Inspiration of the Week in Kansas City

Exciting news! Some modern quilters in Kansas City find me inspiring this week...

My Improv Challenge Baby Quilt was featured Tuesday on the Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild blog as the "Inspiration of the Week".

Thanks to Sarah from the KCMQG for choosing my quilt. You've made my week :)

Project Night Night finish

My first quilt for Project Night Night is finished and ready for donation! Earlier in the summer I found three charm packs of Moda's Fresh line by Deb Strain and two orphan blocks made from those same fabrics in my stash.

Thing 2 laid out all the squares with the blocks to arrive at a 49.5" x 58.5" size. I pieced the top and then delivered it to my long-arm quilter Carol who quilted an all-over pattern of swirls, dragonflies, and flowers in an orange thread.

The two large blocks finished at 13.5", so you can get an idea of the scale of the flowers and dragonflies from this picture. I'm hoping some little girl will have fun looking for and counting them across the surface of this quilt.

For the backing I used two larger pieces of fabric from the same line that I had on hand. I wonder what my original intent was for these fabrics?

I also had the batting on hand, so I'm proud to say that this project was created entirely from my stash. The binding was machine sewn on both the front and back sides so the quilt can stand up to lots of love and washings :)

The Crystal Lake Modern Quilt Guild's first donation to Project Night Night was delivered in August - 12 bags each containing a quilt, book, and stuffed animal. We're on target to donate over 20 more bags in October! I'm so proud of the way the ladies from our new little guild have responded to this worthwhile cause!

You can read more about Project Night Night here.

improv challenge baby quilt finish

My improv challenge baby quilt was finished in time for our last Crystal Lake Modern Quilt Guild meeting a couple of weeks ago, but I just finally got some decent photos yesterday thanks to my helpful volunteer - Thing 1!

I free-motion quilted it with randomly spaced vertical wavy lines, some closer than others, with a couple of sections of wonky log-cabin-like stitching to repeat the shape of the blocks in the negative space.

I used a lime-green thread, and even though you can't really see the color unless you look closely, I think it gives the negative space a lot more zing than just a plain white thread.

I washed the quilt right after it was completed (an entire day before deadline, thank you very much!) because I was a tad disappointed with my quilting stitches. I'm sure it was hot up in the sewing room, so I probably tried to speed through the quilting process and because of that my stitch lengths were very inconsistent. But the puckering from the wash and dry does an excellent job of hiding those flaws.

 

A fun Michael Miller dot backing and a black and white stripe binding cut on the bias give it a little extra zip!

My guild is in the early planning stages of hosting our own quilt show, so I'll probably hang on to this quilt until that takes place. But after that, I'm not sure. It's okay to have a pile of quilts that you made for the sole purpose of learning a new skill or even just for the joy of working with the fabrics, right?

Yeah, that's what I thought, too :)

One more question: I used to prefer the crisp look of a quilt before washing, but now I really love the softness and texture (and flaw-concealment!) that only washing and drying can provide :) Do you prefer washed or unwashed??

improv piecing challenge

Last Sunday the newly formed Crystal Lake Modern Quilt Guild held our first workshop - Introduction to Improvisational Piecing. We had a turnout of about 20 ladies eager to get some hands-on practice with modern quilting techniques!

Paige (our President) led the workshop, and her goal was to help everyone feel more comfortable with forgetting the "rules" and just placing colors and shapes together by instinct. We focused on a simple "log cabin" type of block. Some of the ladies were very uncomfortable without a set of directions, but they all stuck with it and each made at least one block.

I'll be the first to admit it - this kind of quilting is not something I love. I struggle with chopping up fabric into random sizes, sewing it back together in random ways, and then lopping off bits of the block as I go. It's the randomness of the whole process, but it's good for me so I soldiered on and actually had a great time. It helped that for this workshop I used a bunch of scraps that were already chopped up. In fact, I brought along my entire basket of strip scraps (except for those favorites that are tucked away and destined for a scrappy-trip-along quilt) and let everyone have at it!

Here's a look at the three blocks I completed...

As a follow-up to the workshop, the guild is challenging all the participants to finish their blocks into some type of completed project. I'm thinking baby quilt for mine with lots of negative space.

I was going to "square up" each block but then on Monday I decided to emphasize the odd angles with a uniform 1" strip of Kona White around each one followed by a 1/2" border of the black and white stripe. My first block from the workshop... As you can see I still managed to end up with two right angles. Darn - I tried so hard to avoid that!

Block 2 - I think it looks like a house. Getting better at avoiding the dreaded right angle...

Block 3 - and we're back to the right angles!

I quite like this view of them all stacked together, and I think this is how I will place them in the baby quilt with lots of negative white space on the left side. It will be the perfect chance to practice some new free-motion quilting designs. Which will also be "good for me".

Paige was an excellent advisor and "cheerleader" when people began to get frustrated with the process. She has wonderful color sense and endless patience - a great combination when dealing with a room full of ladies trying something new. It turns out that stretching yourself in an unfamiliar direction is great creative fuel. And bonus - I didn't have to bring home any scraps!! Thanks Paige!

Our challenge projects aren't due until July, so I'm putting these blocks away for a bit in order to finish a different quilt for our nephew's first baby - a boy! Maybe I'll show you a peek at that quilt next time.

Until then, thanks for stopping by and reading :)

Exciting Announcement!

A branch of the Modern Quilt Guild is starting in my area! A couple of friends and I started kicking the idea around last fall, and we've finally made it happen...

If you are able to join us, we'd love to see you at our first meeting, February 10 from 1-4 p.m. at the Home State Bank Commercial Banking Center at 611 S. Main Street, Crystal Lake, IL 60014.

Please check our website for all the important details. "Like" us on Facebook to receive the latest updates directly in your news feed.

All quilters and sewists with a love for modern fabrics and/or quilting designs are welcome. New to quilting or sewing? No worries - we are interested in bringing together people of all skill levels. Check it out - we're going to have great FUN!