Improv trees - a tutorial

I sat down to sew again last night. I have been out of the sewing routine and it is surprisingly hard to get started on my ongoing projects. So I just decided to make a few green improv trees with my green scraps. Improv is my go to when I just need to play.

And, as I sewed, I clicked off some photos to make a quick tutorial. This is how I make the these improv trees, in case you want to make some too.  They are easy and relaxing to make, a good introduction to improv if you are hesitant to let go of measuring.



Pick out a scrap and some background fabric.



Cut it into a triangle shape that pleases you. For trees I use my ruler to cut but you can cut it freehand if you prefer. I don't measure at all, I just cut.



I cut my background fabric into long strips, but scraps will do too. Line your triangle up with one side, right sides together and sew. Leave a bit of the background at the bottom of the triangle (the top part of the photo so that you don't have to trim off so much of the tree later.



Press the tree open. Use whatever kind of seam you like, to the side, open and to whatever side you prefer.



If you are using a ruler, lie the ruler along the unsewn side of the triangle and cut the background to extend the line of the triangle. Again, all cuts can be done freehand if you prefer.



Line the background strip up along the unsewn side of the triangle and then flip it over right sides together.



Sew together.



Press.



Trim away the excess. If, like me, you want these to be square/rectangle blocks for easier piecing, use your ruler to cut two sides to a nice 90 degree angle. Then flip the piece and using the first two cuts as a guide, cut the other two sides.

I don't want these blocks to be the same size or even particular sizes at this stage so I focus on having proper 90 degree corners. If you want particular sizes, then go ahead and cut them. If you find that you are unable to get a nice cut at the size you want, use wider background strips to give you more room for cutting - and you may have to experiment a bit here. You can also make a too small block bigger by just adding background fabric to the sides - this is improv after all.



Admire your tree.

We are off to get out Christmas tree today and decorate. It is time to start enjoying the season.

If you make some scrappy trees, or anything else with your scraps, please link up with Nicky - Mrs. Sew and Sow - and I for the December Scraptastic Tuesday Link - it is open until Monday night at 10pm MST, go here to join us.

Blogging tip: Blogger just told me that I can now drag photos from my computer into my blog and it works - nice and fast. Usually I use flickr photos, but sometimes I add some from the computer only so this is a nice innovation.

Best,

Leanne

Scraptastic Tuesday - December Link is open!

I have been crazy busy with my day job and I have been mostly absent from this space and the quilting community for the last few weeks. I sure miss the quilters and the quilting. I am pretty sure that my schedule has returned to more normal, and I was able to work in my sewing space last night. So, being in a holiday mood, I pulled out a box of pink and red scraps.



I made these improv trees. I am not sure what happens next, but maybe I'll add some green trees tonight. Maybe I will make a quilt, or table runner, or tree skirt?? It is so nice to just make these blocks without worrying about the final result.



I pulled out bits of fabrics and then built the blocks with white strips. If anyone wants a tutorial, let me know. These are very easy to make.

You can see that the pieces in my scrap boxes are small. Many folks put almost entire fat quarters in their scrap boxes, but I refold fat quarters that I have cut until there is just too small a piece to find on a shelf. This does limit the things I can make from my scrap bins.



Once two trees were complete I was charmed. So I made more.



This is my cutting table as I headed to bed last night. Smaller scraps left over, so there may be some tiny trees soon too.

Now, its time for you to link up and share your scrappy projects to inspire us all.

A huge thank you to our generous sponsors for providing the following prizes which will be awarded randomly among those of you who link up.

• Mad About Patchwork - a $40 gift certificate

• Oakshott Fabrics - a Colourshott charm pack, colours 1-30

• Green Fairy Quilts - $25 gift certificate

• Fat Quarter Shop - $25 gift certificate

• Sew Sisters Quilt Shop - $25 gift certificate

• Sew me a Song - a $20 gift certificate

Please join Nicky from Mrs. Sew and Sow and I by linking up a blog post or flickr or instagram photo sharing a scrappy project, in progress or finished, or your thoughts on dealing with your scrap mountain:

• You don't have to have joined us before, everyone is welcome.

• One link per person, and it will be your entry into the random draw for the prizes. It is the same link up here and at Nicky's blog - Mrs. Sew and Sow - so you only need to link up on one of our blogs.

• Please visit at least a few of the links, they are very inspiring, and leave comments too as everyone loves to connect. 

• Use the Scraptastic Tuesday button and invite your friends to join us too. Please share our button, or a link or the hashtag #scraptastictuesday in your linked post or photo.

• The link is open until next Monday night at 10:00 pm MST. We will announce the winners next Tuesday. 

• If you have trouble linking up, let me or Nicky know and we will get you sorted.

Best,

Leanne

An InLinkz Link-up

if you were shopping... #46 - the Black Friday edition

Welcome to if you're shopping.... On Fridays, sometimes Saturdays like today,  I share news from my sponsors, in case you want to do a little shopping, or even window shopping, this weekend - and there are a lot of sales, for Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, etc.

Fabric Spark has 20% off everything including new collections, sale fabrics, patterns, kits and bundles, until Midnight November 30 (Cyber Monday). Use coupon code woohoo at the checkout.

Mad about Patchwork has 40% off on over 200 items.

Oakshott Fabrics , Oakshott Fabrics is offering 25% OFF selected Blue, White and Red shot cottons for this weekend only. 

Fluffy Sheep Quilting has 20% off everything in the store until Monday night (Ireland time). Use the coupon code Black20.

Sew Sisters Quilt Shop still has their Kona Basics on sale and they have plenty of new fabrics in.

Sew Me a Song has a Thanksgiving Shipping Special of 0.99 US / $8.99 Canada and $12.00 Everywhere Else, from Becca's house to yours!

Green Fairy Quilts has 40% off all bundles for Small Business Saturday and are continuing their Black Friday sale of Jelly Rolls for $26.70 US.

The Fat Quarter Shop has 25% off all orders until midnight tonight!

I've been trying to resist shopping this fall, but I am caving in this weekend.

Best,

Leanne

You Can Quilt! Building Skills for Beginners - Blog Hop

Today is my stop on the blog hop for You Can Quilt! Building Skills for Beginners. I have been waiting for this book for a number of years, ever since Leila ran the We Can Do It! Skill Builder Sampler Quilt Along on her blog which began in June 2011. I learned a lot from Leila in that QAL. And now she has put it all into a beautiful book.

I have to say that I don't think that this book is only for beginners. It has instructions, tips, photos, and different levels of difficulty of blocks for pretty much every quilting technique you might want to try from regular piecing to paper piecing, from appliqué to improv.  It is a fantastic resource for quilters and would make a great teaching or retreat source book too.

I'm sure you are not surprised to learn that I decided to try the improv blocks and I started with the String block. 

You can see that the book is full of tips, variations, and great instructions too. 

I decided that since I had some strips left over, to continue on to make the improv Asterisk block too. I have to say that in past years, it would have bothered me that the dark pink line does not meet up but now I love the slight fracturing of the line that is happening here. I have learned to embrace improv more all the time.



The book goes on to suggest one can make the asterisk "your own". Well I had to try that too. First I will share the back - a total mess - but then no one sees the back.



Here is my last block, about 8" by 6", not that big. I'm imagining it as a 50" square quilt top - I have to try that one day soon. I'm going to add these three blocks to my Bee Sewcial improv sampler maximalist quilt too.

As I said, in my view, this book is not just for beginners, it is a great resource for everyone, and I totally recommend it. You can get a signed copy from Leila at her shop, or a signed coy from Marlene at her blog or from AQS here or Amazon here, and I bet you will find it on a handy shelf at your local quilt shop too.

For the blog hop, Leila is hosting a give away for a copy of the book and fabrics from Moda on her blog - Sewn by Leila, so be sure to head over to enter.

And do stop in to check out  the rest of the blog hop. Here is the schedule:

Nov. 16th - Lee (freshlypieced.com)

Nov. 17th - AnneMarie (genxquilters.com)

Nov. 18th - Leanne  (shecanquilt.ca) That's me.

Nov. 19th - Julie  (thatssojulie.blogspot.com)

Nov. 20th - Lyn (guest blogger at flourishingpalms.blogspot.com)

Best, 

Leanne

Scraptastic Tuesday Winners and a project

Before I announce the ST winners for the November link up, I wanted to share my scrappy project for this week. 

On Sunday, I awoke sad and angry about the events in Paris. I looked at my small bin of tiny scraps of Michael Miller solids left over from my paper piecing project, and though that I could sew them together.



I started with pairs and then joined the pairs, trimming and cutting off bits as I went.



Soon I had this blob - I was thinking about a river of blood and of tears. I pulled out the Michael Miller fabrics that I had received for the Modern Quilt Guild fabric challenge and though about them together.



Then, last night, after some other fun improv blocks, I just decided that it was safe to cut those fabrics up and add them to my blob. Without any clear plan, before I knew it, I had an improv tear shape.



So I carried on and used up most of the prints. This quilt will be called paris. She is about 24" square right now, I am not sure if she is finished, but I think so. There will be a lot of quilting - very dense.

You know one cannot solve very many problems with a quilt or with a creative piece, but it sure helps me to work out some of the emotions this way.

Now, on to the Scraptastic Tuesday November link winners.

A huge thank you to our generous sponsors for providing the following prizes which have  been awarded randomly among those of you who linked up as follows:

• Mad About Patchwork - a $40 gift certificate - #47,  Katherine from Sew Me Something Good

• Oakshott Fabrics - a Colourshott charm pack, colours 31 - 57 - #35, Carmen from flickr

• Green Fairy Quilts - $25 gift certificate - #2, Teje from Nero's Post and Patch

• Fat Quarter Shop - $25 gift certificate - #11, Debbie from A Quilter's Table

• Massdrop - a set of Bobbin Buddies - #15,  Logan from Logan Stitches

• Sew Sisters Quilt Shop - $25 gift certificate - #18 - Vera from Negligent Style

• Sew me a Song - a $20 gift certificate - #48  Rachel, pieceatlast on instagram

I'll get emails out to the winners shortly.

Please plan to join Nicky from Mrs. Sew and Sow and I for December's Scraptastic Tuesday link up on the second Tuesday in December, which is December 8, 2015. In the meantime, if you have not visited the November links yet, there is great inspiration there, go here.

Best,


Leanne