At the heart of the universal appeal of patchwork or pieced fabric constructions, whether traditional or contemporary style, is the potential for colours to interact either side of the line separating them.   Numerous techniques of construction within the patchwork/piecing world, freehand or carefully cut, some employing rulers, templates, covered paper shapes, strip and paper piecing, are used separately or in combination to produce geometric or more organic less precise shapes to make what is in effect a ‘new fabric’, and with further treatment this becomes a quilted houshold item such as quilt for the bed or the wall, or a garment to wear.

Although I have blogged this before, I am posting it again today so that people who have never pieced this way can have a go at what is widely called ‘ improvisational piecing’   in which lines range from organic or non-straight to the very, very curved lines possible with some practice.  (There are more detailed instructions in my articles in Quilters Newsletter Magazine nov.2004 and in Down Under Quilts magazine nov 2004)  Since 1992 when I learned this way of working, this has been the way I work to piece fabric.  When it suits my design, I often combine my pieced work with precisely cut squares in a grid, so I haven’t entirely abandoned quilters tools.  But for the most part, my pieced work is all cut freehand with the rotary cutter and  pieced using machine. 

In two galleries on this website, mostly in the “Colour Memories” and the more recent “Ebb & Flow”  there are many examples of my works using these construction basics and the more advanced techniques I have developed.  (shown is detail from “Ebb & Flow 11” )

Although you could use  this technique to piece some wavy lines by hand, when you want to cut across those lines and put in inserts to make more complicated, multi-step constructions, it becomes pretty well impossible without machine stitched seams.  I mean, you probably could persevere with it and eventually succeed, but the question would be, ‘Why on earth would you?’ … unless of course you are one of those I meet from time to time who says, (with a superior sniff) ” Oh, I always do my piecing by hand”  as if that somehow makes something better.  But many of us are past taking any notice of the quilt police who still seem to dictate such rubbish to the gullible out there.  So, although my instructions say it can be used by good hand piecers, if you piece by hand, just realise that it really goes only for the single unbroken wavy line.  I apologise for that wording which I only just noticed, after all these years … hmmm.

By following the instructions and diagrams for each step, without too much trouble and a little perseverence (hey, you could even ‘get it’ first time!)  you too can master this fast construction technique that is widely used by art quilt makers today.  It’s really a modern tradition if such a thing can be said, since it is so widely used by fabric artists in non-traditional patchwork and piecing.

The basic steps in the construction of 'improvisational piecing'.

 This kind of technique also goes well with ragged or unfinished looking edges, which however can be carefully finished behind to be stable while still looking ‘raw’ or rough from the front.  I have blogged elsewhere on this and may post again on it sometime soon.  Or may not.

These and some other interesting Andean artifacts from Precolumbian times are on display here in Montevideo at MAPI – the museum of precolumbian and indigenous art, in the Cuidad Vieja / Old City. Handily located near the port where cruise ships and the buquebus ferry come in, it’s well worth a visit if you happen to be passing through, just two short blocks up and one block over from the Mercado del Puerto, which is a marvellous place to enjoy lunch amid the lively crowds and music, browse and perhaps shop, before visiting local galleries.  A visitor can easily spend a whole day in this interesting part of the old city.  

This woven fabric, of cotton and alpaca wool, is from the Peruvian Wari culture dating between 600-1000AD.  I just know if had been able to reach inside the glass case and touch it, it would have been sooo soft… you could tell just looking at it.  Each motif+hole was about 1″sq.

This knitted cotton fragment of two joined pieces, comes from the same time and area.

In a case on its own beside the case containing the other pieces, was this fascinating 4-cornered cap/gorro, missing one of its horn-like trims.  It was made of cotton and alpaca wool, with a fine geometric design worked in a tufted or velvet like texture.  I felt from the back appearance of the loose fagment lying beside the cap that it was embroidered, with something like velvet stitch – or maybe the velvet texture was woven in – either is possible, and I am only going by what  I saw without being able to touch.  I recall seeing a similar piece in a museum in Lima, I think it was, where it was made clear this kind of hat was worn by a very high status noble.  From the same area and era.

We were recently in the city of Barcelona for a few days en route back to Australia – where we hit Perth in time to vote in the breathtakingly close election  that took weeks to decide absolutely.

We so enjoyed the city of Barcelona on the southern edge of the Mediterranean, an area that has been lived in by people since Paleolithic times – the history museum there is fabulous.  The food, the architecture, the museums we visited, the ambience – it was all great, we didn’t see everything we could have but well, you have to leave something to go back to, right?  I did paddle in the Med though.  Wandering down the Rambla that goes from the central plaza down to the coast, in one long zone there are lots of living street sculptures we enjoyed – here are a couple to give you a smile today: