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!

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.  

Quiet Inspiration

I have been sewing, but I will tell you all about that later.  I am just in the mood for a bit of quiet inspiration.  My brain is obsessed with charm packs and layer cakes, so I pulled these out for a little flip-through.  We'll see what bubbles to the top.

This could only be better if I had a pint of Ben & Jerry's.  Yum.

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.

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!

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?