I've been wanting to try "free piecing" or "wonky piecing" or "improvisational piecing" for a while. Recently I was checking out Bonnie Hunter's Scrap System and she mentioned that you payed as much per yard for your scraps as you did for the yardage. I got to thinking about that, and she's right! So I sorted my scraps. My system is no where near as organized as Bonnie's. I just sorted everything into lights and darks (or not lights) and then have a separate little bag for small pieces (anything between 1" and 2" squarish pieces) that I can use as a starting piece for my log cabin blocks.
Above are the six blocks I've made so far. My method has been to just pick a small center to start and then sew strips around until it is bigger than my 9.5" square ruler. Then I cut off the excess and end up with a 9.5" block. I'm not measuring anything, just lay it down against the block to see if it's long enough. If it is too long, I cut off the extra before sewing. I'm not sure if I want to make more log cabin blocks or if I want to try some wonky nine patches or stars or something else. I saw some cool wonky crosses recently here.
I may take the practice blocks and sew them into a charity quilt at some point. Right now I am just playing with the technique. It is harder than it seems like it should be to piece this way. I find myself trying to square things up as I go, then I stop myself and refocus.
My ultimate plan is to make a quilt using the this piecing technique with solids or mostly solids and a couple fun prints for zing. My inspiration comes from the Oh, Fransson! blog. Here is her quilt.
3 comments:
I don't think I have seen a wonky log cabin before, if I had, don't remember and well...I think it would be fn to do.
Lynn, these are great! Bonnie Hunter is one of my favorites, and it's my goal to get my scraps organized into a system like hers this year. I haven't made any progress yet on it this year, though! Ack! I keep thinking if I can get settled in a house, I can do that. I love the stuff Oh, Fransson! has been posting lately, too. I love that you have started this. I have a Kaffe Fassett quilt I am making for someone that has semi-log cabin blocks, but it's not as wonky as yours. I like yours a lot. I'll post photos of mine soon, because it's the one I need to get finished next. It's already long overdue. Can't wait to see what you do with this.
Lynn, I love these blocks! Be free!
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