how many slices in a pie

February 17, 2014

I have never really liked baking pies.
I love eating pies.

My mom’s coconut cream is to die for, but baking pies for my crew never seemed to be enough
food so it was not my go to dessert.

So when I was playing with the Dresden plate project sheet that Moda was doing with Printemps by 3 sisters, I wondered how many ways can you slice a Dresden plate. See where I am going this…..

I knew the width of the strip used would make a difference in the overall size of the blades which determines the size of the Dresden plate. All this really in depth research was performed using one ruler, Simplicity/EZ Easy Dresden by Darlene Zimmerman.

Complete instructions on how cool this ruler is, shown here.

Using only one ruler I knew that my angle would be the same
and I would need 20 blades.

Enough with the stuff I should have paid more attention to in high school geometry,
lets get to the fun part.

look closely at the difference in the pic above
and the pic below.

The only difference is whether you start measuring
with the top of the
ruler or the bottom of the ruler.
(it is okay to look at the pics again.)

Here is an example of the two blades stacked on top
of each other. Since I cut them from
the same width of fabric they are the same length.

The plate blocks measures 18″ across with a
5 1/4″ opening in the center.

This one measures 15″ across with
a 2 1/4″ opening in the center.

The blocks lined up beside each other
showing the 3″ difference between the size.

This is them on top of each other showing
how cool a layered dresden plate would be.

combining two of the most popular and forever
classic dresden plates
There doesn’t seem to be much difference in sizes
of the overall Dresden plate and the centers.
I measured them and it was about a 3″ difference
which really adds up.
Big Dresden plate measures 18″ with a 5 1/4″ center opening.
Smaller plate measures 15″ with 2 1/4″ opening.
Adding paper pieced hexagons makes this

into one shabby chic quilt.

quilt made by Debbi Duckworth

Printemps is headed to stores now so ask for the fabrics and patterns at you fav store or just dive into your scraps
and have some fun making all sizes of Dresden plates.

I wonder how big to cut the blades for one huge Dresden plate?

All this is making me hungry. I think I will call my mom and see if she has some pie.

Enjoy
-modalissa

Wishes Quilt Along

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February 12, 2014

Picture used with permission from Fat Quarter shop

WISHES fabric collection is designed by the creative team at Sweetwater.
I am sure that when they were creating this fabric line that it would be the
inspiration
of Fat Quarter Shop’s latest quilt along project
supporting the Make a Wish foundation.

This project is special to me because of my youngest brother. He was born with a rare birth defect, Arthogryposis, which is basically shortening of the muscle tissue. He has very little muscle tissue around his elbow and knee joints. His entire life he has know nothing other than full leg braces and the ordeal of being different.

I did grow up seeing the struggles and blessings that families go through.

The help and support for families, especially children, whether through Scottish Rite Crippled Children’s Hospital (which is what brought my family to Dallas) or Make a Wish Foundation or any of the many great organizations is a perfect reason to quilt along.

So I decided this was a Quilt Along that I wanted to be a part of.

The blocks are 14″ and easy to put together. Each month FQS also has a

youtube video on how to make the block. Here is a link to block 1.

Thankfully, my brother is a a feisty, happy and healthy man to this day.
To learn more about the quilt along, visit Fat Quarter Shop.
To make a donation to Make a Wish, visit Kimberly’s Quilt-Along-Donation-Page.

Here is info for block 2. Yikes, I am already behind.
To read more about the inspiration behind this project, please visit moda’s blog.

enjoy
-modalissa

Quilt Acronyms

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February 10, 2014

Don’t you love quilt retreats? I I do know that I do not get to go on enough of them.

This past weekend one of the gals in my office went on her bi-annual retreat with the same group that she has been retreating with for over 25 years.

She brought this Quilt Acronym game in to work.

I am sure you have seen this all over the internet but I thought I would share with you here.

An acronym is an abbreviation formed from the initial components in a phrase or a word.

These components may be individual letters or parts of words. There is no universal

agreement on the precise definition of various names for such abbreviations.

Can you fill in the answers above?

Example: BOM- Block of Month

I have included a link to a printable PDF if you want to print it

and test your fellow quilters knowledge.

Ready for the answers?

Here is link to the answers .

I hope you had fun exercising the brain.

Now get back to quilting.

Traveling Patch Worldwide Fabric Exchange

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February 6, 2014

Do you love Dots?

Kim and the crew from Prairie Stitches Quilt Shop have come up with a fun idea. A worldwide traveling fabric exchange to celebrate National Quilting Day, March 15, 2014.

Kim has done these types of exchanges before. They are the quilt shop that did a massive

triangle exchange with Edyta Sitar making and exchanging thousands of sewn half square triangles. They definitely have the logistics experience.

This swap is much easier.

You don’t have to sew a thing to swap.

Just send 60- 10″ squares of “quilt store quality” fabric to the shop.

The squares can be cut from one fabric, cut from your stash or an assortment

of dots as long as it totals 60.

Package each of your squares in a separate envelope and send all 60 to Kim.

Here comes the fun part….. as if dots are not fun enough.

Write a little note and include it in the envelope introducing yourself or

just saying hello to a new friend somewhere in the world.

Kim’s crew is going to handle all the shipping here and abroad.

(details about shipping costs on attachment below)

Each person will receive 60 separate “Polka Dot Pal” envelopes.

Once you have all these fabrics, there will be inspiration and projects

with what to do with your new treasures.

If you are interested in joining the fun, please read the complete set of guidelines, please click here. Must sign up by March 15, 2014.

-modalissa

Blogger Girls BOM month 2

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February 1, 2014

Today is the day for the second installment of blogger girls block of the month brought to you

by Monique of Open Gate Quilts.

Blues and whites certainly seem to be the colors of the year. They colors are everywhere including the cover of the pottery barn catalog.

Indigo, indigo indigo.

So I have chosen an upcoming

collection from Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts for my blocks.

The line is called Snowbird.

TIP: There are only 2 sizes of triangles used for these blocks. One size is cut on the half diagonally. The other is cut diagonally in half twice. This makes the triangles be cut on the bias going the right direction to avoid stretching, but it also makes them almost the same size. So be careful when sewing them together. It is easy to get them mixed up. Ask me how I know. Yes, I had to redo my blocks.

Here is a link to patterns and the other quilter’s Girls BOM blog posts,

so you can see all the possibilities.

Sorry my post is late.

Thanks to Verizon for fixing my wifi,

Enjoy,

Modalissa

Fear

55 Comments

January 28, 2014

I have a draft written that was going to be my new years post. The post was all about a problem I have, paralysis of analysis. According to Wikipedia this is described as……

the state of over-analyzing (or over-thinking) a situation so that a decision

or action is never taken, in effect paralyzing the outcome.

I don’t have this problem at work but just regarding my blog. Will it be good enough, does anyone really read it, what do I have to offer, are my pictures clear, etc etc. In January I was just contemplating taking my blog down. Either do it right or don’t do it all.

You see my problem?

Then this over analysis continues because of who I work for. I wonder if I should put a disclaimer on each post to reflect the classic saying that you see right before those late night infomercials.

The opinions shown here do not reflect the views of station ABCD or some jibberish like that.

Oh wait there is more.

When your job is also your hobby it is hard to separate. What I may be working on right now will not be out in stores until months later so keeping it under wraps is tough. Waiting to blog about something 3 months later just doesn’t seem to have the same

gusto when I sit down in front of the keyboard.

Then yesterday something great happened. I am not going to over- think it.

I was listening to American Patchwork and Quilting’s Radio show. Jennifer Keltner and Jody Sanders were talking about the No-Rules Round Robin article in their February issue.

photo used permission of allpeoplequilt.com

The round robin was a pretty big deal. Big name quilters like Terry Atkinson, Gudrun Erla, Kari Carr and Terri Degenkolb were all apart of this event. They each started with a piece center and passed it to the next person to add to the quilt. These ladies all have pattern companies

and are constantly creating and inspiring all of us.

Then Jennifer said the F word.

Yes, she said Fear.

She talked about how each of these ladies were afraid that their part

of the project may not be good enough.

Wowser, I just thought about FEAR the rest of the day

and how I too had fear about my blog.

So I am going to quit over-thinking my blog posts.

Several years ago I was at a luncheon and the keynote speaker was Ree Drummond of Pioneer Woman. She was asked about how she started her blog. She said she started it so that her mother could stay up to date with what was happening with the kids. Ree also added that it was weeks before anyone left a comment. When she first received this comment, she thought for sure it was her mom. Who else would have been reading her posts and why in the world would anyone other than her mom leave a comment.

I follow Ree’s lead and I am going to write posts to my mom. She loves everything I do. She knows of my quirky sense of humor. However I know not to look for a comment from my mother.

She still calls the computer mouse a rat.

I know that the only way to be good at something is to practice, practice, practice.

I am going practice writing more so I will blog more often!

I am going to practice photography by taking tons of pics of everything!

My family is going to love that part.

I am going to share my own opinions and make the disclaimer here and only here.

My opinions are my own and no others.

Please don’t hold it against the company I work for any of my grammatical mistakes.

I am going to blog about what I am working on, hoping not to make anyone sad that they have to wait a couple of months to have the fabric. Seriously, the movie industry shows trailers 6 months in advance and we still rush to see the show on opening day.

Thank you for bearing with me during my moments of fear-therapy.

Mom, I love you and the kids are doing great.

APQ quiltalong progress

7 Comments

January 27, 2014

I am always so honored to share my passion for quilting with others. So of course I am super pumped when one of my projects gets published in a national magazine. BUT what really has taken the whole experience way over the top is the #APQquiltalong from the Feb 2014 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting. There were several people that had agreed to go on this quilt along ride and were featured in the magazine. I knew each of them would do something really different.
I wanted to share some of the #AQPquiltalong projects. I just love how they are all coming along. Each is so different and is also a great lesson in color and value placement.

Jennifer Keltner’s quilt
is going to be so rich with a Japanese feel. Jennifer is the Senior
Editor of American Patchwork and Quilting and has got to be one of the
busiest women in the industry. I am honored that she has carved out the
time to be a part of this.

And then we have Anne from Bunny Hill.
Anne has a uncanny knack for putting the chic in shabby chic with
everything she touches. She is adding alternate blocks of applique to
her quilt.
See what I mean by how different each of the quilts are coming along.

Kimberly from Fat Quarter Shop made her version using
Wishes from Sweetwater.
Of course her quilt is completely done. You can certainly see why she is so successful by jumping in
and getting her projects complete.
Another classic!

How cool and different is Quilt Jane’s version? The pattern
is the exact same as the other quilts but the value placement has given this quilt a completely different design.
Just imagine all the variations of traditional
quilt blocks we could do if we just looked at everything
in black and white, then started coloring in the shapes.
Jane, you are so inspiring.

Sherri McConnell of A Quilting Life.
I am sure you all read Sherri’s blog. She is a true classic in every step of the word. So Sherri choose fabric from a classic designer, Sandy Klop of American Jane. This quilt was a good reason for Sherri to pull out her American Jane collection of fabrics and dive in.
I would like to point out that this is also a good reason why we like to hoard our favorite designers fabric collection. And yes it is okay to have more than one favorite designer, hoard their collections, and have a fabulous stash. Stash is not a bad word.

Amy Ellis from Amy’s Creative Side
I knew Amy would give us all an interesting take on scale and design.
Amy’s combination of fabrics adds such movement throughout.

Lisa Bongean of Primitive Gatherings

I knew Lisa would give us all the complete opposite look of my quilt.
She put darks where the lights were, lights where the darks were supposed to be.
She gives the quilt her magic primitive touch. A good lesson in just
because the pattern says
“dark fabrics”
doesn’t mean you have to use dark.

Camille Roskelley
Again another example of greatness in everything she touches.
Camille played with her value by use of lights, mediums and darks.
My quilt was truly lights or darks, no mediums.
By adding the mediums, Camille’s version incorporates a softer, vintage feel.

And my apologies to Carrie Nelson. I left her greatness off of my original post.

I can’t really say enough about Carrie. Her version is a timeless classic. Read all about her thought process as she created this quilt.
Thanks again to all these talented ladies for being a part of this quiltalong.

Let me know if you are quiltingalong.
I have made a board on pinterest
http://www.pinterest.com/modalissa/apqquiltalong/
and I would love to add your version to the board.

-modalissa

Log In, Log Out

19 Comments

January 22, 2014

I am super excited! Just received the news

that my super duper big log cabin quilt

made the cover of

Quilts and More, Spring 2014.

Magazine on Newstands, Feb 4, 2014

This quilt was so fun to make. I just started and

did not know for sure where I was going

but loved the final outcome.

I combined jelly rolls from

2 collections from Primitive Gatherings.

I am obsessed with shirtings and how they can be

used in 1890’s quilts as well as how

modern they look in

some of the quilts of today.

Combine the shirtings with Floral Gatherings

by Primitive Gatherings and have fun sewing

round and round.

There is no way to go wrong.

I cant wait to get my hands on the real copy and

see all the other projects inside.

Thanks to Maggi Honeyman for her great quilting.

Maggi, you rock!

enjoy,

-modalissa

Blogger Girls B.O.M year 2

6 Comments

January 1, 2014

Did you make any New Year’s Resolutions?

I don’t know if you can consider mine resolutions but I have

agreed to several projects throughout 2014 which are commitments. Commitments, now that is
a word that is just as powerful as resolutions, right?

You may remember last year when Monique Dillard of Open Gate Quilts

hosted a Blogger Girls Block of the Month.

a finished quilt from last year

Well, today is January 1st so it is time once again to start the year off

with a bang

and another quilt along.

my first block from year 1

This year the blocks are a dreamy 6 inches.

For the next 6 months you will be making 2 of each of the 6 designs.
Your 2 blocks will look completely different due to color and fabric placement.

I have fallen in love with the newest group from Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts.

It is called Snowbird. Yes, there are print and batiks.

These fabrics will not be in the stores until later this year so you are

getting a sneak peek at them here.

At 6″ these blocks are so darn cute.

Join us on the first of each month for more cuteness and 6″ blocks.
Sherri from A Quilting Life – aquiltinglife.blogspot.com
JoAnne from A Patriotic Quilter – http://thepatrioticquilter.blogspot.com/
Lissa from Moda Lissa ~ ModaLissa.blogspot.com
Denise from Quilter’s Window ~ Quilterswindow.com/blog/
Jodi from Pleasant Home ~ www.pleasant-home.com/
Monique from Open Gate Blog ~ http://opengatequilts.blogspot.com
The FREE patterns are available here.

You are hearing it here first but 2014 is the year of the mini cuteness.
I hope each of you have a blessed and safe 2014.

-modalissa

Pinteresting Party

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December 11, 2013

My oh my… what fun we are going to have.

Pinterest is a major addiction as many of you know. But have you had a pinterest party?

Well tonight, as a result of Lisa Calle’s brilliance, we are having a pinterest party at Urban Spools in Dallas.

Join us if you are in the area, but if not join us online.

There is a board on the Moda Fabrics pinterest acct titled verymerrymodachristmas, pin for your favs or add your favorite moda fabrics, dreamy projects, nifty notions, holiday decorations and yummy foods. Use the hastag verymerrymodachristmas as you pin or Instagram.

We will find you and give away prizes every 15 minutes.

Some of the United Notions suppliers have sent us goodies to share such as Auriful thread,

Wrights/Simplicity, along with Fons and Porter

sent some goodies everyone will want in their stockings.

Indygo Junction sent some of their patterns that perfect to sew up over the Holidays.

Accuquilt sent the cutest dies to use with Moda’s 2 1/2″ mini charms.
Yes, Santa I do have to have one of these for myself!

We have some fantastic wool kits,

patterns and books from Lisa Bongean of Primitive Gatherings. Lisa out did herself as always and sent a lot of goodies so we are going to need giveaway lots! If you didn’t get a chance

to read her blog post about Joy, please do so here.

a prize package from Fig Tree Quilts.

I am obsessed about the

Beatle Bag from Abbey Lane Quilts,

so they sent us some goodies.

Of course there will be some moda goody bags.

#showmethemoda

I can’t wait to meet some of my online friends in real life.

If you can’t be there please join us online.

Seriously, you better pin, becasue there are ALOT of prizes so your chance to
win is better DARN GOOD

Happy pinning!!

A special shout out to Urban Spools for letting us invade their space.