• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • About
    • FAQ
  • TUTORIALS
  • RESOURCES
  • QUILT ALONGS
    • Little Forest BOM
    • Mouse Trap BOM 2025
    • Shattered Star QAL
    • Winter Star QAL
  • CONTACT
  • SHOP
  • Shannon Fraser Designs

Shannon Fraser Designs

Spreading quilty joy one stitch at a time!

100 Days of Modern Improv Quilting – First 50 Days

June 21, 2017 by Shannon 4 Comments

I'm sharing all about my 100-days of Modern improv quilting project. Fun creative challenge to hone your skills. Shannon Fraser Designs textile art.

It was a Tuesday morning in early April that I first heard
of the official The 100 Day Project.
I was sipping my coffee and catching up on my IG feed when I noticed a post by
Amanda from Gypsy Moon Quilt Co announcing she was joining in. Planning a 100 day project has been on my
“to-plan” list for awhile. I liked the idea of being creatively focused and
felt it would be a fun way to explore different ideas. What could I create if I
just let go and explored?

 
So, I was immediately curious to find out more details on
how to play along.
 
Turns out the day I heard about it was the official kick-off
day…gah, already behind! But I didn’t let that deter me. I figured I could
spend some time that day mulling ideas for my 100 day plan. I initially thought
of being really specific and focusing only on curves. And it may very well end
up there. But I didn’t want to narrow my scope too early on and box myself in.
The concept of improv kept coming back to me. I just adore a good improv
quilting session, what better way to further explore that area of interest.

 

I'm sharing all about my 100-days of Modern improv quilting project. Fun creative challenge to hone your skills. Shannon Fraser Designs textile art.

And then I thought of these little fabric snippets and
orphan blocks that I’ve had sitting patiently in a Ziplock bag just waiting for
me to play. I’ve been meaning to since April 2016, in fact! Ever since I
initially started stacking these pretty cut offs while preparing my hexies and
triangles for my Weight of  Love quilt.
And since then, I’ve been dreaming about sitting down and creating with them.

 

 

I'm sharing all about my 100-days of Modern improv quilting project. Fun creative challenge to hone your skills. Shannon Fraser Designs textile art.

 

 

While I have some orphan blocks and larger fabric scraps
left, my heart has really been set on playing with this stack of lopsided
triangles – or scalene triangles as they are officially known. And so that’s
where my project started. The parameters are open – my goal has been to have fun and
focus on modern improvisational quilting, wherever that may take me.
Essentially no rules 😉 No pattern, just me and these little fabric
scrap gems.

 

 

I'm sharing all about my 100-days of Modern improv quilting project. Fun creative challenge to hone your skills. Shannon Fraser Designs textile art.

 

By Day 45 these little scraps had dwindled considerably. 
 
I’m amazed that I’ve been able to create 36 modern unique improv blocks from the fabric scraps I had. And, I probably could have kept going for a few more, but wanted to save some for binding.

 

I'm sharing all about my 100-days of Modern improv quilting project. Fun creative challenge to hone your skills. Shannon Fraser Designs textile art.

 

I'm sharing all about my 100-days of Modern improv quilting project. Fun creative challenge to hone your skills. Shannon Fraser Designs textile art.

 

I'm sharing all about my 100-days of Modern improv quilting project. Fun creative challenge to hone your skills. Shannon Fraser Designs textile art.

 

Once I had my blocks all stitched up, the next little bit of
this creative challenge was focused on pulling these 36 blocks together to form
a cohesive design.

 

I'm sharing all about my 100-days of Modern improv quilting project. Fun creative challenge to hone your skills. Shannon Fraser Designs textile art.

 

When I found myself at the quilt layout step of this quilty
journey, I hadn’t a clue where it was headed, but isn’t that all part of the
fun?! After several days of just mulling, staring at my design wall and playing
with quilt block layout, I finally decided to go with my initial instinct. Since
I was loving seeing them paired next to one another, but didn’t want the
overall design to be TOO chaotic, I opted for quadrants separated by solid
strips laid out in a way that it appears to be spinning. Almost like a
windmill.
 
It’s still a little crazy, but now it is more controlled
chaos 😉


 

I'm sharing all about my 100-days of Modern improv quilting project. Fun creative challenge to hone your skills. Shannon Fraser Designs textile art.

 

To help keep the focus on the quadrants, I added a thick
white border to help keep it light and bright. The borders give the design room
to breath and give it a sense of floating in space.
 
What surprised me the most was that I got the backing and
ALL of the basting done in less than a half day. That’s a record for me.
Normally, I finish piecing the backing of the quilt and then have to work up to
the basting stage. Ugh, that’s really not my fave step. But, this time, it got
done lickitysplit. Which was awesome, as I didn’t end up dreading that task for
days before finally doing it!!

 

I'm sharing all about my 100-days of Modern improv quilting project. Fun creative challenge to hone your skills. Shannon Fraser Designs textile art.

 

And so far, I’m loving the challenge! There have been days
where I just wasn’t feeling it. It’s kinda akin to when you don’t want to
workout! But you start anyways and soon realize that you’re into it…there have
been days like that. Even better, is that some of those off days produced some
of my best little improv blocks.
 
Overall, this project has been a great lesson in staying the
course and plowing through even when you might not be in the mood. It’s amazing
what you can create even when you start off a session not entirely in the mood!
There is something to be said for showing up at your sewing table and just
starting. By the end of my daily session I felt accomplished and satisfied,
which is a great feeling to have especially if I started off unsure or not in
the mood.

 

I'm sharing all about my 100-days of Modern improv quilting project. Fun creative challenge to hone your skills. Shannon Fraser Designs textile art.

 

That
summarizes the first 50 days of the challenge. I’ve really been trying to be
good to post everyday on Instagram.  As
it stands, I’m currently on Day 67 of the challenge. If you want to follow
along for the remaining 33 days you can do that here.
I’ve also created a Pinterest board dedicated to this project, which you can
find here.

Since I didn’t want to overwhelm you with a bunch of photos in the post, I put together a Flipagram video to show the progression of the first 50 days.

 

 

If you’re looking to challenge yourself creatively, explore
new techniques or simply want to develop a new daily habit of making, I
encourage you to give your own 100-day project a go. I bet you’ll be surprised
at the amazing designs you uncover and create.
 
Happy quilting my friends!
 
xo
 
Shanno
Improv Behind the Scenes video on demand

Share this:

  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest

Related

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Create Daily, Creative Challenge, Modern Improv Quilting, Modern Quilting, The 100 Day Project

Join the newsletter

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Izzy says

    June 24, 2017 at 9:10 pm

    I love that you stuck with this, even on the days when you really didn't want to. You are going to have a really fun quilt as a result. 🙂

    Reply
    • Shannon says

      July 1, 2017 at 2:13 pm

      It’s been challenging, but really fun! I’m actually tempted to do it again 😉

      Reply
  2. pennylanequilts says

    June 29, 2017 at 3:40 pm

    Just look what you created by setting your parameters, showing up every day and exploring with improv! Thanks for letting us follow along. I have a button that says, "start", and when I am in need of inspiration, I remind myself to just Start!

    Reply
    • Shannon says

      July 1, 2017 at 2:15 pm

      I love the idea of a start button, Marla!! Sometimes it really is as simple as just starting 😊

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Hi! I'm Shannon. A modern quilt pattern designer based in Montreal. My quilting journey started by stumbling upon a half square triangle tutorial and I've been hooked since. I'm now spreading that quilty joy to you! Read More…

Stay up to date

Categories

POPULAR POSTS

Reflections quilted wall hanging featuring upcycled fabrics | A Suzy Quilts Pattern #quiltedwallhanging

It may have taken me 2 years to finally get her up on the blog, but I promise this is no reflection of how long this modern wall hanging takes to stitch up. Super quick and perfect for featuring your upcycled fabrics!

On the hunt for a large quilt pattern that doesn’t take forever to piece? The Harvest Falls quilt is for YOU! Plus, the large borders give you the chance to play with your quilting in the negative space. There’s also a mini version which is perfect for giving hand quilting a try!

Etched Diamond Lumbar Pillow featuring AGF Flannel on the back | Shannon Fraser Designs

It’s all about diving into new fabric substrates and exploring using flannel in a quilted Etched Diamond Lumbar Pillow! Spoiler, it feels yummy nummy!

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

Join the Newsletter

Be the first to know all the latest

Footer

  • Home
  • Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions
Shannon Fraser Designs

Copyright © 2025 SHANNON FRASER DESIGNS