In April, we had the privilege of hosting Stacey Sharman to teach her Broken Grids workshop. During the workshop we explored the techniques of guided improvisation in a great stash-busting design involving squares cut down to triangles. The other students and I made enough blocks that we were able to explore various layouts with our blocks as well.
In April, we had the privilege of hosting Stacey Sharman to teach her Broken Grids workshop. During the workshop we explored the techniques of guided improvisation in a great stash-busting design involving squares cut down to triangles. The other students and I made enough blocks that we were able to explore various layouts with our blocks as well.

Stacey spent time teaching us the background on where the structured improvisational style comes from historically and where it’s frequently seen today. She delved into many examples, showing us the range of this style of building a quilt, not just from herself but from other contemporaries as well. It was inspirational to see what folks could accomplish with it!


I enjoyed the relaxed format of the class which provided time to explore the technique and practice it with Stacey there for guidance. We could discuss with Stacey and the class and then refine it for more blocks. The beauty of this is that really all the blocks are usable even if one’s technique varies from block to block due to the organic nature.




Once folks had more than a few blocks, we tried out different layouts. It was fun to see all the different combinations that could be made even with just a few blocks and even more fun to see what the other students in the class came up with. Even though we were all doing the “same” block, everyone’s personal choices made it look so different!



I’m looking forward to using this technique to whittle away my pile of scraps!