Northern Arizona

Northern Arizona

29'' x 22''

My Northern Arizona quilt is done and shipped. This beauty will be auctioned off for the Quilts of Valor Foundation as part of America Quilts EXPO at the Iowa Events Center May 26–28 in Des Moines, Iowa. 100% of funds raised via the auction benefits Quilts of Valor Foundation.

The inspiration for this quilt came from our trip through northern Arizona last summer. I think I did a pretty good job of capturing my inspiration.

To quilt this mini I used 4 different colours of Aurifil thread. Shockingly, I had them all in my thread stash! I went from orange to a barely there cream, with coral and peach in between. Just matchstick quilting. On this little piece that still took almost 2 hours to do! Kudos to those of you who do this on large pieces. 

The binding is more of the solids in the quilt. I coordinated it, roughly, with the gradation in colour and value. A label and a hanging sleeve to finish it off.

You have to be in Des Moines, or know someone going, to bid on my quilt or any of the others up for auction. I've seen a few on Instagram in the last few weeks - amazing! Heather Jones, May Chappell, Amy Ellis, Cristy Fincher, Mark Lipinski, Latifah Safir, Alex Anderson, Victoria Findley Wolfe and so many more have donated quilts for the auction. I really wish I could see them all in person. 

All proceeds from the auction go to the Quilts of Valor Foundation. Quilts of Valor provides quilts to returning service men and women. We all know the value of the gift of a quilt. 

Northern Arizona

When Marianne Fons - the Marianne Fons - asks you to make a quilt for a charity auction it is pretty much impossible to say no. I almost did though because the theme was 'America the Beautiful'. Remember, I'm Canadian! Then the memories of our epic road trip last summer came back and I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

Northern Arizona was, by far, my favourite part of the trip. I couldn't stop staring out the car window and was thrilled with our 4 days spent there exploring canyons, back roads, and lazy creeks. This little quilt top captures my memories of it so well. 

These were my inspiration images.

Got it pretty close, didn't I?

Now to finish this up and send it off. All quilts donated will be auctioned off as part of America Quilts EXPO at the Iowa Events Center May 26–28 in Des Moines, Iowa. 100% of funds raised via the auction benefits Quilts of Valor Foundation.

Antonio's Quilt

Antonio's Quilt

56'' by 56''

A few years back a friend of mine in the Calgary Modern Quilt Guild, Katrina Hertzer, posted a picture on Instagram of her son painting. Aside from the fact that her son is adorable I was completely smitten with his painting. So smitten that I went to the sewing room that afternoon and made a block inspired by his in progress painting.  Then I decided it needed friends. And a lot of improv pieced background.

This is a great example of Improv With Intent. I had a shape I wanted to recreate but I wanted the movement and hand like the original inspiration. It had to be improvised. I sketched out how the block might be constructed in terms of process and just went for it. Lucky for me it worked on the first one.

I had no clue what this would be - or even if it would be anything - when I started. I just wanted to play with the shapes and colours. As I went along I explored different ideas, some layout options, and sizing. That is the heart of improv - starting without knowing where you will end. Not to mention embracing the process as much, if not more, than the product.

It's just bonus when it turns into an awesome product.

One of my favourite things is the mix of gray and cream in the background. It isn't expected, people usually go with one or the other. Doing so also meant that I could use that floral scrap there - it is from my first ever quilt!

The quilting is simple. Using my walking foot I made wavy lines across the quilt. My aim was to mimic the lines a paintbrush gives. I did make my life a bit more challenging by not quilting over the red lines on the front. So there was a lot of stopping and starting and burying of threads. A lot. It was totally worth it. I also changed thread colour every 5-7 lines, between a light beige Aurifil and the ultimate dove gray Auriful 2600.

I started the quilt in May 2013, the top was finished in October of that year, and it sat partially quilted for about a year, or more. I'm not quite sure why I just never finished the quilting, but that's what happened. Then, a few weeks ago, I needed to take photographs of a quilt being blocked for an article. I put the call out and had some quilts volunteered, then realized that with just a few hours of work I would have this one ready. I buckled down and just did it. .

Also, three cheers for another awesome back alley trailer for photo ops.

Mountain Meadows Quilt Top

This is Mountain Meadows. A loverly quilt top finally finished. I had to go in the Way, Way Back machine to figure out when I started it. My initial sketch and images were made 3 years ago. And I collected the fabric over 2 years ago to make a few blocks. Then it sat and sat and sat. We had the great fortune of a handful of mountain trips this spring and summer and the original inspiration of the mountain meadows was on my mind.

When

The Modern Quilt Guild

asked me to do a Webinar this quilt popped into my head. Pulling it out and working on it helped me formulate the presentation: Improv With Intention. So I worked hard to get it done in time for the Webinar. It was well worth the effort.

(It measures roughly 55'' x 75''.)

These were my original inspiration images. Hikes in the mountains on sunny days. Meadows filled with small, colourful flowers. Expanses of grass and weeds and plants in varying shades of green. Vistas so beautiful but little tiny bits of life stealing attention. Just how to capture that in a quilt?

In the Webinar I discuss the process of making the quilt - from inspiration to the final top. It isn't as straightforward as one might think. If you are a Modern Quilt Guild Member you can access the Webinar for free now, even if you didn't join me last week. To access it make sure you log in and join the Community site. Then click under Resources and there it is. Not only do you get to see more images and learn about my process, you get to hear my awesome Canadian accent.

It was actually quite appropriate that this quilt was revealed through The Modern Quilt Guild. All of the green fabric in this quilt was generously given to me by quilters, readers of this blog. I knew I wanted green solid scraps and I had absolutely no green solids. To buy them all would have been impossible. So, thanks to the internet I just asked if anyone was willing to share, and boy did you! Packages arrived for weeks and I had a lot of fun sorting through and organizing by value. Some of you sent pieces larger than 1/2 yard cuts! It was so generous and shows exactly how the spirit and kindness of quilters, not to mention the creativity, is fuelled on line. Exactly what comes to mind, for me, when I think of the Modern Quilt Guild.

Thank you to everyone who contributed. I truly appreciate it.