Saturday, October 24, 2020

My Midcentury Modern Quilt


Eek! This is a big finish for me. Well, not literally. It's actually not a huge quilt, about 46"x48", but the whole process of the making was fun and new.

Somehow, a couple of months ago, I became intrigued by midcentury modern graphics. At some point I decided to try drafting some into quilt blocks. It began with color selection. Even this part took several days, as I auditioned different colors from my stash, let them sit, switched some out, etc etc. These are all Moda Bella and Kona cottons

Then the designing and assembly began! Some blocks were entirely pieced, or paper pieced. This diamond block proved to be especially tricky.

Other blocks lended themselves more to raw edged appliqué...
and this block required a combination of traditional piecing and appliqué...

Several instagram followers asked if I would provide a pattern for my quilt after I finished. After mulling it over a bit, my answer was no, I would not. First off, I pretty much designed each block on the fly! I have some rough sketches I made along the way, but no precise measurements or any of that. Second, I selfishly wanted my quilt to be one of a kind. I struggled with that, but in the end that was my decision.

I delivered my finished topper to my friend Diann at Happy Quilts to work her quilty magic. She found the perfect design (she always does!) which reminds me of the Jetsons in a way.


Those cosmic swirly star shapes really added to the mood of the quilt I think.

Today we had a guild zoom sew day and it was the perfect opportunity to stitch down the binding. Such a satisfying finish.

oh, and can we take a moment to appreciate my wild and crazy covid curly hair? slightly out of control. haha!


 

Thursday, October 15, 2020

vote


 Hubby and I early voted in Texas yesterday. I've been voting for more than 50 years and have never felt as passionate about voting as I do this year. There is so much at stake in our nation right now and the obligation (and privilege) to vote has been heavy on my mind.


The line was not long yesterday at the polls, and it moved quickly. They had great safety measures in place and everyone was wearing masks and socially distant. 20 minutes from arrival to finish... not bad!

In a very timely manner, our Improv small group, the Comedy Club Quilters, chose "VOTE" as our quilty prompt this month. I made this postcard to share...

I used Sarah's great tutorial posted here.  I'd really like to make more postcards. Maybe I'll do all of our monthly prompts as postcards so I have a collection!

I hope you have a plan to get out and vote!



Friday, October 2, 2020

an outdoor photo shoot

 Is anyone else desperately missing their quilting buddies? Our improv small group has been meeting on Zoom since March but it's just not the same. Since the Texas weather is finally cooling down (hooray for fall!) we decided to do an outdoor quilt photo shoot at a nearby park. We met at the park in the morning on a perfect, cool and cloudy day and got some beautiful photos of our quilts.

Five of us met, we all wore masks and social distanced to keep each other safe. There was a pretty gazebo that served as a nice backdrop for most of the quilts.


This is a charity improv quilt we made as a group last year.

There was also a beautiful bridge over a pond where we got some gorgeous pictures! I love the way the quilt reflects in the water in this shot. This gorgeous quilt was made by my friend Chris.

There is an old train car at the park and it was a great backdrop for groups of quilts.

Many people wandered by to see what we were up to. It was fun to chat with them and share our work. A mini outdoor quilt show!

I think this is my favorite photo of the day, another one of Chris's quilts


We got a great shot of our guilds charity quilts that are ready to be donated to the kids at CASA in December.

It was a wonderful day and a safe way to spend time with friends! Do you have a favorite spot for quilty photo shoots?