I discovered earlier this year that I was enjoying Improv piecing which is a big switch for someone who has been concentrating on applique for about 20 years! I was really out of practice but it was exciting to have a new interest.
Just by chance, I read on Facebook that Sheila Frampton Cooper was running a 12 month improv class. I signed up because this was a way to learn the techniques without trying to reinvent the wheel.
We are in month 3 at the moment, Sheila posts a straight and curvy guide with video instruction every month where we learn different techniques. They are just a guide and we are supposed to design our own blocks incorporating the techniques.
We started sort of simply.
These are some of the curvy blocks that I have done so far.
They actually take a long time to make. Apart from sewing the curves, you have to make so many decisions about what and where to sew next.
I am doing my straight pieces in blues.
One of the really inspiring parts of the class is seeing other people's work. There is such a variety of colours and designs. Some people have done classes with Sheila before and so they are much more experienced and are doing wonderful work.
One of the delights is having a Zoom catch up with the class where Sheila comments on our work and gives some more instruction and hints.
The Zoom catch up is often in the middle of the night for us in Australia but last week she varied the time so the Australians could watch live instead of watching the recording.
Anyway, it's not as easy as it might look and quite time consuming but so addictive and fun.
Some more good news is that we are out of Lockdown after 4 months. At first, we weren't allowed to travel more that 5k and then about a month ago they increased it to 25k. Last week they took the travel limit away and the shops have opened!!
You have no idea how exciting it was to see shops opened and they are so full of Christmas stock that it seems so happy. Masks are still compulsory though. I could finally see my granddaughter Savannah for her 6th birthday last Friday, I haven't seen her since July.
We have had zero new cases for 10 days now compared to the 700 odd cases last July, it is a fantastic result.
Bye for now,
Linda
4 comments:
Wow...each of your 'curve' pieces are wonderful!!! How cool!!!!
Thanks Robbie, I love the curved pieces too!
I must admit that stitching with curves intimidates the daylights out of me. I'm sure there are little tricks to make it easier but I still think I'll steer clear. I love the amazing colours you're working with on these. Will they be ultimately put together into a larger quilt or do you plan to finish each as small ones?
Glad to know that you're lockdown situation is easing somewhat. Here, I think we're facing a lot of closures because our numbers are on the rise again. The government is hesitating to instigate a bigger lockdown because they know it will spell the death of a great many small businesses who are just managing to hang on after the last closure. It's a no-win situation no matter what happens.
So happy that you were able to see your granddaughter after such a long time. I know exactly how that felt because we saw our grandson (and his parents of course!) on Monday for the first time since Christmas. The odds of seeing them for Christmas this year is probably nil so we were grateful for what we got.
Thanks Magpie Mumblings, sewing with curves gets easier with practice, like anything I suppose. I am sorry if you can't see your family at Christmas, that would be terrible. Mind you, our strict 4 month closure of shops has meant that many businesses had to close permanently. It is very sad to see the empty shops, I really miss our local art supply shop.
Post a Comment