Monday, November 24, 2014

Bee Blocks - November

Heather Flegel asked the Hope Circle of Do. Good Stitches to create Half Square Triangles with Stitch & Flip Triangles. I began with four 5" chartreuse and Kona white Half Square Triangles. Then I added stitch and flip triangles to the white halves in her selected color scheme. All the other 9" blocks with have monochromatic centers surrounded by white, with Stitch and Flip Triangles in assorted coordinating colors.
Hope Circle of Do. Good Stitches November @ Quilting Mod
Hope Circle of Do. Good Stitches November @ Quilting Mod
Jill Fisher of Pie Lady Quilts asked the New Blogger Bee to create two improv trees using the tutorial at Pinkadot Quilts. There were no size parameters, and due to the free-pieced nature of the process, every tree will be unique. Jill requested a low volume background.
New Blogger Bee November @ Quilting Mod
My greatest challenge wasn't the improv piecing; it was putting together the pieces after my children decided it would be fun to toss them into the air like confetti. At least my directional birds gave some indication as to how the pieces should be reassembled. Next time I do slice and insert, I'm doing a single slice at a time.
New Blogger Bee November @ Quilting Mod
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Saturday, November 22, 2014

Modern Quilt Guild Showcase: Part 6

Welcome to my sixth installment of inspiration from the Modern Quilt Guild Showcase at the International Quilt Festival in Houston, TX. Descriptions were written by the artists.
Homage by Jacquie Gering
This quilt was made as an homage to teacher and artist Josef Albers. His book Interaction of Color has been a touchstone as I have learned about color and explored color. The quilt illustrates the color principle of making one color appear as two.
Homage by Jacquie Gering
Homage by Jacquie Gering
Fissures by Debra Jeske
The blocks were begun in a class on the slice and insert technique. I chose to group them together and surround them by plenty of negative space. The line of each of the solid green "sticks" was extended out to the edges, and the wonky spiral quilting emphasized those lines. More spirals were done in each section of the blocks to help the "sticks" stand out.
Fissures by Debra Jeske
Entropy by Elisa Albury
My original idea for this quilt was the shapes and negative spaces that are created when dropping a container of ice cream sprinkles.
Made for inclusion in Minimal Quiltmaking by Gwen Marston (AQS 2014). I explored the concept of minimal design using these elements: unbleached muslin combined with small scraps, all set with the simplest units - the humble square. The quilt is simultaneously chaotic and ordered, a fabric representation of both expansion and contraction.
Entropy by Elisa Albury
Citrus Wedge by Jennifer Carlton Bailly
Citrus Wedge was the first quit that I made just for me out of my favorite colors. Inspired by citrus fruit, I played around with a true quarter circle and scraps. Raiding my friends' fabric stashes to make sure this stayed truly scrappy, not one fabric is repeated. The bottom left red square is my signature. In every quilt I make, you'll find a red square.
Citrus Wedge by Jennifer Carlton Bailly
Spiced Chai Quilt by Katie Blakesley
Traditionally, a full quilt of Tea Leaf blocks would start with a standard quilt layout of repeating blocks set in a grid with sashing in between them. In this case, a few key design changes - eliminating the sashing, using a larger than standard 12.5" block, and rotating several of the blocks so they aren't all facing the same direction - update this quilt for the 21st century. The quilt's neutral palette with a few pops of color creates dramatic focal points.
Spiced Chai Quilt by Katie Blakesley
Didn't Get the Memo by Alissa Carlton
These improvisational pieced triangles lend movement to the quilt design. The quilting lines follow the edge of each triangle, and that one lil' orange triangle didn't get the memo that it is navy/gray day!
Didn't Get the Memo by Alissa Carlton
If you missed out on the first five posts, here they are:
Part 5
Don't forget to get in on my giveaway too!
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Friday, November 21, 2014

Modern Quilt Guild Showcase: Part 5

Have you seen my previous MQG Showcase posts? If not, feel free.
My epic giveaway is another not-to-be-missed post, in case you're catching up on your blog reading or stopping by for the first time.
Modern X by Christa Watson
X marks the spot wit this bold, graphic quilt! I challenged myself to make a modern quilt from simple shapes iwi than obvious focal point. The pop of green draws the viewer in, and the minimalist quilting emphasizes the design.
Modern X by Christa Watson
Back to Basics by Meslissa Corry
This bold geometric design might look random, but take a closer look and you will see all kinds of secondary patterns start to emerge. I created this quilt for the Riley Blake Basics Modern Quilt Guild challenge. As the challenge was focused on basics, I designed this quilt using my three favorite basic quilting units, Half-Suare Triangles, Flying Geese, and the good old Square. The quilted spiral seemed like the perfect way to finish it off and soften all of those sharp points.
Back to Basics by Meslissa Corry
Summer Break by Amy Anderson
A desire to explore minimalist ideas combined wit ha need for a baby gift resulted in this quilt.
Summer Break by Amy Anderson
Off Center by Charlotte Noll
This quilt ws was designed for t he modern Quilt Guild Riley Blake Challenge. I added chevrons to the supplied challenge fabrics which have a white background. The front is appliquéd, the back is pieced. I machine quilted it with free-motion double lines.
Off Center by Charlotte Noll
Amazonia by Nathalie Bearden
When I was a child growing up in Brazil, I spent much time dreaming of adventures in the Amazon rainforest. For years, I read books about this magical land of undiscovered tribes and beholder of secrets to cure many diseases. I am grown now, and while my childhood dreams never came true in reality, in the imaginary, the dreams are alive. Amazonia is a modern quilt creation, my minimalist take on the mystical jungle. The gradated hues represent what one might find in the Amazon: ochre for the dirt and bark, green for the vast leaf canopy of the trees, white for the few rays of light that fight to penetrate the dense vegetation, and blue for the beautiful skies.
Amazonia by Nathalie Bearden
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Thursday, November 20, 2014

Modern Quilt Guild Showcase: Part 4

 Welcome back to the show, the Modern Quilt Guild Showcase at Houston Quilt Festival to be exact. See previous posts here:
Get in on my epic giveaway here, and then come on back. I'll wait patiently.
Broken Bars by Rebecca Roach
This quilt is inspired by a marquetry cabinet seen in Brooklyn. It made me start thinking about deconstructing classic Amish Quilt patterns. So, it's a lit bit Brooklyn, a little bit Lancaster County, and one of my favorite quilts ever.
The White Rainbow by Shruti Dandekar
This quilt is my idea of what colors will look like to a blind person! Reading Danielle Steele's Sisters Prompted me t make this quilt, in which trapunto dots have been used to "write" the names of colors in Braille onto a white fabric. The best part is that these names can be "read" by touching the quilt!
Namaste by Cheryl Olson
The traditional pattern of interlocking circles has many interpretations, I am reminded of my yoga practice gathering energy, bringing it center and finding peace. With the updated approach and fresh look that I designed, one feels a sense of unity and peace with endless circles that seem to go on forever. The thin bias strip twisted in a circled knot almost gives this quilt a Celtic feel. I loved using appliquéd bias strips.
Boxed In by Elizabeth Dackson
Boxed In is a twist on a traditional Nine Patch block applying a change in scale, as well as playing around wit the symmetry of the block. There are two layers of Nine Patches, and a giant Nine Patch block, built of asymmetrical Nine Patch units. I dug into my scrap box for this quilt, not only for the prints, but for the whites as well. I used four different shades of white, Log Cabin style, around the giant Nine Patch block. I so often ignore my scraps of white because it's tough to match them up, but I actually like the subtle tonal changes of white throughout the quilt.
Star'd by Kristy Daum
For a St. Louis Modern Quilt Guild challenge, we invited members to modernize the beloved Ohio Star block. My solution was to subtract a key component with each rendition of the block. Using bright colors, one can clearly see the variances, yet this destruction is calmed by the use of Flying Geese which help to move your eyes around the quilt. This creates a piece that is viewed as one whole concept rather than individual Ohio Star blocks.
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Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Bowtie Quilt

You might remember a Bowtie block tutorial I posted here last week. Did you download the free instruction sheet from Craftsy? Well, now I have a finished quilt for my friend Rebecca's baby, Gabe.
Fabrics include Science Fair Formulas by Robert Kaufman, Elementary and Road 15 by Sweetwater for Moda, Pearl Bracelets by Lizzy House, Moda's Grunge, Sunprints by Alison Glass and Riley Blake's Rocket Blast from the Rocket Age collection, among others.
I popped on my walking foot, set my stitch to a wide, elongated zig zag, and headed diagonally across the quilt quite a few times. I'm pleased with the result, but wish I could have made the stitch length a little longer without making the stitches overly huge.
Just a reminder: Enter my awesome giveaway before you leave.
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Tutti Frutti Goes Modern

I've been working on a modernized version of Tutti Frutti by Gail Garber. You can see Gail's renditions here:
Like her versions, I employed a gradient of color and fussy cutting.
This top is a testament to my extensive experience as a fabric curator. Or in layman's terms: All my fabric hoarding is paying off, as seen here! I pulled a rainbow of modern basics in fuchsia, tangerine, mustard yellow, chartreuse, teal, navy, and orchid. The background is an assortment of low volume prints. I only pulled ones that had a single color of print that matches one of the colors used in the spikes or geese on a bright white background.
Cotton + Steel, Acacia by Tula Pink, Pearl Bracelets by Lizzy House, Sunprints by Alison Glass, Collage by Carrie Bloomston, Road 15 by Sweetwater for Moda, Waterfront Park by Violet Craft, Michael Miller Stitch, and Just My Type by Patti Miller for Michael Miller are among the fabric lines I pulled to create a scrappy look.
Currently, I'm admiring her as I contemplate quilting and finish off my bee blocks for this month.
P.S. Don't forget to enter my epic giveaway!
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