Tag Archives: modern quilt

Fiddlesticks!

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I finished this quilt last month, but I’ve been doing a lot of quilting due to quarantine, so I’m behind on showing my work.  This is a scrap quilt, of course.  I’ve been seeing lots of quilts with little strips inserted on Pinterest, and finally got around to developing my own.

First, I got out all my solids, including the Grunge, and cut a 12″ square from each for background.  I planned to trim the blocks to 10.5″ after I finished inserting strips, since I have a 10.5″ square ruler 😀  No point making things difficult; let’s plan for easy!

Then I got out all my scraps and cut them into strips ranging from about 1″ to 2.5″ in width.  I made strip sets and cut them crosswise into strips for the quilt.   The inserted strips were cut in widths varying from 1″ to 2″, which of course means they finished 0.5″ to 1.5″ wide in the blocks.  I made more skinny ones than wide ones.

I just slashed the blocks at random angles.  I did slash and insert only one strip at a time. 

After I’d inserted enough strips to suit me, I trimmed each block to 10.5″ square.

Just look at the fun flower design my quilter used!

And yes, I left 3 blocks unpieced to add interest.

Quilt stats:  Fiddlesticks

Finished size: 49″ x 69″

Designed by me, based on multiple inspirations from Pinterest

Technique: Improvisation

Quilted by Julia Madison

Modern Curves and Stripes

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One of the books C&T sent to me recently is Quilt Modern Curves & Bold Stripes, by Heather Black and Daisy Aschenhoug.   I found the quilts in this book to be new and interesting, not just a repeat of what I’ve seen elsewhere..

Photo courtesy of C&T

There are 15 projects in the book, all including curves and stripes, and I would be happy to make all of them!  The one I just HAD to make first, however, is called “Tidbits”:

Tidbits quilt, Photo courtesy of C&T

I’ve got to tell you, I’m in love with this block–it is just the cutest!  I’m thinking I might want to turn it on point to make a raindrop.  Here’s my first block:

The directions for the quilts offer the option of making your own strip sets or using striped fabric..  I used some fun striped fabric I had in stash.

As was the case with the last C&T book I used, the instructions were clear and complete.  For the Tidbits block it is important to keep track of the way stripes are oriented, and there are tips on how to do that.

The book includes templates to trace for each of the quilts, though it would be possible to use curved templates you have on hand if you don’t mind modifying the designs slightly.

I want to make this one next:

Sunset Horizons quilt, Photo courtesy of C&T

BTW, go to the C&T website and sign up for their newsletter  That way you’ll know when they’re having a SALE!  Click this link, scroll all the way to the bottom of the page, and find the box to sign up in the bottom right corner.  They also have a blog you may want to check out. (As always, this is not an affiliate link; it is provided for your convenience and I do not get paid if you click)

OK, more eye candy from the book.:

“Lys” quilt, Photo courtesy of C&T

Festoons quilt, Photo courtesy of C&T

I just love these fresh, modern designs! Which one do you want to make?

 

Summertime Quilt

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This quilt was inspired by all the fun text prints I have collected and also by the desire to make something new as a sample for teaching curved piecing.

I used batiks from stash for the colors and I love the combination.  BUT combining batik fabrics, which are lighter weight, with the printed fabrics was a bear!  I do not recommend it.  Ordinarily this block is fairly easy to piece, but this combination made it difficult.  Another doggone learning experience 😀

I did put in a few of my trademark tiny strips of color:

The templates I used are from Back Porch Designs.  I’ve been pleased with them  and think they are reasonably priced.  This is not an affiliate link, but you can find them here if you’re interested. The quilt block used here is a slight modification of a pattern that came with the template.

And here is the back!  Notice the cute “bubble” quilting pattern 🙂

Quilt Stats:  Summertime

Finished size: 47″ square

Fabric: batiks and text prints, all from stash; backing is a Windham print

Made by: me

Quilted by:  Walker Quilt Co.

Leaf Pounding and Lattice Making, By My Friends

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I love to hear from people who have used something from my blog to make something of their own, so here are a couple of examples.

My long-time friend Katy read my blog on leaf pounding and decided to do some of her own.  She was kind enough to send pictures of her first batch.  Each picture shows both the original leaf and the print.  Click on any picture for an enlarged image.

Laura, a blogging friend, made a lattice quilt using instructions from my blog to design it herself.  She made the blocks a little more rectangular than mine, and I like it. The fabric used was brought by her daughter from a visit to Cote d’Ivoire. The vendor who sold the fabric gave her the lime green to go with it.  This certainly makes a lively wall hanging, which Laura plans to give to the daughter who brought her the fabric.

Here’s the finished top:

Please let me know what you’ve done lately, even if it isn’t something from my blog!  I love seeing other people’s ideas 🙂

A Swap Block for Donation Quilts

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One of my quilt groups makes donation quilts about 40″ square for various organizations. The size is easy to construct and quilt at home, and is appropriate for the children who receive the quilts.  Here are the recent group donations:

We often use swap blocks for our quilts and recently decided on a new swap and I want to tell you about it. One of your quilt groups may enjoy it, too!  Here’s how:

First make a big wonky log cabin block. Our blocks started with a 5″ square, which was modified to make a wonky center.  It was then surrounded by strips from my scrap bins, and occasional strips were trimmed so they were wonky, too.

These big blocks are 21″ square (unfinished).

We cut each block in quarters, so each quarter is 10.5″ unfinished, and started arranging them to make a quilt top that would finish at 40″ square.

This was how we eventually decided to arrange them in the finished top:

And then, of course, we made 4 more:

If you decide to do this, there are only 2 things to watch out for:

  1. As you add strips, keep measuring to be sure the center block remains centered enough so that there will be a piece of it in each quarter when you cut the block up.
  2. It’s easiest if the final round of strips is considerably wider than needed so the block can be trimmed to (unfinished) size easily without running into seams.

This is a really fun way to use scraps!  If you make one, or use this for a group swap, send me a picture!

Two Quilts for the Price of Two…

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Earlier in the year I ran across this pattern and was intrigued by how different it is from any quilt I’d ever made.

Photo courtesy of Shabby Fabrics and Krista Moser

I’ll try darn near anything, so I bought the pattern and made the quilt.  I almost never buy the fabric used in the original quilt, but I did this time, which is why I say two quilts for the price of two. There wasn’t much in stash that I could use since the design depends on a large number of different colors of ombre fabric.

I love the result!  The pattern was well written and the illustrations were clear.  My only complaint is that the pattern “requires” a particular ruler.  The ruler is expensive and specialized.  I didn’t foresee a lot of use for it, so I didn’t buy it.  I improvised a template, and that worked OK.  Likely the quilt would have been easier with the ruler, but I have my limits!

Here’s a closeup of the hexies quilted by Julia Madison (with gold thread, of course!).

If you go to Krista’s website you can see several other pictures of her quilt, but be warned that you, too, may want to make it!

Here are the quilt stats:

Ombre Blossoms

The finished quilt measures 57 “x 71”

Pattern by Krista Moser, available here

Machine Quilted by Julia Madison

Fabrics are Moda ombre confetti dot metallic

There was fabric left, so I made it all into half-square triangles (HSTs) with black. That allowed so many design possibilities that I dithered for a while a long time.  This was the final decision:

And here is a closeup of the fun quilting done by Julia Madison:

I love this quilt, too.  I used my Tucker Trimmer to make the HSTs, and it is one tool I consider worth the money.  I’ve used a wide variety of tools to make HSTs, and this is my favorite.  (And no, I do not have sponsorship from Tucker Tools!)

Here are the quilt stats:

HST Tumble

Finished size 54″ x 54″

Pattern by me

Machine quilted by Julia Madison

Fabric: Moda ombre confetti dot metallic, and black Cotton Couture by Michael Miller

 

 

Kraft-Tex Appliqué ! Woo!

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Appliqué and I have a love-hate relationship.  I love the look of appliqué sometimes, and I’ve tried several methods, from needle turn to fusible and most things in between.  No method is perfect.

And just to show that I really have tried, here are some samples:

Machine appliqué of these circles was done after the quilting, so the backing and batting acted as stabilizer

The petals were fused on with Heat’n’Bond, and then I buttonhole stitched around them after doing the rest of the quilting, again eliminating the need for stabilizer

The snowmen and noses were a combination of fusible appliqué and Eleanor Burns’s appliqué with fusible interfacing.  I have washed this and it held up fine.

Sunbonnet Sue

Sunbonnet Sue Visits Quilt in a Day was done with Eleanor Burns’s method using fusible interfacing to produce turned edges

So, when I wanted a space alien to go on a quilt recently, I gave the appliqué process some serious thought.  This fabric is part of the background for a wonky star quilt I’m making, and I wanted one block to be a space alien to go with the theme.

Unfortunately, I have not saved the selvage from this fabric, so I don’t know who made it

Then I had an idea (drum roll, please).  The folks at C&T recently asked me to be an ambassador for Kraft-Tex, and since I was already a Kraft-Tex user and had blogged about it 3 times, I agreed.  They sent me some free Kraft-Tex!

I chose Marsala, Denim (hand dyed and prewashed), and natural prewashed for my free Kraft-Tex

Actually, I had already bought this black Kraft-Tex for another project, but I just want you to know that, for the first time ever, I have accepted a donated product for use in my blog.

I’ll have a tutorial on this whole quilt when it’s finished, but here’s an overview of how I used Kraft-Tex to avoid traditional appliqué .  I cut out the alien’s head using one of my circle cutters and attached it to the block with washable glue stick. Then I cut the outline from black Kraft-Tex and put it over the raw edge, with the raw edge kind of centered underneath.

Here is the alien on my design wall

The eye stalks and eyes were cut from Kraft-Tex and all the Kraft-Tex was glued down with the same washable glue.  That all worked well.  I then machine-stitched near the edges of the Kraft-Tex using a size 70 needle and matching thread.  Voila!  I didn’t have to fool with fusibles, bias strips, or much of anything at all.

Kraft-Tex is washable, and I’ll be interested to see how it does in this quilt.  It is stiffer than fabric, but I think that will be OK given the small amount I used on this twin-size quilt.

I can especially see using Kraft-Tex this way in art quilts very soon!

I’ll let you know how this all turns out!

Meet Cheryl Brickey of Meadow Mist Designs

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You already know that I took an excellent class with Cheryl Brickey at the North Carolina Quilt Symposium recently.  She kindly agreed to an interview, as well.

Cheryl and me with the partially completed quilt I designed and made in class

Cheryl has written a book and numerous patterns; all are available on her website.    She is an engineer and works 3 days a week writing patent applications for high-tech textiles used in things like tires and military applications.  On top of all that, she has two children and a very busy life, so I asked for her top time management tip.  Her answer: “Don’t have any [time].”  She explained that, because her time is so limited, she knows exactly what she needs to do when she enters her studio and gets right to it.

Cheryl’s book, which she wrote with her friend Paige Alexander

Cheryl started quilting when her children were small.  She had always been involved in crafts, but started making quilts because it was something that “stayed done”, unlike the dishes, the laundry, etc.  I think we can all understand that!  She says she read somewhere that a woman should do something every day that can’t be undone.  Both she and I have searched extensively for that quotation without finding it, so I think we’ll just attribute it to Cheryl!  Anyway, quilting meets that need for her.

Cheryl identifies “modern traditional” as her style of quilting, and you can see what she means from the pictures below of some of her designs.

Samples for Cheryl’s class on minimalism in design

She blogs at Meadow Mist Designs, where she has just announced her next free mystery quilt.

Click here to be taken to Cheryl’s blog, where you can read about her mystery quilt

This mystery quilt will start in July of this year and run through April of 2020.  She will post a new set of directions the first Thursday of each month.

Cheryl says there is a non-mystery option, and about 25% of those who sign up for the mystery quilt elect to get a picture of the finished product from the outset!  (This meets her “engineer need”, she says.)  The only caveat is that those who elect to see the design from the beginning have to keep the secret so as not to ruin it for others.

Cheryl was a delight to meet and interview.  Her workshop and lecture were very well organized and presented.

Here are two of my favorite patterns from Cheryl, because who can resist pretty pictures?

You can check her out here.

North Carolina Quilt Symposium

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I recently spent 2 weeks mostly doing quilty things rather than cooking, doing laundry, hanging on the internet, etc. The time ended with the North Carolina Quilt Symposium at Lake Junaluska, NC.

View from the hotel at Lake Junaluska

This was one of the best events I have ever attended in terms of the quality of instruction. The friends who went with me agree, so it wasn’t just me in my little bubble 🙂

I took a class with Cheryl Brickey (see her website here), who was a wonderful instructor and showed us her personal method of designing modern-traditional quilts using EQ8 (Electric Quilt).  I have used EQ for ages (OK, since EQ5, and they are now up to EQ8) but she showed me some cool new tools I had never discovered.

Cheryl and me with the partially completed quilt I designed and made in class

My second class was with Lyric Kinard.  (Her website is here.)  I learned a lot about creating portraits in fabric.  Here is one that was done for practice at the beginning of the class.  It’s supposed to be the woman who was sitting across from me, but I did not take a photo of her for comparison 😀

This was just a quick practice piece; I promise the woman didn’t really have blue skin!

Lyric went on to teach a much more elaborate and realistic way to do a portrait in fabric, but mine isn’t even far enough along to show.  The whole class was useful and Lyric is an encouraging instructor.

The details of next year’s NC Quilt Symposium are not finalized, but if you want to know more about the symposium and what was available this year, visit the website at NCQSI.org.  I hope to see you there next year, especially, because I have agreed to help recruit teachers!  Come join the fun!

I was able to interview 3 of the teachers at NCQS, so look for posts about them coming up in the next few weeks.

Asheville Quilt Show

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So I went to the Asheville Quilt Guild’s annual show, which usually has lots of inspiration.  There were many nice quilts, but two quilt makers stood out, in my opinion.

The first is Diana Ramsay, whom I know from the Modern Quilt Guild, which used to exist in Asheville.  Here are her quilts:

Dutch Holiday by Diana Ramsay
Detail of Dutch Holiday

Fascinating Rhythm by Diana Ramsay

modern quilt, Asheville Quilt Show

Bulls Eye II, by Diana Ramsay

Although I don’t know Linda Fiedler, I was very impressed by her quilts, as well:

Moonglow, by Linda Fiedler

Detail of Fusion by Linda
Fusion, by Linda Fiedler

The guild’s gift shop always has something I wish I had made, and this year it was a little pyramid bag.  Of course I bought it.

I’ve always liked pyramid bags, which I first saw years ago in a craft store in Berea, Kentucky.  I had a pattern to make one, but it seemed pretty complex.  The internet to the rescue!  I found several sets of instructions and even videos.  Here are the instructions I used:

http://www.loganberryhandmade.com/sew-triangle-zipper-bag-pyramid-pouch-sewing-tutorial/

And here is the first set of pyramids. 

They were quick and easy!  Do I hear a Christmas gift idea?