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.
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 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.
Welcome to Blockhead’s Wednesday. If you have been following from the beginning you have visited each of the designer’s one time. Each quilter sharing a quilt block pattern, color inspiration and tips along the way and we get to do it all over again.
This week’s block and we are back at Corry Yoder of Coriander Quilts. To download the pattern, visit here.
When picking out my fabrics for this weeks block, I loved the combinations but once I got it all sewn together I was not thrilled with the choice for my center block, so I auditioned a few other fabrics to replace the centers. Should it be green, how about blue, maybe I should go with the navy pindot?
My little treasures this week are an assortment of old wooden spools. Nothing fancy, just classic treasures.
All of the blockhead designers have a little treat in store for you this week. Our friends at Martingale Publishing are sponsoring a giveaway of a Blockheads Ebook. I am not sure what social media platform each designer is doing their giveaway through, so check them all out, their blog, maybe Facebook or like me, maybe their Instagram account.
I collect block books and this is a good one. 48 different quilt blocks and several different quilt setting options.
Just a few of the blocks shown here.
Such wonderful inspiration for setting of the 6″ blocks.
Which of the block settings is your favorite?
TO enter , visit Instagram @modalissa.
Visit each of the designers listed below for an additional chance to win Blockheads.
I had the opportunity to make a quilt block for the month-long series, Stitch Pink. My mom was a breast cancer survivor, so this cause is very near and dear to my heart. Anything that we can do to raise awareness. I am a big believer in positive thinking, and I am so addicted to any quilt block that is a plus sign. I couldn’t think of anything better when it came to making my block than to take my inspiration from my quilt in American Patchwork and Quilting’s June Issue.
All of our Stitch Pink blocks are 12″ so I improvised and made my plus signs a little different and smaller.
I used a variety of Bella Solids and an essential dot, but the options are endless!
9- 4″ units make a 12″ finished block.
Here are the instructions to make my Stitch Pink version.
If you would like to download the bigger blocks and a color option from American Patchwork and Quilting, click here.
Thanks for following along.
Share with me if you make these projects, @modalissa. I’d love to see your work.
If you follow me, you know I love Orange so the new fabric line ALL HALLOW’S EVE by Fig Tree and Co is possibly my favorite line of 2019. I begged Joanna of Fig Tree and Co. to let me test one of her new patterns. I didn’t really beg.
This could be considered another one of my “secret sewing” projects since I was working on it in February, at a
retreat by the ocean!
Life is rough, but a girl has got to do what a girl has to do!
Too much laughing or too much wine or a combination of both made me make a few different diversions from
the orginal pattern. I love it just the same!
The pattern is Fig Tree, stock #FT1465 and is headed to stores now. Fabric is shipping to stores also.
The quilt is off to the quilter and I can’t wait to show it off completed.
The quilt will then be added to Moda’s trunk show program where it will go on tour to some quilt shops.
I can’t begin to tell you how much I love Antler Quilt Design’s ruler for this project.
This is the mini simple folded corner ruler that makes cutting the corners a breeze.
Here is a representation of the range of fabrics in the line courtesy of Moda Fabrics!
If you are an orange collector like me you will want to stock up on these prints, Seriously!!
Can you say BOOO-tiful?
And if All Hallow’s Eve was not great enough, I have been hoarding a bundle of Christmas Figs! I have got to try the greens and oranges together! Enough about my Fig Tree crush!!
Do you have an all time favorite fabric line? How about an all time favorite fabric designer?
I love the phrase “secret sewing”. My whole life is based on secret sewing. I get to work ahead on many of the lines that Moda produces. I get to try out new products. I get to use products I thought I would never need like the Shape Cut ruler by June Tailor. While doing some of my secret market sewing, more on that later, I remembered that one of the girls in the office swears by her Shape Cut ruler. I am a pretty fast and accurate cutter so I did not see the need to have to fit my rotary cutter into a little sliver just to make a cut. Never say never! I tried it and I loved it!
Why did I love it? One of my secret sewing projects was to make a quilt to be displayed in the Moda Quilt Market booth. It had lots of strips sets and I do like to layer and cut which can lead to your ruler slipping and sliding.
I laid out the strips right sides together and butted the seams next to each other. Then shifted the strip sets so all the seams were not on top of each other. This is where the Shape Cut ruler came in so handy. The weight and size of the ruler kept all my layers together and I did not have to move the ruler. Yeah!!
My pieces were all ready to go to the machine and sew and sew and sew!
Now that Quilt Market is over and Bonnie & Camille have introduced their next line of fabric, Early Bird, I can show my “not a secret any more sewing.”
Fabric will arrive in stores October 2019. It will be here before you know it.
Thanks for listening to my secret sewing story and my new love, of the Shape Cut ruler. Yes I did have to give Janet back her ruler but I am now a proud owner of my own!!
Welcome to the last stop on the Splendid Sampler 2 block hop.
I have a story about my quilt block, but first I wanted to tell you about a few behind the scenes details. (excuse my analogies, but it fits)
While I did not birth this Splendid Sampler baby, I was indeed there at conception. A few years ago, I sat with the uber-talented Pat Sloan and Jane Davidson as they talked through this little idea they had. I immediately asked how Moda Fabrics can be involved. We continued to talk through the process from beginning to end, organizing the fabrics, creating Facebook pages, building a website, featuring patterns and inviting creatives to be a part of the journey. We all hit the ground running. Over the next fun months the baby grew and grew, we had our version of morning sickness as we orchestrated picking two color palettes, dividing the fabrics into sets, shipping them across the world. Whew! Pat and Jane were contacting designers that could tell a story and teach a different technique all in a 6″ block. The baby was birthed, and it grew, bigger than anyone would have expected. It became so much and eventually turned into a book.
Pretty Awesome!
They survived the stretch marks, morning sickness, and delivery.
Well, Jane and Pat decided that they could do this again!!
June 13, 2017, I received the second invite to be a part of another birth…….
Below are swatches of the color palette for Splendid Sampler 2.
Fabrics were cut, folded and mailed.
My block’s name is Big Sun.
I made this block during the Hurricane Harvey.
We were asked to tell our story about Best Quilting Life as we were making our blocks and this is why I named this block,
Big Sun even though it is a little 6″ block.
I couldn’t help but think about how so many people were affected by this storm,
that I wish a Big Sun would come and dry up all the water.
I have been so fortunate to start quilting at a very young age, to have met many people through the process
and eventually found a job in the industry doing what I love.
What is your favorite color? Mine is red so when I was asked to participate in a collaborative project from Martingale Publishing, I jumped at the chance.
In 2011, I was able to attend the Infinite Variety: Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts exhibit in New York City. If you are a quilter, you would understand when I say this was a religious experience. 650 red and white quilts from the collection of Joanna S. Rose were exhibited in Park Avenue’s 55,000 sq. ft. Armory’s Wade Thompson Drill Hall. Mrs. Rose celebrated her 80th birthday by creating this exhibit and sharing it with all of us.
Walking up the steps to the Armory everyone was a-buzz with excitement, but as soon as the doors opened, there was silence. Everyone’s breath was taken away with the greatness of the exhibit and the venue. Quilter’s from all over the world attended the exhibit along with historians, educators, children, and artists. To read more about this exhibit, visit Park Avenue Armory.
Sweet Dreams by ME!! with massive quilting by Teresa Silva
I left there hoping to make 1 red and white quilt a year. I have made 3 since 2011 so that was another reason I wanted to participate in this book. Now I have 4 red and white quilts along with patterns for several more.
Does it make you want to make a red and white quilt?
Or Maybe even just drool over the pages?
Well, guess what, I have some advance copies of Red & White Quilts, 14 Quilts with Timeless Appeal from Today’s Top Designers, and I want to give away a few.
Leave a comment telling me your favorite quilt show you have ever been to. If you haven’t been to a show, let me know which one you want to go to.
DISCLAMIER: I will be attending Quilt Market and Festival so I won’t be able to do the drawing and announce the winner until Saturday, November 10th.
Next week there will be an additional chance to win, follow my Instagram page, https://www.instagram.com/modalissa/for details.
Books will be available in stores mid November, but if you are attending Quilt Festival, Primitive Gatherings will have some for sale.
The fun of making scrap quilts is that I sew bits and pieces together and let the plan develop as I go. I always ask my quilting friends, “Do you cut out the entire quilt before you get started, or do you cut some pieces and test your color choices before you cut the entire quilt?”
I think I have always done the latter and maybe that is because of my love of scraps quilts.
And because of this I often have some leftovers in quilting, not in cooking. I added more squares and had enough pieces from my Izzy Squared quilt (large version) to make a baby quilt.
Thought this would be a good time to talk value which is basically one word for light, medium or dark. If you haven’t read Oh Scrap yet, the book is full of color coordinated quilts that push the envelope a little bit in the study of value and fabric placement.
Don’t get me wrong, I love everything about all of these blocks, they are scraps so by definition anything is acceptable. So i am going to share some value tips from some of the blocks. The best way to study color is to look at things in black and white. Crazy, right?
In the above picture, look at the grayscale block. What do you see? Look how strong the royal blue block stands out. It is definitely considered a dark. The fabric has very little design in it so also reads as a solid. The other fabric in this example is the red corner square in the bottom right corner. Dark and reads as a solid so it is a strong selection.
When I mentioned leftovers sometimes start my quilts, sometimes they help me finish. I was about out of reds for the centers and came across this tiny 4 patch that I trimmed to just the right size for my center square. I love the quirky little block.
These two pictures are not side by side so you may have to scroll back and forth to see the differences. I have shown the grayscale version above. Look at the bottom middle block, notice how the square in the left hand corner disappears?
Here is the color version of the sweet little aqua fabric that is just perfect for this block. It also reads as a solid but would be considered a light. When studying value, you also have to take into consideration the background fabric. This little aqua square is close in value but different enough in color to work.
Shown here is a larger section of the quilt showing the difference in the values of lights and darks makes you eye explore all the colors. I love the block that is just the 5 red squares.
When asked if I have a favorite version of these blocks, it is like asking if I have a favorite child. I love them all for different reasons! I am always surprised how each block turns out!! Love, love, love.
Then once your quilt top is complete, the quilting is always the icing on top. Maggi Honeyman quilted this quilt for me with an all over design. When studying color, pattern and values keep in mind that quilting does add another layer of art by defining or minimizing some of your fabric choices.
I used one of Bonnie and Camille’s 108″ wide quilt backs from Moda. (leftovers from another quilt back). The backing is so soft and almost silky feeling which will be yummy once it is washed and wrapped around a little one.
Shown below is the larger version of this color way of Izzy Squared quilt. To read more about it, go here.
Ask for Oh Scrap book at your favorite quilt or specialty store for patterns and more color tips.
Today is the beginning of a beautiful quilting journey. If you did not finish your Splendid Sampler quilt, it is not too late to jump in on the second round. The blocks will be 6″ so any combination of Splendid Sampler blocks will work nicely together.
I am sharing my version of block 1 designed by Alex Veronelli! No better person to start us on our Splendid journey than the king of Aurifil thread.
I must admit I did not finish round 1, so I am combining blocks from both series. I am so inspired by the book
and all the creative settings online that
I have gotten my second wind and will be sewing along.
I hope you will also.
A big shout out to all the designers in the quilting community that have contributed their talent and creativity to share their blocks and their stories.
Book 1 shown above, available now. Book 2 already in the works and will be available later this fall.
My version is going to be scrappy since this will be an ongoing project. I would love to hear what your fabric choices are?
I had to show one more pic of my block mainly so I could show my favorite little tape measure. I am obsessed with plastic animal tape measures.
My grandkids can play with them and not break them!
Enough about me, join the FB group to follow along and get your patterns.
If you are not on FB, then follow the Splendid Sampler blog for all the details and patterns.
