Modern Quilter's Of Ireland Exhibit

Last Thursday was the official launch of our Modern Quilter's of Ireland exhibit!  This is our first exhibit, so it was very exciting for all of us.  Personally, it was the first time any of my quilts was shown publicly, which I found to be quite surreal. 

Modern Quilter's Of Ireland (well...those who came on the day).

It was really a wonderful day.  About 15 of the Modern Quilters took the day to travel to Dublin.  Some of us had met before, but many of us had not.  We only knew each other through blogs, email and Instagram.  It was so wonderful actually putting a face and real life personality with my online friends!

Tomomi's stunning wall hanging

At the exhibit opening, both Paula and I had the opportunity to say a few words.  I wrote mine out, so I still have a copy of what I said...or what I intended to say as I never really remember these sort of things accurately. I'll paste it below with a smattering of photos from the day in no particular order.  Many of you significantly contributed to these ideas/words via the blog or Instagram.  I thank you so very much for the inspiration and quotes included below. 

Paula's tryptic

Sarah Flynn and I started the Modern Quilters of Ireland in 2012.  At that time, I think we had met once over tea in a Bewley's hotel, but we already knew each other through and through just because we shared a common core.   Superficially, we are completely different: She's Irish, I'm not.  She live s in Cork, I live in Galway.  She's married, I'm not.  She had two - now three - children and I have fur babies.  But we shared a love of quilting, which meant we were one in the same.  

Ruth's bee quilt

We sew because we love to create.  We love the color and texture of fabric, the warmth of the finished quilt, and the pride or sense of accomplishment in a finished project.  We love the meditation in the process of sewing with time by yourself, concentrating, expanding your horizons.  

Fiona and her giant plus quilt

Somehow sewing attracts people who love to share, to teach, to gather and support one another.  It's much the same as what I saw with my mother and her gardening friends, or with my partner and his motorbiking buddies.  You find a common interest, and somehow you are immediately part of a community who watches out for one another.

My own Startazing bee quilt.

Our mission in starting the guild was to create that community.  We wanted to support and encourage the growth of modern quilting, but we had to somehow do that from different parts of the country.  With the Internet, the concept of community has fewer geographical limitations.  We could share an online community regardless of physical location.  

Claire's scrappy wall hanging.

Through blogs and social media, we quickly found a group of over 100 like minded individuals in Ireland, which still shocks me as I was sure there were only 3 of us into modern quilting when the guild launched.  

My bee quilt...over hanging the tea station!

In the words of Helen, "Our quilting community is just that: a community in the best 'old fashioned' sense of the word; people who support you through the tricky times, celebrate the good times alongside you and extend the hand of friendship to all newcomers." We cheer on successes like Fiona's quilt that was published in a magazine, the birth of Erin's beautiful children and Geraldine's newly remodelled kitchen.  We invited ourselves over to Anna's new house for a retreat, and we will celebrate a certain someone's 40th birthday next week!   

Partial Exhibit Overview

We support one another through difficulties.  It may be simply listening to one another complain, checking in on each other when someone goes quiet and (of course) sewing quilts for each other when we don't know what else to do.  We simply support and encourage one another because we are makers.  It's a friendship bound through creativity.

Sarah's quilt for her daughter.

I asked everyone on Instagram last night what the quilting community means to them.  I think this was my favorite response: "A place where I am accepted and wanted because of my creativity. It doesn't matter how old or young I am, how pretty or plain I am, how fat or slim I am.  My (online) quilting community includes me because I share my joy of creating with them and they share their joy and creativity with me."

Ana's EPP stars.

With this group, we are understood and accepted.  So many of us do not tell people that we quilt.  It's what your granny does, or for American pioneers.  Within our community we are free to ask questions, show our failures, ask for help, teach one another.  We inspire and encourage, serve as unconditional support, laugh together and distract one another in times of personal struggles.  

Tomomi's sampler

When Fiona and Sherrie presented our guild with the wonderful opportunity to exhibit our quilts, I started digging through the quilts on our beds, in my hot press, stacked up in the living room arm chair looking for a favorite or two to share with you all.  Two of my favorite quilts of all time are here.  It is only after they were shipped to Sherrie that I realized why I love them so much.  

Sarah's medallion

Yes, I love bright colors and repeating pattern, but these quits are quits made by this quilting community through quilting bees.  When I curl up on the couch to watch a movie, I look down and see a friend next to me.  I know their style of sewing, their favorite colors,  what fabric they have in their stash.  We created those quilts together, and I love that I have a bit of each of them in my home.

Ruth's triangle quilt.

I can't thank you all enough for what you do.  I'm privileged to be part of such a great community!

Liz's square in a square in a square.

Anna's own design.

Irina's bee quilt.

Modern Quilters of Ireland Exhibit!!!

I am SO excited to spread the word about the Modern Irish Quilter's exhibit to be held in Dublin the 25 May - 26 June at St Patrick's Hospital on St James's Street.  It is just a 5 minute walk from Heuston Station with lots of parking available if you choose to drive.  Be sure to jot it down in your diary right now...we'll wait.  So many of our Modern Irish Quilters have been stitching like crazy, creating our own patterns and quilting our hearts out in preparation.  You will not want to miss seeing all of their amazing finishes gathered together in one place.

*********************************************************************************
What I really want to tell you about is the launch on 4th June.  I have the great pleasure of speaking at our launch as the co-founder (with Sarah) of the group along with Paula Rafferty, a member of the group.  I want to talk about our quilting community, its importance to me in terms of support, inspiration and encouragement.  If you are so inclined, I ask you to share your thoughts about the quilting community and what it means to you.  I would love to incorporate the voice of the community in my launch speech beyond babbling on about myself and my own views.

Thank you!
*********************************************************************************

Modern Quilters of Ireland Christmas Swap

I should have told you about this finish a month ago, but just never got around to blogging about it.  Back in October I signed up for the Modern Quilters of Ireland Christmas swap.  We were each to make a 18 x 18 inch cushion cover and one tree decoration.  I hummed and hawed for quite some time, looking for inspiration.  I knew my partner, which helps a HUGE amount.  We also received a little description of our partner's likes and dislikes, too: "Love fresh modern designs, cute whimsical ideas and colours, playful characters for a house of young people".  I waited for inspiration to strike.  

Finally I found a tutorial on Fandom in Stitches with a free pattern to paper piece Rudolph!  Oh, the happiness!  After a bit of fabric shopping with my parents over Thanksgiving (I'll tell you about that later)  I started creating my child hood friend in fabric.

The pattern is easy to follow - just sew on the line.  However, it's the most involved, intricate pattern that I've ever tried.  I will say it came together without a hitch, thank goodness.  As the block finished at 10 inches, I added on two Kona white borders to lighten the cushion up a bit, followed by a red peppermint print to bring out his nose.  It's quilted in concentric squares - nothing earth shattering, but I thought the focus should really be on Rudolph himself, not my quilting.  

The back was made from a cute Riley Blake print of Rudolph and his lady friend.  It was perfect.

I feel like I should explain the setting of my photoshoot - I carried this cushion around for 2 days hoping to get a bit of sun to snap a photo or two.  It was dark before work, dark after work and rained during the day.  I had to bring it to work and photograph it on office furniture in the building's atrium.  You would not believe the weird looks passing in my direction.

And finally I used this tutorial to create my ornament. I really really really enjoyed the process of making this ornament and see myself making more in the future.  They'd be a great project for when travelling.

To see what others in the group created, check out this post.  Thank you, Fiona (my swap mama) for organizing - I enjoyed this swap so very much!  Thank you, too, to Louise.  I received the most beautiful scrappy wonky star cushion from her.  We all know I love scrappy stars!  It's a total hit, Louise.  

Bee Blessed Sampler Quilt

This past weekend I finished a quilt top!  I am so happy to have this project completed - it is a very special quilt top that has slept dormant in my sewing room for WAY too long.  You see, this is not just any old quilt top, but a top created with blocks donated by members of the Modern Quilters of Ireland and supporting quilters (blogged about here).

The idea was to create a top for Bee Blessed that might be suitable for a fella.  The only instructions to members was to use blue/green in the block on a white background.  What the members created was just beautiful, with each block complimenting the next.  

I was only to arrange them, add sashing and finish the top off with a border.  I had arranged them nicely on my design wall, so that the lights/darks were evenly distributed.  However, when I stitched the rows together, rows two and three got switched around.  This lands the two "heavy" blocks together in rows three and four.  Ah, well.  These things happen.  

I decided to sash it with a Moda print I had remaining after a 241 Tote I made for my Mom years ago.  I have always really liked this print, but it does not jive well with the rest of my stash. It therefore is never used.  This fabric is a tone on tone blue with navy filigree pattern.  It's not too floral for a fella, I liked the blue with the blocks and I had more than enough yardage.  Score.

This top will leave Galway this week to live in Belfast.  Judith and Sarah, we love what you have created with Bee Blessed and we hope you can find a nice home for this quit.  

Screen Printed Totes

I dipped my toe into screen printing recently, but went a little nutters taking pictures in the process.  Weeding through them to write a blog post was too much for me to take.  Things have quieted down now, so I would love to show you what I made if you can tolerate the over-abundance of photos.

Armed with an A3 screen, Karen's book and lots and lots of newsprint, I transformed my kitchen into a screen printing studio.  I had dedicated space to lay the tote down, to place my paint and to lean the screen when it was not in use.  What I had not accounted for was the abundance of printed totes that had to dry somewhere!

Our clothes drying racks and quilt display racks from the shop came in handy!  I quickly took over the front hall as well.

With so much new stuff in weird places to inspect, it was inevitable that miss Molly would also be painted in the process.

I needed 15 bags, so I printed 20.  The vast majority of them turned out reasonably well.  They were stuffed full of shop fliers, Frixion pens, Aurifil threads and fat quarters from local shops supporting our Modern Irish Quilters retreat.

Not all of my screen printed totes were good enough to give out to our retreat members.  There were paint smudges on the back, dribbles at the bottom...and on...and on.  I decided that I would take one of those totes, cut out the sewing machine and make a new pretty tote for myself.  

Using Avant Garden I made a 14x15 (-ish) inch tote with Clover Poppies on the exterior and for the handles...

...and Dot Seeds in Sky as the lining.  These fabrics are so beautifully soft they are a pleasure to sew.  A huge thanks to Eva who caught me assembling the interior-handles-exterior in the wrong order at our retreat.  Without her, it would have been an absolute mess!  

I forgot to cut the selvage off of the handles before sewing them into the lining.  There's a little bit peeking out.  I kind of like it there!

This little tote is already in use bringing your happy parcels from the house to the post office.  Your orders are travelling in style, I can assure you.

It should be noted that Molly, my photographic assistant, was not paying any attention during our tote bag photo shoot.  She was just pure messing.  

Irish Christmas Cushion Swap

Christmas is quickly approaching!  That's right - it's time we start talking about it, pulling our heads out of the sand/snow drift.  To kick off the season here at FSQ head quarters, I have signed up for the Modern Irish Christmas cushion swap.  As per all of our swaps, an inspirational mosaic was created....  

I don't know why Big Huge Labs has stopped giving me HTML to link to all of these photos, giving credit to the creators.  Has anyone cracked that code, yet?  

Irish folks, signups close on Friday so get your name in the hat today if you want to play along!

Modern Quilters of Ireland {Bee Blessed Blocks}

There is SO much to tell you from this past weekend, but I can not get my brain together to write a full post including all of the hoo-ha.  You see, on Saturday several ladies from the Modern Quilters of Ireland came together in Galway for a day of stitching.  I will tell you all about it in time.

Those of us gathering for the mini-retreat decided to come together and create a quilt top for Bee Blessed.  We decided on a scrappy sampler blocks in blues and greens with white background.  I am just delighted with what the ladies created.  Want to see?

Such a super array of blues and greens, but they work so very well together.  I think so at least.  Great variety in block choice too!

I'm going to put the top together with white sashing, blue and green corner stones and then I'll put on borders.  I already know one border I want to use that's new in the shop.  Can't wait to get cutting!

As you will quickly figure out, there are 13 blocks in total.  That makes for a funny shaped quilt.  I would love to have a 4 block x 4 block layout.  Would anyone else in the MQGI want to send on a blue and green block to be included?

Galway breeze go the best of my churn dash there in the upper left.
You can imagine what that corner looks like...very similar to the other three.  

I'm looking for 3 more blocks that are 12.5 x 12.5 unfinished (12 inches finished).  If you are interested in sending one (or two...or three) to me, please leave a comment below and I will send to you my postal address.

UPDATED: I have volunteers for the three additional blocks we need.  Thanks so much, ladies!

Modern Quilters of Ireland, this is going to be absolutely beautiful.  Thank you so very much for your effort.  What a stunner we will make together!