![\"scott](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/scott-murkin.jpg?resize=275%2C184&ssl=1\")
<\/a><\/p>\nthat looked to me\u00a0very like an adaptation and re-arrangement of blocks from one of my own bushfire\u00a0quilts\u00a0.\u00a0\u00a0They have a great deal in common, I’m sure you’ll agree, but I’m not suggesting that this is in anyway ‘copying’ something I did ages ago:<\/span><\/p>\n Bushfire 4\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1999<\/p>\n \u00a0I think it is inevitable that\u00a0 quilt makers using the same techniques in similar colours,\u00a0will sometimes produce similar looking<\/span> works.<\/strong>\u00a0 We can usually tell looking at someone’s work who they studied with, since, for a while after that workshop their\u00a0new work reflects what they have learned, but in time their work\u00a0reflects more of the artist and increasingly\u00a0less of the teacher.\u00a0 It’s why I myself\u00a0no longer\u00a0attend technique-driven workshops,\u00a0but they are the bread and butter of the quilt making industry, of course.<\/p>\n “Scott Murkin’s” technique is\u00a0what I and many others learned\u00a0nearly 25 years ago from Nancy Crow – not that I ever called it ‘Nancy Crow’s technique’ because for her, technique has only ever been the means to her end – in the classroom it was to speed the process of exploring\u00a0colour and design,\u00a0and working through her long list of class exercises was only really possible via cutting and piecing freehand\/improvisationally. Since\u00a0learning the basics, I’ve\u00a0always worked this way, and taught many students how to cut and piece freehand.\u00a0 I’ve\u00a0no doubt someone uses\u00a0“Alison Schwabe’s\u00a0technique”\u00a0to describe their own improvisational piecing,\u00a0but I claim no ownership.\u00a0 If you’d like to have a go at it,\u00a0email me for the basic instructions (2 pages incl, diagrams and links) \u00a0and I’ll\u00a0email it by return.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>There’s enormous interest in piecing like this.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Last month I taught my “Hot Quilts From Cold Scraps” workshop in\u00a0Dongara Western Australia, and Hobart Tamsnaia Aus.\u00a0 I always promote the class as being about planning and making successful scrap quilts, and one in which people who work via traditional geometric piecing\u00a0will be\u00a0alongside those who are piecing improvisationally.\u00a0 In other words,\u00a0how you piece is up to you, and you just need to come to class knowing how to piece one way or the\u00a0 other, it’s not a beginners’ class.\u00a0 I always say I don’t actually teach\u00a0 freehand piecing in class, as there isn’t usually time<\/span><\/span>\u00a0even in the 2-day version, and so if you want to work that way you need to\u00a0learn the\u00a0basics at home before the workshop.\u00a0 That usually works well, and one or two people always ask me for those instructions in advance.\u00a0 In Dongara there were about 20 enthusiasts in the class – fabulous facilities accommodated them easily – and about 1\/3 went to work piecing traditionally, the rest improvisationally.\u00a0 They produced some wonderful work, and everyone achieved plenty of it.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The class in Hobart blew me away though.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u00a0had been\u00a0a bit concerned at the\u00a0low number registered, and anticipated the group dynamics might be a bit unexciting among only\u00a07 of them. But not in this case –\u00a0all had very strong individual approaches and a couple did interesting things no one has previously produced, including myself! Some already knew improvisational piecing, and the 2 or 3 who didn’t clearly did\u00a0want to work that way.\u00a0 So once everyone was into their\u00a0 exercises before branching off in their individual directions, in such a small group it was easy to teach them the basic methods by demonstrations\u00a0using the samples I had with me.\u00a0 They were all dead keen and very quick on the uptake.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n![\"Bushfire](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Bushfire-4-adjusted-blog-copy.jpg?resize=450%2C330&ssl=1\")
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\nBut actually, it wasn’t her technique, either.\u00a0 It was developed by a Canadian quiltmaker, Marilyn Stothers<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/a> who Nancy used to\u00a0take into the classes she was teaching at Houston in the late 80’s and early 90’s\u00a0and\u00a0have\u00a0Marilyn show her students how to do it.\u00a0\u00a0 Nancy then began teaching it herself as a method useful in her classes on colour and design.\u00a0 As we all know, today\u00a0there are many contemporary quilt makers\u00a0working this way all over the world, and it has become a contemporary quilt making tradition, if you can say such a thing…. and yes, I think we can.<\/p>\n