The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters - a Review & Giveaway

Now here's a book I can get behind. And beside, and into. Sherri Lynn Wood's Improv Handbook is just that: a handbook. This is the most inspiring, informative and useful book I have in my quilting library. Honestly. I'm going to try and explain why without writing a novel (because I could, but I know you probably have other things to do today).

Regular readers of Poppyprint know that I've been quilting for 15 years. I learned in workshops at my LQS and later, through my guilds.  I have taken, and taught, many, many workshops.  In the past, I have described myself as a 'schooled' quilter, meaning I learned from experienced sewists/quilters who taught me technique and skills towards making a defined pattern/block/quilt in a prescribed way.  Over the past two years, I've moved towards exploring creative ideas beyond simply selecting fabrics for a pattern. I really feel like my technical confidence has come far enough to let me explore creating in a new way instead of just following a checklist of instructions and measurements to achieve someone else's idea.  It is unlikely I'll ever stop using patterns altogether, but I'm ready to venture out and see what happens.

Sherri's book is a guide for this exact moment in my creative life. I was lucky enough to purchase one of the limited copies at QuiltCon and have her sign it during the full day workshop that I took with her. She advised me to "be my own ruler". In the book, she discusses this more and encourages quilters to add their own voice to their work by free cutting, thereby creating a personal 'line' or signature. It is an interesting concept that I like - sort of like your own signature line or angle that could appear again and again throughout your work. As a practised "squaring upper", I've never actually built a large quilt from oddball shaped hunks of piecing or blocks that don't have squared edges....you know, the jigsaw puzzle approach. In our "Floating Squares Score" class, this is how the quilt came together. Sherri refers to this as "finding the natural fit" between two pieces of fabric and explains the concept with illustrative photos in the book.

My piecing work from the workshop (I am itching to get back to this!)

Classmate work  

The book is a collection of 'scores', not patterns. The scores are like recipes for improv concepts that are often related to shape, like squares, strips or curves.  You can explore each score using your own fabric that you love, but sometimes limits are put on the number of colours you can choose, or the sizes you cut. The score gives you parameters, but also permission to adjust, add, subtract or abandon certain elements as you progress.  Almost 250 volunteers accepted Sherri's call to test her scores and possibly have their quilts included in the book. In the final edit, 22 contributor quilts are shared alongside Sherri's own work to give you plenty of inspiration. I found a certain comfort in seeing the subtle similarities in the quilts (thanks to the score), while also recognizing the unique results of each maker's work. Here are a few of the excellent examples of the Patchwork Doodle score made by some of the volunteer testers for the book (click on the photos to read the makers' feedback on the process of working from the score):

Curve, by Lucie Summers (a star improv quiltmaker and author of  Quilt Improv)

By Maria Shell 

You Are Here, by Sharon O'Brien

Returning to the idea that this book truly is a handbook, Sherri not only provides parameters, encouragement and permission to explore, she also includes a lot of practical advice.  When you create without patterns and you sew oddly shaped hunks of fabric together (many with stretchy, bias edges), sometimes crazy stuff happens.  Detailed photos and diagrams show you what to do when your quilt ends up with a pucker or wobble that your iron can't tame.  I know I will have to give these techniques a try. It is such a different approach to squaring everything; I like the idea of not having ruler-cut straight angled seams between the patchwork sections.

There's also a lot of new-to-me quilting and creative vocabulary in the book.  Phrases like "bimodal construction", "flexible patterning", "cutting from your core" and the concept of improv quilting as storytelling referencing African American quiltmakers.  There's just so much great stuff!  The book is 175 pages long and it is packed with quality text and gorgeous photography. It is possible I'm unable to be objective about it at this point, because it really is a game-changer of a book for me.

You know how children are often the creators of the most beautiful, free and colourful artwork because they just make what they like without self-restraint or critique?  I wish I could make quilts in this same way, without censoring my choices or demanding more perfect results.  Reading The Improv Handbook really gave me the confidence to try, and I have big plans to stretch myself creatively in the coming months and years.   The work I'm doing with my Improv Under the Influence piecing technique is still ongoing, but I foresee expanding my improv skills with Sherri's guidance. I'm definitely ready to move in this direction and I'll be referring to Sherri's book, and those of my other improv mentor Gwen Marston, along the way.  I'm also trying to adopt Sherri's method of evaluation by looking at my work and, instead of immediately identifying everything I'm not happy about, asking the following questions (we did this as a group in our workshop):

What surprised you?

What did you learn?

Are you satisfied or dissatisfied?

What would you change?

We all love to be our own worst critic. Try using Sherri's evaluation questions and I bet you'll immediately feel better about your amazing quilting skills! The maker of the quilt below did just that.

Primary by Elisa Albury is one of  my fav quilts from the score testers. I really enjoyed Elisa's evaluation of her work, which is super honest and insightful (click photo to read it in the Flickr comment).

I could go on, but it's time for the giveaway before I lose you altogether. Are you eager to try something new and make your own original work, or further explore your creativity in an improvisational way? Leave one comment for your chance to win a copy of The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters.  At the request of the publisher, this giveaway is open to North American addresses only.  I request that your email MUST be linked to your comment (or appear in your comment) to win. A random winner will be selected on May 23 at 5:00 p.m. PST.

EDITED TO ANNOUNCE THAT THE WINNER IS COMMENT #36: Congratulations Barbara Woods!

Disclosure: STC Craft provided me with a review copy of this book (which, like 90% of the free stuff I get through my blog, I'm passing along as a door prize in one of my future workshops/retreats since I already had my own copy!).  Some of the quilts shown in this post do not appear in the book, however they were made by volunteer testers who have given their permission for images to be shared for promotional purposes. They're amazing, so I'm sharing them.

Have a look at the other stops on the blog tour as I'm sure each post will offer more inspirational photos and more chances to win your own copy!