Making it Modern...

One of my favorite things about our quilt guild is the opportunity to delve in and learn more about every aspect of quilting. We were fortunate to have two very talented representatives from The Modern Quilt Guild visit to tell us more about this current direction in quilting. Lora Douglas from The Modern Quilt Guild of Gainesville and Linda Hungerford, from The Villages and Central Florida Modern Quilt Guild, gave an in-depth power-point presentation followed by a show-and-tell of some of their quilts. You can click on their names to visit each of their blogs. The piece shown above is the back of one of Linda's quilts. Lively, yes? And it features a few leftover blocks from the front, shown below. One very interesting feature of their presentation was a timeline with photos illustrating the growth of the Modern Quilt trend over the past decade or so. We also learned about the elements that define the Modern Quilt style. Lora has written more on this topic on her blog.

Improvisational curves behind the lattice-like grid give this quilt a depth of perspective. Both presenters noted that they share a goal of working toward a more relaxed approach to free-piecing. And since the Modern Quilt Guild had its origins in online communities, it was quite in keeping with the tradition that these two quilters collaborated on their presentation via computer. This was only the second or third time they had met face-to-face! And their program was seamless (pardon the pun)!

Lora described her progress in sewing Modern Quilts by showing us three different versions of this original design she entered in a quilt magazine contest (where it earned second place). Her first two quilts looked too traditional to her, and she felt one lacked contrast. But she persevered and this graphic quilt was her final version. You can see the pile of Modern Quilt books on the table. Linda and Lora provided a comprehensive book, blog, and website list for us as well. What an enjoyable and enlightening evening!

A Finger in Many Pies...

I could hardly believe how long it's been since I posted on this blog! We've been traveling and had some family visits, and I was not getting a lot of sewing done. That needs to change. So I started with a couple of blocks for our guild's Christmas-themed donation quilt. It's not enough to make blocks for my own quilts, I just love being part of quilts made by group effort! This 12 1/2" Star  block will be one of many assembled into a cheerful holiday quilt.

 

This is the first block I made, but was disappointed to find it came a scooch short of the required size. You know a scooch- just a little less than it should be. I may try this one again just because I like the Missouri Star block. Any errors happen in either the cutting, the piecing or the pressing so I just need to figure out where I went wrong and fix it for the second time around! I suspect the piecing because I was careful when cutting and pressed the daylights out of it using spray starch. We'll see.

But because I can't stay out of other people's quilts, here's another small project I'm working with a quilting friend to complete. Someone gave her these cute red work blocks, beautifully stitched, and she asked for ideas on how to use them in a baby quilt. Since they already have a layer of batting through which the embroidery was done (no floss shadowing through), I thought it would be good to do a quilt-as-you-go quilt. So we've pieced some alternate string blocks and will assemble them with borders eventually.

 

This quilt is one I made for a special donation to a military service person who had lost his sight. It's a texture quilt and has dimensional pieces to feel such as zippers that open, prairie points with buttons, braids and trims, tucks, and plushy fabrics.

 

As the thought of "a finger in every pie" crossed my mind, I went in search of other quilts I've been a part of. I'd almost forgotten this small Cracker Quilt our small Wednesday sewing group pieced some time ago. It's fun to think that a little piece I made combined with others and is warming someone's life somewhere. Guess that's part of the community and sharing that draws us to quiltmaking.