Improv For Planners - the pink and white one
I finally got my third Improv For Planners quilt finished!
The first two I made were class samples for the Improv For Planners workshops, and they used the 2 colour system that the pattern recommends to start with. But as I have been getting more adventurous with improv quilting, I wanted to try out some of the ideas I was playing around with on the computer and create a different version.
A New Version of My Improv For Planners Quilt
With this one I wanted to try out having just one of the colours in a gradient and using a single fabric for the second colour to act as a kind of background. I picked white because that's what I had on hand, and also added a 6th shade of pink, rather than the 4-5 the pattern asks for.
The exercise I gave myself for this quilt was going from having no background at all in my quilt blocks, to trying to figure out what part of the blocks I wanted to highlight and what I wanted to be the background.
If you look closely, there are a few blocks that I repeated, but changed up what was background and what was the main design. The two images below show a chevron block I switched up a little by doing pink chevrons on white background for the first block, but then for the second version I did the chevrons in white, and the background in pink. I like how that changes look of the block quite dramatically, but it still fits into the whole composition. And it was an interesting challenge to try not to just default to the same thing every time.
Trying a New Approach in Improv Quilting
I originally developed the Improv For Planners method as a way for me to get a little more comfortable with improvised quilt-making. So whenever I make one of these quilts, I like to use them as a learning opportunity to try out something new with them, and not just make the same ones over and over again.
The first two ended up very similar because I made the first one as my first foray into this kind of improv, and then the second one as a test to make sure the pattern worked. But after that I started playing around, first with this pink one, and then there is one more (blog post to follow ;-).
Fabric Choices for an Improv Quilt
For this throw-sized version I tried pink on a white background to change it up from the background-less original ones. I really like the light and airy feel that the white background gives, which is why I use it in many of my other quilts, too (especially the rainbow ones). Although I think it would have looked equally stunning on a dark background, but the white was what I had on hand as well.
I also added an extra pink fabric, so I had 6 shades of pink rather than the 4-5 that the pattern asks for, because I wasn't sure I'd have enough of each of the other ones. I worked just from my stash, so I picked out the colours that would go best together. I had very little left of the darkest pink, so there are only a few spots where I was able to use it.
A Structured Way to Explore Improv Quilting
I created Improv For Planners as a method for trying out improvised quilt-making without the "no rules, just do whatever you want" chaos that is sometimes associated with improv.
It's a method I devised to get more comfortable with improvisation, in that the final quilt layout is not known, but I added lots of guidelines for myself to help take the overwhelm out of the process. It uses a pre-defined layout and quilt block patterns, and a somewhat strict fabric palette to offload some of the decision-making that can lead to either chaos or decision-fatigue and overwhelm.
But as you can see, once you've made one and are more familiar and comfortable with the approach, you can branch out a little (or a lot). I tend to call Improv For Planners a "pattern" because it is a pattern booklet with instructions, but it really is more of a method or a system that you can use to explore improv quilting at your own speed and comfort level.
Finishing Details: The Quilting and Binding
While I quilted the first two samples on my domestic machine with just straight lines. I wanted something a little more interesting for this quilt, so I sent this one off to be longarmed by Heather at Red Willow Quilts. As per usual, I love how it turned out.
Heather used the Bookmarks pantograph, which I thought suited this quilt perfectly.
I bound the quilt with 1/4" black and white stripe. I love striped binding on just about any quilt, and it's my default when I don't know what to use.
Here I thought it would add the perfect graphic touch to this quilt, and frames it really nicely. There's something about black, white and pink going really well together.
Interested in trying your own Improv For Planners quilt? Find out more about how you can dip your toes into improv quilting without feeling overwhelmed.