Improvisational Quilting for Garment Sewists, a new e-course from Sew DIY. Learn how to use your scrap fabric to make beautiful and useful improvisational quilts.

Are your scraps taking over your sewing room and causing you stress? For those of us who sew and want to live a sustainable lifestyle, finding new ways to use our fabric scraps can become overwhelming.

After years of sewing and saving scraps, I created a method of improvisational quilting that uses my scraps to make something useful and is fun and relaxing. This process of sewing is a great way to take a break from the technical aspects of garment sewing, and get in the flow of making. With this course, you'll learn all the basics of making a quilt and gain a fresh perspective on your scrap bin.

This is a blog style course that uses a combination of video, image and text to teach you everything you need to know to sew your own improvisational quilt. While the course is detailed and comprehensive, the lessons are broken into bite sized chunks so that you can learn as quickly (or slowly) as you want.

section 1 • Introduction
SECTION 2 • SUPPLIES

2.1 Fabric

2.2 Tools

2.3 Batting and Thread

SECTION 3 • piecing basics

3.1 Stitching basics

3.2 How to chain piece

3.3 Piecing rectangles

3.4 Piecing triangles

3.5 Pressing

3.6 Piecing curves

3.7 Piecing unusual shapes

SECTION 4 • planning

4.1 Color

4.2 Shapes

4.3 Trimming and organizing scraps

SECTION 5 • planning

5.1 Round 1 Stitching

5.2 Round 2 Stitching

5.3 Round 3 Stitching

SECTION 6 • finishing

6.1 Assemble the blocks

6.2 Make the quilt back

6.3 Make a quilt Sandwich

6.4 Machine quilting

6.5 How to make and apply bias binding

SECTION 7 • projects + more

7.1 Caring for your quilts

7.2 Making garments

7.3 Further reading + Inspiration

7.4 Quilts without batting

7.5 Tutorial: Fabric Scrap Bucket

7.6 Tutorial: Pyramid-Style "Bean" Bag

7.7 Tutorial: Quilted Tote

7.8 Tutorial: Quilted Tablet Case

SIGN UP

Meet your instructor

These classes are taught by Beth Wood, the Sew DIY pattern designer and creative director. Beth has over 25 years of experience sewing and brings all of that knowledge and practice to each of the lessons.

Check out the Sew DIY YouTube channel to get a feel for the style of instruction.

Who is this course for?

As the name says, this course is designed specifically for garment sewists interested in sustainability. You should have some experience sewing and plenty of scraps. The objective is to have fun and learn new skills, using the tools and supplies you already have on hand.

This course encourages you to play, get in the flow and break the rules. I want you to have fun with your fabric and not worry about the outcome. As garment sewists, we spend a lot of time selecting the right fabric, the right size and making sure everything looks as perfect as possible. This course is an opportunity to let go of expectations and play with your fabric.

This course may not be a good fit for experienced quilters. However, if you are comfortable breaking a few rules, trying true improvisational techniques and approaching quilting from a new perspective then this could be a good fit for you.

Improvisational Quilting student quilt top

chloe @prssrft

As an advanced beginner garment sewer, the thought of quilting always seemed too daunting and advanced. Sew DIY Improv Quilting not only clearly introduced quilting basics, but did so through an improvisational, low-cost process that had opened the door to quilting for me.

As a first quilting project, this was perfect for me: because the quilt was improvisational, I wasn't overly worried about "getting it right" or messing up expensive materials. The library of videos in the course walk through the entire process step by step, but are also a valuable resource to come back as questions arise through the process.

anna @sew_op_makerspace

This course was so much fun. It really inspired my creativity in a brand new way. I am pretty creative with garment sewing, but it is still a very precise and ordered process. This course showed me how to use all my gorgeous scraps of fabric in a totally free form practice. The quilt I created is a beautiful piece of art from a pile of scraps!

Lee @cottuscognatus

This course uses clear, concise instructions to lead you through a process that is creative, relaxing, and free from most of the constraints of garment sewing. The combination of text, audio, and visual course materials means that the information is conveyed thoroughly but without too much repetition.

As the on-screen course instructor, Beth not only provides the information in an approachable manner, she is also there to cheer you on each step of the way! Highly recommended for garment sewists who are new to quilting.

SIGN UP

Frequently asked questions

+ How does the pricing work?

This course is currently being offered in a "pay what you can afford" structure. I believe this is a high value, unique and comprehensive course that will teach you new sewing skills and give you a new perspective on your fabric stash.

However, I understand that we all have different budgets. Part of my reason for making these quilts and this course is to promote sustainability, so it seems right to make this course available to as many people as possible.

When you purchase this course, you will have lifetime access to the course and access to any additional content that is created in the future. There are four price options $34, $49, $64, and $79. The content is the same for each price option.

+ How do I get started?

After you purchase the course, you'll receive a pdf with information on how to log in to the course. You can start whenever you're ready, right away or at any time later on.

+ How long does the course take?

This is a self-paced course with about 2 hours of video content. You may want to watch all the lessons in a few days or watch them gradually over a few weeks as you sew your first quilt. Each video is about 5-7 minutes long so you can easily squeeze them into a busy schedule. How long it will take you to sew a quilt depends on the size of your scraps and the size of your quilt. Bigger scraps and a smaller quilt will come together faster than small scraps or a large quilt.

+ What tools and supplies do I need?

If you are already a garment sewist, you probably have everything you need. I recommend having a rotary cutter, ruler and self-healing cutting mat. If you plan to quilt your quilt yourself, I also recommend having a walking foot.

To make a traditional quilt, you will need to purchase batting. However, there is a lesson that explains how to make a blanket without batting.

+ What kind of scraps do I need?

The easiest scraps to work with are non-stretch woven fabrics. That said, there are ways to work with other woven fabrics and I always encourage you to play around and break the rules.

+ Do the videos have closed captions?

Yes! All the videos in the course include closed captions in English. Turn them on by clicking the "CC" button in the bottom right of the video.

+ What if I need help or get stuck?

If you get stuck, you can email me at help@sewdiy.com. I try to get back to people within 24-48 hours on business days.

+ Can I make things besides quilts?

Definitely. The course provides a lot of ideas and a handful of tutorials for other projects that you can make using improvisationally pieced fabric scraps.

+ Does this class include quilt patterns?

This class will teach you how to make a quilt without a pattern. Additionally, it will teach you the basic skills of piecing and quilting a quilt so if you want to use a quilt pattern in the future, you should have no trouble doing so. There are a few tutorials for alternate projects to a quilt including a fabric bucket, a quilted tote and a pyramid style "bean" bag.

+ Will new projects or content be added to the course?

Yes! That's the plan. I love creating tutorials and plan on adding more quilting projects and information to the course over time.

Sign up today

and Learn how to transform your fabric scraps

While I believe this is a very high value course, I understand that we all have different economic situations. I also believe that sustainable living should be something that’s available to everyone and sustainability is at the heart of this course. For those reasons, I’m offering the course in a “pay what you can afford” structure. All levels receive access to the same course content.

Click the links below to select the price you can afford.