House of Cards | A Modern Improv Quilt

Have you ever gotten mid-way through quilting a project and realized you hated the direction you were in? 

All the hours put in and you feel like you’ve just ruined your quilt top? 

And so, you decide you’re going to change it up, even at such a late stage in the game? 

That’s what happened to me with this quilt! 

Read on to find out how I found myself in such a quilty pickle!  

*This post contains affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, if you click through and make a purchase, I may receive a commission. 

HOW THIS QUILT JOURNEY STARTED 

This one all started after I finished my Geometrical Flight Plan quilt and had the fabric scraps sitting there tempting me to play. 

If you’ve been around for awhile, then you know I love switching things up from working on more structured quilt patterns and then letting loose and letting my creativity just flow with some improv. 

It keeps me balanced.  

And I definitely needed the play time after all that template testing for the Flight Plan quilt pattern – ha! 

I mainly do improv with solids, but here I totally went for it will all those bold and very graphic prints in the *Geometrical Bundle Up from Art Gallery Fabrics.  

AURIFIL ARTISAN CHALLENGE 

As an Aurifil Artisan, we have some challenges we can sign up for. This month’s happened to be about using 5 or more thread colours in one project. I knew instantly this quilt would be perfect for that challenge. 

I already had most of the thread colours I needed on hand and then added in this gorgeous Jade colour. 

WHEN DID IT START GOING WRONG? 

It often happens during the quilting process that I’m on the fence as to whether I’m going to like the end result. There’s something about that quilting stage that I get unsure about my choices. Sometimes it comes down to my capabilities. You have a vision, but your skills aren’t quite up to par yet. So disappointing. 

But here, while I didn’t love my lines, I was actually questioning the execution of the idea. I wasn’t thrilled with it. 

I was super pleased with my thread colour choices. 

But it was my execution of it all that I wasn’t loving.  

And so, I decided after quilting about 2/3 of her that I was going to change directions. 

This was a total first. Normally I just stick with it and hope for the best. 

But not this time. 

This time I went from quilting straight lines in an organized pattern: 3 lines of yellow, then 2 lines of orange, followed by another 2 in light turquoise, then 4 of jade and 2 pink. The spacing was all very specific too. All things I love. It just didn’t seem right for this improv quilt. It felt busy. And inharmonious. 

I wanted the texture from the quilting, but not glaringly obvious stand out lines. 

WHAT I LEARNED 

I share this with you so that you know not all quilty experiences end up where and how you hoped they would. I’m still very happy with my quilt. I just know I could have done better. 

Had I had more time, I would have unpicked a lot of my stitch work, but I’m kinda thankful for that deadline. It means that this quilt is done, and I’ve learned something. 

There’s no shame in changing directions midway. 

That’s ok. 

Not all quilt journeys need to end with a quilt you love. 

That’s ok too. 

I did learn that I enjoyed the detailed quilt work I added in the last 1/3 of the quilt. Despite all that thread burying (tips on how to do that here), it was quite an enjoyable process. Not as fiddly as I initially thought it would be. I find this encouraging for future quilt projects. I won’t let the thought of lots of thread and bobbin changes + thread burying deter me from taking on a more intricate quilt design. 

MATERIALS FEATURED 

Here’s an overview of all the materials and notions I used to make the House of Cards quilt: 

• *Geometrical Bundle Up 
• *Carnation 
• *Emerald 
• *Citrus 
• *Tangerine 
• *Striped Binding 
• *50wt #2021 Aurifil Thread for piecing and hand binding 
• 40wt Aurifil Thread #2120 Yellow Canary
• 40wt Aurifil Thread #2225 Salmon
• 40wt Aurifil Thread #5006 Light Turquoise
• 40wt Aurifil Thread #4093 Jade
• 40wt Aurifil Thread #4020 Fuchsia 
• My go-to *batting
• Thread gloss – for hand binding 
• *Needles – for hand binding
• *Hera marker 
• *This ruler for plotting my quilt lines  

Click here for a full list of my essential tools and notions. 

There’s nothing demure or simple about this one. And despite the quilting challenges I faced, I love how she came together. 

I look at her and there’s instant happiness. 

I hope this quilt encourages you to see “problems” as opportunities to learn, grown and expand on your quilty skills. I could have given up and just put her aside. I could have just kept going with my initial quilt design. But sometimes you just gotta shift gears and go for it! 

Happy quilting! 

xo

Shannon 

PS I’ll be knocking this one off my Q4 FAL List! 

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