Author: Paola Machetta

A 2022 of improv

Posted on by Paola Machetta

“Searching for love” by @densyendehimmel

“SuperPOWer” by @teajurin

“SPLASH POP” by @falcolupo

During this year 2022 we made game proposals that were more experimental than the earlier ones.

How many can be the inspiration sources for an improv quilt? Infinite!

In the last game, Pop Improv Challenge, we asked you to use bright and strong colors, and to look at Pop Art aesthetics. Your mini quilts based on this prompt were great!

Let’s see how game participants viewed this challenge.

“Little dots, big dots” by @arttextiles

“Nine Patch” by @bettyoquilts

“QuiltPop” by @patchbri

@auroraa1714 , before the challenge, didn’t like bright colors! She normally used colors that calm or convene nicely together. She said: “I had to search for scraps that were not nice for me, fabric or scraps that were there for a long time because they were too bright or with a strange design. I had a lot of fun looking at the fabrics in a different way!”

@amok18287 said: “I was nervous at first picking out such strong colors and tried not to think about the color wheel, complementary colors or rules. As the project developed I was pleasantly surprised to see how the colors bounced off each other instead of fighting against each other. At the same time, I limited the palette, there are no greens in my composition. I was worried too many colors would lessen the impact. I can definitely say that I am braver with color choices as a result of the Pop Improv game.”

Also for @aquilterstable the suggestion of a bright – even fluorescent palette – for the latest QIS challenge was a stretch. She explained: “I’d never used fluorescents before, and combining them with Rich Red felt unique, but was definitely fun to work with. The challenge was a good reminder to not be afraid of trying new things.”

@bettyoquilts, instead, had frequently used bits, or pops, of strong colors in her previous works. For her Nine Patch quilt made during the game, she proceeded in this way: “I stayed quite true to using equal amounts of all of the loud colors. I found that including a couple of shades of several fabrics provided a needed harmony: this would be lacking, if all nine individual fabrics were different hues.” 

Also @teajurin confirmed that bright colors cannot be thrown there randomly. In case of strong contrast, there is still need for harmony, and the amount of hues shall be limited, otherwise you risk having chaos. In her quilt titled SuperPOWer, she adopted an explosion of colors, and she really had fun in joining absurd colors to give an exaggerated and humorous effect.

Very strong colors have always been a passion for @dove_ti_porta_il_filo, even if she typically used them together with some neutral, to get a balanced effect. The request of this game was more extreme: it was required to dare! Now, she felt free to use only brights without any negative space. Thus, she rather applied the rule of balance to the composition scheme.

“Let’s eat” by @aquilterstable

“WOW” by @auroraa1714

“Andy + Roy” by @kathycookquilts

So, what about composition choice?

@therollingcat_ had already investigated pop art when @quiltimprovstudio announced this new challenge. She came across Sister Corita Kent, who mainly used screen printing, where she paired splashes of color and words, usually in her own harsh, angular handwriting, to express religious or universal themes, such as the “Love is hard work” screen print: an airy set of slightly curved stripes in primary and secondary colors, with the writing in black. A cheerful, lively, thought-provoking poster so famous that around the 1970s the US Postal service made a stamp out of it. The challenge #qispopimprov became an occasion to celebrate it again.

Other inspiration sources?

@quiltcreation discovered David Hockney’s work. And fell in love with his creativity and colors!

@patchbri caught this occasion to make a screen print style portrait, as she wished for a long time.

@mari.quilt put her square block on her design wall and let it marinate, until the a-ha moment arrived: her stripe of squares became “Comics pop”!

@aquilterstable, while creating her piece, was looking for a design feature for her improv forks, a key element of her plan. Her friend, Louise @imfeelincrafty, suggested that including a shadow or an outline might improve things, and that definitely did!

@arttextiles decided to use purely color and shape and not to be so influenced by the pop artists of that era, in their interpretation of basic everyday objects, or the onomatopoeia of the Marvel Comics. She kept the embroidered words low key, so as not to distract from the overall impact of the design.

@densyendehimmel found that the last challenge was perfect for her, since she always uses bright colors. But she struggled a bit with the combination of pop art and improv. One is a repetition of pattern and the other one is no pattern! She found a solution at last… and had great fun doing it.

What remains, after this challenge? @kathycookquilts feels that it was a fun diversion for her. Such high impact! And she added: “I’ll definitely try some of this also in the future.”

“A fuoco/ On fire” by @dove_ti_porta_il_filo

“Eastern Dreams” by @amok18287

“Qispopimprov” by @silviafic8

We thank you for your participation in our games, and for sharing the results of your creative juices: good examples for all of us to learn!
We invite you to review all the work in progress at #qispopimprov Instagram page, and the improv quilts completed by the participants in the @quiltimprovstudio gallery.

We wish you a good end of the year 2022, see you in the new year 2023!

“Comics pop” by @mari.quilt

“Love is hard work” by @therollingcat_

“Inspiration” by @quiltcreation

European Patchwork Meeting 2022

Posted on by Paola Machetta

Last week we had the opportunity to visit the European Patchwork Meeting (EPM) in France, we want to tell you something about this incredible experience! 

Let’s see together the most relevant aspects of this event:

OLD AND NEW FRIENDS

It was a great occasion to meet Quilt Improv studio’s friends and to know new people from around the world. We could see in person Maria Paz Avalos, a participant of our games from Chile, and to see her quilts made for Chile Quilting exhibit! It was a pleasure to meet her after two years of social media contacts.
We rejoiced with Mattea Jurin when her work “Big girls don’t cry”, selected for the EPM international challenge Once Upon a Thread, was announced to have won a prize and a blue ribbon during the award ceremony!
We shared fun and shopping time with Pamela Nensi, another quilter who participated to Quilt Improv Studio games in the past, and we selected some nice gifts for our friend Carla @falcolupo! We met many other people we knew, while walking between exhibits.

Giovanna, Maria Paz, Paola

rejoicing with Mattea Jurin for her awarded quilt

Pamela, Paola, Giovanna

ARTISTS

We met Cecilia Koppmann, an outstanding Argentine author of quilts made with colors typical of her culture: an incredible use of black combined with bright and intense colors, and with expressive variations of value!
We had a lovely chat with Carolina Oneto, talking about our common love for solids and discussing strategies to fill our stash with several types of colored fabric.
We could admire the real colors of quilts  we saw only in books or on the web, such as the improv works by Cindy Grisdela, and we expressed her our admiration for her amazing free motion quilting skill!

Giovanna, Cecilia, Paola

Paola, Carolina, Giovanna

Cindy, Paola

QUILTS (obviously)

More than 30 exhibitions of international artists, more than 1000 works of art, you can find traditional, contemporary, modern, improvised art, fiber art or whatever can be made with fabrics and thread, and you sure find something that you love.
We, Giovanna and Paola, being SAQA members, volunteered welcoming guests at the Wide Horizons stand, since we had two quilts made by us in the show. This was a wonderful opportunity to talk about techniques and quilts in the show with visitors from several countries, such that we often had to switch language, rehearsing quilting terms used in different idioms.

Giovanna, Paola, SAQA stand

Giovanna, “Chaos”

Paola, “East”

ALSACE

Only few words to describe this French region: it seems to live in a dream, surrounded by fairy tale houses made of gingerbread!

This has been a new and eye-opening experience. Now we are full of ideas for our next improv projects. We hope that such events are inspiring also for you!

Alsace

Colmar

val d’Argent

Meet Quilt Improv Studio participants at European Patchwork Meeting!

Posted on by Paola Machetta

Hi quilters! Our current improv game dedicated to “pop” colors and effects is ongoing, and all of you are welcome to join participants who have already started challenging themselves with such a theme. You can see their progress on Instagram, in the page dedicated to the game, under the hashtag #qispopimprov.

While you are thinking what to sew next, we would like to mention quilting events that are coming soon, as a feast for the eyes, and as a possible inspiration source!

Next week the doors will open for the wide quilting festival hosted in France, Alsace: the European Patchwork Meeting (EPM).

Some Quilt Improv Studio participants will travel to Alsace, and some of their quilts, made for galleries part of EPM, will be in the exhibits! 

Paola and Giovanna are visiting the festival on Friday 16th and Saturday 17th in September 2022; their quilts “East” and “Chaos” will be part of the Wide Horizons SAQA Exhibit in ESPACE DES TISSERANDS, Place des Tisserands 68160 in Ste-Marie-aux-Mines.

Maria Paz Avalos will fly to Europe to have her work “Bordar, cantar, amar”, and her contribution within the group quilt “Faces”, included in Chile Quilting exhibit, at ESPACE RAYMOND HESTIN, 47 Rue du Général de Gaulle, 68660 Rombach-le-Franc. 

Mattea Jurin will be present in person and with her work “Big girls don’t cry”, selected for the EPM international challenge Once Upon a Thread, in PAVILLON OSMONT, 8 Rue Osmont, 68160 Ste-Marie-aux-Mines. Award ceremony for the international challenge will take place on Friday, September 16th at 2.30 P.M. 

Also Pamela Nensi, another quilter who participated to Quilt Improv Studio games in the past, will travel to France in this occasion.

And you? What are your plans?

Keep an eye on Quilt Improv Studio stories on Instagram: more details on our agenda, and the possibilities to meet us there, will follow soon! 

"East", detail

A new game for our second anniversary

Posted on by Paola Machetta

Hello quilters, here we are! Today it’s the same date when we started with our first Quilt Improv Studio game two years ago, and we celebrate it with the launch of a new challenge! 

Just a little introduction to let you know how this new game was born.

While we were googling images for the recent QIS Primary colors challenge we saw a lot of Pop Art pictures that impressed us. Some days later Paola told us she thought to an hashtag for our new challenge: #qispopimprov. We liked it right away! It sounded a bit weird since this was the first time we decided to build a challenge starting from a keyword and its concept, thus the hashtag popped out at the beginning instead of the end!

Some explanations now: what do we mean for pop improv challenge? You don’t have to do something really similar to Pop Art but just think of your quilt as an expression occasion, such as a poster, to popularize improv patchwork. Something that hits! It means that we’d like to see an explosion of colors! This time we invite you not to use a limited palette, but to use the brightest and most phantasmagoric colors you can find! Also fluorescent! Solids or printed fabric, whatever you have in your stash. We have to be daring and to create quilts with a strong impact, high contrast in a really modern improv style. So what about using only complementary colors? Or do you prefer to use primary and secondary together? Just be careful not to get a rainbow effect.

As always, in the next few days, we will launch some surveys on Instagram to decide together some elements.
So, let’s start to think about how your work will be! 

See you soon

Carla, Giovanna e Paola

The meanings and the successes of primary colors

Posted on by Paola Machetta

When we decided to start a game based on primary colors and black and white, we knew only part of the meanings associated with such hues. 

We could not imagine how many meanings were possible and, thanks to game participants and quilting contacts, we learnt much more on the way.

We had the pleasure of receiving comments from many quilters and also fiber artist @shinheechin wrote us, revealing a fascinating story from her culture background: 

“Black and white, yellow, red and blue are famous for Mondrian’s palette, but also those five colors were called ‘obansaek’: Korean traditional colors, that are related to five elements. Blue: wood, red: fire, yellow: earth, white: metal, black: water.”

Some obvious connections and some less expected ones emerged during the game. Such as the references mentioned by our game participants below. 

“Up and Down” by @morphea80

“Chess” by @auroraa1714

@hollygrovethreads wrote: “I improvised my two compositions based on the color requirements. I studied work by artists Piet Mondrian and also Jose Pedro Costigliolo.”

@arttextiles said: “I worked towards a mid-century look without following strictly a Mondrian influence. I chose a predominantly white background, to separate the primary colours to give them space and more impact.”

@patchbri  explained: “It was since time ago that I wanted to make a quilt based on the geometries of paseo maritimo at Santa Eulalia where my daughter lives, and I found the colors perfect to realize it now.”

@quiltergardener adopted connections among colors: “I tried to group the colors into pleasing combinations to keep the quilt from looking messy. Black looked nice with yellow, blue with white. Instead of the more obvious white background I used red — and was very pleased with the result!”

We asked participants who finished their quilt early if they improvised the composition in some different way, due to the fact that the colors required for the game had a strong contrast.

@gigi.v13 wrote: “The requirement to use the strongly contrasting primary colors plus black and white was a true challenge for me. This is not my comfort zone and I had difficulty beginning. I finally started making borders, working from the outside, without a plan. Eventually it evolved into an improv log cabin design. I did incorporate some black Essex linen homespun, which softened the contrast and I felt more comfortable with my design.”

Also @therollingcat_ was not used to such hues: “At the beginning I was not sure if primary colors were available in my stash. Then, I wanted a black background to set off the primary colors. The result, with these circles having strong colors located on black and white lines, reminds me of licorice candies, hence the title”.

@auroraa1714 made a similar experience: “It was my first time using these colors… they were a little strange at the beginning, but then as I was mixing them I started to see them in a different way. Now I could do three more quilts without problems. This is one of the things that I love more of this challenge”.

@dove_ti_porta_il_filo found her way gradually: “I started piecing one color at a time, combining it with black or white. Then, after a while, I changed my route, contrasting elements found their place, and fear disappeared”.

@hollygrovethreads solved the challenge using two solutions: she made two quilts! “In my first composition, I used block shapes with white as my line element. For my second composition, I used triangular shapes, with black as my line element.”

Other participants felt quite at ease: for @stitches_and_stanzas, “the strong contrast between the colors was perfect for improvising with lines because it allowed each piece to really stand out and it allowed lots of possible ways to combine pieces with a strong visual impact.” @georgene331 added: “I liked the parameter of the primary colors and lines to create the piece. I totally just let go and had a lot of free fun creating it!”

@aquilterstable gave different roles to colors, based on their value levels: “I did intentionally use white and yellow as ‘subtle’ accents, with black being used more as a background, to let the red and blue be the focus.”

Solving color mix was part of the challenge.

But also another design feature was to be included: the line. 

Thus, we asked our quilters: “The game requirement to focus on the line element acted as a constraint or as a starting point for ideas?”

 

@stitches_and_stanzas admitted: “I have never really explored using lines as the primary element in my quilts so I saw this as a great chance to explore and try new ways of seeing how lines could work together in a quilt”.

For @arttextiles “The lines were a ‘gift’ both in choosing the fabrics and a conscious element when constructing the smaller components within the block construction.”

@gigi.v13 added: “The requirement to focus on ‘line’ definitely created a starting point, which I found helpful. I also think it acted as a constraint for me, as I tried to limit my design mostly to lines. Other quilters seemed more or less constrained by this and maybe this can be explained by personality and experience.”

@aquilterstable started from lines too: “Line was definitely a starter point for my design. I created several striped slabs before ever knowing how I would eventually use them.”

@karen_quilts_and_makes confirmed: “My starting point was the long red check line in the middle. This became a long rectangle within a rectangle. I liked this shape, colour, contrast and effect and decided to continue in this vein using all five colours in equal measure.”

@dove_ti_porta_il_filo said “I like lines. Constraints may act as stimuli to initiate a work”.

So, has anybody found lines as a constraint too strong? “No, the line element requirement was not a constraint for me. I prefer to create lines in patchwork, find them, and follow them where they lead me!”, insisted @quiltergardener.

Moreover, @morphea80 explained how the line was helpful for her: “I wanted to soften the hard contrast of the primary colors. Therefore I went for lots of white and a curvy quilting design. To me, the required element ‘line’ was a highly welcome antidote to the bold colors.” 

And if lines are difficult to match, you still can find some solution, as @therollingcat_ said: “The pesky line that I hated at the beginning became literally the connection and the starting point for the whole quilt: only when I knew how to deal with the line did I find inspiration to get started!”

@NisaMckMaker explained how lines and stripes were at the core of her process: “I randomly cut strips of differing thicknesses and used paper to stabilize them as some were very narrow. The theme of lines acted as the starting point and continued to inspire me, driving my ideas forward moment by moment”.

@hollygrovethreads made prominent use of lines: “The use of lines was an inspiration for me. Not a challenge or a constraint. This encouraged me to explore the use of lines. I enjoyed studying different methods of inserting skinny strips into a composition. I’ll certainly incorporate this in future work”. This resulted in her “Mod Mondrian” quilt made for the current game to be selected to hang at Quiltfest Greenville SC, April 28-30. Congratulations Kim!

We extend congratulations also to other quilters who had their works, created in the occasion of earlier @quiltimprovstudio games, selected for QuiltCon2022 and aired last February in Phoenix, Arizona, such as @aquilterstable, @quiltcreation and @kathycookquilts; while @sakuraquilting was awarded at Gramado Brasil quilt festival with her quilt created during our first challenge (an early bird player, we may say!). We are learning from each other. We are honored by the attention you dedicate to exploring improvisational constructions, using design principles shared with us… with great results!

We wish to thank all our game participants, so active within a thriving quilting community we humbly try to contribute to: merit to you, for all the great fun during our games! We invite you to review all work in progress at #qisprimarycolors Instagram page, and the improv quilts completed by the participants in the @quiltimprovstudio gallery.