![\"detail,](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/detail-Ebb-and-Flow-2.jpg?resize=482%2C513&ssl=1\")
<\/a><\/p>\nI’m quite often asked how to go about improvisational or freehand (template free) cutting and piecing which has become very widespread \u00a0among quilt makers in the past 25 years- a modern tradition really. \u00a0Widely used by art quilt makers who piece their designs, and seen in quite a number of Modern Quilts, it’s all rotary cut and machine pieced. \u00a0 The following basic instructions contain all you need to know to begin, as I only learned it from watching a short demonstration by Nancy Crow at the start of a several day long workshop, and then plunging in to using it straight away. It enabled us to rapidly get through heaps of exercises in her class on design and colour. \u00a0I’ve been enjoying this way of piecing ever since.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Hand piecers could use this just once, \u00a0perhaps, to\u00a0make some wayy lines in the one direction<\/u> <\/strong>\u00a0but\u00a0it really is a machine technique, \u00a0even if you’re pretty speedy, as hand sewing won\u2019t allow for more complex cutting, re-arranging, inserting slivers and so on.<\/p>\n Freehand or \u2018improvisational piecing\u2019<\/u><\/strong><\/u>\u00a0has become a modern convention \u2013 and once you recognize it, you\u2019ll see it wherever there are pieced art and non-traditional quilts. \u00a0 Elsewhere on this website are two galleries of my original quilts made between about 1990 and the present \u2013 \u00a0the Color Memories<\/em> gallery followed chronologically by the<\/span> Ebb& Flow<\/em> gallery.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0 Keep in mind that have been piecing this way for over 20 years, but I too began with these simple instructions way back then. \u00a0 With practice, you too will be able to achieve more complex constructions if you wish.<\/p>\n The main things to remember are:<\/p>\n Alicia Merrett \u2018s YouTube videos, are good in a very precise, controlled way \u2013but, they were pitched to careful traditional quilters, but even so, you might find them helpful. \u00a0 \u00a0In the Nancy Crow class where I learned this piecing, we had a lot of colour and design work to get through in the time, and Nancy showed us these basics that enabled rapid working.\u00a0 We put all rulers away and did no pinning, just putting edge to edge and sewed.\u00a0 Some managed this better than others in the workshop; and at home I found my own way of working which includes periodic dots along the cut edges with permanent marker or other pen\/pencil\/chalk \u2013 and even more of these in tight curves. \u00a0 \u00a0I usually pin every few inches, more in tight curves – \u00a0but it all depends\u2026. there are no right ways to do this, and only one correct result – a flat one<\/u>.<\/strong>\u00a0 O<\/span><\/span>nce you have learned the basics, experience will teach you whatever you want to know next \u2013 think it, try it.\u00a0 And, if you ever need my advice or help, feel free to contact me through this website.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I’m quite often asked how to go about improvisational or freehand (template free) cutting and piecing which has become very widespread \u00a0among quilt makers in the past 25 years- a modern tradition really. \u00a0Widely used by art quilt makers who piece their designs, and seen in quite a number of Modern Quilts, it’s all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[262,227,179,188,184,186],"class_list":["post-3223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-basics-of-improvisational-piecing","tag-colour-memories","tag-lines","tag-modern","tag-strip-patterns","tag-wandering-strip-piecing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6uxpF-PZ","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3223"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3223\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3237,"href":"https:\/\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3223\/revisions\/3237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"basics](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/basics-of-improv.jpg?resize=500%2C684&ssl=1\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Basics](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Basics-of-improv-blog-image.jpg?resize=500%2C400&ssl=1\")
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