A Nice Surprise and a New Scrap Project

Posted on November 6, 2016 by zippyquilts

First, the surprise: One of my quilts, Cherrywood Toss, won first place in the Modern category at my local show! Needless to say, I was thrilled!

Cherrywood Toss. Read about it here.

And then it was on to a new scrap project! I’ve been wanting to make a scrap quilt with a zillion pieces ever since my friend Jerri made her postage stamp quilt.

I came across the “lego quilt” on Pinterest and followed the links to this post by Tonya Ricucci of Lazy Gal Quilting, which gives specific directions. Go visit her post–there’s a cool picture of an antique quilt that gave her the idea.

Strips on my design wall

Tonya made her 10″ (finished size) blocks using 1-1/2″ strips composed of scraps of various sizes. She mentioned that there was some difficulty getting them to come out the right size. Because of that, I am making my strips 11″ long unfinished so I can trim the blocks to 10-1/2″ wide after they are assembled. Also, I’m making the first strip in each block 2″ wide unfinished so I can trim in that direction as well.

So far I’m just making strips and putting them on the design wall to be sure I have a balance of values throughout the quilt. I’ll let you know how it goes. This takes a LOT of time! And like most scrap quilts, it doesn’t seem to use up even 10% of the available scraps! So far I’ve used only one drawer of the scrap cabinet!!!!

This might be a good leaders-and-enders project, since it seems like it could take forever. I’ll let you know how it turns out 🙂

Smoky Mountain Quilt Guild Show, Part 2

Posted on October 30, 2016 by zippyquilts

There has been so much going on (that’s good!) I haven’t had a chance to post the rest of my favorites from my local guild show. Here are a few more of them.

Please note that this is a local show, so most of the quilts were made from patterns or workshops. I’ll list the source where I have it.

Jen Kingwell design beautifully done by Susan Roper

Traditional design made “to use up scraps”

Our guild has a very active group making Quilts of Valor for men and women who have served in the military. The next two were made for that program.

Inspired by a design on the Alycia Quilts blog

Design by Jenny Doan for Missouri Star Quilt Company

Design from the book Modern Paper Piecing was both pieced and quilted by Linda

Debby designed and made this quilt after a study of Amish quilts

Quilt is based on a Mind the Gap design by Moda. Karen cleverly named it after her “mistake” in placing the green strips!

Christeen designed this quilt herself, and I think the name should get a humor award!

Betty designed and made this quilt for a log cabin challenge

From a pattern by Kathy Wells

I’m lucky to live near so many talented quilters!

12 Favorites: Chattanooga Quilt Week

Posted on October 2, 2016 by zippyquilts

I was lucky enough to attend the AQS show in Chattanooga last week, so I’m sharing some of my favorites with you. These are not meant to be representative of the show and they certainly do not represent the award-winners much. They are my personal choices.

But first, I must tell you that before I even went to the show I stopped at Spool, a great quilt shop in Chattanooga, to get my “Where’s the Penis?” button to wear to the show. This is to protest recent AQS censorship. I won’t repeat the ridiculous tale; if you don’t know about it you can read about it here, and read an even better analysis of the situation here.

The show was in the Chattanooga Trade Center, a nice facility with a carpet that would have been a good quilt design. Click on the photos to see bigger images.

In the show itself, I was struck by the dearth of truly traditional quilts. This traditional design was one of my favorites, but it is a small art quilt done as part of a challenge to make something in the spirit of the artist Grandma Moses.

Quilt by Yuko Miyashita of Japan, in response to a challenge to represent Grandma Moses

Quilt by Yuko Miyashita of Japan, in response to a challenge to represent the work of Grandma Moses

The great majority of the quilts were what I would classify as “art quilts” in that they had almost no possible function beyond the decorative. Sure, you COULD use that 18 inch square quilt as a table topper, but it seems unlikely.

The SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Association) had an exhibit, as usual, and I admired many of their quilts, including this one:

Towers of Babble, by Pam RuBert

Another exhibit of art quilts included this one by Laura Wasilowski, whose work I admire:

Lacking Gravity, by Laura Wasilowski

This quilt, from the same display of art quilts, also caught my eye:

Hot Flash 2 by Nancy Woods

There were a number of fun quilts displayed as the result of a challenge to use nontraditional materials, but this was my favorite.

Noth your Grandmother's Drunkard's Path, by Barbara Barber

Not your Grandmother’s Drunkard’s Path, by Barbara Barber

Note how she has used tufts of batting to represent foam:

Detail of Not Your Grandmother’s Drunkard’s Path by Barbara Barber

Here are some of my favorites from various categories in the main contest.

Between the Lines by Wilma Moss

Detail of Between the Lines by Wilma Moss

Modern Wedding Rings by Gabrielle Paquin (of France)

Mid-Century Modern by Jerriann Massey

Rockslide by Karen Duling

Autumn Gold by Lori Schloesser

Carpathian Mountain Sunset by Cathy Geier

And finally, a quilt that was so popular at the Vermont Quilt Festival that I had trouble getting a picture of it. It is still spectacular, but didn’t even get an Honorable Mention in Chattanooga.

Judgment of Osiris by Georgia Spalding Pierce

This last quilt is bed size, though not especially traditional. So where were the traditional quilts?

There were a few beautifully done whole cloth quilts, but otherwise I though even the bed-sized quilts often showed the influence of the modern aesthetic. I know very well that there are many fine traditional quilters still working, but I suspect they have given up on AQS shows. What do you think? Do you ever enter AQS shows?

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Where Did You Wear It?

Posted on September 25, 2016 by zippyquilts

A couple of years ago I made a quilt based on the little triangle codes found on plants at my local nursery. It sank without a trace when I entered it in a show.

But the idea stayed with me, and earlier this year, when I wanted to make a quilt with social significance, I decided on a QR code.

Since my “day job” involves a lot of treating conditions that condoms might have prevented, I wanted to make a quilt to promote condom use. It’s what we like to call “safer sex”. Now don’t get all huffy on me; sex is a fact of life.

When I went looking for a condom-related QR code, I found this one developed by Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest and the Hawaiian Islands.

The folks at Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest and Hawaiian Islands were gracious enough to allow me to use their QR code

Back in 2012 they put this QR code on all their condoms in a campaign called “Where Did You Wear It?”. Those who scan the code are taken to a website where they can put a pin in a map to show their geographic location–where they wore the condom!

The site also gives some important facts about condom use. The point of their campaign, and my point in making this quilt for show, is to normalize, encourage, and promote the use of condoms when needed.

It turns out QR codes are robust little devils, so I was able to re-color it and develop a lively quilt design with the use of my trusty Electric Quilt program:

Quilt Design from the “Where Did You Wear It?” QR code

Making this was quite a challenge! At each step I kept scanning it to be sure it took me to the “Where Did You Wear It?” site. (You can download any of several QR code scanners to your smart phone or iPad. I used QMark.)

The QR Code quilt, ready for its first show. It will the in the Asheville Quilt Show soon!

When I discussed the project with my wonderful son-in-law, he helped me turn my blog address into a QR code, too! That’s this blog address you see in the TINY QR code making up one block toward the bottom right of the quilt. Scanning it brings you to this post.

Please help me to encourage condom use when appropriate by sharing this post.

Pincushion follow-up

Posted on September 11, 2016 by zippyquilts

Here are the pincushions made by the talented members of the Franklin Modern Quilt Guild. And just so you know, any quilts you see in the background are samples hanging at A Stitch in Time, where we meet. How great is that, to meet in a quilt shop?

Be warned: these are really just snapshots, not my best pictures. I tried to be as unobtrusive as possible when I took pictures, so there may be odd things in the background.

This last one is a “needle cushion”. Each square is to be labelled with a needle size,so partly-used machine needles can be stuck in and easily found when you need that size again:

Needle Cushion

While I’m showing some of the creativity in this group, here are the “share and inspire” offerings for this month:

Jane Threlkeld fused some of her orphan blocks onto backing and made this purse

Linda Harrison made these two quilts from Bonnie Christine fabrics for Art Gallery, and one of them won a prize:

And here is a bright, cheerful quilt by Lynda Doll:

Several of our members also belong to an art quilt group, and brought an example of one of their projects. As you can see, they each made a vase of flowers and the cut them all up and swapped quarters! The next step will be beads and baubles.

There’s always plenty of inspiration at these meetings!

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Vermont Quilt Festival–Favorite Quilts, Part 2

Posted on July 17, 2016 by zippyquilts

Here are the rest of the quilts that really caught my eye at VQF.

First, a couple of my favorites among the many fine landscape quilts:These next ones probably would be classified as art quilts. As you can see, my camera was askew on the first one, but it also had very irregular edges. The transparency effects were impressive.This next one had a nice sense of humor and, as you can see from the ribbons, was well executed also.The rest of these are what I would call modern, and I especially appreciated their graphic impact.There were SO MANY more great quilts, so consider attending next year to see the show in person!

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Vermont Quilt Festival, Part I

Posted on July 3, 2016 by zippyquilts

I love the Vermont Quilt Festival (VQF) for several reasons: Vermont in June, great exhibits, and the opening reception with champagne and chocolate!!! (I’m showing a few of the beautiful quilts today, and I’ll have more later.)

However, my very favorite part is that each quilt is judged on its own merits. Every quilt is rated with published criteria and may (or may not) be awarded a ribbon, based on its score. I love this idea because, as I’ve said elsewhere, the idea of “competitive quilting” doesn’t compute for me. With the VQF system, your primary competition is yourself. Then, if you just have to try to beat other people in a given category, they do have the usual “best machine quilting”, etc.

This quilt involved extensive work and I think it is very “artistic”. It got a 3rd place for workmanship, but it also got the Best Modern Quilt award.

Here is the way quilts are judged, taken from the VQF website:

Each judge evaluates all entries, scores the quilts using the point system below, and provides a brief written critique. The final score for each entry is the average of the three judges’ scores. Score sheets and critiques are returned to contestants with their quilts.

POINT SYSTEM (100 points total)

Visual Impact: 15 points maximum
Design: 40 points maximum
20 points: use of pattern and design
10 points: effectiveness of color in overall design
5 points: suitability of materials
5 points: border treatment
Workmanship: 45 points maximum
20 points: precision of work, top and back
20 points: quality of quilting and/or needlework
5 points: binding and edges

RIBBON CATEGORIES

Exceptional Merit (purple): 98 -100 points
First (blue): 95-97 points
Second (red): 92-94points
Third (yellow): 88-91point

Modern quilt from Vermont Quilt Festival

Here is a modern sampler that I enjoyed. It got a 3rd place ribbon.

Although I didn’t win any of the “big” categories, I did get a (3rd place) ribbon at VQF this year. As you can see, that amounts to a “B” grade, so I’m pretty happy. The comments were useful, as well, so I know what to do the same and what to do differently next time.

This quilt, made from a pattern, got a 3rd place ribbon as well. The circle is on a black background, so the quilt is square.

I certainly wish other shows would adopt a similar system! I’m sure it is expensive, since VQF has 3 judges for each quilt and they have to make comments and take time to score each one, not just look at it once and move on. But for me, as a quilter, it makes the VQF show much more worth the effort of entering. Here’s my quilt:

Happy Squares, designed and made by me.

Does anyone know of other shows with a similar system? I’d like to consider them when planning next year’s entries!

2014 Projects, Part 2

Posted on June 26, 2016 by zippyquilts

To continue a review of projects from 2014, the point of this exercise is to get together a gallery page for each year I’ve done this blog.

I made “Drunk in the Garden” both to use this beautiful floral fabric that reminded me of Texas and to practice cutting and piecing gentle curves.

Drunk in the Garden, the original quilt

Despite the beautiful fabric, the overall design never looked right to me, primarily because the gold fabrics varied too much in value. I eventually cut this quilt up and made some place mats, which were much more successful. You can see them here, if you like.

I designed a quilt for the Michael Miller challenge and, though it sank without a trace in the challenge, I liked it. The design was improvised based on the little scan codes made up of triangles at my local garden center:

Packet of Posy Seeds

Also in 2014, I designed a quilt and pillow for Modern Quilts Unlimited magazine. Here is the picture from the magazine:

Zippy Star Quilt and Pillow as shown in Modern Quilts Unlimited, Summer 2014

And here is the “practice” quilt I made first to work out the details:

Zippy Star I, which sold at the Asheville Quilt Show in September

As if one Michael Miller challenge weren’t enough, I made this quilt for another later in the year:

And finally, I finished this quilt, which I had been working on for years. Literally.

Spring Sun, a design by me, using blocks paper pieced from a totally different Judy Niemeyer pattern

And that was it for 2014! One thing that is obvious from reviewing some of these pictures is that I have improved my photography since 2014. For which I’m thankful.

Coming up next: a report from the 2016 Vermont Quilt Festival!

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Projects from 2014

Posted on June 19, 2016 by zippyquilts

As part of my effort to develop galleries for this site, here is a review of my projects from the first half of 2014.

The design and tutorial for this zippered pouch came from Noodlehead.

I made a series of these little zippered pouches, and they have been useful.

These next two bags were made from a book entitled Ruby Star Wrapping. You can read my review of the book here, if you want.

I continued my interest in improvisational piecing in 2014, making this confetti block…

Confetti Block, 2014

…and this entry for the Quilt Alliance annual contest:

Whirlwind, my 2014 Quilt Alliance challenge quilt

I made this quilt for the Pantone Challenge. It looks better in person than in this picture, and now is used to decorate one of the rooms at our local free clinic:

Radiating Orchid, my mini-quilt for the Radiant Orchid Challenge

As always, I made a number of donation quilts for Ronald McDonald House. I used them to try out a variety of techniques and other experiments:

Nine Patch Quilt

Donation quilt top is the finish for June!

One of my quilts for Ronald McDonald House

I made this baby quilt because I loved the fabrics:

Baby Dots–Front

Baby Dots–back. I may like it even more than the front!

And I participated in several swaps, including one involving these blocks. Don’t even think about the 88 little pieces in the block on the left!!!

Swap Block–88 little squares!!!

Swap Block

I’ve reached my (self-imposed) length limit for a post, so the rest of the 2014 review will be coming up next week! Please come back 😉

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Thread Review

Posted on June 12, 2016 by zippyquilts

Note: I received no compensation for this review, either in products or payment.

I have used Superior So Fine thread for piecing and a lot of my quilting for a long time now. It comes in a wide range of colors and runs smoothly, without leaving excess lint in my machine. I use it for hand sewing as well, on the rare occasions when I do that.

I buy a lot of thread, so I subscribe to the Superior Threads newsletter in order to get bargains when they come along. They recently ran a special to encourage folks to try out new threads: You could get spools of several threads for half price if you let them choose the colors.

I’m all about trying new things, so I bought several. I sewed a little sample of each and stapled it in my Superior Threads catalog so I can refer to it when I order in future.

The first thread I tried was Fantastico, a 40-weight trilobal polyester.

Fantastico thread sample–I didn’t balance the tension, as you can see. I just wanted to see the thread.

I’ve been interested in trilobal thread since my friend Melanie over at Catbird Quilts showed a nice piece she’d quilted with trilobal thread–it was shiny! (The thread she used was Glide, and she uses a long-arm rather than a home machine for quilting.)

Next up was another 40-weight trilobal polyester, this one variegated:

Sample swatch done with Superior Rainbows thread

I still didn’t balance the tension, but you can see the sheen more with the variegated thread. I like this one, too!

Superior Razzle Dazzle is a thread developed by Ricky Tims and intended for couching or bobbin work. I bought this years ago for a machine quilting class I took and I never got to use it. So, since I was trying out threads anyway, I wound it on the bobbin, put Superior Bottom Line (a thin polyester) thread in the needle, and gave it a try:

Superior Razzle Dazzle sample

I think bigger stitches would be better, but I like this! Razzle Dazzle indeed! I’ve never used bobbin work for quilting, but I think I can feel it coming soon.

Superior Magnifico is another decorative trilobal polyester thread, again 40 weight. I don’t know how many colors it comes in, but there are EIGHT pages of color charts in my catalog!

Sample using Superior Magnifico

Finally, my FAVORITE, a metallic thread. I’ve tried several metallic thread and usually had trouble with them, even in my Bernina.

Superior Metallic thread

Ad you can see, this one gave me no trouble. And I did take time to balance the tension 🙂

All these threads ran smoothly with no problems. The recommended needle (#90) was printed on the end of each spool, which was very handy. I’m happy to have tried these and expect I’ll use them soon in my home-machine quilting.

Zippy Quilts

Modern Quilts With A Twist

Tag Archives: modern quilts

A Nice Surprise and a New Scrap Project

Smoky Mountain Quilt Guild Show, Part 2

12 Favorites: Chattanooga Quilt Week

Where Did You Wear It?

Pincushion follow-up

Vermont Quilt Festival–Favorite Quilts, Part 2

Vermont Quilt Festival, Part I

2014 Projects, Part 2

Projects from 2014

Thread Review

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