Saturday 27 February 2016

Brown Saturday and Some Improv Circles

The colour chosen by Angela at Soscrappy for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (see button on the right) this month was brown. I made two more bear's paw blocks,

brown bear's paws framed by black and white squares
February has not been my most productive quilting month; I was away from home for a few days, and then my machine was away for maintenance for a whole week.

Nevertheless I managed a needle-turned circle every day for the Quilty 365 project (see button on the right),

February circles up to 26th, in chronological order
including some brown ones:



My inspiration comes from my scrap bucket, I just root around until I find a suitable piece. The bigger pieces have gone, so now I'm piecing the circles and am quite amazed at the resulting combinations! This project is becoming more improvised as it progresses, and I don't always take account of the grain of the fabric. 

I'm following the advice of Kaya and Ann at the Ad Hoc Improv Quilters (see button on the right), although I could be more ad hoc; my squares are all exactly 4.5 inches square! I'm going improv one step at a time, and these circles are, for now the perfect project.

randomly pieced circles
 I'm still using solids for the background squares and am pleased with the result. 

There were two family birthdays this month, celebrated by a larger circle:
confetti and snow
The first was Carnival weekend, hence the confetti , and the second birthday boy was skiing in the Alps, so I used the nearest I had to a snow scene. I must admit to cutting into a new FQ for the snow!


Update 1 March

Here are the last three February circles:



I  am linking up to 
 RSC16  AHIQ  Quilty Folk  
Click on the images to see more photos.

Happy sewing

Marly.


23 comments:

LA Paylor said...

love a bears paw. I like your concept of many squares, and the black and whites

Laura McGrath said...

I really love the brown bear paws with the black and white! And I have no idea what needle turned appliqué is, but I'm going to google it now. So many wonderful circles,!

Chantal said...

Love your Bear Paws blocks. They like disappear into the background like real paw prints would do on a snowy day. Great work on the Quilty 365 too. I love the improv buttons. Enjoy! ;^)

Christine B said...

All such beautiful blocks Marly! I particularly like the circles! Christine x

liniecat said...

Yes smashing bear paws I agree!
Oh but I love your pieced circles too.
Ive made afew pieced ones myself and almost prefer that look

gayle said...

I love those bear paws! And your circles are wonderful - the pieced ones add so much visual interest and look like they're fun to make, too!

Mari said...

I so admire all of you who are doing the circles! I know I wouldn't have the discipline! Yours look great!

Nell's Quilts said...

The pieced circles are so interesting. Much more fun that one plain colour. Will you be making Bear Paws every month?

Dasha said...

I am in awe that you are keeping up with the circle project. I know I would have fallen by the wayside long ago and its only Feb.

LIttle Penguin Quilts said...

Your bear paw blocks are really neat! Are you making a whole quilt out of them? That will be beautiful!

Peggyinno said...

Love, love, love the Bear Paws and you are doing a great job on your circles! I love to appliqué!!

Ann said...

Great circles. Piecing them is a great idea and a fun way to start improvising. I need to do more that way. Thanks for linking up with AHIQ.

Magpie Sue said...

Piecing your scraps for circles for your Quilty 365 was a great idea. Cute little bear paw blocks!

Lisa J. said...

Great job on those circles Marly.

sewyouquilt2 said...

lovin your 365 quilt. it is so so fun.

Judy@Quilt Paradigm said...

I really like those bear claws and your circles are looking fantastic!! Love the improve you have added into them. I'm with you, little bits at a time. I don't seem to be able to jump in with abandon when it comes to improv. . . might be a control problem on my part! LOL

Sherrie said...

Hi,
Love your circles. The Bear Claws are awesome
Have a great day!

Cynthia@wabi-sabi-quilts said...

Your improv pieced circles are wonderful, and you have some really cute fabric - the novelties, etc. It all says "fun!"

Quilting Babcia said...

You have some great fabrics for your circles, and they really shine against the solid backgrounds.

audrey said...

Very fun circles! Love the improv. element.:)

Marle said...

You have used wonderful fabrics to your circles. Especially I like the circles with trees, a dog<3 and a house.

Angie said...

Fun cirlces - I like the idea of improv piecing, but haven't gotten there yet.

Kaja said...

Great circles - and you are right, it is the perfect project for playing around a bit with improv.