Tag: Quilt Along

Scrappy Celebration QAL

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Time flies! I can’t believe it has been 10 years since I did a quilt-along with American Patchwork and Quilting for their 20th anniversary.
Fast forward to their 30th anniversary and I am honored and proud
to be featured….on the cover…
APQ April 2023 Cover

I am a newbie to using the quilt design software, Electric Quilt. To play with this I started adding a variety of nine patches, four patches and any similar block. I fell in love with the mathematic look of the quilt and knew I just had to make it.

All images in this blog post are used with permission from American Patchwork & Quilting magazine . Meredith Operations Corporation. All rights reserved.

Let’s skip to the good part. American Patchwork and Quilting is featuring my quilt as one of their 2023 QAL and they have a Facebook group you can join to play along. I am going to make another version of this quilt during this QAL using red, white and blues with my collection of Minick Simpson fabrics.

If you want to join in, the details are included below.

Pattern Details

Finished quilt: 63-1/2×72-1/2″

 For this quilt, you’ll need:

  • 1-1/8 yard total assorted pink prints
  • 2-3/4 yards total assorted white prints
  • 1/2 yard total assorted red and dark pink prints
  • 3/4 yard total assorted green prints
  • 1 yard total assorted orange prints
  • 1 yard total assorted blue prints
  • 7/8 yard total assorted yellow prints
  • 5/8 yard orange-and-white print (binding)
  • 4 yards backing fabric
  • 72×81″ batting

All of the following info is available here also.

Get the Quilt-Along Pattern

Quilt-Along Schedule

The quilt-along runs from February 20-April 16. While there is a recommended sewing schedule (see below), you can also sew at your own pace!

Scrappy Celebration

If you’re posting on Instagram, use the hashtag #APQQuiltalong to share your progress.

I hope you join us as I share more about Electric Quilt and all things 9 patch.

and lastly THANK YOU so much to the talented team at American Patchwork and Quilting. The April issue ( on newsstands now) is full of wonderful projects and a look back over the 10 years. I have drooled over the pages and talented in this issue.

-Enjoy!

Surrounded QAL-Week 4- Center Blocks

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I sew any chance I get. I quite often get up early so I can sew a little before work or stay up late to work on any project I am obsessed by. To be able to work on items in short little burst of time, I have a few processes to help keep me on task. Today I am going to share how I pieced the center section of the block together. The is somewhat a mindless, therapeutic method that lets me stop and start without loosing my place.

I shared with you that the main focus fabrics for this quilt were from Hustle and BustIe by Basic Grey and that I also added some of Christmas Morning by Lella Boutique. The fabrics above are from Christmas Morning and Red Barn Christmas by Sweetwater. Those of you that follow me often know that I am obsessed by dots. Everything I make has some dot fabric in it. I would buy an entire bolt of the red and green dot shown above. It is just that good!

I stack all my pieces on one design board and chain sew  working vertically down each section.  This helps me keep all my pieces in order. (shown above is just 1 layer, normally I would have layers for all the blocks needed for my quilt.) 

Shown above – all my center 9 patches chain pieced and ready to join into blocks.

I do not clip the threads so this keeps the sections in order and eliminates pinning. it is hard to see in the picture but there is a few stitches from chain sewing that hold these sections together. As I sew, I flip the seam allowance towards the dark and they nest together beautifully.  If you like to press your seams open, not cutting the threads can be problematic. You will need to trim the threads once you have sewn the pieces together to press open.  I press my seams to the dark side so don’t have to worry about that. (remember mindless, therapeutic sewing!)

 

Here you can see how one side of the block is sewn together and the other side is just “hanging on by a thread” waiting to be joined.

Last week I shared how I make some of my own design boards, so if you missed that post, click here.

Week 3 of this QAL is a perfect time to include a GIVEAWAY for one of my other books, SCRAP SCHOOL.  This book has a fantastic line up of designers like Kim Diehl,
Amanda Jean Nyberg of Crazy Mom Quilts, Connie and Mary of Country Threads, Lisa Bongean, Susan Ache, Amy Smart, Sarah Huechteman, Gudrun Erla and Sherri L. McConnell.

Leave a comment and check back here next Wednesday to see who is the winner of their own copy of Scrap School. Also giving away a copy on my instagram so , visit @modalissa for another chance to win.

Join me back here, Wednesday Nov. 3rd  to make side bar section of the block. We are almost done with the sections!

Each  post will go live at 6:00 pm central.

Wednesday, Nov. 10th – Assemble Blocks
Break for Thanksgiving
-Wednesday, Dec. 1st – Sashing
-Wednesday Dec. 8th – Assemble Quilt top

I hope each of you have a fun Halloween and enjoy something sweet. What is your favorite Halloween candy?

#ohscrapchristmasqal

-modalissa

 

 

for the mayors

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This summer I enjoyed a vacation with my best friend and her crew. She has 3 children and I have 5. We went every where together for many years dragging all 8 kids in tow, including many trips each summer to the beach. Traveling is different now. The kids are grown and many of them have kids. Fun, right?

18724214620_47ae1f3b43_oThis is Kay’s second child, first son and his precious family. I wanted to give each of the families a quilt that I had made and I knew this one was perfect for the Mayor family.

I love the big graphic feel of this quilt but the symbolism was also perfect since it is 4 monkey wrench blocks nestled inside each other. Bubba and Miranda have 3 girls but at the time were expecting their 4 child, a boy!!
I thought Bubba could use a little blue in his life with all those girls around.

This design is from a quilt-along with Jane Davidson, of quiltjane.com.
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 While on vaca, I wanted a picture of the family with the quilt. Mom was so cute and did not want to get the quilt dirty or sandy. I told her my quilts are made to use, build forts, and drag on picnics.

wyatt mayorBut the very best thing is to take brand new baby pictures on them.

As Granny Kay says, my cup runneth over.

Little baby Wyatt is here and all those girls are going to spoil him rotten.

Congratulations!

-modalissa

Nested Churn Dash Quiltalong

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I am sure you have seen this quilt all over the Internet by now.
 A very talented and uber creative Jane Davidson of QuiltJane has started this quilt along and today is my day to post my version of this quilt. 
First I have to tell you a little story. Jane participated in my Low Volume Burgoyne Surrounded #APQquiltalong project.
Quilt Jane’s version
Tone it down main quilt photo
Here is my version
 The Fabric and value placement that Jane used in her quilt creating an entirely new design. The quilt is not even recognizable as the traditional Burgoyne Surrounded pattern.
So when it came time to make my version of Jane’s Nested Churn Dash, I thought I would get all artsy fartsy and make the fabrics start as a pinwheel in the middle and spiral out to the edge. I was going to shade each piece as if you were looking into the eye of a tornado. 
I was going to ….. was the tricky part of that plan. Didn’t happen!
  
Instead I opted for Positive Negative. 
I am really into that right now.
Everywhere there was a light I used dark instead and to keep the design simple I used Bella Snow in place of the prints in the design.
Now let me tell you this did get a little tricky because I was actually sewing backwards from what the pattern said and what my mind knew of the design. I loved how one single block came out.
That is all Jane asked us to do, one single 24″ block to make a mini quilt.
But, of course I saw that Miss Rosie was making a big quilt and Jane had done that super duper quilt for the #APQquiltalong. I couldn’t just stop at one block. I am a little competitive like that.
For the big version, I made every other block positive backgrounds and the other negative backgrounds. Confusing?
In cutting the fabric pieces the only thing that changed was what I used for the center square, so this was actually quite easy once I got the hang of it.
Here are the pieces for one of the 4″ blocks.
Here is a different block design. I just rotated the bar sections.
Now I have flipped the half square triangle sections.
Then by swapping out the center square, I have a negative version of my first block.
It really was fun playing with the simple possibilities to achieve a few different block designs.
If you are making this quilt, Jane has given all kinds of options to make your 
half square triangles, in this post.
I wanted to show you one more.
 Forgive me, because it is really hard to tell from a single picture what exactly this ruler does. It is called Bloc_Loc. It comes in a variety of sizes. I just happen to own the 2 1/2″ and the 4 1/2″ ones which is exactly what I needed to make this quilt.
The center of the ruler has an  1/4″ indentation. The ruler slides right up to the seam allowance and locks in place. This ruler only works if you press your seam to one side.
Here is a video that explains how cool this is. 
Once you square up the blocks you will have this cute little pile of scraps.
I love the 4″ blocks all by themselves as well.            
Just to update you on the list of blogger’s participating. Check them out.
June 10th – Kim Niedzwiecki – http://www.gogokim.blogspot.com.au
June 11th – Pat Sloan – http://www.blog.patsloan.com
June 12th – Lissa Alexander – http://www.modalissa.blogspot.com
June 13th – FatQuarterShop – http://www.fatquartershop.blogspot.com.au
June 16th – Frances Newcombe – http://www.bellybuttonsboutique.blogspot.com
June 18th – Sherri McConnell – http://www.aquiltinglife.com
June 19th – Sara Lawson – http://www.sewsweetness.com
June 20th – Amy Smart – http://www.diaryofaquilter.com
June 21st – Katy Jones – http://www.imagingermonkey.blogspot.com
Be sure and post your pictures to the  Flickr Group to win some beautiful Aurifil thread packs and other great prizes. 
Use #NestedChurnDash on IG, FB, Flickr and twitter. Winners will be announced 30th July 2014.
 Can’t wait to see your version of this quilt.

Are you ready for a quilt-along?

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Is Quiltalong one word or two? I guess it depends on if you are using a hashtag or not, right?
Other than in the social media world, I believe quilt-along should be 2 words or at least hyphened, since you need more than one person to quilt along with you. 

So here is your invitation to join in on the 
first ever 
American Patchwork and Quilting’s
quilt-along.
“Used with permission from American Patchwork & Quilting® magazine. ©2013 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved.”
 You will need the February issue on newstands, December 3rd.
Also you are going to need a little fabric and I know you
have some of that laying around!
No pressure, no big deadlines. We are going to work on
this through February 2014.
quilted by Natalia Bonner of Piece n Quilt
 “Used with permission from American Patchwork & Quilting® magazine. ©2013 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved.”
 Here is my quilt that I am so PROUD of.
 I love it!
This is one of my favorite quilts for many reasons.

1. It is scrappy!

2. It uses a bunch of different moda designers’ fabrics.

3. It was inspired by a new friend’s antique quilt.

4. It makes me happy just to look at it.

5. I am going to have a few friends, old and new making this quilt right along with me thanks to the team at American Patchwork and Quilting.

 (thank you Jennifer and Elizabeth)

6. I got out of my box and tried something new. 

Some of the crew that will also be doing the APQ quilt-along
 is the über-talented,
Camille Roskelley of Thimbleblossoms.
The queen of shabby greatness
Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill.
The gal that invented the energizer batteries,
Sherri McConnell of A Quilting Life.
The quilt/wordsmith that is sure to entertain us all, 
Carrie Nelson of Miss Rosie’s.
Big or small, this one does it all, 
Lisa Bongean of Primitive Gatherings.
The princess of fat quarters, 
Kimberly Jolly of the Jolly Jabber.
Any low volume/neutral project, should include 
Amy Ellis of  Amy’s Creative Side.
side note: Amy is a new designer with……Moda! Yes, you heard it here. 
more info coming soon.
How about quilting from down under with
Jane Davidson of Want it, Need it, Quilt?
(APQ is also available as a download so everyone can quilt-along)

There may even be a surprise as one of the
APQ editors quilts-along.

Join back on the November 25th as I share 
 about how I got out of my box and tried something new.

In the meantime use the hashtag 
#APQquiltalong to keep informed.
and 

7. I would be thrilled if you decided to quilt-long with us.

-modalissa

Pickled Dish Quilt along

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The Pickled Dish Quilt along from Aneela Hoey has been on my bucket list since she first posted the Quiltalong on her blog.
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Pic courtesy of Aneela Hoey
I am off to a long weekend retreat and so in case you were wondering 
what I was going to use the grey and yellow fabrics for………………….
 Well, this is the start of my project. I only need 125 more arches.
 Let’s see how much sewing  I get done. Can I possibly pull off an all-nighter?
And just in case I get bored with this project. I did pack 3 more things to work on.
Have a great weekend. I know I will!!

Bloggers girls quilt along

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Happy New Year! 
I am happy to be starting the new year with a few friends.
Time to start on a 6 month BOM.
Are you ready?
On the first of each month, 
 we will be posting our “color options” as we participate with
 Monique from 
Open Gate Quilt’s  on her first quilt along. 

 Block 1- color version 1
 Block 1- color version 2
Look how different two of the same blocks can be just by fabric and color placement.
 The fun thing about this project is that it is all about color options
as well as fantastic precision piecing with the use of Monique’s rulers. 
It is 2013  so first thing you should do is 
go out and treat yourself 
to the
 FIT TO BE QUARTER 6.5 & companion ruler.
It changed my life and I am not being over dramatic. 
Accuracy and precision are a breeze with this. I always thought
 I was a pretty good “piecer”, 
but now I am a fantastic piecer!
 My signature piece of fabric is a piece from Edyta Sitar’s Paint Box Collection.  
Stock # 42101-13 color Coco. 
I will be using this as my
border and will also sprinkle it throughout some of my quilt blocks.
I seriously love this print!
This is a fabric that has so many wonderful colors that I could use it for almost any 
project. The possibilities of beautiful colors to coordinate are endless. 
Edyta has a way of doing this with each of her collections. 
I keep a swatch of this fabric pinned to my design wall so I can audition
 fabrics as I make each of the blocks.
For  yardage information, click here.  
Instructions for each block with be posted at Open Gate.
Make a cup of tea and visit each of the Blogger Girls on 
the BLOCK OF THE MONTH LINEUP:
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
Follow each of us to see all the color options on the first of each month .
 I will also be posting some of the ways this ruler can help your day to day sewing.

 I hope you enjoy this project as much as  I have already enjoyed being a part of it.
Upload your block pictures on the Blogger Girls Flickr site.
I look forward to seeing your block progress.
 

Thanks Monique for inviting me!

Mini Quilt Along

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 I hope you are enjoying the Mini Quilt Along. Today’s post is from  Freda’s Hive.
Mark your Calendar for the Quilt Along.
There will be a quilt along Sep 11 – Apr 2.
You will make 4 mini quilts- one every two weeks and then the next two weeks will be for quilting them or getting caught up. Then four more quilts, and a break and four more quilts then a break. So we will make 12 of the mini quilts out of the book. This will give you plenty of time to make the mini quilts from this book. Nothing like a deadline to get things done!!

schnibbles quilt along

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Are you doing the schnibbles quilt along  that Sherri and Sinta are hosting?
I decided to jump on in and add one more thing to my plate. I want to make all of the schnibbles anyhow, so why not. I am good with deadlines so here goes.
I have a bliss and a vintage modern charm pack that I am going to combine for March’s project.
(vintage charm will be in stores May 2012)
Hope to see you all at the Schnibbles parade that Sherri and Sinta host on their blogs.
-modalissa