Tag Archives: modern quilts

Would you like to join QAYG mystery quilt-along?

29 Thursday Oct 2015

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I’m making a Quilt As You Go 48″ square quilt. I’ve designed it and I’ve started the first section. If you want to join me, I’d be delighted. Please be aware this is a totally amateur project so don’t commit your most favourite fabrics to it. {All care no responsibility :)} I’m calling it the Emperor’s Jewels. I’m using saturated reds from purple to pink, through reds to orangey browns and blacks. It’ll be scrappy. I’ll give you the fabric requirements for each block as we go.

Hand or machine – your choice

I’m choosing to hand-piece, hand-applique and hand-quilt this quilt but feel free to do any or all of it by machine.

Here’s block 1

You’ll need five 4.5″ pieces of fabric for backgrounds and five 4″ pieces to make the circles.

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I used a 3.25″ diameter Perfect Circle using the starch and foil method here to make my circle. However I left the plastic in and stuck it to the centre of the fabric square using Elmer’s Schoolhouse Glue, setting it with an iron from the back.

Then I appliquéd the circle to the centre of the block. Then I flipped it over and cut a small hole in the back and  cut around .25″ from the stitching, pulled out the circle of background fabric and the plastic and pressed it.

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Then I stitched the five blocks together.

To make the quilt sandwich you’ll need a piece of backing fabric and a piece of batting 21.25″ x 5.5″. I used spray baste to baste the sandwich but you can use pins if you prefer. Then I drew a couple of concentric circles around the medallions with a pencil. I also drew in the 1/4″ seam allowance. Then I used 12wt thread to quilt the circles.

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Don’t cut any of the excess backing and batting yet just leave it as is and I’ll see you at the next block.

Show me your blocks

I though what I’d do is post a picture of my completed block in a post titled with the block number on the Sewjournal FaceBook page. Then you can just upload your block photos in the comments section underneath and we can see them all in one place. What do you think? Are you in?

Playing around with Steam Punk

21 Friday Aug 2015

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The Steam Punk quilt by Jen Kingswell is a lovely quilt. See pic below.

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However, I’m running out of steam and I’m keen to wrap this one up so I’ve been playing around with the layout. What do you think?

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The reason I’ve gone for on point, as per the original, is that it looks more like a wheel that way. When you see the blocks square on they look more like pizza slices (this was pointed out to me by several people on FaceBook). Here is a selection of my blocks so you can see what I mean.

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Maybe they’ll look less pizza-like when they have the central circle appliqués on? It’s so hard to decide!

Modern Quilts and Quilt Guilds

27 Thursday Oct 2011

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Am I leaping in where Angels fear to tread here? The topics of modern quilts seems to divide the quilt world with acrimony on both sides of the divide. At the extremes there are those who have been quilters for many years and who contend that there is really nothing new about modern quilts and regard them as an excuse for poor technique. At the other extreme of the spectrum there are those who feel modern quilts are liberating quilters from the thralls of a perfectionism that stifles creativity.

Where do I sit in this spectrum

Right smack, bang in the middle. (You could say on the fence if you wanted to be unkind. 🙂 ) I like traditional quilting and I think a grounding in technique is important. It’s like anything, you need to be able to do the basics well (not necessarily perfectly) before you can use it as a springboard to more exciting things. Every pianist who performs their own variations has had to play scales for hours and quilting is no different. Poor technique, I think, detracts from a quilt whether or not it is traditional or modern. It takes your eyes away from what should be the main feature – the overall visual impact.What’s more good design principles can be absorbed from Traditional Quilting. However,  I do like modern quilts. When done well they have an exuberance that is uplifting and exciting.

Modern Quilt Guilds

The Modern Quilt Guilds started in the USA a while ago and then moved to Australia. Melbourne has had one for a while and several of us have tried to start one in here Sydney on more than one occasion. Now it looks like it really might happen. A small group of women – Claire and her friend Suzanne –  decided to have another go at establishing one and we had our first meeting last Saturday.

I must say they did a great job of organising and bent over backwards to be inclusive and friendly. We had a friendly and lively discussion about what we all think Modern Quilting is – straight line quilting, solid blocks of colour, grey and yellow fabrics, modern fabric designs? In the end we pretty much agreed  that it’s not so much the quilts that are modern – after all solid colours have been done by the Amish for years, some of the other colour combinations now touted as modern were around in the 70s and 80s and all quilters have used the “modern fabrics” of their own times – as the attitude of the quilter to her art/craft.

If you’re interested in joining the Sydney Modern Quilt Guild the next meeting will be at the Blue Gum Hotel, 55 Pacific Highway, Waitara. Future meetings will be held by rotation throughout Sydney to allow as many people as want to, to attend. You can find further details here.

A long weekend ahead

29 Wednesday Sep 2010

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This coming weekend is a long weekend in Australia. I’m hoping to visit the Sydney chapter of the Southern Cross Quilters at their get together on Saturday and then on Sunday I have friend arriving from the US.

My friend is a keen gardener and another quilting friend alerted me to the Leura Garden Festival in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. There are ten gardens on display for an entry fee of $20 per adult. Take a look at a couple of the gardens, they are stunning: Everglades and Braeside.

I doubt I’ll get much sewing done once my friend arrives but I’ll try to keep in touch over the next week and show you photos of some of the “touristy” things there are to do in and around Sydney.

The “which way?” quilting saga

I re-drew a rough plan of my quilt last night. The thing that instantly struck me is that I cannot do vertical lines that go from one block to another because there are patchwork strips that are centred and others that are off-centre and so the lines won’t match up. So I decided to try horizontal lines and then – as some of you suggested – 45 degree lines/M or W quilting.

Here’s what I came up with. What do you think?

To border or not? That is the question…

23 Wednesday Jun 2010

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Borders on quilts

Do you like borders on quilts? I’m not sure I do. I think there are times when they are vital and  are needed to tie the whole design together – like in a Baltimore Album type of quilt or even my Andalusian Tile quilt – still a work in progress! But I think there are other times when a really great quilt becomes “just another quilt” by the addition of a border. Sometimes it just looks like the border was added because the maker got bored with it and added to a border to make it the right size to fit the bed. What do you think?

Could it be a fashion?

Maybe it’s a fashion thing. I notice most “modern quilts” don’t have borders. By the way don’t take this as a criticism if you really like borders, I’m just musing aloud because I’ve done both myself – even the getting bored with it and adding a border just to get it finished – but I just was interested to see what others think.

An example

My first quilt was a hand-pieced and hand-quilted sampler quilt. I was happy with the blocks, even liked it when I put the sashing on but I hated it when the border went on. I even reduced the size of the border but I still dislike it. Take a look. I don’t think this border does anything at all for this quilt. I’ve fiddled with the photo too just so you can get a bit of an idea of what it would be like without the border.

With border

With border

Without border

Without border

If you’re looking for the Art Gallery Fabrics Give Away it’s here. You’ve got till Friday before it’s drawn.

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The Wonky Canasta Quilt

19 Monday Apr 2010

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The Wonky Canasta Quilt

The Wonky Canasta Quilt

Well here it is. My version of Oh Fransson’s Wonky Canasta Quilt. You can see hers here or buy the pattern here. I had a love/hate relationship with this quilt. I really enjoyed the piecing. I don’t normally machine piece but I did with this one and I really had fun. Then I decided to throw caution to the winds and machine quilt it. And… that’s not all. I decided in a moment of aberration to try spray basting which I also hadn’t done before. Big mistake!

Spray basting may be quicker but I didn’t find it “safer”. And machine quilting. Oh my goodness it was like wrestling with an Anaconda! I did a few diagonals and then got sick of it and put the binding on. Then after a few days when the dust had settled and I had calmed down I machined diagonals the opposite way. Then of course I had to sew in all the ends. Ah well…

Anyway this photo was taken before the second lot of quilting. I really need some machine quilting lessons.

Inspirational blogs

17 Saturday Apr 2010

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I’ve put a list of the blogs I visit regularly on the blogroll in the right column but I thought I’d just review a few of them here. These quilters all make modern quilts that look so elegant and fresh.

Ashley from Film in the Fridge is a prolific blogger who is very generous with her expertise. She mostly makes lap/cot size quilts and it’s really lovely to see someone making non-traditional baby quilts. She has a great tutorial on making pillowcases too.

Alyssa from Handmade by Alyssa has a great neutrals quilt which looks really masculine and would make a great “den quilt”.

Nettie from A Quilt is Nice shows just how wonderful simple patchwork can be. Her quilts really sing.

Victoria at The Silly Boo Dilly is inspired by “old utilitarian quilts, antique patched and mended textiles” and has done some really beautiful quilts, pin cushions and table runners in this style. Take a look!

Elizabeth Hartman’s blog Oh Fransson! is one of my favourites and in fact the quilt shown on my blog banner is a Wonky Canasta Quilt made from her Canasta series pattern.

Last but not least – Janet, another Aussie, from Quiltsalott does some stunning work. I particularly like the quilt on her banner.

Another great resource

In addition to blogs as a source of inspiration I’ve found this great site that has antique geometric patchwork block patterns. Take a look!