Interview on improv

In this video, Francesca from Patchworkvictim and quilters in the room or online ask me some questions:

How did I start quilting?
How to continue?
How did we make Quilt Improv Studio?
Did I ever use patterns / glue / paper piecing?
How do I share the messages carried by quilts?
How my color samples are made?
And much more. Speech is in Italian language.

Mini video series: “The secret lives of quilts”

Here are collected links to short videos, where I talk with Francesca of Patchworkvictim about the hidden powers of quilts.

Session 1: Fabric as a friend
Session 2: Goldfinger quilt spy story
Session 3: Giraffes dance

Sewing as an engineer: improvisation stories video series

This section collects the video of zoom live sessions arranged by local quilt shop Patchworkvictim, aimed as interactive sessions; my presentation opening part has been recorded and saved on Patchworkvictim you tube channel. Sessions have been held in Italian language.

Here below it is resumed the series content: the lectures dig into improv patchwork progressively, from initial to more detailed approach; with sewing demo, scientific anecdotes and composition stories of wall quilts, from my personal gallery Walking on fabric fields, 2019 exhibit.

Title and summary:

1. My view on improv

Definitions of improv. Exploration; constraints and freedom; deciding colours or shapes; symbols and writing; to design is to set boundaries; a self-tailored mix; examples of tessellation in columns and rows and with curved log cabins, having mild or strong contrast; adapting the sewing margin to the colour of fabric; hints of nucleation and growth principles derived from metallurgy know-how. 

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2. The improvised architect: variations on the theme patchwork-village

Forget the pattern. Sew without a pattern, but with a sketch; combining blocks made with and without a pattern; absolute and relative measures; cutting after sewing and reaching complete size; prints bring surprises; technical quilting terms and fun with giving names.

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3. A pocket size zebra – compositions large and small

Forget the ruler. Relationship between abstract and figurative subjects; graphic exercises with small number of variables; the combinatory calculation of nine confetti; the emergence of symbols and the meaning of a logo; improv applied to small crafts and to larger compositions; sewing slightly curved stripes; examples of mug rugs; colours have a meaning; nucleation and growth; the connections between patchwork and evo-devo science.

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4. Diamonds are forever… especially if they are in a quilt!

Start a composition. Symmetry in the natural world and in an improv quilt; hints of crystallography; a brain wired for the mirror; symmetry of a block and of the overall composition; how to unite blocks having all different sizes; bimodal compositions; relationship between the size of the block and the size of the overall quilt. Presentation of Quilt Improv Studio project, co-created with Giovanna Nicolai and Carla Beretta. During the session it is pieced a quilt part of the game Orange Summer Improv.

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5. Managing chaos!… the noise which left a sign

Find beauty in abstraction. Textures in nature; definitions of texture and tessellation within design; orientation in a texture; orientation as seen by the brain; rules for isotropy; the distinction between signal and noise; composing with fields and negative spaces, hints of theory of chaos.