modern quilt guild

Michael Miller has hosted a challenge for their Madrona Road fabrics and it is now coming to a close. Modern Quilt Guild posted some wonderful photos of a few of the projects submitted. You should check it out here. There is also a Flickr group for the final projects and there are some really beautiful quilts there.

(It’s funny the things you think of in the middle of the night!…I forgot to credit the designer of this fabric line, Violet Craft. Can’t have that! You should see her post which contains the story in the text fabrics. Such a beautifully written story.)

Today is actually the deadline for submissions, so I’m pushing in just under the deadline! I knew before I received the fabric I wanted to create a quilted bag to take to QuiltCon, but I waffled on the style.

I have really wanted to try Amy Butler’s Weekender Travel Bag, and Anna Horner’s Art Student Tote, but I couldn’t commit.

I recently traveled for business training and received this bag from Raymond James. It’s a great size and it’s fast becoming one of my favorite bags. I drew out the dimensions and recreated it for the Madrona Road fabrics.

I seem to always find things I don’t like or could do better, but I’m determined not complain or whine my way through this post. So, while it may be a bit scrappier than I intended and there were a couple places in construction where I could definitely improve, the bag turned out pretty well. Since I drafted the pattern from scratch, I was surprised it went together so well and was really pleased.

Thanks to Michael Miller for hosting this challenge and for providing fabric to get started. Once I had the fabric in my hands, I had to purchase more. There are some great fabrics in this line. There’s still plenty left over for a quilt. Yay!

And thanks to Modern Quilt Guild for spreading the word and making this interesting.

WIP This Week — 1.T-shirt quilt for my Katie, 2.Quilt labels from Spoonflower :-D, 3.Union Jack and Tula Pink’s Parisville

It’s been a while since my last post. I would love to find an easier way to post! When inserting photos everything goes all over the place and the published version is rarely what I expect based on what I’ve entered. I actually started a post on the Union Jack you see above right a week or so ago. I wasted an hour or more creating the post and getting photos placed where I wanted and in previewing to post and editing, I lost it all. Very frustrating.

I’ve played with a couple blog writing software such as MarsEdit and MacJournal, but not completely sold yet. C’est la vie.

I have finally finished the top of the t-shirt quilt I’ve been promising my middle daughter…since LAST Christmas! I feel it still needs something on the top and bottom. Thinking about creating some thin stripes for three to five inches. Just enough to even the ends and create a little interest…or tie it all together…not sure which.

How do you like my quilt labels? (top right photo) Jaybirdquilts did a post a little while back on creating quilt labels from Spoonflower.com. I’ve finally gotten around to trying it and it was so easy!! Don’t you love the antique snips? Those are from GraphicsFairy.com who constantly provide some awesome and unique graphics. There must be thousands of graphics available on her site. As a matter of fact, some of the graphics in the header of this blog is also from Graphics Fairy.

The turnaround time between ordering and actually receiving my labels may have been around two weeks. Considering this is a custom print (which is what they do after all), I was surprised how quick they were. Since I haven’t ordered from them before and wasn’t sure how these would turn out, I only ordered a fat quarter (Yes! The allow you to do that! How great is that?). My labels were 4 x 6 and I got 15 labels.

And the third photo is of my first Union Jack! 😀 I’ve been wanted to make one. I’ve done this as part of a Tula Pink sew along hosted by Sew Sweetness, and a Union Jack sew along hosted by Lily’s Quilts.

Still have two flags to go and trying to choose between my Tula Pink fabric. So many pretties! I don’t feel like my points are lining up properly in the corners, but I’ve ripped and re-sewn enough on this baby! It’s staying as is.

Other than that, I’m working with two other quilters to start a modern quilt guild in the north Louisiana area. It’s going to be interesting. I get blank looks when I mention modern quilting. Even the store owners are only just becoming aware. Wish us luck.

Thanks for visiting. I would love to hear from you, so feel free to comment.