Making Fabric with Pat Sloan

Wow - today was just amazing!  A day spent in the company of fellow quilters...

Learning new skills from the amazing Pat Sloan!

I have always admired improvisational quilting, but it has always intimidated me.  I have spent so many years working on perfecting my cutting and piecing skills, striving for perfection.

I have even tried to train myself to cut my scraps into perfect 1 1/2" or 2 1/2" wide strips, ready for piecing into a log cabin block that would be perfectly square when finished.  Not that there is anything wrong with that, and I will continue to strive for perfection in my work, but there is something so liberating and fun about just grabbing scraps, chopping them into chunks, and sewing them together at random.

It really is FUN!!!

Today's workshop with Pat Sloan was a technique class.  I really didn't put much effort into picking the "right" fabrics.  The instructions were to just bring a basket full of scraps.

I love the technique.  We learned how to create new fabric from our scraps, including non-traditional log cabin blocks like the ones shown above, with "kisses" or "x's" spliced into them, as well as curved seam strips sewn together to make "new" fabric.

I will definitely be doing more improv work in the future, although I'm sure I haven't given up on the pursuit of perfection either.  I see a combination of both in my future quilting projects.

Pat Sloan is an excellent teacher, and everyone seemed to come away with the skill and desire to try something new.  What a wonderful day!  Thank you Pat, and thanks to the Mountain Laurel Quilt Guild for hosting the event.

Cheers!