Not a Bunch of Squares ~ Improv Patchwork {a tutorial}

Happy New Year!  I'm so excited to be back here to share.  For those of you who don't know me, my name is Jennifer and my blog is That Girl... That Quilt.  My brain is all too often overflowing with creative ideas so how perfect that I have the opportunity today to post on two blogs! 

I adore patchwork and I get a lot of questions about how I make my patchwork projects.  The short answer: no templates, no patterns, no sketches... just fabric, a ruler, a rotary cutter and your creativity.  So today I wanted to show you how to make improvisational patchwork.  It might feel a little strange at first if you are not used to sewing as you go but I promise that it's lots of fun and a great way to work with your stash!

I like to choose a foundation fabric piece first.  This isn't a foundation fabric in the traditional quilting sense.  It's more like the inspiration and the fabric you will be building your block around.  In my patchwork I use a lot of linen.  I love the texture created by using a mix of quilting cottons and linens.

Now find a similar sized piece of fabric and stitch the pieces right sides together {RST}.  Open and press.  Square your new "block" if it will drive you nuts to have wonky sides.  I like to keep it improvisational so I don't square until my block is done.

Next find a piece of fabric that is similar in size to your new created "block".  Stitch this fabric {RST} to your existing block.  Open and press.

Here's where it gets fun!  Take some smaller pieces and stitch them together to form a strip that is the approximate length of the block.  Press each seam and then stitch the strip to the block.  Unless you are just extremely talented {or lucky}, the seams of the strip and the seams of the block will not match.  If this bothers you ... breathe ... remember that you are learning something new!

Get creative and continue to build your block until you have a nice sized patchwork piece. 

I am using a 12.5" square ruler to square up the block.  Make three more patchwork blocks and you will have yourself a nice 12" x 48" patchwork table runner!

Stitch all four blocks together and press your seams.  Baste, quilt, and bind.  For a small project like this, machine binding works great.  If you need a tutorial, here's one that I wrote several months back that will walk you step by step through machine binding.

Too busy to make your own improv patchwork??  I'm giving this little table runner away on my blog today...

Thanks for letting me share!  I hope you will visit me over at That Girl... That Quilt soon!