Artist, Teacher, Author of Artful Improv and Adventures in Improv Quilts

Cindy Grisdela – Artist, Teacher and Author

Welcome!

I’m Cindy Grisdela – an Artist, Teacher and Author from Reston, VA.

Color and texture are the driving forces behind my contemporary art quilts. Browse my site to see how I combine line and shape, then add stitching lines to create texture and dimension – a process I like to think of as painting with fabric and thread.

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Books

Artful Improv: Explore Color Recipes, Building Blocks & Free Motion Quilting

Adventures in Improv Quilts: Master Color, Design and Construction

Workshops & Lectures

I’m passionate about helping others find the creativity I believe lives inside each of us, just waiting for permission to come out and play.

Online Learning

Take a class on your own schedule in your PJs if you want to! Class content includes video, text, and still photos that give step-by-step guidance to create your own designs.

Latest News From Cindy

New Zoom Class March 4 – Wonky Stripes

I’m excited to be offering a new live online class through the Crafty Monkies web platform this Saturday, March 4, 2023! It’s called Wonky Stripes. Here’s my introduction to the class: As an improv artist, I’ve always loved stripes, but many of the techniques to make them seemed a little tedious—making strip sets and cutting…

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Back from Nancy Crow class in Arizona

I spent the first few weeks of 2023 in a workshop with Nancy Crow at the Tanque Verde Ranch in Tucson, Arizona, sponsored by Madeleine Island School of the Arts. Like all of the classes I’ve taken with Nancy, this one was intense. Called Lines, Curves, Circles and Figure/Ground Composition, it was a deep dive…

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I’m Teaching at the Mid Atlantic Quilt Festival!

I’m excited to be teaching at the Mid Atlantic Quilt Festival February 23-25, 2023! I have three full day classes on the schedule. The Saturday class is full, but there are spaces available in the other two. Thursday, Feb. 23 – Fearless Curved Piecing – Take the fear out of curved piecing with three different Improv…

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