30 Days of Improv QAL – Week 2: Stripes

30 Days of Improv Quilt Along Week 2 - Stripes by Shannon Fraser Designs #quiltalong #modernimprovquilting

You’re on a rollllll!!

Your improv blocks featuring the first shape challenge: squares are so inspiring!

Amanda (aka @broadclothstudio) and I are over the moon impressed with your willingness to abandon all the ‘quilty rules’ and let loose!

Keep it up as we dive into a new shape challenge.

30 Days of Improv Quilt Along Week 2 - Stripes by Shannon Fraser Designs - It's week 2 of the Quilt Along and this week it's all about the fun to be had with stripes. Graphic and impactful, stripes are great for your quilt composition #quiltalong #modernimprovquilting

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SHAPE OF THE WEEK – STRIPES

You know my love for stripes – both in quilting and in fashion 😉 So, it’s no surprise that Week 2 is one of my faves.

This week’s challenge will have you testing your new cutting skills (be sure to reference Week 1 email for a refresher) and exploring different piecing approaches to limit or enhance the wonk!

An interesting thing happens when you abandon working with a ruler and cut freehand – the more you do it, the more accurate you get.

Strange but true!

Then it becomes up to you how much of an organic feel you want to build into your improv blocks.

Here’s how mine played out for our Week 2 challenge focused on Stripes.

Day 1

To kick things off, I made a bunch of strip sets so that I had a starting point.

From there, I just sliced and diced by tuning into my gut instincts. The first block that emerged was a little larger than my blocks from Week 1, which I adore. It means adding different dimensions into my final quilt composition, which Amanda and I will talk more about in the last week of the challenge.

30 Days of Improv Quilt Along Week 2 - Stripes by Shannon Fraser Designs - It's week 2 of the Quilt Along and here's the first quilt block featuring the new shape Stripes. Love that pop of pink! #quiltalong #modernimprovquilting #color

Day 2

I really wanted to focus on the pops of Raspberry Rose to see how it played against the yellow-greens.

Final verdict? I love, love, love this colour combo. It’s my jam!

30 Days of Improv Quilt Along Week 2 - Stripes by Shannon Fraser Designs - It's week 2 of the Quilt Along and this is the second quilt block featuring the new shape Stripes. I opted to limit my color palette on this one #quiltalong #modernimprovquilting #color

Day 3

The focus for today’s block was on movement. That’s the beauty of stripes, their geometric nature adds lots of personality and graphic lines to your quilt. I particularly love how the pink line gets broken up on the top portion of the improv block.

30 Days of Improv Quilt Along Week 2 - Stripes by Shannon Fraser Designs - It's week 2 of the Quilt Along and here's the third quilt block featuring the new shape Stripes. Love how graphic and linear this one is! #quiltalong #modernimprovquilting #color

Day 4

Balance – that’s always a tricky component of any design. Here I wanted to play with some skinny strips squished between larger blocks of colour. That push-pull effect is very appealing to me.

30 Days of Improv Quilt Along Week 2 - Stripes by Shannon Fraser Designs - It's week 2 of the Quilt Along and here's the fourth quilt block featuring the new shape Stripes. The wonk is just so fun! #quiltalong #modernimprovquilting #color

Day 5

My favourite part about this little cutie? That skinny strip in the center. Gosh, isn’t it cute?! Also, I love that a trimming from the previous day’s block made its way into this one.

30 Days of Improv Quilt Along Week 2 - Stripes by Shannon Fraser Designs - It's week 2 of the Quilt Along and here's the fifth quilt block featuring the new shape Stripes. Tapping into my instincts and having fun with this challenge! #quiltalong #modernimprovquilting #color

MATERIALS FEATURED

Here’s everything I used to create my improv blocks for Week 2:

30 Days of Improv Quilt Along Week 2 - Stripes by Shannon Fraser Designs - It's week 2 of the Quilt Along and here's some of the blocks I stitched up featuring the new shape Stripes. #quiltalong #modernimprovquilting #color

For more 30 Days of Improv QAL check out the following posts:

Improv Behind the Scenes video on demand

Keep up the amazing improv work! And remember this is about having fun and not overthinking things 😉

Haven’t joined and want in on the quilty shenanigans? ~~Sign up for the free 30 Days of Improv Quilt Along here.~~ Sign-ups are now closed. Sign up for the weekly newsletter to be notified of the next one!

I’d love to know what your favourite block from this week’s challenge is. Share in the comments below!

xo,

Shannon

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30 Days of Improv QAL – Week 2: Stripes