The Improv Paradox: How the Rules You Make Set You Free, with Susan Lapham

Colorful fabric landscape with layered hills, blue water, a glowing sun, and patterned trees under a purple sky

5 Days Monday to Friday, July 26-30, 2027


In this five-day workshop, you will design and construct a quilt top that is uniquely yours. Through daily presentations, interactive demos, and hands-on exercises, we will explore how rules and constraints don’t stifle creativity — they supercharge it. Rules act as a framework, guiding intentional choices and freeing you to focus on what is essential in the design. Structured exercises, tips, techniques, and encouragement will help you awaken your creative instincts. By the end of the week, you will leave with a completed quilt top — or well on your way to one — and strategies for trusting your own creative decisions.


Skill level: All


Materials Fee: None


All QBL workshops begin on Monday and end on Friday. Workshops are from 8:30 am to 4 pm daily. Students check in to their dorms and move into classrooms on the Sunday before the workshop begins. There is a welcome dinner with a lecture Sunday night.