Hello to all,
If you do not already have all the moda designers set up in your reader or rss feeds I thought I would include a link here to each of their post market entries. Sorry no pictures. You can see the pictures and fun stuff on their blogs. Check modalissa each day @ 4:00 central time for a new video tour of the booths. The videos will also show some of the designers’booths that do not have a blog.
Bonnie & Camille
Thank you for choosing moda!
Hello to all,
It was nice seeing you at Market. If you did not get to attend Market please join me with a cup of afternoon tea. Each day we will be featuring one of the moda designers as they share with you their new fabrics, Patterns and products.
So as the old Partridge family song goes, Come on let’s get HAPPY with Barb & Mary from me & my sister.
Happy will be available is stores this September.
Market, or at least the moda booth, is similar to putting on a big screen production. Months of planning, shooting, cropping, layouts, and editing. Of course we have all of the “Stars” such as the designers, each taking part in their major roles.
I thought I would roll the closing credits before the “movie” even starts and thank those that worked off screen.
Closing credits, in a television program, motion picture, or video game come at the end of a show and list all the cast and crew involved in the production. They are usually shown on the screen in small characters, which either flip very quickly from page to page, or scroll from bottom to top of the screen.
Marsha from Country Schoolhouse in Superior, Wisc is located at the tip of Lake Superior in Northern Wisconsin. This is where she created a MUST HAVE ruler to use with Moda Layer Cakes TM and Charm Packs. The ruler is called the Twister. I have tested the ruler using Park Avenue by 3 sisters in stores May/June 2010.
These are the easy steps to why this is the MUST HAVE ruler.
Step 1
Arrange your layer cakes in a pleasing order. Sew them together. Add a border. For future reference I am going to call this piece a quilt top. You will cut this apart and sew it back together.
Step 2
This is where it gets fun! Lay the ruler on your quilt top lining up the lines as shown on the ruler instructions. Continue cutting across the quilt top.
This is the left overs after I cut the squares. There is a tiny amount left when you cut each of the squares so be careful as you cut.
Step 3
“Twist” the blocks one turn and sew them together into rows. The only word of caution is that the blocks are on the bias so be careful sewing them together. The border from your quilt top automatically makes a border around the pinwheels when sewn into rows. Pretty Cool!
Sorry about the brown carpet and the brown fabric but I think you can get the jist from the picture.
Keep the squares in order and sew the rows together.
Step 4
Add additional borders as needed.
Ask for this ruler at your favorite quilt store. It is available in 2 sizes.
Order Lil’ Twister to use with charm packs.Stock # LTW5
Twister ruler works with Moda Layer Cakes. Stock# TW10
Quilt and bind as desired.
Enjoy!
Big Smiles were certainly abundant at the Chicago Quilt Show.
If you are looking for a fantastic project, this would have been just one of the booths to have visited. My friend, Gerri Robinson and her sister, Jean from Planted Seeds Designs were filled to the brim with kits and patterns. They were joined by Beth Hayes, editor of McCall’s Quilting. Once again, great people make a great industry.
This quilt was one of those times when I thought, “Why didn’t I think of that?” Brilliant and charming!
I saw the back of the quilt first. Walked around the corner and was blown away by the front of the postcard quilt.
Close-ups
Can you just imagine a mail man walking up to the house to deliver this? Love it!
It was a beautiful day to walk in the sunshine and take in the sites in and around Millennium Park. Cloud Gate is British artist Anish Kapoor’s first public outdoor work installed in the United States. The 110-ton elliptical sculpture is forged of a seamless series of highly polished stainless steel plates, which reflect the city’s famous skyline and the clouds above. A 12-foot-high arch provides a “gate” to the concave chamber beneath the sculpture, inviting visitors to touch its mirror-like surface and see their image reflected back from a variety of perspectives.
Every time I look back at pictures of quilts from each of the shows, I wonder what attracts me to the quilts I photograph. I realize they are either art quilts or antique applique quilts. These are the 2 styles of quilts I will probably never own. I do not see how the art quilters create the incredible art. It is in my head, but I do not have the talent or skills to transfer the vision to cloth.I know the reason why I take pictures of applique quilts is because I just do not sit still long enough to make one of those.
Here are the pics from this show.
Over and Out! 1 month until Market. Yowser!
I am honored .
One of my quilts was chosen for a McCalls magazine. On shelves now.
The flat picture of it does not do it justice. You have to click on the link and see the styled shot. Maggi Honeyman worked her magic once again on the quilting! No matter how beautiful the fabrics or how intricate the piecing, it is the quilting that adds such texture and dimesion. 
Yummy! The quilt kind of looks like schools of fish swimming through the tropics.
Martinque quilt in McCalls May June 2010
The moda retreat for shop owners is next week. I think I will hang this quilt on my office wall so I can show it off. Thanks McCalls for featuring little ol’ me.
Quilter’s Home– April May 2010 has an article on page 14 that is titled 55 Favorite blogs for Quilters.
I saw some of my blog buddies listed like lazygirl quilting.blogspot.com and http://www.cluckclucksew.com/and aquiltinglife.blogspot.com. Of course manquilter.com/Blog.php is listed. http://www.jaybirdquilts.com/and patsloan.typepad.com are always entertaining reads.
I checked out some “new to me” blogs such as makeitandloveitblogspot.com, crapivemade.blogspot.com, quiltsabit.blogspot.com and many, many, many more.
The article features my personal favorite blog http://www.modabakeshop.com/. I love what the article says about the bake shop. “Hey, it’s moda. Do we honesty have to say more?”
Then to my fright I also see modalissa listed. Yikes! Eeek! Opps! I am not worthy. The writeup talks of my travel journal. So I have worked hard to do something this weekend that is worthy of being featured along with this prestigous group of bloggers. I traveled from Dallas to Ft. Worth (approx 30 minutes)
DALLAS QUILT SHOW 2010
No picture of this quilt could do it justice. The graphic beauty drew me closer. The detail and 3D effects on the quilt were incredible.
The tree branches were gathered and zig zagged. Stunning.
Quilt Made by Linda Roy of Knoxville, TN
Love this quilt. Lots of Pieces. Sorry I don’t know who made it but they did win a ribbon!
Pineapple Log Cabin
This is a priceless picture of Mark Dunn (my boss) looking at this quilt which is a quilt I made. He turned and saw me taking his pic in front of my quilt. Priceless.
Loved this one made by Eun Yeon Yoo of Flower Mound, Texas.
Who couldn’t stop and smile at this quilt by Tonya Littmann from Denton, Texas of her son when he was 6 years old.
To see more quilts including “The Best of Show” go to my Flickr pool.
Our very own Sarah Stephenson was also at the quilt show working!
Saturday morning I headed off to the Fabulous Finds Spring Fling show. The show was sponsored by Cabbage Rose and Etsy Ft. Worth.
I was hoping to meet a couple of the members of the Dallas Modern quilt quild. (I didn’t get to meet them, but had a ton of fun shopping with my niece, Kennedy Collins.) Just a few of the etsy artists I met or bought from:
Cut out and Collect.
Revel Designs
Hippie Bliss
Fluffy Stuffies
Kennedy shown in corner shocked to see a dog shopping!
One of the Bottlecap Jewelry booths also had a make it and take it station. Kennedy jumped right in.This show was so refreshing to me. It reminds me of the years that I did exactly what they were doing. Making things and selling them. If you have a show in your area you must go. I already have on my calender, Spring Bash, May 1st, sponsored by Dallas Etsy.
Hit the Flea Market and Antique Show
we purchased a few fashionale accessories. (her mom is going to kill me!)
Visited Montgomery Street Antique Mall
A goldmine! It also happens to be across from Cabbage Rose Quilting which is an over the top quilt shop!There were literally groups of women squealing when they came in the door.
A great weekend! My niece and I also made a quilt that is featured over at the Moda Bake Shop.
Thank you Quilter’s Home for featuring little ol’ me.
Moda Fabrics is a sponsor of the Million Pillowcase Challenge with American Patchwork & Quilting. I asked Jennifer Keltner, Senior Editor of American Patchwork & Quilting, what her inspiration was for such a big project. Here is Jennifer’s reply.
The inspiration for the project came from wanting to launch something that everyone could participate in—no matter what your skill level. With a pillowcase, it is fun and easy to make, doesn’t take a lot of time, and is certainly a way to showcase great fabrics you might not otherwise work with (don’t fit your usual style, color, etc.) It’s also a great way to practice a new-to-you technique such as prairie points, foundation piecing, diagonal block seams, etc. By incorporating that technique in a pieced pillowcase band, you can experiment first before making a commitment to a big quilt project.
On a very personal level, I was touched by two stories which made me think about the power of pillowcases making a difference. One was from a guild member who knew that in her area foster children had all their possessions tossed into a trash bag when they were moved from place to place. She vowed to have her guild donate pillowcases so every foster kid in the county could tuck their few possessions into a handmade case and have a soft place to rest their heads during trying times. The second was a story of a mother who made pillowcases for her son who was in a cancer ward—she was desperate to brighten up his room and his day. She did, and after he passed away, she had the courage to keep on creating them for the other people’s kids in the same tough spot. She and her husband eventually formed the ConKerr Cancer Foundation to make a difference for kids with cancer around the country by making pillowcases. Turning their grief into an ongoing effort for good really spoke to my heart.
I’m so touched by the hundreds of stories and emails I’ve read about where and how people are donating cases. The ultimate story of how the Million Pillowcase Challenge is an outreach to others came to my attention last week. Check out this girl learning to quilt with her mom, very inspiring girl (you’ll know what I mean when you check out her blog). Scroll down to the Tuesday, February 23 posting and make sure to click on the link to her friend Kristen’s blog to see how touched her friend was to receive the pillowcase. If this story doesn’t give you goosebumps….whoa! The power of quilting and motherhood and pillowcases and big hearts all rolled into one!
http://sarahely8989.blogspot.com/
Thank you Jennifer
The staff here at moda fabrics have been feverishly making pillowcases. We are addicted! Jennifer also told me that they have a goal of 1000 pillowcases to be made by their staff. I will have to let the Moda crew know about that goal. The following pillowcase is a tutorial of the pillowcase I sent to APQ.
The following is actually 2 tutorials, Prairie Points and Pillowcases.
PRAIRIE POINTS
Determine the size of Prairie Point you need. (I used a pattern from APQ that required 3″ prairie points.)
I doubled that size and cut a strip, 6″ wide x 45″ long.
Fold the strip in half length wise and press to determine the middle. Start on one end of the strip and cut every 3″ stopping at the middle fold. From the other side of the strip make your first cut at 1 1/2″ then start cutting every 3″ being sure to stop at the middle fold. Your strip will look like the one below.
6″ strip cut every 3″ alternating on each side so it it staggered
Lay the strip on your ironing board and press all the squares in the same direction. Leave the 1 1/2″ strip
loose. You will get rid of it later.
Then continue pressing all the triangles back onto themsleves in the opposite direction.
The strip of “Points” will fold together to create your strip of prairie points.
By pressing the points in the same direction you can “nest” each of the points into each other as shown in the picture shown below.
A couple of other notes before moving on to how I used it in my pillowcase.
If you want a strip longer than approx 41″ of points just make another strip and nest it into the last point on your strip. This is the perfect size for making prairie point border on a baby quilt or throw.
The length of the prairie point strip will always be the length of the fabric. The only thing that varies is how many points and how far apart they are.
For example, cut an 8″ strip for 4″ prairie points and you will have fewer but bigger points. The strip will still be approx 41″/42″ long.
Cut a smaller strip 4″ for 2″ points and you will have a bunch of cute little tiny points. The strip will still be approx 41″/42″ long.
NOTE TO SELF: Love the 2″ point idea. Go make some tonight.
DISCLAIMER:
The instructions listed below are almost like doing a magic trick. Everytime we finsh one we say Ta Da!!
However it is very hard to illustrate it in pictures. So my word of advice is to make a sloppy copy pillowcase just in case you mess up. And I also want to say TRUST ME! you will love this method. It is two seams! remember Magic! TA DA!
PILLOWCASE CONSTRUCTION:
Pattern used is one of the free downloads from APQ.
Fabric featured is Whimsy by Fig Tree & Co.
Casing- Cut 9″ x 45″
Body of pillow 28″ x 45″
You choice of small flange, ric rac etc.
In the instructions below I have used the prairie points from above.
Lay CASING piece right sides up. Pin the points or trim of your choicealong the edge.
With me so far?
Lay Pillowcase fabric right side down towards casing fabric. Lightly roll the pillowcase fabric until you can see the casing fabric below. This will seem odd but it does work.
Taking the exposed casing fabric and roll it up to the top enclosing the entire pillowcase fabric. Pin together. Now you may think that you are making fabric sausages, but you’re not. This is also where you have to really trust me.
Once you have done this step, literally grab a section from inside the tube and start pulling. (Love my great picture?This is where I needed the video.) Keep pulling until you have turned the entre thing right side out.
TIP: You must say TA! DA! as you pull so that the magic happens!
This is what it looks like when it comes out of the tube. The casing is completely sewn without doing any handwork!
Fold the Pillowcase right sides together.
SEAM 2: Sew down the side and across the bottom.
You now have a finished pillowcase. Serge or Zig Zag the edges if you choose.
Sleep tight!