Leftover Improv - Part Two and Final - Landscape Improv

This is a continuation of a previous post about the making of the leftover improv piece.

I kept adding hand embroidery to this piece in colored thread and in simple embroidery stitches.  They added texture and interest to this piece.  And then, I decided to do some big stitch hand quilting.  This takes so much longer than machine quilting (which can be done in a few hours).  I chose a variety of threads and after doing a few lines with pearl cotton, size 8 and very large needles, I ditched using them for quilting.  They were fine on the hand embroidery, but pulled the batting through to the front while quilting.  I liked the WonderFil spaghetti thread, size 12.  And pearl cotton, size 8 as well.

Here is a look at the work in progress.  For some reason, my camera picks up pink, but it is really black and white.

I worked on this when I needed handwork with my small quilt group, and occasionally worked on it while watching TV at night.  I wasn't in a hurry to get this piece done.  It was more about the slow stitching.  So, after many months,  it was finally done.  It was faced and left wonky.  It measures 30" W x 40" H.  I'm calling it "Landscape Improv".

I hope you like it.  It's going to be auctioned off in November at the Clark County Quilters guild meeting.

Charity quilt from leftovers

I had lots of leftover pieces from the burgundy quilt that I made from strip sets.  Rather than throw these out or toss them into my scrap bin, I decided to make a quilt and donate it to my quilt guild's charity group.

I started with 5" squares of a print fabric and sewed them to the scraps, which were also cut into 5" squares.  I sewed on both sides of the center line so that I would end up with 2 half square triangles.  These were then squared up to 4-1/2" squares. Here's the pile of them on my design wall and ready to put into the quilt.

I sewed these into 8" squares.  The half square triangles are all 4", the solid squares are all 2", and the setting blocks are all white on white 8" squares.  I love bright colors, so I used those fabrics in this quilt to make it fun and young looking.

Here is the finished top.

I hope whomever gets this charity quilt will like it!