Roadtrip QAL

May 14, 2014

Texas

is a BIG STATE

so a

BIG QUILT ALONG

was certainly in order. Join these Texas bloggers for a super sized quilt along beginning June 1st. Melissa from my Fabric Relish has organized a road trip that takes you through some of best known cities and possibly some of the little known places in Texas. Each stop along the way will feature a quilt block and a little bit about the area.

June
2 – Dallas – Ashley at Urban Spools

June
5 – Tyler – Colleen guest blogger at Pretty Little Quilts

June
12 – Fort Worth – Lindsey and Jodie at Fort Worth Fabric Studio

June
16 – Amarillo – Aoife at thREDhead

June
19 – Lubbock – Jada (guest blogger) at My Fabric Relish

June
23 – El Paso – Jennie at Porch Swing Quilts

June
26 – Midland/Odessa – Donna at Donna’s Lavender Nest

June
30 – Big Bend – Cristina at Pretty Little Quilts

July
7 – Houston – Teresa at Third Floor Quilts

July
10 – Beaumont – Taryn at Pixels to Patchwork

July
14 – Austin – Amanda at What the Bobbin

July
17 – College Station – Hilary at Young Texan Mama

July
21 – San Antonio – Ellyn at Ellyn’s Place

July
24 – Hill Country – Lissa at Modalissa

July
28 – Rio Grande Valley – Melissa at My Fabric Relish

The Roadtrip is going to happen though out June and July with all kinds of giveaways along the way from the following sponsors.

There is a saying that you is pretty common bumper stickers so I thought I would share here. I came from Kansas to Texas when I was 5.
Mark your calender. Where else can you take a 2 month road trip without leaving the comfort of your sewing machine?

-modalissa

fabric swaps

13 Comments

May 9, 2014

Have you ever participated in a swap?
I know you were thinking of the show, Wife Swap and I don’t mean that kind of swap.
I recently had a wild hare and decided to participate in a few swaps. When I first contacted Michelle from Quilts from my Crayon Box, I think she was a bit puzzled. Why in the world would I want to participate in a moda fabric swap when I have access to all the fabric in the world? RIGHT?

Believe it or not fabric comes and goes and I am always kicking myself that the “good stuff” is all gone. I never let this get me down because there is always something better coming down the pipeline. The cool thing about this swap is there are pieces from 10 different Kate Spain collections. Seriously this stuff is priceless. To read about the swap, check out Quilts from my Crayon Box’s blog post.

The tough thing now is to decide what to make OR just pet them.

Another Swap that I participated in was the worldwide polka dot exchange put on by Prairie Stitches Quilt shop. Blog post here.
Everyone knows that I love polka dots so this was perfect for me to add more dots to my collection. The world wide web certainly has connected us all but I miss the actual friendship groups, sewing circles and small group fellowship. Prairie Stitches organized this swap so each person would receive an envelope with a 10″ square from the actual individual that sent the fabric. This meant I received 60 pieces of mail that was not a bill, a catalog or junk. 60 pieces of fabric in the mail, quilter’s heaven.


some of my treasures

Each envelope has a bit of a story that goes along with the person’s name, where they were from, etc. One of the gals has the same name as an old friend of mine from high school. I checked it out, not the same person but did end up re-connecting with an old friend in the process.
Another good exercise about these swaps is that it challenges me to use fabric I did not pick out making me have to work with an open mind and have fun with the creative process.

Funny side note: My daughter and I were in Florida this past weekend seeing my BFF. I overheard my daughter telling my friend, you should see all the fan mail my mom gets. This cracked me up. I quickly informed both of them that even though the letters were addressed to modalissa it wasn’t officially fan mail since I had sent them something first. I guess that makes it a reply to fan mail.

I hope each of you are having fun in your creative process and making many new friends along the way.

-modalissa

4 Comments

April 21, 2014

What draws you to a quilt pattern? I have wanted to make a certain quilt from the Moda bake shop forever. Well to tell the truth I have several of the patterns printed and waiting in the wings to make but this one was calling my name.

I dove right in. The pattern is Sunday Potluck by KnottyGnome Crafts. This quilt was faetured on the Moda Bake shop in September 2013. I loved how classic retro the fabrics were and it looked prefect for a Sunday picnic. I planned on making it using the American Jane collection, but I ended up using those fabrics for another project. So I had a Fig Tree and Co layer cake and wondered how different the quilt would look.
Same pattern, two completely different looks. what is your favorite way to change up patterns?

SIDE NOTE: This is a good reason to not try and take a picture on a windy day while your daughter is trying to hide behind the quilt top. My daughter will kill me if she sees this and probably never hold a quilt top for me again.

Enjoy,

Modalissa

Wishes B.O.M.

4 Comments

April 3, 2014

It is the first of the month so it is time to catch up on my block of
the months. on April 1st, I shared block 4 from the blogger girls BOM
and today is my show n tell for the Wishes quilt along from Fat Quarter Shop.

I am on month 4 of the quilt along. These blocks are so fun because they are 18″ finished. They get big very fast compared to the blogger girls BOM that are 6″ finished.

Time to change my machine needle. See how the seams kind of pucker? Yep, should have put in a new needle. Do you not change your needle until it breaks? Guilty. I have read that you should change your needle every time you start a new project. I tend to work on several projects at once and time slips away.
So now that I have my monthly block obligations caught up, I am putting a new needle in my machine, giving it a fresh oiling and then on to making market quilts. Can’t wait to to show you a few peeks along the way.

-modalissa

Bloggers Girl's B.O.M. 4

No Comments

April 1, 2014

It is that time again for 2 more blocks from Monique Dillard of Open Gate designs.
If you are new here each month Monique posts 1 new 6″ block pattern. The cool thing is that she also shares cutting instructions to make an additional color option.

Month 4 block- color option 2

Month 4 block- color option 1

The two blocks lined up right next to each other really show how different they are.

Love them. Check back again may 1st for the next round of blocks.

Enjoy,
Modalissa

Granny Square- lost and found

11 Comments

March 27, 2014

Have you ever misplaced something? Of course you have. Have you misplaced a quilt? Probably not. I made this granny square quilt a couple of years ago. Dragged it to quilt market to submit it to a magazine and never did. We have hauled 100’s of quilts back and forth from show to show and have never lost one so I knew this quilt had to be somewhere.

It could have been nicely packed with the show stuff, it could have been in the stack of quilts for trunk shows, it could have been on display somewhere throughout the buildings.

No need to panic. It would show up eventually.

Well surprise, surprise it finally showed up. I had packed it away in a very safe place and completely had forgotten about it. The mind is a terrible thing to loose, right?

I was so excited. It was like running into a long lost friend. I love anything granny square and now that Lori Holt’s new book, Great Granny Squared is out I think I want to start another quilt.

My favorite block used to be nine patches or log cabins but the granny square is quickly taking over the number 1 spot. This quilt is made from all kinds of moda candy 2 1/2″ squares. I love how each block looks different depending on the color and fabric placement.

The red and white block shown above is one of my favs in this quilt.

Striped binding cut on the bias…. I am obsessed about stripes and the color orange still so it is funny to see that I used this fabric as the binding over 2 years ago.

I am notorious for hiding things so well that I can never find them. I am just sure that i have hidden a ton of money somewhere and that some day my when i am long gone my kids will find it. They better not throw out any of my treasures just in case i have stashed their inheritance there. Is that a good way to entice them not to call goodwill as soon as I am gone……(note to jillian)

Do you have a favorite quilt block that you can just make over and over?

-modalissa

#APQquiltalong recap

7 Comments

March 24, 2014

Hello to all,

I wanted to share some APQquiltalong eye candy and thank my friends that did this virtual quiltalong with me.

Quilted by Natalia Bonner of Piece n Quilt
“Image from American Patchwork & Quilting® magazine.
©2013 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved.”

Here is my quilt from American Patchwork and Quilting.

Miss Rosie greatness.


Amy Ellis From Amy’s Creative Side


Quilt Jane’s version. http://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltjane/


Kimberly Jolly’s version. http://fatquartershop.blogspot.com/2014/02/apqs-tone-it-down-quilt.html

Camille Roskelley


WOWSER !! http://lisabongean.com/2014/03/19/apq-quilt-along/

Another dark rich version by Jennifer Keltner

Sherri Mc Connell’s version using all American Jane.

Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill added applique

And here are a few more pics of other quilts I wanted to share.

Maggie Honeyman- machine quilt extraordinaire made and actually got to quilt her own quilt.

http://www.pinterest.com/thimbleanna/

SVETLANA’s version http://sotakhandmade.blogspot.com/2014/01/winter-wonderland-sewing.html

classic vintage by Lynda from NSW http://lyndainwonderland.blogspot.com/2014/01/catch-up.html

What is so amazing to me about quilting is that this is a classic Burgoyne surrounded block named after General John Burgoyne’s surrender at Saratoga in 1777. Nothing earth shattering about the pattern, it is a variation of Double Irish chain, yet the fabrics used make each version wonderful.

One more little bit of info. I wanted to show a snapshot of the pinterest board, #APQquiltalong. Follow me on Pinterest to see the actual board. There are many more versions to tempt you to make this quilt if you have not started yours yet.

Now that we have accomplished celebrating the General Burgoyne through this quiltalong, maybe we should move on to General Beauregard from Barbara Brackman’s Book, Facts & Fabrications-Unraveling the History of Quilts and Slavery.

No seriously, moda has so many great indigo’s coming, I may have found my perfect project.

Thank you following the quiltalong, as well as my blog.

Gratefully,

-modalissa

the big question mark pattern

3 Comments

March 17, 2014

What can I say about a question mark?

I got to thinking this may be a good baby quilt option since we do not know the sex of my future grandbaby.

The instructions measure 24″ x 30″ before any borders are added.

Following the instructions from the

#spellitwithfabric blog hop, I enlarged the shapes from GinaMartin’s post and
the sizes and directions are shown above.

A great big @

3 Comments

March 11, 2014

40″ x 40″

WIKIPEDIA Definition – The at sign, @, normally read aloud as “at”, also commonly called the at symbol or commercial at, and less commonly a wide range of other terms,[1][2][3][4] is originally an accounting and commercial invoice abbreviation meaning “at the rate of” (e.g. 7 widgets @ £2 = £14). In recent years, its meaning has grown to include the sense of being “located at” or “directed at”, especially in email addresses and social media, particularly Twitter.
I used a bella solid and a royal blue with white pin dot for my @ sign.

quilt illustrations before side borders are added

I wonder if there is a stat on how many times a day the @ sign is used. We all have email addresses that would not go through without the @ sign. Then there is the whole game of tag on Facebook when you add the @ sign before someone’s name so the post will show up on their page. I just thought this symbol would be so fun to enlarge and make a big quilt.

Following the instructions from the #spellitwithfabric blog hop, I enlarged the shapes from Gina Martin’s post and the sizes and directions are shown above. If there is one of the shapes you want enlarged, leave a comment by Thursday March 13th, I will choose one to enlarge and post the directions here on March 17th.

the baby maker

8 Comments

March 4, 2014

You may remember this post from when my oldest son got married.

Guess what. They are pregnant with the first grandbaby. I would like to take the credit that the baby maker worked but….not to be too personal, I have counted the days and I do believe they might have actually conceived on my birthday.

Or it could have been that we went out for my birthday and then had the most magical dessert from Emporium Pies.

Have you ever seen the movie Mystic Pizza with Julia Roberts.? There was something special about this pizza parlor in Mystic, Connecticut. Well there is something special about Emporium Pies and how it has the same mystical, magical power over you. So if anyone from Hollywood is reading my blog, I think you should make a movie about this place.

The pie we had was called the Drunken Nut. You MUST go to their website to see the pies. Be ready to wipe the drool from your computer monitor. Snowball, Smooth Operator, and Lord of the Pies are just a few of the mouth watering pies.

They are due the first week of June and have no idea boy or girl. They are doing it the old fashioned way and letting it all be a surprise. I have a few tricks up my sleeve as I am trying to keep the baby quilt a surprise as well. Just like the kids are keeping the baby a surprise, I will have to keep my quilt ideas a surprise.

One thing I know for sure is I will have to sneak a pie into the hospital to celebrate the birth!!

-modalissa

REPOSTING CREDITS from my original blog post about this quilt.

A shout out to Camille Roskelley for the pics.

If you would like to get the pattern to make your own “baby maker” check out Rita at Red Pepper Quilts website. Rita does not call the pattern, Baby Maker, The pattern is named Tiffany.

Thank you Rita for the design inspiration for this project. It was perfect.