Ever since Sherri Lynn Wood unwittingly defied the sexist dress code at Wiley Junior High School with a modest sundress of her own creation, she experienced sewing as a source of creative expression, subversive resistance, and personal empowerment. This formative experience has established a trajectory of restorative social practice throughout her career as a quilt maker, sculptor, and improviser. Currently based in Cincinnati, OH, Wood is the recipient of a Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Grant, two MacDowell Fellowships, and artist residencies at the Joan Mitchell Center, the Headlands Center for the Arts, and Recology San Francisco, where she undertook the task of presenting a body of work made completely from materials scavenged from the city dump. She holds an MFA from The Milton Avery Graduate School for the Arts at Bard College and a Masters of Theological Studies from Emory University in Atlanta. She has been improvising quilts as a creative life practice for 30 years. Her best selling publication 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 color theory.