Thanks a lot everyone for your comments on my pot holders. It was fun to read which colors you have or would like in your kitchen. The winner of Modern Patchwork is number 6, lattegirl40.
Sandy, I’ll contact you by email and I’ll mail the magazine to you.
Look what I got in the mail today! It’s the Winter 2014 issue of Modern Patchwork (Interweave Press/F&W Media). This is the first time I have the chance to actually flip through this magazine. It is filled with inspiring patchwork projects, all with a modern aesthetic.
I have a pot holder project in it. I got them back a few weeks ago, but I was waiting to write this post to see the actual magazine. It is always fun to see how they pictured the project.
The idea behind the design was to make some abstract flowers with simple patchwork and to accentuate it with the quilting. This is why I named them Petals Patchwork Pot Holders. Again, I’ve used only solids (except for the back) and played with value.
Update: The winner of the magazine is comment number 6 by lattegirl40.
Thanks a lot everyone for your lovely comments on the book Sew Gifts! The winner of the eBook is number 7, Francine Benoit.
Do you like to sew gifts for others? I do. Last summer, I was asked to contribute to a book on sewing for gifts. You can imagine my pleasure. The book just came out, so I can share it with you. It is Sew Gifts by Martingale. With the Holidays in just a bit more than two months, I think it is great timing.
For the book, I designed a knitting needle case.
My husband’s grand-mother had an old case similar to this. I thought it was a great way to store and carry knitting needles around. I decided to design one incorporating a bit of patchwork and to quilt it. The print is from the Ten Little Things collection by Jenn Ski for Moda. I’m not a knitter, but I made a shorter case for my-self to use it as a pencil case.
The book is filled with great projects. I particularly like the sketchbook cover and pencil pouch featured on the book cover. It is designed by Adrienne Smitke of Handmade is Awesome.
You can see all of the projects on Stitch This!, Martingale’s blog. There is a copy of Sew Gifts! eBook to win if you leave a comment on their blog post. Martingale is also offering a copy of the ebook to one of my readers. If you would like to participate, leave me a comment. I would love to know what kind of gifts you like to sew for your loved ones. I’ll pick a winner in a week from now, on Wednesday Oct. 23, that I’ll contact by email. Hope you’ll enjoy the book.
Update: The winner of the eBook is Francine Benoit.
It’s been so long since I’ve started a new quilt. When I received my bundle from Mad About Patchwork, I washed and ironed everything. Then, I played around with them on my design wall to know where I would positioned each fabric in the quilt. After that, each time I went buy my design wall I was hoping for some time to cut into those. I found a bit of time this week.
I cut everything I need for the front panel of my quilt for our guild’s Modern Traditionalism challenge. You can see the sketch of the quilt in this previous post. I’m ready to sew! Lets start by making some half-square triangles for the Shoo Fly blocks.
I know some of you like table runners, so I thought I would write a quick post to let you know that Interweave recently published the book: Craft Tree Table Toppers, It is a collection of 11 projects: placemats and table runners. I think all projects are from previous publications. One of them is my Hip Squares Table Runner pattern, which was initially published in Stitch (Summer 2012).
It’s always fun to make some quicker projects like table runners, especially to make gifts and also to try out new techniques. It’s available as an ebook or paperback on the Interweave store.
Just a quick post to announce the winner of the curated bundle at Mad About Patchwork. The winner corresponds to comment 11 by pinkbrain:
Congratulations Jennifer! Maybe I’ll get the chance to see some churn dash blocks or some x and + blocks in those fabrics in the coming year. I’ll get in touch with you.
In this previous post, I mentioned that I bought a second sewing machine to be able to make some smaller projects while finishing quilting my lap size quilt.I thought I’d share a few of them with you. First, I made some gifts for my two sons daycare teachers. I decided to make some lanyards for them to carry their keys around. They were inspired by these tutorials: here and here. In the first tutorial, I particularly liked the way the two fabric ends were stitched together to close the loop. It is explained in more details here.
I also made some fabric tray for them based on this tutorial by Noodlehead:
Here is a another coin pouch I wanted to mention. Those tiny hexagons assembled using English Paper Piecing and made out of Liberty lawn makes it so special. I still have two more flex frame, so I plan to do some more. I might use this one for cards and make another one for coins.
I don’t buy that much fabric (still too much for the time I have to sew). But, when I do I often find my-self ordering from Mad About Patchwork, a Canadian online shop. Particularly, when I need to get some fabrics quickly for projects with a deadline. This was the case for my table runner in the book Set the Table! All fabrics came from there. The service is great and the shipping, for me who is in Canada, is so fast. Also, Pam, the shop owner, carries fabrics that will appeal particularly to modern quilters. She has a great selection of designer collections, great basic prints like Oval Elements by Art Gallery and Pearl Bracelet By Lizzy House for Andover. But most of all, she has a lot of basics like Kona cottons and Essex linen blends by Robert Kaufman and Kaffe Fassett’s shot cottons.
Recently, Pam generously offered to sponsor a giveaway on my blog. How fun is that! And I got to pick the fabrics. There is now a curated bundle of 16 fat eights available in her shop.
When she offered to pick some fabrics, I thought about a quilt I had sketched for one of our challenges at the Montreal Modern Quilt Guild. This year, we asked our members to do quilts on the theme: Modern Traditionalism. My idea was to use a simple traditional block and to play with scale. I picked the Shoo Fly block. You’ll find here and here two other modern interpretations of that block that I love.
Back to the fabrics. I wanted to use prints in a variety of colors. I like monochromatic prints or ones with only one color and white. I like geometric prints or ones that add texture, for example the ones in the Architextures collection by Carolyn Friedlander. I ended up picking prints in 5 different colors (3 for each) and one neutral print. I wanted to have a block that would contrast with the other ones. For this one, I chose a light grey Pearl Bracelet. Here is the complete list:
Each of the Shoo Fly block in my quilt will be made out of one print. I’ll combined them with some Essex linen blend in black for the negative space. Here is a sketch of what the quilt will look like. I’m still unsure where I’ll position each of the prints, but it gives you an idea.
I hope you’ll appreciate my selection of fabrics. I tried to select some basic modern prints that would be a great addition to any stash!
If you would like to win this bundle courtesy of Mad About Patchwork, just leave a comment on this post! I would love to know which traditional quilt pattern you would love to reinterpret with a modern aesthetic. I’ll announce the winner in a week from now (Sept. 13 2013).
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And the winner corresponds to comment 11 by pinkbrain:
Congratulations Jennifer! Maybe I’ll get the chance to see some churn dash blocks or some x and + blocks in those fabrics in the coming year.
As I said in my last post, it is harder to work on personal projects. I have an ongoing project of making us a lap quilt for our living room. I thought sharing the process with you might help me not pushing this one back over and over.
I’m really happy with the sketch I came out with. I wanted to play with triangles. I never did a triangle quilt before and I just love them. Here, here, here and here are just a few from the ones that I like. I wanted to come out with something different. If you read my blog a bit you should know by now that I love playing with value. So, I decided I would do a two color quilt, all solids in different values. Also, I was seeking for a design where the triangles would go from one color to the other. I started making some sketches. I made a few than I showed them to my sister. Right away, she suggested that I look at Escher’s work. As soon as I saw his illustration with fishes and birds (Sky an Water I), I thought that was it. Starting from there, I came out with this sketch. Thanks little sister! As you can see, I played again with asymmetry too.
