Triangle Swap

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Recently I participated in a triangle swap with 20 other gals.
I have always been a fan of Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts and her triangle papers.
These papers fit beautifully on fabric approx 7″ x 22 making it a 
wonderful project for scraps or fat eighths.
 
Each package comes with enough papers to make 700 triangle sets. The papers are printed on newsprint paper making it easy to tear the papers off once the sets are sewn together.
Once my triangles were sewn and pressed, they  were sorted into stacks to swap.
As I sorted them I had fun entertaining myself by playing with different designs.
Rows of flying geese, anyone?
Cheddars, poison greens, madders, oh my!
Reds, blacks and a pop of royal blue.
Here is what the triangle paper looks like with fabric right sides together.
The sewing directions are easy to follow with arrows all along the way.
Directions are printed on each sheet.
Now the swap has happened and I have thousands of  2″ finished triangles. 
So many triangles, so many fabric combinations, so many design options.
Now it is time to make a decision on how to put all the triangles together!!

Honeycomb Precuts

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 After returning from a whirlwind week at Quilt Market one of the trends that was all over the show was my favorite shape, Hexagons.
Just in case you haven’t seen how easy the moda honeycomb’s (6″ hexagons) are to sew together, Kimberly from Fat Quarter shop said I could share this video with you.

I use to be afriad to do anything with a set-in seam, but after sewing these shapes together set-in seams are a breeze.
Have you tried the honeycomb’s yet?

-modalissa

to market to market

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Today is going to be a busy day at the office. We have sales meeting for the Dallas staff, making sure all the sales meeting stuff is ready for Portland and mainly just making sure we have packed everything. 
After sending 2 – 18 wheelers full of booth stuff I would hope we didn’t forget anything.
This time of year is kind of like Christmas. 
I am sure you have all been through the late night assembly of toys only 
to find out you need 4 – C batteries that Santa did not include with the package. 
Well, setting up a booth for 40 sales people is much the same. 
If we have forgotten anything at this point we could probably blame it on Santa.
I do not know why I wait until the last minute every year
 but now it is time to pack my own suitcase.
old suitcase - Google Images
old suitcase – Google Images (clipped to polyvore.com)

The first day of the show we tell all the sales reps what color to wear for our annual group picture.
 Months ago we sent them the color palette for the booth.

  Pretty colorful, huh? 

hexagon shuffle …. quilted by Natalia Bonner

 
We did narrow down the choices  to 10 different Bella colors. It does always seem like these are colors that are not readily available in my closet. I know, I know picking booth colors in all black or all brown would be a bit drab.

Check back for our group picture to see how well we all follow fashion directions.
 

Indigo Trail

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It is amazing what I came across as I was packing up things for Market. I forgot to show off one of my favorite quilts. How classic and timely is indigo and yellow?
This quilt is published in McCall’s Quilting.
I normally would have used Blue and red. That is so predictable, right? 
So instead I was a rebel and used yellow.
Indigo Trail: Classic Antique-Look Lap Quilt Pattern 
The quilt is made from Indigo Crossing by Polly Minick and Laurie Simpson.
 
I love love love this line of fabrics, but WAIT by now you may have
 seen their next line of fabric, 
MidWinter Reds that will be in stores September.
 I think I may have to make another quilt using these fabrics. What should be by rebel color to combine with these?
It is exactly one week until we start to set up our booth for quilt market in Portland, Oregon. The staff at moda has done such a great job and the show should be pretty darn good. 
If you are at market, be sure and stop by and say hello!
-modalissa

Blogger Girls Month 5

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I can’t believe it has been a month since my last post.
Boo Hiss- I will make myself stand in the corner!
 I guess I have been in a funk.
Thank you to Monique because being a part of the
Blogger Girl’s Quilt Along
has made me have to hop on to my blog, hopefully ending the funk.

As you know from last month I had added some batiks.
Trying to break out of my predictable shell so I tried with several
color options for block 5. Disregard the digital lines.

Month 5 is my favorite block
 You all know that I love polka dots so I couldn’t help but throw in this brown and green polka dot from Paint Box by Laundry Basket. I love how strong and graphic 2 fabrics make this block.
 I wanted to see what this block would look like as a positive/negative colorway. I did change the center block out so the block is now 4 sawtooth stars.  
Changing 1 fabric color completely changes the block.
And finally, 

I think my favorite of the 3 blocks. A scrappy block made 

with a combination of prints and batiks.
 
Stop by and see the color options at the other blogger girls.
Monique From Open Gate Quilts – opengatequilts.blogspot.com/
Sherri from A Quilting Life – aquiltinglife.blogspot.com
Thelma from Cupcakes ‘n Daisies ~ cupcakesndaisies.blogspot.com
Lissa from Moda  Lissa  ~ ModaLissa.blogspot.com
Denise from Quilter’s  Window ~ Quilterswindow.com/blog/
Nicole from Sister’s Choice  ~  sisterschoice.typepad.com
Lisa from Stashmaster ~ The-Stashmaster.blogspot.com
Instructions for block 5 can be found at Open Gate.
 Don’t give up on me. 
It won’t be another month until my next blog post!!

Blogger girls quilt along 4

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 I started trying something different this month. Since I am using Edyta Sitar’s fabric, Paint Box  I thought I should add some batiks. Not quite sure how this is  going to work with my other blocks.

I may have to re make some of the ones from 1-3 to add the richness that batiks add. We’ll see.

Stop by and see the color options at the other blogger girls.

Monique From Open Gate Quilts – opengatequilts.blogspot.com/
Sherri from A Quilting Life – aquiltinglife.blogspot.com
Thelma from Cupcakes ‘n Daisies ~ cupcakesndaisies.blogspot.com
Lissa from Moda  Lissa  ~ ModaLissa.blogspot.com
Denise from Quilter’s  Window ~ Quilterswindow.com/blog/
Nicole from Sister’s Choice  ~  sisterschoice.typepad.com
Lisa from Stashmaster ~ The-Stashmaster.blogspot.com
Instructions for block 4 can be found at Open Gate.

Acronyms

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I just this past month celebrated my 16 year working at Moda Fabric/Unitednotions. I will never forget being in a meeting with the tech people and everyone was talking in acronyms. By the time I left the meeting I had the worst headache and felt like I was the dumbest person  in the room. At that time I swore I would never talk in three letter code. 
Once texting and instant messaging came along I had to eat my words (EMW for short)
 I recently bought a book for my mom, since she is into  texting now and thought I would share
some of the Definition of Acronyms
You know those silly little things the kids do to keep from speeding complete words or using complete sentences when communication with their friends?
F2T- free to talk
BFF- of course best friends forever
EML- email me later
CUL8R- see you later
CULA- see you later alligator
^5- high five
Some that I am going to work into my life.
EAK- eating at keyboard
CY- calm yourself
These are the ones I am sharing with my mom.
Now that the Seniors have become more tech savy there is a 
set of acronyms popping up for them as we’ll.
ATD- at the doctor’s
FWIW- forgot where I was
CUATSC- see you at the senior center
DWI- driving while incontinent
FYI- found your insulin
GHA- got heartburn again
HGBM- had good bowel movement
CGU- can’t get up
BYOT- bring your own teeth
CBM- covered by Medicare
And a new take on an old classic
BFF- best friend fell
 Side note: My mom asked my kids if they new what “sexting” was? 
I wish I had recorded how that conversation went down.
Have a great weekend.
Don’t text and drive.
-modalissa

Too Early for Candy Corn?

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At moda we initiated a staff challenge.
We were designing some basic 12 pack patterns using Bella solids. These patterns were designed as”blueprints”. No color, just let your imagination decide.
 To test the process, several of the office staff jumped in to take the color challenge.
I choose Peaks as my quilt pattern. 
It was selected to be featured in the current issue of QUILT, April/May 2013. 
They called it Candy Corn because that is exactly what it looks like.
 
Working with all solids is not just for the Amish. 
However, it was a bit of a challenge for me. 
I learned to quilt in the days of muslin backgrounds and little tiny brown calicos. 
I was taught solids were not forgiving.
 My quilting teacher would say, “If your points don’t match it will really jump out,
so stay clear of solids.” This is the same teacher that wouldn’t let me use plaids.
EGADS!
Thank goodness time has changed and we have so many more fabric options. 
30 years later and we probably have too many options. 
How does one decide?
If you want to take on a solid project but are not sure that you may be breaking the 
“color wheel code” 
of using primary, secondary or complementary 
colors effectively, do this.
Pick your absolutely favorite fabric with TONS of colors. 
Choose your absolutely fav fabric. Pick solids that match the print. 
Remove the print fabric and you will have the perfect combination of solids.
You will need 12 fat quarters and a background.
Add a punch of color by using your colorful print as the back. 
I used a Zen Chic grey pindot as my binding. It was a bit unexpected. I love it!
 
I am so into oranges, greys and citrus colors that I 
didn’t mean for the quilt to look like candy corn.
 Okay, not really. 
This design would make adorable Christmas trees also.
Ask at your favorite store to see if they are offering 12 pack quilt projects.
Thanks, Maggi Honeyman for the quilting. You’re the greatest!