our first home, so I set out to make a wall quilt from the trimmings to hang above our new bed. I took an improvisational approach to making this quilt, allowing the trimmings themselves to dictate the size of the blocks and the width and number of strips I created from each. I paired the trimmings with white and cream solids from my stash, and built of up each block until it was a uniform 8.5" square. 

After assembling the top, I basted the quilt and quilted it with matchstick lines, something I tend to reserve only for small quilts since it's a time-consuming process (but well worth it!). 

The quilting lines bend and pivot, creating right angles throughout the quilt. I also left a few rectangular areas unquilted to mimic the strips and vary the texture of the top.

For both the binding and the backing, I used a pretty peach-and-mustard print by Carolyn Friedlander that coordinated perfectly with the scraps, which I picked up in a fabric shop on a recent trip to Michigan. 

I'm so happy with how this quilt turned out, and I'm most excited to have our new bedroom finally start to come together!

Voting for the competition opens on June 1, and I can't wait to see what everyone else has created! If you'd like to vote for your favorite entries, simply re-pin, like, or comment on them on this Pinterest board until June 6. Happy pinning!