• 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!

30 Days of Improv QAL – Week 2: Stripes

August 14, 2021 by Shannon

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

*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.


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:

  • *AGF PURE Solids in Lemonade 
  • *AGF PURE Solids in Light Citron 
  • *AGF PURE Solids in Dark Citron 
  • *AGF PURE Solids in Raspberry Rose 
  • *AGF PURE Solids in Plum Preserve 
  • *LDH Rotary Cutter
  • *LDH 9” Midnight Edition Fabric Shears
  • *Aurifil Thread in 50wt Colour 2000 for piecing 
  • *Cutting Mat 
  • *Sewing Machine 
  • *Iron
  • Wool pressing mat
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:

  • 30 Days of Improv QAL Pre-Kick Off- Fabric Selection
  • 30 Days of Improv QAL Week 1 – Squares
  • 30 Days of Improv QAL Week 2 – Stripes
  • 30 Days of Improv QAL Week 3 – Triangles
  • 30 Days of Improv WAL Week 4 – Curves
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


Never miss a post – sign up for the weekly newsletter.

This post uses affiliate links. For more info, visit the FAQ page.

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: Improv Quilting, Quilt Along, Quilting Tagged With: 30 Days of Improv QAL

Join the newsletter

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

Quilts I completed in 2020 | Shannon Fraser Designs #modernfiberart

Before sharing new quilty projects with you for 2021, I thought it would be fun to hold a virtual show and tell of all the quilt projects I completed in 2020. Come take a look!

See how to style a quilted coat for autumn in this modern capsule wardrobe overview by a modern quilter! Quilted coats are the perfect layering piece for autumn, click to see just how versatile they can be! #quiltedcoat #capsulewardrobe #fallwardrobe #womensfashion

Fall is here and that means the 2024 autumn capsule wardrobe overview is ready for you!

Holiday Shattered Star quilt getting pin basted | Shattered Star Quilt Along Week 7: How to baste your quilt | Shannon Fraser Designs #quilttutorial

It’s Week 7 of the Shattered Star Quilt Along and you’ve made amazing progress! We’ve got one big quilty hurdle to get over and then it’s all smooth quilting from there. Whether you love it or hate it, basting is a necessary step in the quilt making journey.

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