Category Archives: Modern Quilts

Contrasting Quilt from Zen Chic

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I saw a version of this quilt in a show a while back and liked it, so when I learned it was a Zen Chic design I bought the pattern. And to be honest, it’s been finished for a while; I’m behind on binding again!

The blue and white main fabrics came from an informal shop hop in Amish country, Ohio, a year ago. I’ve been looking for he perfect pattern for using them! The pattern was well written and I enjoyed making it. And just FYI, it’s not paper pieced. It’s available here.

Quilt Stats

Name: Contrasting

Finished size: 56″ x 55″

Designer: Brigitte Heitland

Maker: me

Quilter: Lewis Schafer

 

A Retreat, A Road Trip, and A Little Quilt Show

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Last week I went with friends to spend a few days in Northern Virginia. We rented a little house with a living room/dining room combo large enough for us all to set up and do some quilting, we went to a local quilt show, and we tried to visit some quilt shops.

Here are some of my favorite quilts from the Northern Shenandoah Valley Quilt Show, presented by multiple guilds from the area.

The theme of the show was “My Favorite Color is Plaid”. Members of the local Modern  Guild challenged themselves to make small modern quilts using fabric from plaid shirts.

“Curved Plaids” by Heidi Haynes was made for the plaid challenge in the traditional category

Springtime in Plaid Land, made by Susan Adams, was an interesting entry in the plaid challenge

Intersections, made by Melissa Mattice, was another interesting entry in the plaid challenge

Mexican Star Dance, made by Elaine Breiner

The quilt above was one of many well made, beautiful quilts in the show. I was especially interested in it because the pattern is by Annette Ornelas, who will be speaking at one of my guilds soon.

As for the shopping, we did some at the show but found that most local shops were closed in order to vend at the show. Of course, we really didn’t need anything so we went happily back to our rented house and sewed for a few more days! I didn’t finish anything, so further show-and-tell will have to wait 😀

Great Blocks, OK Quilt

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Last year’s Block of the Month (BOM) at Studio Stitch was a series of complex hexagons made with the Jaybird Quilts rulers. You can read about the woman who designed this way to make them in my earlier post here.

I enjoyed making the blocks and most weren’t very difficult with the use of the rulers and Justiann’s good instructions.

They looked great when I put a few up on the design wall to view them together.

It was my intention to make the quilt using the Kaufman Effervescence fabric, like Holly did here:

Quilt (c) Holly Alloway, designed and made by her

The fabric was ordered by the shop months ahead of time, but it still hadn’t arrived when the BOM classes were finished. I auditioned several other fabrics and finally settled on black and white with metallic accents. Here’s the finished quilt. (There were several blocks left over.)

I’m not crazy about it. In this instance, I think my choice of secondary fabrics does nothing to enhance the blocks. However, a done quilt is a good quilt so I’m on to the next project.

Had any quilts like that lately?

A New Donation!

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A friend called recently to say that a local charity wanted a quilt to decorate their new office space. I sent a couple of pictures and they were enthusiastic but thought maybe they wanted both quilts! Eventually someone came over to look at some options since both the pictures I sent were very much alike; I didn’t think they’d want two quilt so similar. Of course I was thrilled that somebody wanted my quilts!

The charity is Backpack Beginnings, a local organization whose mission is to give “food and basic necessities directly to children in need” and to connect their families to appropriate community resources. I like the fact that they have a “market” where families can “pick out their own groceries and supplies”.

Anyway, back to the quilts. The Backpack Beginnings representative selected these two quilts to decorate their new space, and I couldn’t be happier that someone actually requested a donation!

This first quilt, 48″ x 48″, is a modification of a pattern by Brigitte Heitland. I made it in 2022 and quilted it using the QAYG method.

The second quilt has been around a long time! I made it for Modern Quilts Unlimited back in 2014 and quilted it myself. Finished size is 47″ x 57″. It’s one of my favorites, so I’m glad it will be displayed.

Modern Quilts Unlimited magazine

Just FYI, if you’re local, Backpack Beginnings has the quilts they need now, but they still need volunteers!

I Love This Finish!

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This pattern came from a shop I visited on vacation last year. Then there was the issue of templates, which I ended up ordering from the same shop where I’d bought the pattern. Of course I can make templates, but it’s so much easier to cut around an acrylic template than to draw around a home-made template and then cut with scissors.

I got the small templates because that’s all that was available. Here’s a detailed picture in which you can see the lovely swirl quilting as well as that pointed lozenge that finishes at 2-1/4 inches long!

The quilt was exhausting to make, but I love it now that it’s done! There was the option to make the background pieced as well, but I passed 😀

Quilt Stats

Name: La Fin du Monde

Finished size: 40″ x 40″

Pattern: La Fin du Monde by Libs Elliott

Quilted by: Lewis Schafer

 

More Orphan Blocks

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First, I found this on the blog from Frances Arnold, a fellow quilter as you can tell:

How true!

And the same seems to be true of orphan blocks. Here’s the box with mine, despite my having made multiple quilts from them recently.

Here’s the latest top made from orphan blocks. It will go (eventually) to Flying Horse Farm, a camp for children with serious illnesses.

Blue Sky and Sunshine, 60″ x 72″

And here are a few more made from orphan blocks.

Quilt made using orphan blocks and the BQ5 pattern from Maple Island Quilts.

But look back up at that full orphan box. I think orphan blocks must follow the same rule as scraps!

What do you do with orphan blocks?

Pattern Review: Strip Search

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I found this pattern at Five Little Monkeys and it turned out to be as much fun as it appeared to be! The pattern said that, if you followed the instructions exactly, none of the strips would try to line up, and that was right! This means the only thing to “match” is the corners where the blocks come together, but really, the blocks are big so that was easy. Easy and fun–that’s what we like!

Here’s the first quilt I made from the pattern. I thought at first that the blocks needed sashing. However, that was not an improvement, so I removed the sashing and just added a border. The blocks are about 15″ square, so this was a good size quilt.

The second quilt is for Quilts of Valor and will be just the right size without a border. This is just a picture of part of it so the pattern of the strips shows. It isn’t finished yet.

And finally, here is a quilt I made to be used on one of our twin beds with a pillow sham.

This is an excellent pattern for using 2.5″ strips, either from scraps or a jelly roll. The instructions are clear and work well if they’re followed carefully. I recommend it!  

These folks developed the Stripology ruler so they recommend it, but it isn’t necessary for this pattern. Here’s a source for the pattern if you can’t get it at your LQS.

 

On to 2024!

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Having reviewed my faves from 2023, I’m looking at plans for 2024.

First: My MQG is having one of those UFO challenges where you pick one each month, so I’ve made a list and started that. The current project is cutting up some of the orphan blocks, shown here…

…and making them into different blocks. Some are on the design wall here:

Who knows where that will go!

Second, having enjoyed the Bloem pattern by Libs Elliott, I’m making her pattern La Fin Du Monde.

Next up will be some map quilts. I took Timna Tarr’s map class via Creative Spark in 2022 and have been enjoying my experiments since.

It’s time to actually finish some of those map quilts…

And speaking of map quilts, I’ve been facing these and hanging them as usual, but the Chief Consultant (AKA husband) thinks they need to be framed. I’m considering adding borders to frame them, or mounting them over stretched canvas (still without a frame). Or maybe a poster frame? Or maybe just stay with the facing.  Anybody have an opinion?

One more thing I’d like your help with: I’m on the program committee for one of my guilds. Has your guild had any outstanding programs you can recommend? We are in Greensboro, NC, and we need either someone nearby or someone who presents via Zoom in order to stay within our budget. I’d appreciate any ideas.

 

Personal Favorites from 2023

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Here are my personal faves of the quilts I made in 2023.

This is my version of the Bloem pattern by Libs Elliott. I think I showed in-progress photos but forgot to show it once it was finished!

I made this from a panel I just had to have. I especially enjoyed making the balloons and trees the opposite of each other.

This is made from Rachel Hauser’s Oodalolly pattern, which I’ve admired for years.

Swedish Sunrise is one of several quilts I’ve made with a sunrise theme. When It’s art we call it “working in series” rather than “perseveration” 😀

I made “St. Agatha in Venice” to use this beautiful print fabric.

Yes, it’s being held out a window by hand, so the picture isn’t as nice as the ones taken by the magazine folks!

The Tilda fabrics are beautiful, but so similar in value that they needed structure when they were all mashed together.

The “Wish” pattern from Cluck Cluck Sew was perfect for a Quilt of Valor

“Mod Owls” made a good teacher gift because the mascot at my grandsons’ school is an owl

Aha! Orphan blocks can be cut up to make new blocks, as I did with my Giant Circles quilt, here

Next post will be the “on to 2024” edition 😀

Classes, First Quarter 2024

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Here’s what I’ll be teaching at Studio Stitch in the first quarter of 2024.

Strip Swirl, January 18 & 25.

I made this quilt from scraps (of course!) but it could be made from a jelly roll for a more coordinated look.

Make Your Own Tilda Quilt, January 23 and 30.

Tilda fabrics are just beautiful! But they’re almost all mid values, which makes them challenging to use in a quilt. I designed this block and then made the entire quilt top a replica of the block! Learn how I did it and either use my design or make your own design in class.

Love Pillow, February 2

This is a chance to use your zipper foot, walking foot, and zigzag foot if you’d care to! And you get a cute pillow in time for Valentine’s Day.

A Little Orange, February 10

Yes, it’s being held out a window by hand, so the picture isn’t as nice as the ones taken by the magazine folks!

This is the quilt I had published in Quick + Easy Quilts recently, though their quilt was in holiday colors. This is the orange one I made to test the pattern before submitting it. It’s easy and would make a great second quilt for a relative beginner.

NOT Paper Pieced, March 5.

This is a quick and fun quilt that I made to use up a group of coordinating fat quarters.

Help! (UFO Rescue), March 15 and/or 16

This is my quarterly class for customers to bring anything unfinished and I’ll try to help. Some people sign up just to get some dedicated sewing time away from household chores!

And that’s it for the first quarter! Best wishes to you for the coming year!