Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Trip Around the Sun Quilt

I am excited to share my new free quilt pattern 'Trip Around the Sun' The pattern for this quilt will be available at Cool Cottons and the quilt will be hanging there in March. This is my second quilt I have made for Marie. The first one was a quilt called  'Off the Wall' that I made way back in 2011. You know those quilts you wish you had never given away? Off the Wall was one of them...
Trip Around the Sun soaking up the rays
For this quilt you use 5 different 1/8 yard cuts of analogous colors (colors that are next to each other on the color wheel) and a solid neutral. The initial blocks are pieced together using the method made popular by Bonnie Hunter for her Scrappy Trip Around the World, which sparked the #scrappytripalong Instagram craze at the beginning of 2012. I added my own little twist and voila: the Trip Around the Sun was created! 
I heart FMQ and making pebbles with the BSR
I have been borrowing a Bernina 820 from the generous crew at Modern Domestic and I have been learning how to drive it. The big areas of negative space were crying out for me to be brave and use that BSR. It was completely hypnotizing to draw all those little circles. I can't wait to practice some more!
Trip Around the Sun basking in the glory
One fun thing about this quilt is that you can easily increase the size of the quilt by making more pairs of blocks. I am planning to start collecting blue fabrics for a project that has a deadline in April. Oh, and the name of this quilt was inspired by the Montessori tradition of celebrating birthdays by 'walking around the sun' and maybe a little bit by the Jimmy Buffet song of the same name. It is a gift for my sister's best friend who is expecting her first baby in March.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Quilt! Knit! Stitch!™ Modern Metallic

Last spring I participated in a brainstorm session with the show producers for Quilt! Knit! Stitch!™ They were interested in showcasing an exhibit of modern quilts from the Pacific NW MQG Meetup Guilds at their event in Portland, OR in August 2014. I thought about what trends excited me and what would be inspiring and different and also what would represent the Pacific NW. Together we arrived at the Modern Metallic challenge.  
Robert Kaufman Quilter's Metallic fabrics available for Modern Metallic
Here are the details for this exciting special exhibit:

Quilt! Knit! Stitch!™ presented by International Quilt Festival will be presenting Modern Metallic at our show in Portland this summer. This exhibit will premiere at Quilt!Knit!Stitch!™, August 14-16, 2014.
Modern Metallic will showcase modern quilts made by members of Modern Quilt Guilds in the Pacific Northwest. Quilters are encouraged to feature the use of metallic design details including but not limited to fabric, thread, and themes.  

Follow this link for more information:

Modern Metallic is sponsored by Robert Kaufman. Robert Kaufman is offering participating guilds gorgeous fabric from their new Quilter's Metallic Collections: Quilter's Tussah, Quilter's Linen, and Quilter's Burlap. Leave me a comment if you want more information about participating and how to get fabric for your guild. And make sure to tag your posts so we can see all the beautiful things you make! #robertkaufman #quilterstussah #quilterslinen #quiltersburlap