Modern Irish Bee: January Blocks and a Book Review

In our inaugural month of the Modern Irish Bee (2014), Miss Ruth requested two scrappy blocks finishing at 12.5 inches each using this the tutorial she wrote in combination with these cutting instructions.  I was delighted when I saw her choice in blocks.  What fun to give these at try!

Using Kona Ash as the background fabric with accents of Kona Snow, Ruth wanted us to make little 9 (or 16 patch) blocks of 1 inch finished squares.  I had a wonderful time digging through my scraps finding a small tasty piece or two.  How cute is the little deer?  I didn't purposely fussy cut that!  Honest.

Our second block was to have 20 little 1 inch squares again with the Kona Snow frame and Kona Ash backing.  I'm not going to lie - small little mistakes in my seam allowance in those 20 pieces did add up and I created a wonky 12.5 (top) to 12.0 (middle) to 12.5 (bottom) block that had to be partially unpicked and re-sewn.  Second time is the charm.  

Ruth, I loved making these blocks for you.  You're going to have one stunning quilt!  

In other news, I've just finished reading Quilting Isn't Funny...

...by Megan Dougherty.  It was delivered by good old Amazon over Christmas and  I've been picking it up and putting it down since then.  I love the idea of this book as we (quilters) are filled to the brim with wit and humor (you know who you are!).  I that the author this is a fellow blogger who has turned her love/hate relationship with quilting into a magazine column and book.  Congrats, Megan!  And finally, I think the book is formatted well as it contains smaller excerpts/essays preceded with a little 5-8 sentence commentary by the author setting the scene for the piece.  That being said, it just was not my type of humor.  I think I go more for word play or dry humor when the humor here is based on the reader relating to the character/situation.  I didn't really relate.  Some of you may see yourself in these stories or have had similar situations and will love this book!  To give you a chance at a laugh, I'll happily give my copy away to the first person who leaves a comment below and their paypal address to cover shipping.  If you want it, its yours. 

Modern Baby: A peek inside

Several weeks ago, my good friend Sarah sent over a copy of Modern Baby for me to flip through.  As you may already know, her gorgeous Modern Shapes Sampler quilt is in this book (page 30), but there are so many other gorgeous quilts that I wanted to tell you about as well.

Inside you'll find 80 pages of quilty goodness.  Seventy-five full pages are focused on quilty eye candy, templates and instructions with only 5 pages of "extras" like the table of contents and a short biography of each contributor.  Nearly every contributor is a blogger, so as a bonus I have found several new bloggers I want to follow.  Score!

Quilt By Amy Smart
From Modern Baby, Martingale, 2013, used by permission.  Photo by Brent Kane.
All Rights Reserved

Inside, there are quilts that are perfect for a small person...

Quilt By Carrie Bloomston
From Modern Baby, Martingale, 2013, used by permission.  Photo by Brent Kane.
All Rights Reserved

...or quilts that I could imagine being scaled up for a lap quilt or twin bed.

Quilt By Shea Henderson
From Modern Baby, Martingale, 2013, used by permission.  Photo by Brent Kane.
All Rights Reserved

No matter what, there are many quilts included that will inspire a weekend project without doubt.  No matter what mood you're in (appliqué, piecing, templates), there is a quilt to suit you.

In all, there are 14 quilts included in this book with very clear instructions for each one.  I like that nearly every quilt is shown in two color ways (to get your imagination ticking!) and each of the templates come at full size (thank goodness!)

Quilt By Lindsey Rhodes
From Modern Baby, Martingale, 2013, used by permission.  Photo by Brent Kane.
All Rights Reserved

I am just thrilled to have this book as part of my quilting library. I think it is a super reference with great pattern ideas and filled with colorful inspiration.  Sarah, thank you for sharing the quilty goodness with me!

Snappy Opportunity!

Forgive me, guys, but I am a bit slow today.  I have been sick for the past 4 days and am only now getting up and around late on day 5.  It hasn't been pretty.

Thankfully, as I was curled up in bed on Thurs a little happy parcel arrived in the post.  The wonderful Sarah sent on two issues of Generation Q magazine.  I lamely flipped through them both just looking at the photos of fabric periodically over the past three days.  Mentally I couldn't take much more in.   

Today I could focus a bit more.  I wanted to show you what I found inside the Fall 2012 issue.  Yep!  Right there on the first shiny page of the first article is a photo that my other half and I took!  A photo pointing the way to Quilty Co Clare.

You see, one weekend nearly a year ago, Sarah emailed several of us in the Galway/Clare area asking if anyone would be anywhere near Quilty.  She had been asked by Gen X magazine to snap a photo or two, but it was a bit too far for her to travel.  I, oddly enough, had plans to go camping down in Co Clare that very weekend and happened upon a Quilty sign.  Knowing I wasn't going to head all the way to Quilty proper, my other half pulled off the road once the sign was spotted and I tried to snap the photo with my mobile phone.  Sadly...I was too short.  Or the sign was posted too high.  Whatever.  Other half saved the day with is 6 foot plus frame and then we were off and motoring back up to Co Galway.  Sarah sent in the photo and everyone was happy.

Apparently, the editors liked the photo enough to publish it in their article, which is super cool.  Thanks, Gen X, for making a sickly chic feel better this week.  Your magazine is filled with quirky facts, gorgeous fabrics, fab interviews and great patterns.  I'd highly suggest anyone flip through one if you see it!

Foundation Pieced Double Wedding Ring Quilts: A Book Review

I have double wedding ring quilts on the brain lately.  After Mod Pop I have a warped sense of curved piecing confidence (what!?!?) and I thought it might be nice to do a modern twist on a traditional pattern. It is a great way to use up those scraps, too!  

I was never one for rulers that are specific to a project or for tracing and cutting out templates.  I have it stuck in my head that I want to do this quilt via paper piecing.  I found this pattern and templates online.  They seem reasonable.  The commenters, though, seem to have troubles assembling the blocks.  Now, I do not know these folks or their quilting experience, so maybe they are not Mod Pop experienced and confident (ha!).  Regardless, I thought a book might be a good place to start.  

I bought Foundation Pieced Double Wedding Ring Quilts from Amazon last week.  I mean, seriously, it had the perfect title.  Maybe a quick book review is in order.  

Written by Sumiko Minei and translated by Ayu Ohta, this 64 page soft back book is filled with more variations on the Double Wedding Ring than you ever imagined were possible.  It is clear that the author's first language is not English.  However, the instructions for each individual quilt are written out in easy to follow step-by-step instructions, each with a clear accompanying photograph.  Each quilt variation is covered in great detail in those first 13 pages of instructions.  On first impression, the photos and brief description of each step are detailed enough to re-create that step at home.  There are even hints and tips as you go, which I always appreciate.

The one and only glitch (for me) is that the technique described is nearly a combination of paper piecing with reverse appliqué.  There's lots and lots of satin stitching to keep bits in place.  That's not at all my happiness. 

The author then takes you through 11 different variations on the DWR quilt (above) where she demonstrates how the different techniques can be used, gives ideas of color variations you might like and presents a brief description of the quilt stats such as block size, number of blocks used, thickness of border, etc.  I found this section to be particularly inspiring. It was really wonderful to see how you could interpret the same theme in so many ways using color placement.  I loved that.

The quilt eye candy is quickly followed by 2 pages of charts that give the fabric requirements for each variation.  It's super easy to understand and a great way to get yourself started.  

I especially love that included are pages and pages of coloring templates (woo hoo!) to photocopy and experiment with crayons.  I love a coloring page.  Nothing makes me happier.  There are, of course, also templates included to photocopy and use when cutting your fabric.  Included with the templates is a wonderful description of how you'd need to cut your fabric for that template, where to start stitching  etc.  It's all very clear and incredibly helpful.  The only negative here is that the book was originally written with metric measurements that were converted to imperial.  There is a disclaimer that if you choose to use imperial measurements the conversion may mean that your piecing is not incredibly accurate.  Huh.

The book is concluded with several suggestions for quilting your quilt.  It's incredibly inspiring to see.  I must say the patterns suggested are WAY beyond my ability, but it's always nice to have a few fresh ideas to stimulate my imagination.

All in all, it's a very nicely presented book filled with inspiration and very clear instruction.  However, as the techniques described here are primarily a reverse appliqué instead of the paper piecing I was looking for, I will most likely go ahead with the free online pattern I found earlier.  Still, this book did get my creative juices flowing.  For that I'm entirely thrilled to add it to my quilting library.  

Collaborative Quilting: A book review

I made a mistake.  One of those mistakes that you realize it's just too much effort to fix it so you accept it.

When I was at the International Quilt Festival of Ireland, there was a book stand FILLED to the brim with crafty books.  I had a thumb through the primarily traditional books and found a copy of Liberated Quiltingmaking II by Gwen Marston.  I liked what I briefly saw in the sample copy, so I picked up one of the plastic wrapped for-sale copies stacked behind it and happily paid the nice vendor lady.

You see where this is going, don't you?  Too bad I didn't.

I carried it around all day in the back pocket of my messenger bag and never looked at it again.  When I sat down in the sun with my friend Ester for a coke (me) and ice cream (Ester) I saw a patchwork appliquéd chicken peeking out of the pocket.  I thought that was odd, but quickly justified it as the back cover/advertisement for another book.

Once I got home I realized my mistake.  I bought the wrong book.  I bought this....

Luckily it was still in its plastic wrapping!  So, I contacted the vendor and they were super nice and willing to take it back for a refund.  I packaged it up and brought it to the post office to ship it off.  Here's the snag.  It would cost me nearly what I paid for the book to send it back.  I'd still be out the full cost in total AND would not have a book.  I brought it home and unwrapped it to have a look.

And I fell in love.

How fantastic is this?  

Goodness knows why they put clucking chickens on the cover when the book is CHOCK full of gorgeous modern improv quilts!  They are spectacular!

This book is really on collaborative quilts created by Freddy Moran and Gwen Marston.  There's a large section in the beginning where Gwen discusses design and Freddy discusses color.  The chapter on color was really interesting to me.  Want my two favorite half paragraphs? 

"I am fearless in my use of color.  I feel comfortable with almost every color with the exception of brown, which I consider a non-color.  If there are no bad colors, just misunderstood ones, I can say for sure I do not understand brown."  -Freddy Moran

It's like this book is written for me!  And here's my aspiration...to be this comfortable in quilting:

"Red is a neutral.  I've never met a single color that didn't look better with red."  - Fredy Moran.

If only I could be that bold with quilts.  Maybe some day.  

They take you through their philosophy of color, design and block interplay and show you a glimpse into both studios.  If only we'd all be so lucky to have studies like theirs.  Amazing.  But, possibly my favorite part beyond the eye candy, is the inclusion of some really basic patterns for pieced borders.  This one in particular is interesting for my Granny Mania quilt with a little twist using pin wheels instead of four patches.  Same idea, though. 

I am completely pleasantly surprised by this book.  I will find lots of inspiration in their gorgeous quilts and will happily use their instructions for a little twist on my quilt borders.  All in all, the old lesson rings true.  Don't judge the book by it's cover.  Give this one a second look.

Quilt Art: International Expressions

How lucky am I that I return to my hometown for Christmas and there's a quilt exhibit on?  What great news!  So, my folks and I went out to have a peek.  What a nice way to spend a few hours with them.  Neither are quilt makers, but both are quilt appreciators, so they are very supportive of my quilty love.  How cool of them.

So, we went to the local James Michener Art Museum.  All were art quilts, so not a traditional block in the bunch.  No modern quilts to speak of either.  Still, there were some fabulous colors.  This, for example, is my favorite:

I. Am. In. Love. With. It. 

Can I make something this beautiful?  This far outside of my comfort zone?  Well, I'm going to give it a try! 

Want to see a few more?

They were all beautiful in their own way.  Lots of hand dyed fabric, lots of applique, lots of non-cotton fabrics.  The quilting was always impressive.  My only complaint is that not all were actual quilts with three layers, but sometimes were even only just quilt tops.  Ah, details.  Still, it offered color and great inspiration and I can't wait to get stitching myself! 

This exhibit is traveling, so if it comes near you it is absolutely worth a peek.

 

Modern Blocks

It's arrived!  It's arrived!  Ever since I saw this on Flying Blind on a Rocket Cycle I have been obsessed!  Well, I ran to Amazon, but there was a several week delay on shipping. Argh!  Anyway, it's here now and I can not get enough.

It's Modern Blocks: 99 Quilt Blocks from your Favorite Designers, assembled by Suzanne Woods.  Indeed there's a plethora of blocks to choose from.  I keep paging through the book and fall in love with a new one each review.  One to suit every mood.  Some I fell in love with immediately, others I could see I will never use.  Most importantly, those unloved blocks are the minority.

Each block is presented as a full page photograph on the left and then the pattern instructions on the right.  I really wish it was spiral bound so it would lay flat, but I'll work around that :)  I had a hard time finding sneak peeks online, so I thought I'd share some with you but without giving away the pattern details.  Wouldn't want to give away the thunder of each designer!

Do you love it? Want to see more?  How about these:

Now many of these you can just figure out on your own with a little fiddling.  Here's the thing: they have great cutting instructions and easy to follow assembly diagrams.  They make it easy for you!  Now get out to your local bookstore and have a look for yourself!

Today...I Fell in Love

Oh, no.  I did not meet someone new.  My first Kona Solids color card arrived in the mail from Hancock's of Paducah!  Now, I heard about cards like this from podcasters, but I have never seen one before.  I am swept away.

I have been looking for solids to insert into several quilts I am planning.  I have limited fabric stores near by to browse, so I turn to online vendors for several basics...like solid Konas by Robert Kaufman.  However, when you view fabrics online, you are at the mercy of the vendor.  You never know if their photos are true reflections of the fabric color.  So, a Kona color card seemed like a smart idea.  I absolutely love it, and would suggest anyone in a similar situation pick one up too (unless you're in Galway...then you can borrow mine). 

Do you have a reference like this that you use?  Are there similar products out there that I should also check out?

Book Review: Fat Quarter Quilts

I am looking for a new pattern.  See how distracted I am already!?!  I just made my list of summer goals only yesterday and this was not included at all.  Anyway, it's fun to see what may come in your quilty-future. 

I bought these fat quarters several weeks ago from the Fennel Shed, the Farmhouse Retreat line.  I am having trouble, though, envisioning them in a quilt.  I found Fat Quarter Quilts (here on Amazon) in our guild library.  Authored by M'Liss Rae Hawley, I thought this would be a winner as she is the "Queen of the Fat Quarter" according to her book bio.

The book is 78 pages long with an introduction to quilting taking the first 16 pages.  I know this is snarky, but when a reader is looking at a quilt book with a specific focus like fat quarter-focused quilts, do we still need to include the basics of what is a seasonal print or how to use a rotary cutter?  I think it is not necessary here.

There are 8 patterns included with material requirements, cutting instructions and instructions on completing a block.  Although I have not made a quilt from this book (an indication of where I fall in this book review) the instructions appear to be very clear and a photo or simple diagram each step of the way.  Really nicely done. 

Each pattern also is demonstrated with several fabric choices, which was very helpful for me when trying to envision my fat quarters in these quilts.  Also helpful is the suggested quilting pattern, although they are better suited for a professional or long arm quilter than an ammature like myself. 

Now, here is my problem.  I can not picture my fabric in any of these quilts.  Right now I really like the idea of open, neutral space to focus your eye on the pattern and color of the fabric used.  The quilts in this book seem to require specifically for solids, tone-on-tones or batiks that are solid-ish due to the lack of neutral space.  It's odd, the quilts presented here did not even stimulate me to buy appropriate fabric, so I guess not one pattern was attractive to me.  Odd, I know. 

Long story short (-ish) I am sure this book is great for someone, but I am not your gal.  I am glad that I took it from the library and I will happily return it.  It is worth having a look, but be sure you can envision your fabric in the presented pattern before buying the entire book.

I am still looking for suggestions for my fat quarter quilt.  Anyone have a fat quarter-dependent quilt pattern to suggest?

The Quilting Answer Book: A Friday Review

 The Quilting Answer Book is a fantastic resource for any quilter.  Written by Barbara Weiland Talbert and published in 2009, this manual contains both how-to instructions as well as fix-its for many problems you  may encounter.

The book is written in question and answer format, which makes it very easy to find the information you need.  How do I prepare my fabric for rotary cutting? How wide should a border be? Are there any guidelines? Why choose double over single layer binding or vise versa? Each response is simple and complete and regularly involves very clear, instructional diagrams as you see in the image below. 

I bought this as a beginner quilter when really I had NO idea of what to do. After reading the first 50 pages or so, I had a good hold of the basics.  Great beginner topics include: Quilter's Anatomy 101, Patchwork Building Blocks, Best Quilting Fabrics and Fabric Selection Strategies.  It will take you from the basics of batting and thread through to binding.  A really good guide for any beginner.

If you move a bit further into the book, you'll find it is also resource for the intermediate quilter.  Applique, foundation piecing, quilt design, free motion quilting, hanging sleeves and yo-yos are all covered.  There's a really nice section on quilt embellishment to discuss prairie points, piping and edge trims and embroidery. 

Now, as a resource for the beginner through the expert, there is an entire chapter on quilter's math.  Thank goodness!  Decoding needle sizes, bias binding calculations, cutting charts, quilt size guidelines and reducing or enlarging a quilt pattern are covered.  It is really fantastic to have a resource like this handy.

At just over 430 pages for a suggested price of $15, this is a deal.  I would absolutely suggest that any quilter pick up a copy to have in their sewing space.

British Patchwork & Quilting: A Review

 
I generally try to be a positive person, but boy am I disappointed!  I bought my first copy of British Patchwork & Quilting yesterday to flip through during my lunch.  I was on a magazine high after my recent read of Irish Quilt and Craft Magazine, so I thought I would give this a try too.

There are several highlights that need to be mentioned.  My favorite being the givaways galore!  You could win Moda charm pack, books and fat quarters to start.  There were also nice articles on a quilt shop, photos of a batik challenge (with several beautiful submissions by readers) and two stories work mentioning: 1) about a quilter heading to teach classes at the Quilt Market Schoolhouse in Houston and 2) a summary of the American Quilter's Society Quilt Show and Contest in Paducah.  They were so nicely written I nearly feel like I was on the same adventure.  The accompanying photos of the Quilt Market and AQS stands were happy, bright and inspiring.  Really well done.

Now, there were more cons than pros for me.  The suggested projects were simplistic and uninspired: a pillow with a stitched bunny, Easter greeting cards, an elementary organizing pocket made from your old jeans.  Once you are finished with your old jeans, do you really want to decorate them and hang them on your wall or door knob?  Even once they are overdone in embellishments?  Me neither.

Most of the articles were reasonably written, but the topics were not interesting.  For example, four full pages were dedicated to highlighting a specific crafter. Now, I really like this idea, but the projects they chose to highlight and discuss were not to my taste. There were two pretty quilts briefly mentioned, but the 2+ page layout was classified as "English Romantic", which as far as I can tell translates to "Overdone in Lace".  Lace glued to shoes, picture frames, lamps, bottles and tissue boxes.  It just was not to my taste.

This magazine cost 6.50 euro at my local book shop.  Otherwise stated, this magazine is the equivalent of two fat quarters.  I will certainly suggest that you spend your hard earned cash on fabric instead of buying this publication.  Do you disagree with me? Or have you too been disappointed by British P&Q? I am happy to hear your thoughts too.  Maybe I am completely off base and should give it another try?  Let me know.

You may like to know I had a helper when taking photos this afternoon.  Here is his contribution :)

Irish Quilt & Craft Magazine

I was lucky enough to recently discover Irish Quilt & Craft Magazine (vol 6, issue 1, spring 2011).  I am already looking forward to my next issue!  I know many of you are fans of Irish Quilting, a completely professional and respectable magazine, but I think it targets an audience older than me.  Irish Quilt & Craft is young, bright, hip and cheerful!  We are going to be friends for a long time - I can already tell!

The magazine is small and portable, about 6x8 inches. It perfectly fits into the outside pocket of my purse.  It is bright, colorful and, appropriately enough for spring, it filled with pastel colors. Having it near will brighten any space you are in.

Inside you will find a mix of articles, 7 quilt patterns, instructions for 2 projects, glimpses of new fabric collections, a gardening column and recipes. That's a lot for 40 pages!   Included also is a map of quilt shops in Ireland for a shop-hop anywhere in the country.  There is also a great calendar of local events to ensure you get your quilty fix anywhere in the country. 

The quilt patterns are either published in full or are highlighted in the magazine and download-able from the magazine website. I like several things about these patterns.  First, they are fun, uplifting and attractive to a young audience.  Second, they are adjustable depending on the final size you would like (twin, queen, etc).   Third, there are several quilts in the issue for each skill level.

For a bit of fun, there are three competitions and a mystery quilt - along.  The competition prizes are fantastic: a set of 40 fat quarters, a slow cooker, etc.  Brilliant!

The magazine is a Fennel Shed publication, edited by Gaye Grant of the Fennel Shed quilt shop in Donegal.  Reasonably priced, each individual issue is 5 euro, or you can get a subscription for 15 euro for 4 issues.  You can subscribe by post or online and pay by credit/debit or paypal.  Do pick up an issue and give it a try!