The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters: A Guide to Creating, Quilting, and Living Courageously

Fabulous book, filled with so many ideas that you never run out of options.The book is helpfully divided into five sections with the techniques at the back so that they don't distract the artist. The first two sections connect quilting to spiritual discipline and encourage the readers to allow themselves to explore without judgment. The author invites us to improvise from a 'score' and offers ten scores -- each with multiple variations.This is not a book for those who prefer to copy quilts and it is not for the faint of heart. There are no straight lines and no pre-designed 'squares'.The improv gallery that follows each 'score' allows the reader to see how different quilters took the same instructions and created wildly different pieces. There is no 'right' and 'wrong' to improv quilting.There is an excellent section on colors and an equally excellent one on finishing the quilt (both with many helpful illustrations.)I would give up every book in my library before I would give up this one!

I rarely write reviews, but was compelled to this time. I have paged thru this entire book and am eager to start digging into the projects. I've been quilting for about 12 years now and find that I get very little use out of the usual quilting books with patterns / ideas. I am an avid blog reader and fairly knowledgeable re: quilting techniques. I do find that blogs tend to provide what I used to look for in a book. So, what I'm interested in are ways to push my creativity and ideas re: color theory or quilt design, etc - broader topics that are going to hold my interest for longer than my train ride home. It does also seem like the projects would be perfectly fine and interesting for beginners as well. Since the idea is to be free form and highly creative, a beginner won't be overwhelmed with difficult techniques (other than maybe curved piecing which isn't actually very hard at all). I'm considering inviting a non-quilting friend over to "play" and try some of these ideas together.

I bought your book on a whim one night while surfing Amazon, as I've been quilting for about 2-3 years now. I am self taught. When I started to read your book, I literally could NOT put it down. I had tears in my eyes because I said "It's like she wrote this just for me". It's my life- everything- from your thoughts on undoing anxiety, to a beginner's mind, to following your intuition. Even the improv nature of sewing and quilting-throwing things together without too much preamble. I love it. SO much. I realized this is what I've always been doing, but lacking the confidence your book has given me. I thought I was just another "weirdo" because I sort of despise patterns and instructions. After seeing these gorgeous makes and reading your "scores" (love that)---I know I am not a weirdo. I just wanted to say thank you for this book, I see it took you two years--and I can see the evidence of well thought out writing and photography. The designs are inspirational without being "stuffy". It's my favorite.

This is a fabulous book! A comprehensive workbook for designing modern quilts. It would be a great resource for a guild or art quilt group to draw from for exercises or challenges, etc. Be warned however that it is not presented in a conventionally straightforward manner - but it is very creative. Detailed instructions for various techniques used and recommended are in the back sections of the book, as if an index of sorts. The beginning is an overview, followed by a series of exercises employing the techniques outlined in the back. There can be a lot of turning back and forth between pages and sections. Some readers might find that tedious. I find it kind of refreshing. I can't put this book away - I am sure it will be a book I refer to over and over, especially during times of creative block. I am looking forward to sharing it with my Art Quilt Group members. I think we will be using this for some of our challenges over the next year!

Such a great starting point for anyone interested in improv quilting. So when I lent my copy to a friend (who lost it) I didn’t even hesitate to buy a second copy. A treasure!

Wonderful book. The pictures are so bright and beautiful! The ideas gleaned from it are so mind boggling. In the chapter titled "Improv Gallery," women from the East Bay Modern Quilters display quilts that were passed from person to person completing a Round Robin with every quilter adding her own special "look" to them. The quilts are wonderfully unusual, looking a bit like the Gees Bend ones that are well known for their unique characteristics. I haven't made a quilt using the author's suggestions yet, but intend to very soon, once the two other projects I'm now working on are finished. I'm just itching to get started. In the meantime I'm enjoying going through the pages, making plans, and reading, reading, reading! That's the kind of book this is. Spellbinding!

Sherri Lynn Wood has a unique and compelling voice in the modern quilting community. It's no simple task to instruct people how to improvise - much easier to give precise cutting and sewing instructions. But Ms. Wood succeeds brilliantly, laying a strong foundation in exploratory and corrective techniques, placing a strong emphasis on mindfulness, and rolling out projects, or 'scores' in Ms. Wood's improvisational terminology, with just enough guidance and constraints to get you started, and keep you sewing, even if you don't know where your finished project will end up.A beautiful book, with lots of photos of finished quilts from beginners and experts who tested the improvisational scores. You'll love paging through and seeing so many fantastic quilts, and you'll grow as a quilter when you work with Ms. Wood's instructions.

I figured just one good useable idea would make the purchase worthwhile. I was not disappointed. In addition to potent inspiration, the instructions for the techniques are very clear.

I am a little bit torn about this book.As I am becoming more and more attracted to more spontaneous and less structured patchwork I thought this book might offer valuable insights and tips, and it does. It is very encouraging and provides real practical information along with very good suggestions on how to expand your range of "improvised designs", supposing such an expression to make sense. The tips on how to bring together irregular sections of top are very good. As many books in the field it says you need a studio to create... but it has the good grace of aknowledging that those of us not so fortunate (=rich) to afford a dedicated room for quilting can still have a go at creating something worth while, which is kind of the author (funny how modern quilters forget that pioneer women used to piece, sew and quilt on the go on their trip to the West, without as much as roof on their heads let alone a studio!).On the other hand, the quilts themselves are (to me) utterly uninspiring, and actually, to be honest, downright ugly. I find the choice of fabrics and colours very hideous. I like clashing colours, but they must "clash well"... the "anything goes" philosophy seems to go a bit to far for me, and the combination of random highly saturated colours and random oversized patterns make for a dispiriting lack of harmony, subtlety and unity. It all very much reeks of the 70s . If you like that sort of look all is well, if not, you might find that the pictures rather detract from the text than otherwise. It must be said that this should have been obvious from the cover, but I was hoping that some of the contributors would have come up with a different, and less hectic range of esthetical choices. That is the case here and there, but not often.The other problem I have with the book is that it feels as dogmatic in its own way as traditional quilting books are in theirs. I believe one can thread the line between "order and tradition" and "chaos and emancipation" in a more harmonious way. This is not modern design. It's the kind of gawky abstract shapless look that we've been afflicted with since Picasso's days. I cannot like it. It is aggressively inelegant and there is not a single quilt in the whole book that I would like to make or own.However if you can appreciate the text without looking at the pictures you will find the book is very interesting and useful. I like the holistic, spiritual, meditative approach to creativity that it expounds, even if sometimes it goes overboard and reads more like a self-help manual than a quilting book. Still it is a refreshing approach.

Ich habe das Buch schon kurz nach dem Erscheinen gekauft und habe - wenn auch keinen großen Quilt - so doch mehrere Probestücke gemacht. Das Buch ist so aufgebaut, dass es für mehrere Quilts jeweils grobe Anleitungen gibt - angefangen von geraden Nähten bis hin zu Kurven - innerhalb derer man dann seiner Kreativität und Improvisation freien Lauf lassen kann. Im letzten Drittel/Viertel des Buches geht es um Schwierigkeiten, auf die man beim Improvisieren stößt und verschiedene Arten diese zu lösen, wie z.B. dass man Teile in der Größe anpassen muss um sie zusammenzusetzen, dass das Quilttop bei den kurvigen Nähten Wellen oder Falten schlägt, etc.Mich begeistert dass Buch damit, dass es Beispiele gibt, wie man sich vom "alles-ist-möglich" nicht erschlagen lässt, sondern sich für ein Arbeitsstück eigene Regeln oder Grenzen setzen kann, mithilfe derer man sich für die eigene Arbeit eine Richtung geben kann. Was aus diesen Regeln resultieren kann zeigt dann nicht nur ein Werk der Autorin sondern auch Beispiele von anderen Quilterinnen, die teilweise optisch ganz anders wirken, aber doch dieselbe Methode verwandt haben.Das Handwerkszeug im letzten Teil des Buches ist anschaulich und für mich sehr hilfeich. Ich möchte besonders hervorheben, dass die Autorin echte Schritt-für-Schritt-Fotos zeigt statt der häufig zu findenden Schemazeichnungen, und man die Ergebnisse ihrer Problemlösungen dann in den gezeigten Quilts wiederfindet - das finde ich sehr überzeugend.Erwähnen möchte ich, dass es sich hier um ein englischsprachiges Buch für Quilter und Patchworker handelt. Es geht um die Herstellung von Quilttops mittels Improvisations-Methoden. Es ist kein Buch für pure Anfänger, auf die "Basics" wurde (gottseidank) verzichtet.

Ich kann das Buch jeder an Improvisationstechnik interessierten Quilterin weiterempfehlen.Ich habe dieses Buch als Reiselektüre gekauft, um mich als nicht mehr ganz so frischer Quiltneuling mit einem neuen Thema / einer neuen Technik zu befassen. Dieses Buch hat mir wirklich Lust aufs Improvisieren gemacht. Bisher habe ich noch nicht danach gearbeitet, dies steht jedoch sicher auf meiner To-Do-Liste. Ein Buch das Spaß macht, motiviert, erklärt und zum gut geschriebenen Text auch schöne Fotografien beinhaltet.Zum englischsprachigen Text kann ich nur sagen, dass er sehr flüssig, und mit schönen Formulierungen leicht zu lesen ist. Als Anhaltspunkt: Mein Englischniveau bewegt ist irgendwo zwischen A2 und B1, und der Text lässt sich von mir auch gut erfassen, ohne JEDES Wort direkt übersetzen zu können.

Besonders geeignet für Patchworkerinnen, die sich für moderne (abstrakte) Quilts in freier Zuschneidetechnik ohne Schablonen interessieren. Anhand von 10 Beispielen, beschreibt die Autorin die Vorgehensweise und in einem Teil des Buches alle verwendeten Techniken und Tricks. Dazu kommen noch ca. 25 weitere Quiltbilder von Schülern. Die Beschreibungen sind klar, umfangreich und gut bebildert, setzen aber eher gute Englischkenntnisse voraus. Ihre verschiedenen Konstruktions- und Kurventechniken z.B. mittels Schrägstreifen ist sehr inspirierend für jene, die lieber frei "schaffen" und sich nicht für genaue Vorlagen interessieren. Man kann sich einen guten Eindruck ihrer Quilts verschaffen, wenn man in Google - Bilder "Sherri Lynn Wood quilt" eintippt. In meinen Augen, eines der besten Bücher über modernes Patchwork.

What a great source of ideas! I am so excited to have the means of doing more curves. I've always done a lot of crazy quilts & such, which only require straight cuts, and I've ventured a little into curves - but this gives me many more tools for doing even more expansive curves. I can't wait!