so many projects

November 8, 2020

I have always had more than one project going at a time but I don’t know if it is because of Covid or just my excitement to MAKE. I thought I would do a status check to keep me accountable.

half-square hashtags

Working on an all red version of Sheryl Johnson’s Half Square Hashtag quilt. As soon as Sheryl sent this quilt in for Sisterhood of Scraps, I knew I had to make it.

On-the-Go-SIH-050-Let’s-Fly-61×72

I signed up to make a sample for work. I thought this would be a fun quilt for one of my grandsons for Christmas. I am so very close but I set this one aside and need some space and time to lay it out and get it finished up.

20720-11

I am planning on using the panel as part of the quilt back making the quilt a reversible playmate. Fabric is ON the Go by Stacy Iest Hsu. Fabric is in stores in January but hoping to cross this one off my list very soon.

I am obsessed with all the Quilt alongs happening now.

In the OLDEN DAYS, I would sign up for groups that would meet the first Monday of the month, the third Wednesday or the fourth Saturday. Seemed like an easy commitment of one day a month until I had signed up for so many 1 day a month events that if filled my calendar.

The virtual QAL’s are different. I don’t have to get a sitter or even leave the house and I get to meet many virtual friends.

Block 36

I am on the last round (each designer has 1 more block to post) of the Moda Blockheads series. Be sure and follow each post because the featured designer is doing a giveaway. Posts EVERY WEDNESDAY. You can get all the patterns on Moda’s blog.

I am tickled pink to be included as one of the SEWCIALITES on Fat Quarter Shops, weekly QAL. POSTS EVERY FRIDAY.

I am really challenging myself and using all Bella Solids. The patterns are fun, The instructions are great and just one more block a week to make. No Problem, right?

I am sure there are some other things but this is my

WIP (WORKS IN PROGRESS)

update.

What are you working on?

Guess What?

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October 19, 2020

GIVEAWAY CLOSED !!

I am so very excited to announce my new book coming February 2021, Scrap School. 9 designers have joined me by sharing one of their scrap quilts along with tips on color, fabric placement and more. Each quilt also has a color option to inspire how you can use your scraps or fabric collections to personalize the quilts for your style.

Scrap School

Lisa Bongean, Gudrun Erla, Susan Ache, Amanda Jean Nyberg, Amy Smart, Sherri McConnell, Sarah Huechteman, Kim Diehl and Connie & Mary of Country Threads have joined me as “PROFESSORS” at Scrap School.

I have included link to the professors instagram accounts above, so be sure and follow each of them for more information as we get closer to the book launch. The book is available for preorder from your favorite quilt store or book dealer now, so treat yourself.

Color Bars

I love putting together color bars to play with color and pattern before starting a quilt. Join me as I share more of this process.

February seems like a very long time from now, so to wet your appetite for scrap books, I am going to have a few giveaways and events throughout the rest of the year. I am starting off with a copy of Sisterhood of Scraps.

To win a copy of Sisterhood of Scraps and some other goodies thrown in, please leave a comment and tell me your 2 favorite colors to use in a quilt. I am also giving away a Sisterhood of Scraps on my instagram so you have 2 chances to win.

Enjoy and thank you so much for following along,

-Modalissa

Daybreak Quilt Project

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October 2, 2020

Oregon Coast

Every February, I join some dear friends for a quilt retreat on the coast of Oregon. With COVID we will not being retreating. I am bummed to miss my friends, the laughter, the stories, the food, drink and the scenery. I will also miss the time to work on future projects. The last retreat I was working on a project using Daybreak by 3 Sisters, which is shipping to stores now. So many projects I work on I can’t really show until the fabric is available, but I can share now.

Daybreak fat quarter bundle

I had all my pieces cut and ready so I could just sew, sew, sew. If you have not been to a retreat there is usually tons of laughing and talking, so not having to concentrate for cutting is usually best.

daybreak scraps

3 sisters fabrics always include romantic florals as the focal pieces and I knew I wanted to highlight the bigger prints in alternate blocks. One of my all time favorite quilt blocks is the sawtooth star and decided to use a couple of variations of that block to create a vintage feel.

Geese in progress

The pop of navy fabrics was something new for a 3 sisters collection and I love the combination of the pinks and blues together.

Daybreak Quilt

Can you say Paisley? I knew I had to use that for the backing.

Daybreak quilt border

Quilted by Maggi Honeyman, Binding by Susan Stiff

While I will miss the retreat in 2021, I will always have this quilt as a keepsake from 2020.

To download the pattern to make your own Daybreak quilt, click here.

Sewcialities Sew Along- Harmony

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September 25, 2020

Hello everybody! I am super excited to start off the Sewcialites SewAlong with the Fat Quarter Shop team and some of the best designers in the world. If this is your first time visiting my blog, I wanted to tell you a little bit about myself. I am the mother of 5, I have 4 grandkids and have been quilting for almost 40 years. EGADS! that seems like forever ago and I really am not that old. I started quilting before the invention of the rotary cutter, I made templates from cardboard and I quilted as I went – known as quilt as you go.

I worked part time at a quilt store then was hired to help open a quilt store and managed that for 9 years and had the opportunity of a lifetime join Moda Fabrics. 24 years later and it seems like yesterday.

Sewcialites. Sewcialites. Sewcialites. Sewcialites. Sewcialites.
Sewcialites. Sewcialites. Sewcialites. Sewcialites. Sewcialites.

Say that 10 times fast!

I really struggled with what fabrics until I saw the color assortments that Carrie Nelson and Michelle White had been putting together using assorted Bella Solids. I fell in love with some of these colors and thought I would dive in.

The color assortment they came up with was named Mellow Rainbow. It so reminded me of my youth, the days of being a Brownie and Girl Scout all the way to my bell bottoms, bumper stickers and wood panel station wagon days. Groovy, right?!

I usually like using lots and lots of fabrics in a quilt and do not work in solids. Maybe it was from my early quilting days when my first quilting teacher pointed out that if I used solids my mistakes would show up more. I made lots of mistakes so I steered away from solids. Not any more!

Here are my colors…..

Mellow Rainbow- Bella Solids

In order, 204 PLUM -218 INDIGO-135 MARINE-234 EVERGREEN-232 SAFFRON-292 AMBER-294 PERSIMMON-
298 CAMEO-106 EARTH

I am making 9″ blocks but there are patterns for 3 sizes, 3″ 6″ and 9″.

I don’t not always starch, but when I do love the difference starching adds to my accuracy.

My goal for this project is to work on precision so I have starched all my fabric and I must admit,

it is so yummy to cut and sew.

The patterns are written so nicely and it is wonderful therapeutic time at my sewing machine.

Sewcialites- HARMONY

Below is the yardage requirements depending on what size block you are making.

For the pattern in all 3 sizes, visit FQS’s Jolly Jabber.

and of course there are PRIZES….

To enter to win, share photos of any one of your blocks #1, 2 or 3 on Instagram with the #SewcialitesQAL and tag @fatquartershop. Post your photo by midnight on Thursday, October 15. You can enter up to three times (once for each block)! We’ll pick a winner and announce them here on the blog on Friday, October 16.

Follow me on Instagram for the latest happenings. @modalissa

Thank you stopping by to visit.

#SewcialitesQAL

Candy Corn Quilt Pattern

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September 24, 2020

I love the quilt and as I was pulling out my Orange quilts for the season, I thought I would share it again. It was originally called Peaks but it reminds me of Candy Corn so for this post it is CANDY CORN.

What’s OLD is NEW!

I love the colors.
I love the pattern.
I love the quilting.

I love, love, love it.

Someone asked me about the pattern and colors so I thought I would share it here. When I went to hunt down
the good pics, I remembered it was featured in the April May 2013 QUILT magazine. So here are their nice styled, color corrected pictures from 2013.

And here are the details if you want to make your own version using Bella solids.

9900-51- Buttercup,
9900-81 Goldenrod,
9900-83 Grey,
9900-125 Betty’s Brown,
9900-147 Coral,
9900-162 Amelia Apricot,
9900-171 Etchings Charcoal,
9900-185 Zen Grey
9900-209 Clementine,
9900-210 Strawberry,
9900-213 Mustard,
9900-244 Harvest Gold.

A fat quarter of each.

The background could be anything but I used 9900-182 Porcelain (4 1/4 yds.)

Pick your favorite 12 colors, add background of your choice.
The possibilities are endless. Choose all shades of greens and browns for trees, blues and greens with a little white on top for snow capped mountains, 30’s prints for a retro quilt or just a combination of all your funky favorite fabrics as a scrap buster!

The quilt looked even better washed and used. I love it when a quilt has been put to good use.

Tag me if you make a version of this quilt. I would love to see it.
Here is the pattern for your use.
Enjoy!!

-modalissa

Cakewalk by the Moda All Stars

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September 18, 2020

Sherri McConnell’s quilt shown on the cover. All photography supplied by Martingale Publishing.

I am so excited to share the newest Moda All Star’s quilt book, Cakewalk, Stock # B1553

You probably know that Moda’s layer cakes are my favorite cut of fabric. If you don’t know about layer cakes, they are 10″ squares of an entire collection totaling 42 squares. Layer cakes are so versatile and can be sewn together as is for a quick easy project or cut into all different sizes.

Designer royalties from the sale of this book will be donated to Feed The Children.

Kathy Schmitz

Be sure and follow Kathy Schmitz. She will be teaching Scissor Happy in an upcoming Martingale University video class. For more information on the class information, click here.

Betsy Chutchian

Lisa Bongean

Vintage or New? The quilting is outstanding and makes this new quilt have the look of a vintage piece. I may have forgotten to mention that you may need a hunk of additional fabric to go with your layer cake if you want to make this quilt.

Zen Chic

Me and My Sister

Kansas Troubles

Wouldn’t this one be dreamy to complete for Christmas?

Sandy Klop of American Jane

Laurie Simpson

I love Orange and American Jane so this quilt will probably be the first on my to do list.

Linzee Kull McCray & Pam Ehrhardt

Deb Strain

Corey Yoder

Brenda Riddle

No matter if you already have a stack of precut Layer Cakes in your stash or if you need a good reason to head to your local quilt shop to replenish your supply, rest assured the patterns in this book offer layers of fun! Thank you to the uber talented Moda designers for sharing their creativity and given to a very worth while charity during these crazy times.

Enjoy,

-modalissa

Blocks Heads- Block 36- Laurie Simpson

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September 16, 2020

Today is Laurie Simpson’s turn to share a quilt block. Please visit Laurie’s blog to learn about her block and download the pattern.

I showed a while back that I keep the patterns and blocks in a notebook. Now my notebook is overflowing so not all the blocks fit and it is getting time for me to finally decide how I am going to set this fish mash of blocks together.

Block 36

Shown above is my version of Laurie’s block along with the blocks that didn’t fit in the notebook. If you look close I was able to sneak in a piece from a new collection by Corey Yoder, Springbrook which will be in stores Jan. 2021. Sorry to tempt you, but that is a perk of working at Moda, I guess!

I thought it would be fun to take a look back at my progress. Not all blocks are pictured, but man have we all come a long way.

Block 1

Block 2

Block 3

Magic 8″ pattern- my version

Block 7

Block 8

Block 9

Block 12

Block 14

Block 15

Block 17

Block 16

Block 19

Blockheads 3- block 20

Block 22

Block 23

block #25

Block 34

All of the blocks patterns are always available as downloads on the Moda Inspiration and Resources page. To see them all so far, click here.

How is your progress? Just remember it is a marathon not a sprint and to enjoy the process.

Thanks for following along,

-modalissa

Sewcialities Sew Along

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September 14, 2020

The Fat Quarter Shop is getting ready for a free block of the week sew-along called Sewcialities! They’ve asked 18 designers (me included) to each contribute two blocks that can be made in three different sizes, 3″, 6″, or 9″. You’ll get one block a week for 38 weeks. The fun starts Friday, September 25th, and runs through June 25th, 2021! June 2021 will be here before we know it!

The blocks are all pieced, and each one is rated for difficulty. The Fat Quarter Shop will be using the “Homestead” fabric line by April Rosenthal. I love that each block is 2 fabrics. I am making the 9″ blocks and they go together very quickly.

At work, we have been playing with Bella Solids lately. Michelle White and Carrie Nelson were creating different color ways and I fell in love with one of the color assortments and thought it was perfect timing to use for my version of Sewcialites. We had all kinds of great names for the colors and this one Michelle named Mellow Rainbow. I don’t know what it is but it reminds me of my youth and the colors of the 70’s and 80’s.

Mellow Rainbow- Bella Solids

204 PLUM

218 INDIGO

135 MARINE

234 EVERGREEN

232 SAFFRON

292 AMBER

294 PERSIMMON

298 CAMEO

106 EARTH

I usually don’t use all solids but I have made the goal to work on my precision piecing on this quilt. If you are off the least little bit when using solids it shows more, but I am not scared.

Of course, you can also pull from your stash. You can find all the information you need on the Jolly Jabber blog. So many sizes to choose from. Get that triangle paper ready if you choose the 3″ size.

for the complete details, visit The Jolly Jabber.

#SewcialitesQAL

Schoolhouse Quilt Pattern

9 Comments

September 11, 2020

During the pandemic, several different people on social media starting having outdoor quilt shows by showcasing one of their quilts in their yard or on their front porch, etc. Jenny Doan starting doing this also and I thought I would do the same each weekend.

I dug this schoolhouse quilt out of my stack to symbolize the return to school, even though it was virtual.

Several of you have messaged me wanting this pattern so I decided to do a quick blog post
so I can share it with everyone.

Download the pattern here.

The pattern does have templates for the roof, so be sure and set your printer to actual size.
Choose 6 fat quarters and 3 1/2 yds background of your choice.
I made mine using 6 different Bella Solids.

I also want to make it using denim, blues and greys.

I know my neighbors probably think I am crazy but I have enjoyed my own little quilt show.

My blog post would not be complete without a mock up of a little red schoolhouse quilt.

I hope you enjoy this quilt pattern.

-modalissa

Block 35- Coming Together

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September 9, 2020

Yesterday started the local in-school learning after 3 weeks of remote classrooms. When I submitted this block 9 months ago, I did not have a name or description. There was no Covid yet. Things were normal. Fast forward and the name of the block and description fits today’s landscape. My kids, friends, students and teachers are all coming together as we try and begin a normal school year, so I am wishing all of them a safe adventure.

COMING TOGETHER

During this time of isolation I look at this block and can’t help but think about how much I miss coming together with my friends and family. I just want to hug everyone’s neck including my mailman, but I can’t. I look at the big shapes as people and that someday we will all be joined socially together again.

To download these instructions, please click here.