I’m pleased to be part of the blog hop Rayna Gillman’s new book – Create Your Own Improv Quilts, published by C&T Publishing!
I’ve been a big fan of Rayna and her work for many years, and I finally met her in person several years ago when she visited my booth at a show I was doing in West Palm Beach, FL. She is just as warm and encouraging in person as she is in her books. She was kind enough to participate in my blog hop last year for the release of Artful Improv, and I’m happy to review her newest book today.
There are probably as many ways to create improv quilts as there are improv quilters. Rayna and I share a similar approach to improv, but our quilts are very different. This is the reason I love improv so much–there are so many ways to express your own creativity that won’t be like anyone else’s. This book gives both new and more experienced quilters a lot of ideas to try in a very accessible way–from working with strips and strings to a new (to me) way to paper piece. It’s like having Rayna right there with you encouraging you all the way.
Here are five things I liked best about Rayna’s book:
- The subtitle of Rayna’s book is “Modern Quilting with no rules and no rulers.” No patterns and no rules is the way I work too. You get to make your own guidelines to make each quilt your own.
2. In the chapter “Consider the Rectangle,” Rayna gives a wonderful overview of her process of creating improv quilts starting out with simple rectangles. Her favorite question is “What If?” It’s inspiring to follow along and I’m eager to try this idea!
3. One thing that is both exhilarating and intimidating about improv is the fact that you don’t have a pattern to tell you when your quilt is finished. Rayna gives you lots of questions to ask yourself as you are creating to evaluate your design–including my favorite, “which orientation is best for this quilt?” Sometimes turning it upside down or sideways gives you a whole new perspective!
4. One of the things Rayna does best is to improvise with what’s in your studio–of course using scraps, but also remaking or repurposing blocks, or even whole quilts, that just didn’t work the way you thought they might. She gives great suggestions for using leftover units, remaking “boring” blocks, and repurposing that quilt top you just didn’t like in the chapter “Improvising with What You’ve Got.”
5. I’m a quilter who loves color and one of my favorite ideas in the book is to “use your lonely crayon”–you know that one that you always left whole in the crayon box when you were a kid because it wasn’t your favorite? For me that was brown, but I recently began using it more, especially paired with pink and turquoise.
I’m thrilled to be one of the artists Rayna asked to be in the gallery of Inspiration and Improvisation for this book. There are three of my quilts in the book, including Intuition, below. Rayna asked me to talk about my inspirations as part of the blog hop to give other quilters some new ideas.
Intuition was inspired by a scrap in my leftover basket, in true Rayna Gillman style. It was an odd piece in a color combination that I don’t normally use–a sort of olive green curve that was pieced to a medium and light green strip. You can see it in the image above at the far left side of the central improv block.
I created a large improvisational block using the brighter colors that I normally favor, and was happy that the oddball scrap fit right in. I framed the block asymmetrically with angled stripes drawing lines to the quilt edges, and floated the composition on a green background that offered lots of negative space where I added texture with stitching. The background is made up of three different shades of green to make things a little more interesting.
The blog hop has just begun and will go until December 8, 2017. You can leave a comment at each stop for a chance to win an ebook copy of Rayna’s wonderful book!
Leave a comment here for your chance to win. If you’d like, answer the question what was the “lonely crayon” in your crayon box as a child? Or, what is your favorite color combination?
Great review of a wonderful book!
Thanks Christine–it is a good one!
The lonely crayon was Burnt Umber! I have Artful Improv and I think that Rayna’s book would be a great companion!
That’s the name of the crayon I was trying to remember, Kathleen! I agree that Rayna’s book is a good companion to Artful Improv.
Sounds great – I love improv quilts! 🙂
Thanks Janet–me too!
I love the concept of quilting this way! Freedom to go where the motion of the fabric takes you.
That’s a great way to put it, Pam!
I love looking at green leaves against a blue sky. Always one of my favorite color combinations. Spring and summer days are softened here in the desert when looking skyward through the leaves.
I met Rayna in Florida an couple of years ago. She popped into our Guild meeting. We are hoping to get her to teach a class at Palm Beach County Quilters Guild. I heard she moved to Florida. Patty Rice
I hope so, Patty–that would be fun! So glad to have met you in Houston last month.
Moving in January, Patty (unexpectedly soon – my house sold in 2-1/2 weeks and I’m still in shock). Scheduled to teach at PBCQG in March, but haven’t nailed down a date yet. Can’t wait to get there!!
Improv is still scary to me, it’s hard to put away the ruler and just go with it! Right now I’m loving orange and turquoise together!
That’s a great combo Paige! Rayna’s book will definitely give you some encouragement to put down your ruler.
I love the concept of the lonely crayon–problem is, I remember using all my crayons down to a little nubbin. I guess more color was better in my book!
Good for you Michelle!
My lonely crayon as a child was red violet. As an adult it was probably pink. Now I am embracing them all and trying out quirky combos. I’m so happy that C & T is publishing another book on improv (my favorite way to work)!
Love your quirky combos, Marla! I’m excited to see these new improv books too.
My grandmother always told me one of the presents I had to put on my list to Santa was a book. After this review I know which book will make my list this year! Last crayon in the box was always an orange one but these days it is a colour that always seems to end up in my quilts, somewhere.
What a great thought, Helen! I wasn’t big on orange either as a child, but I use it a lot now too.
Love Rayna! My least favorite crayon was pink. But now fuchsia is my go to! Congrats to you both.
Thanks Lori–I wasn’t a pink fan either but now I am!
This looks like a great book!
My favorite color combination is anything with lime green!
The founder of a company I used to work for once said, “Rules are for fools.” I love that idea because it inspires a new way of thinking– in business and in quilting!
What an interesting thought, Lisa–it does inspire you to think differently!
I’m sure my lonely crayon was whatever brown didn’t make a pretty tree trunk.
Favorite combo: bright rainbow on black.
I’m sure my lonely crayon was whatever brown didn’t make a pretty tree trunk.
Favorite combo: bright rainbow on black.
Please delete previous comment–I’m not Kathleen!
That’s a great color combo Wendy–I’ve used that one a lot!
This book looks so inviting and exciting! I no longer remember if there was a lonely crayon in my box. I’ve been quilting for so long, including as a scrap quilter, that I’ve grown to love and appreciate all colors. My favorite combinations are black and white; and purple and green, perhaps with a dash of burnt orange.
Thanks Charlotta–those are great color combos!
Impressive work. Would love a copy of the Book. ❤
My least favorite color was BLUE.
All the Best from Arizona.
Impressive work. Would love a copy of the Book. ❤ My least favorite color was BLUE.
Thanks Sheila!
The book looks great. I love Artful Improv and this would be a great companion. My favorite color combinations seem to change with the seasons! Right now though, I’m still loving blue/green…. even though that isn’t the current season…..
I’m glad you’re enjoying Artful Improv Lynn–blue/green is one of my favorite color combos too!
Thanks for mentioning ‘pink n brown’ and ‘turquoise and brown’ as nice color combinations. I was afraid they had become out of fashion. I find them interesting to work with too.
Thanks Jean–I have a quilt going with those colors.
Would love to have this book in my library of inspiration.
Thanks for coming over to leave your comment, Jackie!
Wow! I like the minimalist improv look of the projects in this book. I think my least favourite colour is yellow believe it or not.
Thanks Sue–me too! Yellow is a tough color to use sometimes.
Oh lordy, my lonely crayon was the white. i never could figure out what to make so white! to this day, I prefer black to white. I WANT this book! Pick me, pick me. Don’t let me be the lonely crayon today!
(thanks for the giveaway!)
I’m glad you’re excited about Rayna’s book!
Interesting use of colours. My favourite combination just now is a zingy lime green with a bright saturated turquoise.
That sounds like a great color combo Kate!
I was an equal opportunity colorer back in the day. haha I think my favorite color combo is black with any color. I just love color so much and black makes the colors pop. I just love improv and have been waiting for this book to come out.
I think black with color is always fun Kristie!
I always used them all! Looks like a fabulous book and I love your “Intuition” quilt.
Thanks so much Linda!
Orange was always left out. I still have to force myself to use it.
Orange is a complicated color to use. Good for you for being open to using it sometimes Karen!
I like the idea of liberating leftover blocks we already have hidden away (and forgotten about) and re-purposing them. I think I’m going to love the “no rules” approach!
Me too, Janet! Repurposing is fun.
I honestly don’t remember! I try not to be shy of any color now tho. Thanks for the chance to win!
That’s a good way to think about it Debbie–don’t be shy about any color!
I never had any lonely crayons because I used all the colors! I hope I win the book, it looks interesting.
Using all the colors is fun Linda–thanks!
Amazing review. Thank you for your insight in to how you created your beautiful quilt. I would love to win this book. Improv is my favourite form of quilting.
Thank you Maree! Obviously I love improv too.
Probably my lonely crayon would be gray. I love color. The combination I seem to use over and over is purple and orange (and variations).
Purple and orange is a great color combo Chris!
I am new to quilting and am really drawn to improv. Right now, my colors are navy and pink – like a light pink. Which is funny, because on it’s own, I’m not fond of light pink. This book looks really interesting!
Thanks Mona–isn’t it interesting how our tastes in color change?
Oh, how I love improv! It is my very favorite quilting technique! My guess is that the brown crayon was the most unused in my box. It just doesn’t excite me. I need color in my life and brown is just drab and boring.
Thanks Kathy! Brown can be tough to use, but sometimes I add a bit in to make the brights brighter.
Orange was my loneliest crayon when I was a child; I’m making up for that now.
Orange seems to be one of the most popular lonely colors, but almost everyone who mentioned it uses it now!
Orange. Never liked, rarely used it. Then I recognized the power it wielded and we have been buddies ever since.
That’s a great way to look at it, Jennifer!
My lonely crayons were probably white and grey. Interesting because lately I am loving grey in my quilts. It makes other colors richer. I still don’t use white though, except in black and white prints which i love.
That’s an interesting thought about using grey, Naomi–I’ll have to give that a try!
What a great review. It sounds like a terrific book. Once you get bitten by the improv bug, there’s no turning back.
It is a great book, Monique–and fun way to create improv quilts!
Looks like a good book. Improv isn’t my comfort zone so books like this open doors to new ways of thinking for me. I don’t remember what crayon I left unused but I’d guess it might have been pink. As a little girl, I was very anti pink and didn’t embrace the color until adulthood.
That’s a good way to look at it, Anne–I wasn’t a big pink fan as a child either. My mom dressed me in pink and my sister in blue for years and I couldn’t wear pink again–or use it in my quilts–for a long time!
Black would be the lonely color. Never used it.
Thanks for sharing Monica!
Purple. I just never got the purple groove on.
Thanks Kris–purple can be a tough color to use for sure–now it’s one of my favorites though!
Love all the colors!
me too Michele!
I’d love a chance to win this book. My lonely crayon would have been pink. When I was little I remember being girly was equated to being not tough.
Thanks Amy–I didn’t use pink for a long time because I was always dressed in pink as a little girl!
My lonely crayons were pink and yellow-green. I have learned to use both of them and love the results.
My favorite color combo is a triad of purple, green, and yellow.
That’s a great color combo Gene–thanks for sharing!
Hi Cindy.
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!
I really enjoy reading Rayna’s blog and seeing what she is working on. I’d love to win a copy of her book and play with her way of doing improv.
Hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday season!
Thanks Lynne–we did have a wonderful Thanksgiving out in LA with our older son and my husband’s relatives! I’ve enjoyed reading Rayna’s blog for a long time too and it’s fun to see her new book. Happy holidays to you and your family too!
I didn’t use purple much when I began making quilts. (I can hear the gasps!) Now, however, I am learning to include purple.
I never had one of those big 64 crayon boxes when growing up, so there were no unused colors in my small selection of 16 crayons. My school mates had the big ones, and I loved the name Burnt Umber, and the color fascinated me as well!
Thanks for sharing, Julie–I remember being fascinated by the name Burnt Umber too!
Red and green are my favorite colour combination! Keep up the good work!
Thanks Anne-Julie!
I love aquas & browns as a combination – add a pop of red – Wow! Thank you, Susan
That sounds like a great color combo Susan!
What a delightful book this will be for us. I have one of her previous books as well as yours. Both were good reads and remain excellent references. My lonely crayon was grey. I bought some grey fabric last year for an idea I have but haven’t started on it yet. Thanks for the opportunity.
Thanks Ann! I’m with you on the grey–but I have an idea for a new quilt with grey in it too.