Ever wonder about Sour Punch?

Sour Punch Continued

Do you ever wonder what happened to the string quilt I started this summer? The one based on a Gwen Marston pattern? You can catch a glimpse of it on the Stash books blog today and see it a lot further along than it was in June.

Why isn't it finished? Well, I learned an important lesson making that top. I learned that sometimes going with the flow will result in a tall skinny quilt instead of a average sized lap quilt. Oops. It needs a little beefing up if I want to cover both sides of me at the same time. Soon my pretty, soon.

On the Stash blog post, Alison wrote about improv. I demoed the improv string technique at a recent guild meeting and at the same meeting, we got to see Alison demo her log cabin blocks. It was so inspiring to see her work. She just goes for it and I love that about her. Working without planning is the hardest part for me. I needed lots of hand holding and some good natured teasing.

Put down the ruler!

Just start already!

You can do it!!

I ended up having so much fun and I even made the log cabin block below. Yes! It felt great. Do you know what saved my sanity? Color placement. As long as I could choose the colors, and choose how they went together, I was happy. I didn't need my ruler, diagram, cutting list and measurements. See that strip, the very left of center (red gingham, black with white pin dots, baby blue solid)? THAT is my favorite part of the whole thing!!!

Image Source: Stash Books

Do you have any improv tips? Paper bags? Piles of scraps? Glass of wine? I'd love to hear.
-A

Sour Punch Continued...

Fired up to create! 

This stack of fabrics was sitting on my cutting table waiting for a turn to play. There was no plan for a quilt when I bought them, I just knew I had to have them. It happens.

Sunny yellows, sour greens, cool grays and a touch of black

I received Liberated String Quilts by Gwen Marston in a recent guild swap. They had me at Gwen! It's packed with inspiration and I started to get an itchy cutting finger just bringing it home. Sometimes you have to start something when the mood strikes. 

Liberated String Quilts by Gwen Marston

I pulled even more yellow, green and gray fabric from my stash. The more variety the better! I wanted to try a herringbone - string quilt. Gwen has a great version in her book called Chevron String Bars. She recommends cutting and placing your pieces in a paper bag for a random look. Try it, it's liberating!

Strings on the worktable

Last night I couldn't stop piecing. I kept going and going; picking up two sets of strips and running them through my sewing machine. The repetitive almost mindless sewing was just what this busy Mama needed.

Since I didn't plan it out ahead of time I wasn't sure what it was going to look like put together. I was so excited to see these gorgeous patchwork rows emerge from the back of my machine.

I still have a long way to go, but for me, right now, this is just right.

Happy summer,

-A