Coastal Cut Up

Remember the great scenery I saw along the coast of California?  I couldn’t get those strong water colors out of my head and knew I wanted to make a quilt inspired by them.

Amazing, right?  And, yes, the water was actually that color.

I wasn’t quite sure how I wanted to represent this idea, but I knew I didn’t want it to be overly exact.  I’d have to do some experimenting. But first, I started by auditioning my fabrics.  (It would need some white and black, don’t you think?)   I had many more fabrics in these colors, so I jumped in.

Remembering the fun I had piecing improvisationally, I wondered if that technique would work here.  I knew I’d need to divvy the project up into units, so I drew divisions on my inspiration photo and got to work.  This was my set up.

I jumped in and made these six blocks.

Hmm.  Yes, the colors were working.  And the white inserts added interest.  But, it didn’t have the excitement of crashing waves and rushing tides.  It would need something.

At about this point I had lunch with a friend and showed her In the Moment.  I excitedly told her about improvisational piecing and she wanted to try it.  She showed me some perfectly lovely abstract blocks later and you know what I wanted to do with them?  Cut them up, insert pieces, and rearrange things!  I told her and she actually liked the idea.  A fun conversation.

I came home and looked at my six blocks and then it hit me:  I needed to take my own advice!  I need to slash, insert, and rearrange!  I tackled this with glee and this photo shows 5 of the 6 altered.

MUCH better, don’t you think?  I was very excited!  Now, it had the energy I wanted!

I continued on, very loosely copying the color placement of the photo.  I had to keep telling myself, “not exact, not exact, not exact.”  After a few more days I had this.

Yes!  Now I was getting somewhere!  Can you see that rocky outcrop that’s beginning to appear?  Loving it!

I hope you’ll follow along as I continue with this exciting project.

Ellen Lindner