Quilt-achusetts

Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs is hosting a Best of 2016 Linky Party where bloggers can share their five "best" posts.  I decided to join in the fun and share five of my favorite finishes of 2016! No. 1:  Graffiti Rings I s tarted this quilt in 2015 and 14 months later had finally finished my first double wedding ring quilt!  It was quite the accomplishment and on e done entirely for me.  This quilt isn't going in shows it's going in my family room and I love it. No. 2: Office Day Dreams This design came together so fast and I love how it turned out.  I don't work with prints all that often but I love Me + You batiks by Hoffman Fabrics. No. 3: Peaks + Horizons This quilt started as a design using binding tape but that was an epic fail so it ended as a vast negative space quilting experiment.  I'm glad the first design failed. No. 4: Mountain Scene This quilt brought together my old creative life as a landscape oil

I guess I do have a reason to make a post even though I haven't had time to sew.  I completely forgot about Quiltcon notifications!  I found out yesterday that I will have five, yep five, quilts hanging at Quiltcon East in Savannah, GA this coming February. Top Left: Modern Stepping Stones , Top Right: Mountain Scene , Bottom Left: Peaks + Horizons , Bottom Right: Office Day Dreams and Center: Michael Miller Challenge Mini It was a total shock to have that many quilts accepted.  I was thinking two maybe three but never imagined five.  It's is such an honor to have these quilts displayed in an international show featuring modern quilting.  I really appreciate all the opportunities the Modern Quilt Guild have given their members to showcase their work that would typically not have a chance.  Speaking of opportunities,  one of the quilts above will also be included in some extra Quiltcon fun but more on that later. In total I entered 8 of my own quilts so naturally t

When I was at Quiltcon, yes way back in February, I saw several transparency quilts and made a note to myself that I needed to make one of those, ( here's a link to the MQG's Quiltcon 2016 gallery ).  So, back in May I made one, yes May. Optics Quilt   It's not the typical transparency quilt because I wanted to stay true to my geometric bold designs. Optics There is a sneak peek of this quilt in on the Show Entries page but the reason I didn't share details about this quilt before is because I submitted it to the Quiltcon Magazine.  It wasn't accepted and in the end I was very pleased with that.  I had some pretty serious sewing/writing going on at that time and I wasn't looking forward to trying to write a pattern for this quilt.  I'm not even sure I could explain the block to myself let along write it down so others could understand it.  Look at how crazy that block is and there there 4 different blocks in 2 sets of mirror images! It

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.  I didn't get much sewing done because I was out of town for Thanksgiving week but I got back and finished up my 20th quilt of the year, yes 20th! The Cool Kids As stated before, I didn't really have a name for this design but I shared a picture of the quilt top with my friend, Haven, she said, "It looks like a Trapper Keeper that a kid much cooler than me would have had."  I have to admit it does have that Tapper Keeper feel so I decided to call it The Cool Kids.  Originally I wanted to design a quilt with high impact color contrast and ended up with a little, yes Trapper Keeper, a little pop art and a whole lot 1990's. The Cook Kids - Binding I love black binding!  Whenever possible I try to incorporate into my design.  I always look at the binding an extension of the overall design and it is important.  I discovered the hard way that a bad binding choice can ruin a quilt ( here ) I think I've tur

I finished a quilt! Finding Depth This quilt was designed as part of the 30 Days of Quilt Design challenge on Instagram.  It ended up looking quite a bit different than the original design but the feel is the same. Original Design For practical reason I took away the the transparency effect and once the rust chevrons were on I ran out of room for the green ones.  All in all this quilt is not my best work.  I like the overall look but it isn't what I typically make and I think that shows.  First of all the colors aren't my usual bright pallet, though I like working with these colors.  Next, my quilting is usually a little denser but wanted to use varying spacing to accentuate each color.  Finally, the chevrons are raw edge applique, I haven't done that since 2013! Finding Depth Chevrons This quilt is also full of mistakes!  It is pieced well but the quilting is not the best and I sandwiched the backing on upside down... YIKES!  Once I was done quilting I

This week my quilts finally went on display in Houston, TX for Quilt Market followed by the International Quilt Festival in the Modern Quilt Guild Showcase. (Thank you Charyl for the terrific pictures!) Modern Stepping Stones Peaks + Horizons I know I've shared these quilts a few times in the past but I always think it's fun seeing quilts hanging at shows.  I love seeing on Instragram people sharing pictures of their quilts at shows so I might as well give these two another go around. Both of these quilts were part of the Modern Quilt Guild's Showcase in the International Quilt Festival.  There were a total of 28 quilts in the showcase and all of them were amazing. Modern Quilt Guild Showcase International Quilt Festival 2016 From left to right top to bottom the quilts are: Lawn Diamonds by Sarah Schraw, That Way by Corrine Sovey, Mod Blocks by Betsy Vinegard, Bars Quilt by Tara Faughman, Peaks + Horizons by Heather Black, Modern Stepping Stones by H

Beyond all belief I received not one but two ribbons at the Washington State Quilters show this weekend!  I had a total of six quilts in the show you can see them here . Mountain Scene - Featured Quilters Award/Choice Beananers aka: Anna Banana - Third Place Modern Category Here's a closer look at the ribbons: I know that I've said it before, here , but just because a quilt doesn't do well at a show or doesn't even get in don't give up on it.  Remember last month Mountain Scene was folded in half and hung shamefully in the rafters with a red ribbon screaming "B grade work" on it and this month it was chosen from all the quilts in the show to receive the Featured Quilter's Award, by Robin Waggone r.  So don't give up on those quilts near and dear to you that you are sharing at shows.  I'd also like to brag about our local Modern Quilt Guild, INMod .  T wo other member Wendy and Jeannine won ribbons for quilting and Wendy w

For a couple months now I've been working on a quilt pattern and it is finally finished! I designed this for the MQG Quilt of the Month 2017 but was not selected, which is a bonus for everyone because now I can offer it for sale in my Etsy shop .  Those rejection emails can be hard to take but I've found after the first initial blow it's not hard to move on or, in this case, turn it into a positive. Quarter Hours Quilt I really fell in love with this quilt.  I started off with the idea clocks missing 15 minutes and continued the clock theme into my quilting.  I used the negative space to create gems, sapphires are commonly used in clock works and then quilted the clock blocks with different size clock hands.  I almost quilted the background in a diagonal line but in the end choose vertical giving it that 19th century parlor room feel, perfect for the overall feel of this quilt.  This quilt is about details and I changed it up by adding color to the bindin

I finished another quilt!  Office Day d reams: Office Day d reams Quit This quilt was a design from an Instagram challenge I took part in, #30daysofquiltdesign .  There have been some pretty amazing designs in the challenge and I can't wait to see more finished quilts from it. Office Day d reams Quilting I named this quilt after my sister in law, Alexis, told me she thought my designed looked like file folders and well it really does.  This quilt came together so easily.  The design was a spin off from another design I had just finished.  I knew instantly that I wanted to use Me and You batiks from Hoffman Fabrics and the quilting design just happened.  In addition to the quilt top falling into place I had been dying to use Anna Marie Horner's Fibs and Fables Enchanted as a quilt back since it came out, which I also used as the binding. Office Day d reams Back When it all came together the perfect name was Office Day d reams and I have to admit that I

Amy Ellis of Amy's Creative Side is hosting the Blogger Quilt Festival from now until the end of September and I entered two quilts.  The first was in the modern category, Peaks + Horizons. The second quilt I entered is in the Original Design Category: Mountain Scene (full blog here ) Each blogger that enters a quilt has a chance of a great prize if they are voted the favorite for their category, so head on over to Amy's site and check out all the great quilts and blogs!!  I'm so excited to participate in the festival and have already found so many great blogs to follow!

Amy Ellis of Amy's Creative Side is hosting the Blogger's quilt festival!  This online festival showcases quilts and quilt bloggers from around the web and I've decided to enter two of my quilts! The first quilt I entered is in the Modern Quilt Category: Peaks + Horizons (blogged about here & here ) Please take a few minutes and visit Amy's site to check out all the inspiring quilts and bloggers.  On September 24th you can vote for your favorite quilt in each category and the winner will receive some great prizes!!

I finished the notorious double wedding ring quilt! Graffiti Rings Quilt This was a long process.  I loved this quilt from the beginning but allowed myself to be easily distracted.  Ok, some of those distractions were pretty amazing quilts but I decided enough was enough and I finished this baby!  The initial spark of inspiration was Alison Glass' beautiful batiks, Handcrafted 2.  The instant I saw these fabrics I knew I wanted to make a double wedding ring quilt. I quilted this using a combination of horizontal lines and vertical echo lines.  The vertical lines ended up resembling a cable knit, nice secondary effect. Graffiti Rings Quilt - Back I'm a sucker for shocking pink and even have decor in my house this very color.  The backing is more Alison Glass Handcrafted 2.  I also got to skill build making this quilt because it was the first time I'd made a bias binding and for binding a scalped edge.  I have to admit one of the things that kept me from