A (Modern) Picture Show

Three members of the Front Range Modern Quilt Guild, along with our President, Melissa Riche traveled down the highway to Pueblo today. We visited the newly-organized City Beat Modern Quilters to share some quilts made by members of the FRMQG and see what our friends "down South" have been making.

Warning:  This post has nearly 30 photos! I've re-sized them to a smaller size, but if you have a slow computer connection, you may want to go make a cup of tea (OK, a gin and tonic) while the post loads!

Because there are so many photos, I will keep the commentary to a minimum. If you have a question about a specific quilt, either ask in the comments or send me an email and I'll try to find out the detes for you.

Front Range Modern Quilt Guild President, Melissa Richie, addresses the "aesthetic of Modern Quilting."

Click here for a link to Oh, Fransson's "Mod Mosaic" tutorial.

\

Butterflies and Rainbows. Inspired by a swap with the Faith Circle of Do.Good.Stitches to benefit Restore Innocence.  Pattern to follow on Moda Bakeshop.

The Huckleberry Quilt workshop by Latifah Saafir.

Wyna's "Wonky Stars."

Quilts from City Beat Modern Quilters:

This was made with fat quarters from the guild's "door prize basket." 

Her first quilt! Can you believe it?

What a fun story -- a fabric exchange with her Mom and sisters!

We had such a great time. What a wonderful, warm, and welcoming guild. I hope the two guilds will  do a "joint" meeting or maybe even a retreat at some time in the future!


From the desk of your

Three Baby Quilts

Did you see my "Sunday is for Baby Scraps" post? Jenny from Missouri Star Company put together a you tube video for a super-fast charm square quilt, "Falling Charms." I dove into my huge box of 5" squares and put my June Tailor super-duper 2.5" strip cutting ruler to work and wound up with not one, but three tops for baby quilts!

My initial "vision" for this quilt was scrappy, scrappy:

But with such large pieces of such bright colors, it quickly evolved into "planned scrappy":

And a "girly" planned scrappy:

Each one will finish at approx. 36" by 42" -- fills my entire design wall!

Two of the three are designated for new babies. One will go to Japan, the other to the Eastern US.

And if you need a "baby photo fix," how about this one of our youngest granddaughter, falling asleep before she could read her pile of books?

Photo by SIL Noah Bershatsky.

Not to worry, she already has a "Marmee-Made" quilt!

Linking up to Thank Goodness it's Finished Friday, hosted this week by Sewing at Moonlight. Also Link a Finish Friday at Richard and Tanya Quilts. As well as "Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?" at Confessions of a Fabric Addict -- more baby quilts!

Tomorrow I'm going to visit the new Pueblo Modern Quilt Guild. Can't wait to see what they're getting up to!


From the desk of your

WIP Wednesday: Block Rehab

Monday was the 60th day of summer, and so far I have sewn 67 blocks. I confess, not all of them are BOM blocks, but I am making progress on my Summer BOM Rehab!

I'm up to date on both my Marti Michell block parties. The first one the 2010 Patchwork Party quilt:

I was surprised when I got the complete kit for the 2013 Secret Garden BOM from Sweetheart Quilts in Loveland -- many of the blocks are the same as for the 2010 quilt. So rather than do  them in order, I made the ones I had already finished for the 2010 quilt.

No, I haven't yet made the one that is different!

Today's WIP is the October Jelly Roll Project for Ruth's Stitchery. The pattern is Jacks Be Quick, from Cozy Quilt Designs. 

(image from Cozy Quilts)

This is a super-fast project. Would have been better if I hadn't sewn the blocks together at Front Range Modern Quilt Guild's sew-in on Saturday -- half the dark/light combinations were supposed to be reversed. Oh well, I like it this way!

The throw size only requires 21 strips, so I have 19 left over. Maybe I'll make another one and follow the directions! My fabric is the "Boo Crew" collection from Sweetwater Designs for Moda.

Linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

Have you ever deliberately disregarded the instructions for a quilt you've made?

 From the desk of your

Tuesday Tool -- the Coolest!

Really. The coolest tool I've ever bought. Custom-made just for me by the husband of friend and fellow Jelly Roll quilter, Vickey.

It's so pretty, and it fits just perfectly.

I love it so much that the next giveaway just might have to be one of these.

Have I teased you long enough? Want to see what it is?  OK:

No, no, it's not that huge square ruler. Nor the "tile lifter" that I use for a handle on my 8.5" X 24" ruler (my favorite, by the way).

It's a new ruler rack, made to fit perfectly on the shelf of my cutting table! And it holds all my big rulers, with one slot to spare!

It was custom-made to fit on that shelf. But it would work really well for all my Margaret Miller "Angle Play" templates.

 It will even hold my entire collection of Marti Michell templates!

Yes, the DH knows how many I have. He admitted that he probably has that many running shirts, so he can't object. The right tool for the job, right?

Before Vickey persuaded Chris to make this large ruler rack, I bought a smaller one from him that lives on my cutting table with my most-often used smaller rulers:

I admit, I've bought other wooden ruler racks. But they just don't hold enough rulers, or they aren't large enough to balance the larger rulers. This one is perfect! 

Want one for yourself? Contact Chris at Chris dot Anderson774 at gmail dot com -- I promise not to tell him he's not charging enough until after you buy yours!

From the desk of your

Sunday is for Baby Scraps

Today's "Sunday is for Scraps" quilt is really two -- baby quilts. I saw a great You-Tube video from Missouri Star Quilting Company and was inspired to quick! make some baby quilts!

Jenny calls it the "Falling Charms" quilt. I used scraps cut into 5" squares and Kona Cotton Snow for the background.  I didn't really plan how many blocks to makes, just sewed until I lost interest and made them into blocks. It turned out I made 70 blocks, enough for two baby-sized quilts. I thought about shopping for a border print, but I think they will turn out the right size without a border.  Plus, saving money for the trip to Japan, you know!

Click here for the link to Jenny's tutorial video. I'm sorry my BFF Holly is leaving Ohio, because I won't have a reason to visit the Missouri Star Quilt Co. when I drive to see her -- she'll be in Texas now!

One quilt will go to an IBMer who is having a baby in September, one is for the daughter of a Sailor on the USS George Washington.

Linking up to Scrap Basket Sunday at Kim's Big Quilting Adventure.

Don't you just love to make baby quilts? They are so fast, and so fun!


From the desk of your