First Quarter of the Quilters Playcation Rainbow Adventure Sewlong 2024 Blocks

Here are the first 12 blocks of my Rainbow Quilters Playcation Adventure Sew Along hosted by and blocks designed by Cheryl Arkison. You can catch the action at 2 PM Mountain Time (4 PM EST) on her Instagram feed @Cheryl_Arkison. All the blocks are improv. They are also free and you can join in at any time. You can also find them posted later on her YouTube Channel.

My blocks are roughly 9 inches square, but they do vary. So I’m planning to add filler fabric as needed when the time comes to sew the blocks into a quilt.

This is a really fun project. Anyone can do it. Cheryl demonstrated how to make each block on her Tuesday IG lives.

Purely Improv Blocks from 52 weeks of Improv Blocks with Cheryl Arkison

The past two posts, I’ve been sharing representational improv blocks from the Quilters Playcation Adventure Sew Along, a free year long improv block project hosted by Cheryl Arkison on Instagram. #qpadventuresewalong

This week I’ll show some blocks which are pure improv…not intending to look like anything specific, just experiments in sewing improv.

The block above is 39/52. Some of the strips have slightly curved seams. Cheryl does love a good curve! She used lots of them in the blocks this year.

24/52 Improv quarter square triangles

Block 24/52 was an improv quarter square triangle block. There are some serious curves going on here. You have to look closely at each of the 4 blocks comprising this finished block to see any triangluar. It really is there!

Block 19/52: Use a triangle from your scraps

Some weeks Cheryl incorporates scraps from previous blocks. On week 19 she asked us to make a block using a triangle in our scraps. I used 4. The challenge in my block was getting to sheep to all be standing up! Unfortunately, the sheep dog is mostly out of view.

Block 12/52

Finally here is a “Fractured” block for week 12/52. It sure does look like the block was in an earthquake!

It’ll be interesting to see how all 52 blocks come together. A few of the block early blocks are quite small, but as the year progressed, I settled on a block size around 11 inches, give or take. Also early on, I decided that this might also be an I Spy quilt. Not every week has something to search for, but many of the blocks do.

Can’t wait to see what the completed quilt top will look like. It’s going to be a big quilt. Stay turned for a reveal sometime early in 2023!

52 Weeks of Improv Blocks with Cheryl Arkison, Plus 1

All year I have been participating in Cheryl Arkison’s free 52 week Quilters Playcation Adventure Sew Along on Instagram #qpadventuresewalong. Some weeks there is a theme and some weeks it’s just an improv block. We are nearing the end of the sew along so I thought I’d share some of my favorite improv blocks.

Above is my improv Tomte (gnome) block. It is actually a bonus block from the Scandi Village workshop that Cheryl teaches. I took that class last year but she’s added the tomte this fall and did a free reel on Instagram showing how to sew the block. So this is my Plus 1 block!

Block 45/52 Toque (knit hat with a pom pom)

Here’s another representational block. Cheryl lives in Manitoba, Canada, and they had just had their first snow and their winter hats and mittens were out of storage and ready in use that week. (Meanwhile, I think it was in the 70’s here in New England!)

Block 38/52 improv Log Cabin Variation

This block is an improv version of the classic quilting block Log Cabin. It was fun using some special fabrics in this block.

And finally Block 48/52. This is a variation on the classic 4 patch block. There are Plus Blocks in each of the four quadrants in the block, separated by a large Plus sign running between them. I think it might have been better if I had used another color fabric, maybe a royal blue, for the large Plus. But it’s still a fun grid.

Oh, and that’s my young helper…Where DID I put that next strip! (Just grateful he was holding it and didn’t eat it)! The fabric was a little damp, but hey, that’s life with a puppy! And now you know why my blog is called SleepingDogQuilts…sewing while a puppy is awake and not crated is just not wise!

I’ll share a few more of the blocks before the end of the year. Because I didn’t use a fabric collection to make these blocks, the quilt is going to be busy. So it’s fun to see the blocks by themselves.

Designing an Improv block from a Traditional Quilt Block

On and off I’ve posted about my participation in Cheryl Arkison’s Tuesday at 12 noon EDT Instagram Quilters Playcation Adventure Sew Along. #qpadventuresewalong. One the the things Cheryl has done with these weekly blocks is to take a favorite traditional quilt block and design a modern improv block from it. Sometimes it is just a component of the block and not a take on the entire block.

I decided to try my hand at my own improv Block from the traditional “Flock of Geese” block. (This block is actually a variation of the more familiar “Old Maid’s Puzzle'“ block). I needed a couple crate mats so decided to make a mat with my improv block.

This block is a 4 square pattern. I simplified the left upper quadrant and made an improv half square triangle (HST) in the right upper quadrant. For the left lower quadrant I swapped the HST for a quarter circle and left the lower right quadrant empty.

I knew that adding that quarter circle block would create some fun designs. And it did! Here is the completed dog mat. I positioned 4 of the quarter circle blocks to create an wonky circle and turned the last two to create a wavy path.

The quilting is essentially a stitch just out of the ditch but i couldn’t resist circling around that one wonky improv circle! Just for fun.

This was a really fun exercise. And if the puppy chews it up (once he arrives next month), no problem! He’ll out grown this the little puppy crate in no time!!

Dog Crate Mat, 15 x 21 inches (Hint: The puppy will look like one of the dogs in the dog fabric! But which???)

A Year of Improv Quilt Blocks--One a Week on the Quilter's Playcation Adventure Sew Along

Cheryl Arkison is offering a year of free improv quilting block classes—one a week on Instagram. She named the series, “Quilter’s Playcation Adventure Sew Along”, with the hashtag #qpadventuresewalong.

Each week she demonstrates how to make the block of the week, and shows examples in two different colorways. She’s encouraging us to take the block in our own direction and do whatever feels fun. It’s suppose to be play!

I’m trying to use my scraps and a stack of 10 inch Kona® Snow blocks as well as some other pastel background fabrics. Hopefully the only fabric I’ll need to purchase for this project will be a quilt backing…sometime in 2023!

The second block, the one on the upper right, was inspired by trees. And her blocks do look like tiered evergreens. This block is made the same way as the blocks in her “Scandi Village” which I recently made. Having just made a forest of trees, I wanted to do something that wasn’t a tree. So I turned two of my triangles upside down, creating a balancing act.

In the third block (lower left) Cheryl had the curvy strip running vertically.a When I pulled the geese fabric out of my scrap bag, it just made sense to turn my strip horizontally, creating a path.

The blocks aren’t sewn to a specific size and Cheryl has recommended that we wait til a later date to trim them up. So the blocks are ragged looking on purpose.

To learn more, check out Cheryl’s site and blog, Quilter’s Playcation and follow the instagram tags #quiltersplaycation and #qpadventuresewlong to see what folks around the world are making with her!

I’ll post the blocks I made once a month. These four are the January make!