On-Demand Education: Improvisation

by Shashari Kiburi

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Why would someone choose improvisation as a creative technique? Shashari Kiburi, an Individual MQG member, explains why this powerful technique is used in quilt making and other creative endeavors. She provides many visual examples of improvisational quilts seen throughout history and shows how there are many ways to approach this style. Shashari covers in detail her planned approach to improv and includes a brief demonstration where she sketches out an idea, plays around with common quilt block shapes, and shows you her process for making a small, planned improvisation quilt. 

Shashari Kiburi

About the Contributor

Shashari Kiburi is a visual artist and educator working primarily in textiles. 

As a child, she felt a deep connection to creating. Growing up in a sewing household, she sat by her mom’s sewing machine often, pulling the pins out of fabric as her mother made many of the clothes she and her siblings wore. 

While studying Anthropology at UC Berkeley, she had the opportunity to learn printmaking. This work inspired a passion for abstract art and eventually led to using fiber as a medium for storytelling. 

Shashari’s work in quilting came about in 2012 when her children were young. It was a medium she could fit into her busy life as a mother of four children. She was able to seamlessly apply her practice in drawing and printmaking with textiles. 

Drawing upon her ancestry, she also dyes indigo fabrics as a foundation for her quiltmaking. Indigo puts Shashari’s voice into each quilt she makes and helps to close the gap between her ancestors’ past and the present.

More of Shashari’s work can be found online:

ulaludie.studio

instagram.com/ulaludie