Interview with Cindy Grisdela
Posted by Deirdre Quirk on Jan 16th 2017
Today we have a wonderful interview with Cindy Grisdela, the talented and charming author of Artful Improv. She shares some of her newest projects and how she came up with the idea for her book.
What are your go-to colors?
Right now I'm definitely into lime green and purple! I just finished a small piece, Improv Tower, that uses lime green as the primary color with bits of purple for the spark.
How do you stay up-to-date on new trends?
I love Instagram! Follow me @cindygrisdelaquilts.
What’s your favorite project that you’ve made?
Usually my favorite project is the one I've just finished. But recently I put together a strippy-style wallhanging that was completely improv and totally fun. I wanted to showcase several of the techniques I use in my book Artful Improv, so I went to my scrap basket and pulled out leftover, bright, angled stripes, improv blocks, and improv circles from other projects, then created some new ones for variety. I set them with various bright greens for background, and Lime Medley was born!
Can you share with us one quilting or sewing tip?
One of my favorite tips is using inexpensive 3" squares of rug backing material to set my fingertips on while I'm free-motion quilting. The backing squares stabilize my hands just enough to drive the design under the machine, and I don't have to fuss with gloves.
How did you come up with the idea for your book?
I've spent the last ten years traveling around the country showing and selling my work at fine art and fine craft shows. Often quilters would come into my booth and tell me they would love to be creative, but they didn't know how or weren't sure where to start. I wrote Artful Improv as a friendly guide for quilters who are ready to stitch their own designs, using simple design principles and a few improv techniques to get them started. No pattern + no rules = FUN!
