Bee PDX

This year I'm participating in my very first quilting bee! What's this? It's a group of 11 gals, everyone has a quilt certain month. When it's your month, you purchase the fabric, plan the quilt, and distribute the fabric to other members. Every month I make a block (sometimes more than one) for a fellow bee buddy. It's a great opportunity to try new techniques, play with fabrics that I wouldn't normally use, and get to know some PMQG pals better. What could be better?

Here's a look at a few of the blocks I've made so far:

January - Amber's Flying Geese

Feburary - Jaime's Converging Corners

March - Ale's Star Sampler (I'm making another paper pieced star too)

April - Megan's Scrap Improv

It's lots of fun planning and designing each block! I'm excited to get started on the next one for Katie!

Neon Challenge

When I first got this neon fabric, for the Michael Miller Neon Challenge, I wasn't in love with the fabric. Honestly, I didn't like it at all. For starters, the fabric is literally saturated with color, so much so that it is VERY stiff! But after washing it (it's still stiff), it started to grow on me. 

For Bee PDX, I had started working on my first paper pieced star block. I was instantly hooked! I have been seeing more and more paper pieced stars pop up on blogs and pinterest, now I know why! They are so fun and once you learn the technique the possibilities are endless. Once I finished Ale's block, I didn't want to stop. So I ran out to Powell's and picked up this book that many people recommended. 

This block is the Alabama Star, I simplified it a bit, I found it made a bigger impact with less fabrics. Couldn't you just imagine a whole quilt of these? 

Spring Mod Block

Throughout this year, Portland & Bay Area Modern Quilt Guilds are both organizing Block of the Month programs, and they have teamed up and asked me to design a block based on my QuiltCon Block Challenge. They will both feature this block at the meetings and many people will make it for charity quilts and more! I'm so honored! 

I'm calling this block the Spring Mod block, because I've been inspired by the Portland Spring. It's gloomy in the morning, then sunny in the afternoon. Sometimes visa versa, sometimes still gloomy. It's hard to have such beautiful days of sunshine, followed by pouring rain and not seeing the sun. The back and forth is harder to get used to! ;) These colors in this block represent that. The Mod part is based on my love of all mid-century design. :)

Spring Mod Block

• 12.5" unfinished block
• 1/4" seam allowance
• Press all seams open

Cutting: Cut 1.5" strips then subcut into the following measurements.

Black Essex: 

• Two - 3" x 1.5" 
• Two - 8" x 1.5" 
• One - 1.5" x 1.5" 
• Two - 7" x 1.5" 
• Two - 2" x 1.5" 
• One - 3.5" x 1.5" 
• Two - 4" x 1.5" 
• Two - 6" x 1.5" 
• One - 2.5" x 1.5" 
• One - 13.5" x 1.5" strips
• Two - 13.5 x 2" strips for the right and left side 
  
  

 Yellow(s):

• Two - 3.5" x 1.5" 
• One - 4" x 1.5" 
• One - 9" x 1.5" 
• Two - 5.5" x 1.5" 
• One - 8" x 1.5" 
• One 3" x 1.5" 
• Two - 4.5" x 1.5" 
• One - 5" x 1.5" 
• One - 7" x 1.5" 

Assembly: 

 1. First, cut all of the pieces that you will need. The trick to this pattern is to first layout all of the strips in the correct arrangement. Follow the pattern in the above picture. 

2. Piece together the cut pieces into  strips. 

3. Sew the strips together. Make sure that the alignment is correct. I like to pin the strips together to make sure each mod shape is lined up correctly. 

4. I've made the block bigger than it needs to be, so that you have a little wiggle room! ;) Trim up the block to 12.5" square. 

 I tested this block again and asked my friend, Petra if she wouldn't mind testing it too. We made both of these in the leftover neon fabric that we had from the PMQG/Michael Miller Challenge. :) 

Have fun with this block! Feel free to modify and arrange blocks in different ways! I'm excited to see how these turn out. Please don't hesitate to ask questions in the comments. :)

Happy Sewing!  

QuiltCon Quilt Show // Part One

Probably my most favorite part of QuiltCon was looking at the stunning quilts in the first all modern quilt show. Here are some of my favorites, and there is more to come! I couldn't limit them to only one post.  I really enjoyed looking up each of these quilters, finding their blogs and being inspired all over again. I've included as many links as I could find, it's worth clicking through and reading their complete vision for the quilts too. Enjoy!

Controlled Chaos made by Elizabeth Dackson of Don't Call Me Betsy 

There is so much I love about this quilt! The quilting is outstanding, and I love a good stitch and flip triangle! Plus, through this quilt I discovered her fabulous quilting blog, check it out! 

Fracture by Charlotte Newland of Displacement Activity

If you can believe it this quilt is paper pieced! Charlotte designed it herself. She has a lovely blog and is from London, UK. I easily fell in love with her work. She also has a quilt-along for this quilt. After seeing this, I'm very tempted to dive into the world of paper piecing! Most quilts in the show were machine quilted in such amazing ways. It was refreshing to see the tried and true method of hand-tying which was used in this quilt. 

Sunrise I by Erika Mulvenna of Miss Sews-It All

I first saw this quilt appear in my inbox right before QuiltCon. I loved it from the beginning, it was featured in a Bernina newsletter as a new quilt-along happening on We All Sew. I'm adding this to my to-make wish list!

Streetscape by Katie Blakesley of Swin, Bike, Quilt!

I always love a good HST (half square triangle for my non-quilty readers) quilt, but this one drew me in more than usual. I love the color scheme, it's a bit unexpected with the yellow. I also enjoy the good use of prints and solids, plus impeccable straight-line quilting! 

The Caltrans Quilt by Susan Kephart

Susan paper pieced this quilt together to make this perfect herringbone pattern. I love the use of the black cross-hatch and alternating orange and black! 

Migration by Seasons Evans of SeasonDQuilts

The black and white flying geese blocks are so simple and beautiful. Triangles seem to be constantly in style and inspiring to me. 

Helix by Nicole Neblett of Mama Love Quilts

Where do I begin with this quilt? The colors, composition, and quilting are so inspiring! I love how the angles are arranged on the bias. This quilt makes me want to densely quilt something. I love how the quilting converges very densely.

Starburst also by Nicole Neblett of Mama Love Quilts

I really love this block. It appeared multiple times throughout the show and it always caught my eye. Nicole says it was adapted and inspired by Gwen Marston's book Liberated Quiltmaking. I really love the use of pinks and orange - a great mix of solids and prints! 

Off the B.O.W. by Krista Fleckenstein of Spotted Stones

I first met Krista in Lizzy House's class and knew she had a special talent. All of the blocks and prints she made in class were amazing. We keep seeing each other throughout the event and her name kept popping up on so many of the quilts! I think she had three in the show! This quilt was part of a bee, called Bee Liberated, they made blocks all from Liberated Quiltmaking II. I'm thinking this will be the block I make for the bee I'm currently in. I really love the combination of low-volume prints and bold fall tones that are used in this quilt. 

Reflection by of Josee Carrier The Charming Needle

I love the asymmetry of this quilt! Once I read about how Josee made and envisioned it, I loved it even more! It could also be looked at as a skyline reflection if turned horizontally. The hand-stitching is the sun setting. But she didn't want it to be that obvious, so it's vertical. Still very eye-catching! 

Impracticality by Angela Walters of Quilting is My Therapy

Angela is incredible! Read her post on this quilt (link above) because it's really unbelieveable. I was able to meet her last year when she visited PMQG. She's extremely friendly and self-proclaimed extrovert. You should have seen her on the dance floor of the 80s party! So much fun. This quilt really shows off her personality and her amazing quilting skills. I love the cut off corner, too! 

I hope you enjoyed this first set of quilts. Doesn't it make you want to quilt right now?!

2013 QuiltCon Recap

Wow, I had such an amazing time at QuiltCon! I'm so thankful that I had the opportunity to go to the very first modern quilt show and conference. It was truly an incredible event. In addition to an amazing display of quilts, there were vendors selling and handing out swag, inspiring lectures, and fabulous workshops! 

During this event, I was a Super Volunteer. In exchange for volunteering 16+ hours, I'd received a four-day pass to the conference. This worked out really well! Being more involved with the behind the scenes of the conference was a treat and this helped make this trip a reality! 

On Wednesday, I took a really early flight to Austin. My favorite part of flying is being absorbed by a really amazing book. I'm so glad that my good friends, Courtney and Elizabeth, suggested Divergent. I couldn't put it down and finished it on the plane ride home! Upon arrival, I checked into this room with a view. Then I got to volunteering! I helped hang quilts, cut temporary tattoos, and monitor the loading entrance. 

On Thursday, I was lucky enough to volunteer in Lizzy House's block printing class. I was one of her assistants, and really just got to hang out and learn lots about block printing myself! During lunch, the winners were announced for the quilt show and I discovered my applique quilt won 3rd place in the Applique category. I was (am) pretty thrilled and estatic! 

Isn't this ribbon incredible? Elizabeth made all of them! Thanks so much! 

My retro block design was included in the raffle quilt. It was great to see it in person and quilted! I'd love to make more of these! 

On top of that, the charity quilt that PMQG collaborated on, and I pieced the top for, was displayed on the stage of the lecture hall! Pretty amazing that they choose this one to be one of the four quilts creating the backdrop for all of the lectures (second from the right). 

Unfortunately, my Geometric Eames quilt was a little too tall for display, so they had to hang the quilt folded over, so you don't see top. Oh, well! 

 There were many, many workshops that were offered. All registration had occurred beforehand, I signed up for Lotta Jansdotter class. I've long admired her work and knew this would be the one opportunity that I would have to take a class from her.  In prep for the class, I knew that I wanted to wear something made from Lotta's fabrics. I used Colette's free pattern Sorbetto, but took out the pleat in the front and added a tie (thanks to Meredith for the suggestion!). I love the way it turned out and so did Lotta. She instantly commented on it and re-tweeted this pic of her and I! :)

On Friday morning, Petra, Susan, Nancy and I enjoyed block-printing and stenciling together all morning. I loved how free Lotta made me feel to just experiment and try anything. Nothing has to be perfect. She shared how she is very tactile with her designs, she designs everything from block printing, stenciling, and photocopies prints to play with scale. Once she is happy with a design, then it's transferred to the computer for final editing. 

Friday afternoon, I jumped all around listening to lectures and demos. I got to see Heather Ross and preview her new line of fabric (to be shown at Spring Market), hear Anna Maria Horner share her story of how she began creating until now, my friend Susan Beal talk on a panel about how to submit to magazines, and Kathy Miller share the story of Tammis Keefe, a 50's textile designer. It was truly an inspiring afternoon. 

Friday night was the 80's dance party. I turned into a sequined butterfly and had fun chatting with new friends and dancing to the tunes. I'm usually such a wall-flower with what I wear to these types of dress-up events, it was fun to wear the outfit that everyone commented on and loved. Many people even wanted a pic with me! The first pic are new friends from Salt Lake City, Colleen and Marci. The second pic is Susan and I. 

Saturday, I attended David Butler's lecture on photography and walked all around the quilt show. Then in the afternoon volunteered in the MQG booth. Melody Miller (one of my favorite fabric designers) has hosting a giveaway at a the SuperBuzzy booth, and I won a gelaskin for my laptop! We were able to chat for a while too and she is even more nice than you can imagine. Susan and I took a pic with all of our typewriter fabric that Melody designed. :) 

On Sunday, the conference was winding down, I attended a few lectures, took a final tour of the show and said goodbye to QuiltCon 2013. The next one will be in 2015 and members will vote on the new location. Fingers crossed for Portland! :) 

Before closing, I want to thank my amazing husband, Chris, for allowing me to go and sacrificing so I can have these amazing experiences and quench some of my travel bug! I love you, Chris! 

*I couldn't share my whole experience in one post, so expect another featuring my favorite quilts from the show, and another on Austin!*