This week I am guest artist on Jen Broemel’s blog, The ART of IMPROV.
As Jen’s guest #27, plenty of interesting artists preceded me. Answering her challenging questions about how I make my improvisational art, I thought more deeply about what I do and why I do it. Each time I write seriously about my work helps clarify things I know but find I have not put into words as often or as well as I could have.

I’ve written on improvisation on this blog previously, and although I haven’t dwelt on it, obviously my approach to the act of quilting my art is improvisational, too. Normally the quilting needle in either hand or machine, just wanders, finding its way:

I never draw out a ‘quilting plan’ though I have had three quilts (bed quilts, family) quilted on contract by long arm quilters. The overall quilting on those was guided by the computer+longarm operator using the design motif, scale and threads I selected. Though I prefer the engagement of doing the quilting myself, these days the bod refuses to even consider hand or machine quilting a king or queen size quilt !

I frequently quilt in the ditch (non-quilters – along a seam) so that functional quilting holding layers together does not show, but other quilting is meant to be visible, and I often use thick, contrasting thread; and I definitely favour ‘glitter’.