A Mod Pop Finish!

The Mod Pop QAL was my first QAL and I loved every minute of it!  Thank you, Leanne, for being such a wonderful host and teacher and Helen for being a cheerleader.  Without the group of lovely, supportive ladies in the QAL and Leanne's teaching skills I am not entirely sure I would have mastered piecing a DP curve.  But here is a finished quilt chock full of them!  

May I present to you, my finished Mod Pop:

I wanted to make a quilt to give to my brother for Christmas.  Although he is incredibly supportive of my shop and is always enthusiastic about the things I make, he's not a "traditional" quilt type person.  I mean to say that the patterns we'd use to make blocks, in either traditional or modern fabric, don't really suit him.  Something a bit more eccentric like this seemed perfect. I went with blues/greens/purples in Kona solids with Kona Ash as the focus fabric.  It's a bit of a shock to his system I am sure - he's more of an earth tone kind of guy...but he's lived with me long enough to not expect those in his quilt!  

The back and binding are Kona Navy with a pieced strip of scraps in blues and purples.  I echo quilted on either side of the Kona Ash, which seemed to work well for me.  Given more time I would have liked to quilt a bit more, but Christmas wouldn't wait for me to stitch any longer!  In the end I'm so very pleased with the quilting pattern and would suggest it to anyone finishing up their Mod Pop this month.

My brother is one of those fantastic handmade gift recipients.  He's so appreciative, smiling all the way, petting it and feeling the softness.  He's a real texture kind of guy, so quilts play to him well.  Each year another member of my family gets a quilt...my SIL first, then Mom, then Dad and FINALLY now my brother.  He was so excited hoping to get "his" quilt this year knowing darn well that's what his present would be.  How great that is for me, the stitcher.  His excitement and enthusiasm makes all of the time stitching DP curves worth while.

Thank you too, Dad, for standing out in the freezing December weather to hold up Mod Pop for photos.  The poor man was so cold!  He really tried to hide his fingers and toes in each shot, too. Well done, Dad.  You're becoming a quilt holding pro!  

Quilt Details

Name - Mod Pop

Made For - Pat's 2012 Christmas gift 

Fabric - All 100% cotton Kona blues, greens and purples.  The back and binding is Kona Navy with pieced scraps.  The focus "waterfall" is Kona Ash.

Thread - Pieced using mostly Aurifil cream, quilted with Aurifil 2600 on the Kona Ash and Aurifil 2785 on the background "scrappy" pieces and in all bobbin thread.

Batting - 100% cotton Simply Cotton.

Size - Approximately 60x80 inches

Quilting - Echo quilted by myself 1/4 inch inside the Kona Ash waterfall and then 1/4 inch exterior to the Ash.  The same was done in each Kona Ash "hole". 

Pattern - the Mod Pop pattern by Julie Pickles Designs

Poppin' Along

Do not for a second think I forgot about Mod Pop.  I am slowly stitching along and now have 8 blocks finished!  I realize there are only 3 here...it's just that it is raining outside and this is all of the floor space I have to shoot the photo!  Stinkin' winter.

If you remember, initially I cut enough to make a baby quilt to "test" the technique before committing to a twin. I think I feel confident enough with piecing curves now.  Do not get me wrong - I unpick 1 block for every 3 or 4 I make.  Still, I get a little better each day.

I also wanted be sure I was happy with the color scheme.  What do we think now, Helen?  Are we happy?   Do I need more or less of any color?

It was slow going, but in the end I am so very happy I took on this curvy challenge.  Thank you, Leanne, for giving me a nudge and for your continual encouragement!  I just might have this done in time for Christmas!

One Block Down....

...many more to go.  Still, this one rather large block is a great accomplishment as it is my first time sewing curves with the view to making a quilt top.  I've now semi-tackled the fear. 

In the past I've made one Retroflower block and two little baby quilts for Blankets of Love with a DP block, but they were easy to get my head around as they were quite small.  This quilt, however, will grow to a twin size and is therefore slightly overwhelming to me.  That being said, Leanne has been an awesome cheerleader and with the completion of this one gigantic block my Mod Pop quilt seems do-able.  Whew.  Now I just have to get serious and start stitching.

If you have a minute, hop over to the Mod Pop QAL flickr group.  There you'll see many variations in fabric choices for this pattern.  They will really get your creative juices flowing!

Cutting Away for Mod Pop

It's week three and I am already a little behind in the Mod Pop QAL.  Eeek!  I am trying my best.  Honest!

Over the weekend I decided on a color way using blues, purples and darker greens along with Kona Ash.  This seems like a good place to start.  Once I piece a few blocks, I can better see if I will need some of the lighter, brighter greens to be added in.  Helen assures me she'll speak up before I make a massive mistake.  No pressure, Helen!

I got down to business the past few evenings cutting out squares and then creating (and using) templates to cut out the drunkard's path semi-circles.  This was my first time creating a template, tracing it onto fabric and cutting with scissors.  I thought it would be much more difficult to trace and cut accurate pieces, but there was not a problem.  I had a really great time sitting down each evening tracing and cutting in front of the television.  Loved it, actually.

One of the QAL ladies suggested I get a Sewline pencil with white "lead" to mark my darker blues.  I just could not see the pencil line well enough.  I have to say, the Sewline pencil is SPECTACULAR.  It marks a clearly visible line that is easily removable if necessary.  It's so much more smooth than a pencil, so less jerking and grabbing at the fabric as I traced.  I nearly want a Sewline in every color...maybe Santa will bring them to me.  Are you listening, Santa?

I cut enough for a lap quilt.  My goal is to make a twin, but again I want to be free to add in a few other colors as I go.  Now I just need to get down to business piecing.  Leanne's video got me over that fear last week so I'm rearing to go!

Mod Pop QAL Color Choices

UPDATE: Apparently my Gmail account is sending spam to several of you.  Please do not open it unless there is a relevant current subject line and you are sure it is the real me sending the email.

I am so sorry for spamming you.  I have taken several measures to ensure it does not continue.  The one change you will notice is to leave a comment you will now have to have a Gmail or Open ID account.  I am sorry to loose those of you who do not have these accounts, but I just can not go on spamming you guys.  

If you continue to get spammy emails from me, please tell me.  Without that, I have no idea I am sending out the nasties.  And now onto our regularly scheduled blog post....

It took me about 30 seconds to join in with Leanne's Mod Pop QAL. I have never joined in a QAL before, mostly because they came at the wrong time for me personally.  There are several I regret missing.  This, however, I could not let pass.  

You see, I want to make a quilt as a Christmas gift for a very special fella.  I have been struggling with the idea of a man-quilt, as I am sure you all have at some point.  That was until I saw this:

Shamelessly stolen from Leanne of She Can Quilt

Perfect.  The added bonus of joining in with the QAL is that Leanne will help me get over my fear of piecing curves AND she has a schedule that will allow me to finish before the holidays.  To really ensure I stick to the schedule and don't embarrass myself, Fluffy Sheep Quilting (the shop) has become one of the QAL sponsors!  I'm totally on board.  No messing up now.

This week's homework was to choose our fabrics.  I've pulled a few that might work.  Try to imagine the white in Leanne's quilt replaced with a Kona Ash in combination with this: 

I took out the lighter colored fabrics at the top of the pile as they hurt my eyes when the sun came in the window.  Maybe, being in Ireland, I am just not that used to the sun.  Possibly.  Anyway, here we are without the lighter fabrics:

I like that.  Now what about just blues and purples?  Now we are getting somewhere I think.

What do you guys think?  Is there enough variety here?  I tend to go for medium and darks leaving out the lights.  But then, there will also be Kona Ash to brighten it up.  Any hints are welcome!