Finally Friday: A Video Tutorial Review

I was lucky enough to be asked to write a review of a new online video course from iquilt, in exchange for free access to the course. Although I received the course for free, all opinions are my own.

The course is "Solids Revolution" with Weeks Ringle. First, a photo of the finished project!

(Modern Quilt Studio copyright 2016)

Here is my review:

Whether your quilting style is traditional, modern – or modern-traditional – Weeks Ringle has great tips and tricks for you in “Solids Revolution." This video is hosted on iquilt.com, a new instructional platform sponsored by Bernina and the American Quilting Society.

Weeks co-founded “Modern Quilt Studio” with her husband, Bill Kerr, in 1999.  But “Solids Revolution” isn’t just for modern quilters, or even just for inexperienced quilters. I’ve been quilting for 40 years, and I learned so much from this video. Do you know how to line up blocks across sashing? Weeks has a great method for ensuring even triangle blocks line up from row to row!

The iquilt video display includes a pop-up “notes” link, so you can take notes right on your computer screen. And questions are answered by the instructor via email – so if you have to ask a “stupid question,” no one sees it save you and your instructor! [I guess my question wasn't really "stupid" -- I asked about sewing a quarter-inch seam with the walking foot. Weeks answered quickly, the Bernina walking foot has a quarter-inch mark.]

“Solids Revolution” includes detailed instructions to make the “Fun House” quilt. The downloadable instructions feature cutting charts for each section of the quilt, a supply list, and optional color choices for your personal quilt. My favorite is the blank “Fun House Coloring Page,” so students can try out various color combinations on paper before committing to fabric. The instruction sheets are especially nice, as quilters won’t need to write down measurements while watching the video. 

The final lesson includes a graphic visual on what happens when your quarter-inch seam isn’t exactly one-quarter inch. Weeks winds up the course with ideas for choosing quilting thread and quilting your quilt. I never realized that quilting thread appears darker in the “valleys” of seams on the quilt!

Weeks’ friendly, personal style of speaking makes the viewer feel that Weeks is right there, talking to you! I’m so excited to choose fabrics for my own “Fun House” quilt. 

I'm thinking it would be fun to make each column in "Fun House" a different color study. Column one, complementary colors. Column two, split complementary. Column three, analogous. Column four, monochromatic. Column five, rainbow -- ROY G BIV!

I'm particularly impressed with the videography on the iquilt.com platform. Transitions from full-screen view to close-up were smooth. Weeks doesn't fidget, chew her lip, or giggle when she misspeaks. All that I expect when paying for a video tutorial!

Take a look at iquilt.com to see all the videos available.


From the desk of your

Sunday Stash

Ever indulge in some retail therapy? After the loss of our Oliver corgi last weekend, I didn't tell myself "no" when I found some new fabric bundles.

Even when I'm not sad, I can't resist an Art Gallery stash box. Really, I need to make a plan to use some of these beauties!

 One of my favorite shops was in Kimberly, Idaho. They have since converted to online only -- and I'm so pleased with this bargain low-volume bundle!

My niece Tracey, a new grandma, posted on BariJ's Instagram page that "baby Louanna Lynn needs a dress made from this fabric."

As you wish, I replied!

Hoping little LuLu grows up to be a horse lover!

My bosses at Ruth's Stitchery generously gifted all their employees with a Ruth's gift card at Christmas. I thought I had lost mine, then found it in a stack of unread quilt magazines.

Yay! I chose this Tula Pink bundle as a special Christmas gift to myself!

While searching for a pattern for a customer, I came across this new pattern. I'm planning to make it with some of the Michael Miller Cotton Couture fabrics now stocked at Ruth's!

I know in my heart I have a collection of Anna Maria Horner fabrics, but for the life of me -- I can't find them! (If you've seen my quilt room, you won't be surprised!) I want to make a quilt using these incredible new AMH backgrounds, just received at Ruth's.

I spied a great quilt made with AMH's bright "True Colors" collection and the "Bleached" colorway of "Skipping Stones." Such a unique new group of backgrounds!

Finished the top of my Kona "Highlights" quilt today. 

Can't wait to see Denise's quilting on it!

From the desk of your

A Friday Finish

You know jelly roll -- "strip" -- quilts are my favorite. This one may become your favorite, too!

[Sorry it's not the best photo. I forgot to take a picture before it was hung in the shop!]

"Rolling Fields" was the February Jelly Roll Party quilt at Ruth's Stitchery. The pattern is from Legacy Quilts, and the fabric is "Thyme with Friends" by Kris Lammers for Maywood Studios. I was especially excited to use this fabric line because Kris is a friend from Idaho!

Because my photo isn't the best, here is a shot of the FQ bundle from the Maywood website:

Aren't the colors just delightful? The pattern requires two jelly rolls, but no background fabric. And it's so fast and easy, I bought enough jelly rolls to make it twice more!

Lalala, I've been shopping! Come back Sunday to see my stash additions!



From the desk of your

March UFO Parade

It's been a hard month chez Aunt Marti, but Spring is coming (or Autumn, if you're in Australia!).  If you're ready to get started on your April challenge, pull out UFO

With the best of intentions, I started out the month working on my Downton Abbey Mystery from LoveBug Studios. I got all the blocks finished, and about half sewn together. Then Jelly Roll Party samples and shop samples and well, life, intervened! I haven't decided whether to keep on plugging away at it in March, or return it to its pizza box (unused pizza box!) and try again next year. What do you do with unfinished UFOs?

Lucky for us, UFO Challengers did better than me finishing up their projects!

Nancy sent these three photos after I had gone to bed January 31 -- so I'm including them in the March Parade.  (It's OK to send your photos early in the month, I'll save them in the folder for next month's Parade.)

Look at this pile of quilts Nancy's daughter quilted for her in January! Nancy, does she accept quilts from others, or do you keep her too busy?

Nancy calls this one "Reflections." She says it's for her oldest daughter -- doesn't it remind you of sea glass?

And she made these cute coasters for a friend "who was having a bad day." How thoughtful! The tutorial came from It's Just Sewing, 'Binding Free' coasters and hot pads.

Another Nancy -- Nancy A -- is another multiple-finisher. This one is a flannel baby quilt, all pieced and ready to quilt and bind. Love that border fabric, Nancy!

Here are the pillowcases Nancy made for her grandchildren. They're addictive, aren't they? (The pillowcases, I mean!)

Nancy made this beauty for her niece. She also made a set of matching pillowcases.  I'd love it if you'd tell us the pattern name in the comments, Nancy!

And here is another baby quilt, ready to "hand off!"

Sue has me all inspired to make a sewing machine cover! Isn't her's pretty?

Hey, I have some of that fabric! It's Lark, by Amy Butler!

Sue also made a great laptop bag -- very clever, Sue!

You can read all about these projects on Sue's Quilty Bits and Bobs, here.

I always look forward to Sandi's "kwilts" each month. This month, it's Konstellation and Krown.

Here's what Sandi tells us about this bright beauty:

Konstellation and Krown is my 2016 February UFO.  It is from the pattern Star and Crown that is by Path Speth.  Pat is known for her use of 5" squares.  From the pattern one could make any of the four sizes ranging from Wall to Queen.  I chose to make it five sizes by eliminating the outside border on the Wall size.  My finished project is 32 1/2" square.  I plan to bind it with a solid blue fabric, probably on the darker side of the scrappy blues that are in the project.  Konstellation and Krown is ALL from my stash...a wonderful project!  You can read more about Konstellation and Krown in my blog, KwiltnKats, here. If you go to the right side bar and select the label Konstellation and Krown you can read all about the making of the project.
Nothing like a patriotic quilt!

And Sandi, I'm looking forward to meeting you "in person" when My Little Sailor transfers from Japan to San Diego this Fall!

Kerry used a tool I own but have never used (don't we all do that?), the "Five and Dime" ruler from Kansas Troubles Quilters.

This design uses a charm pack (5" squares) and a layer cake (10" squares). She reports the "nifty" ruler makes centering and cutting "a breeze." Kerry won the kit at her Guild's holiday party! You can read all about it at Kerry's Quilting, here.

Susan-from-Australia sent us her photo of this gorgeous (incredibly gorgeous!) quilt.

Be sure to click on the photo to enlarge -- you'll want to see all the detail! Susan hasn't blogged about her quilt yet, she wants to show it to members of her guild first. But you'll be able to read all about it on her blog, Susan's Sewing Space, later this month.  

Goriajean wins the "oldest UFO" this month! These blocks are from the Western Washington Shop Hop 2005!  I shouldn't laugh, because I have some of these blocks, too!

Thirty blocks is a lot of shops, Gloriajean!

Jennifer B is a newcomer to the UFO Challenge, but she is off with a bang! She tells me:

I'm using this whole year as "the year of the stash".  As in, I'm not purchasing fabric, not even for borders or backing.  The only purchases I'm allowing myself are batting (if my huge roll runs out) and thread. Everything else I have to make do. 2 months down so far and I'm feeling great about it.

#1 - Darth Vader.  I outline quilted his mask in glow in the dark thread and did a stipple in the rest. It looks really neat at night.

#2 - Snowpeople Love: I've had this top for about a year, and finally, around to quilting and binding.  I quilted snowflakes all around the snowmen and loose loops.

#3 - Hello Kitty: I put this top away right after my mother in law passed away 2 years ago Christmas Eve, and only just could work on it again.  I was working on it when I got the phone call about her, and I had to tell my husband about his mom.  So, this one had a lot of sadness for me.  It took a while, but I finally realized that she'd want me to associate her with the laughter and awesome times we had. I finished it up right before Valentine's Day.

#4 - Bubbly: This one just sat as a top because I couldn't think of how to quilt it.  The kiddo helped me quilt this one as well.  It's backed with a bright green. Not a favorite color of mine, but kiddo picked it out, so we used it. It's bound in white.

On a sad note, the reason February was such a hard month. Elder Son's corgi, Oliver, died last weekend. Olly was a 4-H project and always a big hit with the show judges. In this 2002 photo, Justin is signalling "sit." 

Oliver was the "worry corgi." After Justin left home, Olly stuck close to me. While I was gone to Texas last year, he could no longer climb the stairs, so he hung out in my basement sewing room. 

He was a good dog.

Good work, everyone! I can't wait to see what you finish during March!


From the desk of your

April UFO Challenge Alert

Today's UFO Parade is underway -- if you're waiting to get started on the April challenge, choose #2 of your UFOs!


From the desk of your

Design Wall Monday: I do love yellow!

I know that many people don't  like yellow. But I think every quilt needs a "touch" -- or more! of yellow.

The Robert Kaufman Fabrics company has chosen this dynamic yellow, "Highlight" as their Color of the Year for 2016.

And I've chosen to make this quilt with it!

This is only the first four rows -- because I was distracted and mis-cut the yellow fabric! I had a half rollup, but cut the yardage into the 2½" strips. Which meant I didn't have enough to cut all the larger strips I need!

Lucky for me, I got the fabric from Ruth's Stitchery, and I'll be able to get more tomorrow. Here is the pattern I'm using, from "Quilts from the House of Tula Pink." Ruth's has ordered the book, too.

Robert Kaufman is hosting a block challenge on their Instagram page. Sadly, I don't think I'll have mine finished in time for the March 1 deadline. But you're going to love the surprise I have planned for this two-color quilt!

Hope to see you tomorrow for the March UFO Parade!

From the desk of your

Sunday Stash

and whoa, what happened to THAT week? As Gretchen Rubin says, "The days are long, but the years are short!"

I know one day disappeared when I went to the 5th birthday party for Front Range Modern Quilt Guild. What a great group!

On the way home, I enjoyed a little "stash enhancement" at Sew-ciety in Castle Rock. They're all settled in to their new location, and better than ever.

You know I can never resist a good text print. And this new Moda collection, "The Wordsmith" by Janet Clare is a winner.

The background is a creamy off-white. And instead of actually words, Janet used squiggles in varying tones to suggest text.

I only bought three half-yard cuts, but the whole collection is yummy!

Here is a picture of the whole collection (lifted from Moda's website):

Janet blogs at Janet Clare, and I'll be returning to take a closer look at her blog as soon as I finish this post!

In other exciting news, Vol. 2 of Scraps, Inc. is in shops now! Chock full of inspiration for scrap hoarders like me!

And most exciting of all, Friend Kari V. is a major contributor!

Not only did she design a pattern for the book -she designed the book!

My Design Wall Monday will feature Kona's Color of the Year, "Highlight." If Pantone's pink-and-blue is too subtle for you, try this screaming yellow!

I tried hard to capture the brilliance of the shade, but inside photos just can't. Trust me, it's the yellow of the original hi-lighter pens!

I'm planning a Houndstooth check quilt a la Tula Pink -- with a surprise!

Ruth's Stitchery continues to grow their "modern" fabric collection. I squealed like a little girl when Sonya opened these two new precuts from Jen Kingwell.

Lollies is an obese-eights collection. Each yard of fabric contains eight prints! I couldn't bear to open mine yet, but here is a link to Moda's website where you can see all the prints.

The Wilmington trunk show at Ruth's was a big success. It was more like a "many trunks" show. The quilts were made with Wilmington's Strip Packs in both cottons and batiks. 

I hoarded "Jewels" (batik strips) in two colorways. I think they will make spectacular "Rolling Fields" quilts, don't you?

Which reminds me, I haven't shared my Rolling Fields quilt yet!

Last, but certainly not least, my new "low volume" subscription from Pink Door Fabrics has begun. Chelsea has promised to send me a list of what the fabrics are -- the only one I recognize is Blueberry Park. 

Are you ready for Tuesday's UFO Parade? 
I'm not, but I hope to be by then!


From the desk of your