Spend some time in the studio Sherri Lynn Wood! Sherri Lynn first taught at the workroom in 2019 and we are so excited to have her join us in Sprucedale this summer! Sherri Lynn teaches improvisational quilting as a creative life practice, and is considered an expert innovator and leader in the modern improv quilting movement. Her best-selling book, The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters: A Guide to Creating, Quilting & Living Courageously (Abrams, 2015), provides scores, or frameworks, for flexible patterns and creative exploration, along with practical instruction in stitching techniques and intuitive colour.
What’s your earliest memory of making something with your hands?
When I was ten or eleven, I made a tube dress from a curtain remnant my grandmother sent me (she made draperies professionally). I saved my allowance and bought a second hand Adler sewing machine for $30. It was a gaudy floral and paisley print in olive green, blue, purple. I added white pockets and a white strap that wrapped around my neck attached by a blue button. I was as skinny as a rail, and it just hung on me like a barrel! LOL! But I designed it myself freestyle without any pattern.
If you had to describe your quilting style in three words, what would they be?
Freestyle, Abstract, Joyful
What’s one unconventional tool or supply you swear by in your practice?
I will reach for a pair of scissors more often than a rotary cutter to make my quilts. One conventional tool that I never use: Rulers!
What’s a quilting rule you love to break—and why?
Matching. I prefer colors, patterns, and rhythms that clash or don't "go" together. Actually I question all rules that pertain to fixed pattern quilting because they don't apply or translate to improv and flexible patterns. Fixed and Flexible patterns have completely different aesthetic. It's an Apples / Oranges thing.
Tell us about a “happy accident” in your work—something that went wrong but turned into something amazing.
Whoopee! I'm all for happy accidents and invite them into my process. Every quilt I make is riddled with happy accidents!
What’s one thing students always say after taking your class?
That my workshops are life-changing.
If you could design a dream project with unlimited resources, what would it be?
I'm already living it. I like the limits of making do with whatever comes my way.
What’s your best advice for someone feeling stuck or intimidated by the creative process?
Follow the path of YES AND. Focus on one thing you like, that you can say YES to AND build on that. Forget the rest for now.
If you could collaborate with any designer, artist, or historical figure (alive or not), who would it be and why?
I would want to be Rosie Lee Tompkins studio assistant!
What’s one thing about you that most people wouldn’t expect?
I can twirl a baton and I love love love K-dramas.
Improv quilting is all about embracing spontaneity—how do you encourage quilters to let go of perfection and trust the process?
Give yourself grace. Respect your personal rhythms and remember that we all have the right to start where we are and continue to grow. Receive and let it happen. Let go of personal expectations and the outcome. Make it a journey and stay curious.
Your quilts often have a deep connection to personal storytelling—how can someone use improv quilting to tell their own story through fabric?
Honor your own patterns, make them your way with loving acceptance, to tell the story of you, and how you make relationships in the world.
Join Sherri Lynn in July for a workshop at the workroom!
