Kawasaki's Theorem Quilt with Maze and Vale

Kawasaki's Theorem 1

28'' x 28''

It's a bold and cocky move to name anything Number 1. It completely implies a series. That's a lot of pressure to put on yourself... if you care that much.

I met never get to Kawasaki's Theorem #2. That's okay. In my head this was just the first round of play though. So maybe, just maybe, there will be more.

This particular quilt started before there was fabric. It was an image in Uppercase Magazine, an issue on paper. The image is actually about a paper folding and angles. There is a formula and everything. It was the image that illustrates the theorem that got me though. It immediately screamed quilt block. I sketched up some repeats for fun, then dated and parked the idea.

When in Australia I had the great chance to take a private silk screening class with Leslie from Maze and Vale. Rather than use her screens she encouraged us to create our own stencil. I pulled out my ever present sketchbook to see if anything struck me as a possibility. My Kawasaki's Theorem sketches were there and my brain was broken for any other ideas so I went with it.  We printed fabric and went on our merry way. 

Then I had the idea to go very meta with my fabric. Sometimes I can be rather cheesy. I designed a block based on the theorem and used the fabric in the block. Then I made a few more. And then, as I contemplated my quilting plan, I extended the design there and quilted it to reflect the theorem as well. I am a total nerd.

Who knows if Number 2 and 3 in the series will ever get made, but there are sketches. If not, the play is still totally worth it. It is in the play that new ideas grow, techniques get better, and the joy is found.

Lilla Pattern Launch

Lilla

90'' x 90''

Lilla is a collaboration between myself and Lotta Jansdotter. It is also a pattern available from C&T, launched this week.

Last year C&T approached me with the idea of working with Lotta on a pattern. I hesitated for a split second then agreed. Hesitated only because of timing, but I didn't want to turn down the opportunity to work with an artist and person I truly admire. So Lotta and I started emailing.

While it would have been fantastic to visit her in her Brooklyn studio or have her come out for some Prairie and Mountain air, we had to settle for the back and forth of online collaboration. She chose the fabrics we would work with - a selection from her soon to arrive collection, Lilla. We discussed style of quilt - medallion versus block based, improv versus precision, pieced versus applique, scale of piecing, and so much more. Lotta sent me some inspiration images, I made sketches. My job was ultimately to translate her ideas into workable quilt patterns. It was up to me to interpret her inspiration for the home quilter.

One of my favourite moments was when I opened up my email with this image in it. Lotta made some paper cut shapes. Up until this point we'd been going back and forth with little progress on something feasible for a quilt or a quilt that she liked. But these images! I went straight to my sewing machine to play, instead of sketching. Soon after we had a workable design. 

I really tried to take the organic nature of Lotta's work and translate it to the need for blocks to lay flat. Her shapes lent themselves well to some basic improv techniques, thankfully. Combining those with some precision piecing creates a challenging and graphic quilt.

The pattern itself lays out the techniques as a whole and then instructions for 25 different blocks. Yes, 25 blocks. As presented the quilt is queen size, but the pattern includes a baby size option. Make 1 of the blocks many times over or make all 25 four times over or make each one only once. It's entirely up to you, but the pattern includes it all. It also includes specific fabric notes to make it with Lotta's Lilla fabric as we designed it, but feel free to go on your own.  

I've made another version of the quilt, with totally different fabrics. It changes it up! Watch for that soon. 

In the end I am so glad I didn't let the time factor get in the way of this great experience. Sure, it was a rush as I frantically finished just before I had to leave to Australia. Thank you to Bernadette at Wonderfil for guiding me through the quilting. The experience of collaboration was worth it. It presents a creative challenge, for sure, but that's a good thing. It gets me outside of myself and the insular world of my own creations. On to the next one!

Pattern now available from C&T, or ask for it at you local quilt shop. 

The Splendid Sampler - In The Sunshine

In The Sunshine

18.5'' x 18.5

My 15th wedding anniversary is coming up in a couple of months. One of the more entertaining moments of our wedding day (aside from the baby nearly born there) occurred as we walked down the aisle after the ceremony. After almost 6 years of dating it seems our wedding was a much anticipated affair. So our friends standing up there with us shouted out a coordinated, "Finally!!' 

After nearly a year of The Splendid Sampler I kind of feeling shouting Finally!! myself as my block debuts.

In the Sunshine was envisaged to celebrate my love of applique, a desire to not have really tiny pieces on this small block, and just a little bit of my true love, improv. And really, who doesn't love a flag waving in the sunshine?

Get the pattern here. Finally!

It was fun to play with my own fabric in this mini quilt. My first line, Tag, recently came out with Connecting Threads. I've made a handful of quilts already with just my fabrics, but the true measure of a fabric is how well it plays with others. So the background squares include my fabric plus a mix of stashed black and white prints. Then I dug into the scrap bin for the solid fabrics on the flags.

Now making a mini is hard for me. I get why people love them - boy is it fast from start to finish - but I prefer to Go King or Go Home! And when I am sewing for myself I default to improv piecing: curves, letters, slabs, and everything else.  That being said,  I really enjoy the switch up to designing patterns. It gets my brain working in a different way plus seeing the different results from other quilters is pretty thrilling! That's why I am so excited to see what each of you do with the block. This was a quick one to make, even with the needle turn applique. Get the pattern here. 

For those of you new here let me tell you a bit about myself. I live on intersection of the Rocky Mountains and the Prairies, in Calgary, Alberta. A pretty dreamy location. We get a proper winter - which I love - and it gets just hot enough in the summer. I'm such a Canadian! We have 3 nearly feral, outgoing, and active kids. My girls have followed me to the pool. In my youth I was a competitive swimmer then rower. After a decade working on environmental policy and sustainability issues I switched gears to staying with my kids and to become a professional quilter, writer, and a teacher. With three published books, online classes, national and international travel to teach on top of our busy lives I could say it is a fine balance, but it is more like a rocky seesaw that just can't quite make it even. But hey, I chose it and I'm making it work!

So take a few moments to hang out here. Check out my quilt gallery for inspiration, read through the blog for a glimpse into my compulsion to create, and feel free to sign up for my biweekly newsletter. My mission here and in everything quilting is to inspire creative action in everyone, for everyone. I am what you see - bold, blunt, kind, generous, open, and a little bit weird.

PS If the curves make you nervous, check out my episode of The Quilt Show, where I break it down. 

Forgiveness - Scrap Vortex Meets Improvised Words

Forgiveness

80'' x 77''

When two quilts become one. When emotions transfer to your making. When the morning make becomes all consuming. When making a quilt is cheaper than the therapist.

This particular quilt started a few years ago. I called it Snippets on Dates back then. Take two little bits and sew them together. Repeat a thousand times, press. Sew pairs to pairs and so on. I had a small quilt together and there was no end to the little snippets. Around the same time Amanda Jean launched her Scrap Vortex Quilt Along. It got a lot of people looking at their scraps differently. Here and there I would take my overflowing bin of snippets and sew some together. Doing it bit by bit makes it less daunting, especially when most of the pieces are 2'' or smaller! But I never really moved further than that. Everything just sat around in my Quilts Under Construction pile.

Cue last summer. For one, my Morning Make became a serious commitment. As in, I wanted/needed to do it every day for my sanity. I like my Morning Make projects to be no brainers so I pulled this one out to start. Then my heart started turning over the word, the act, the emotion of Forgiveness. I decided sewing the word would help it burn into my brain and body, like I was taking notes for a test. Initially, I didn't actually see the two projects working together, I just happened to have them both out on the cutting table. They did really want to go together.

At this point I could go on some spiel about symbolism: the chaotic nature of our emotions with the quilt as metaphor. Uh, no. It really came down to the fact that even though I was making letter blocks to spell Forgiveness, I had no clue what to do with a really long, skinny quilt with just that word. While I thought about other words I put more snippets together. It seems obvious now, but it took me a few weeks to let the two projects play together. And then they became creative partners, propping each other up, no metaphors needed.

I rather like that the word is a bit tough to see. It wasn't bad Value work on my part, it was intentional. Forgiveness is an internal emotion, I don't need it, or me, to shout its presence.  Oh wait, I just got symbolic. But I did tone down the value contrast intentionally. Rather, I didn't do really darks and really whites on purpose. But it is there. Another confession, I made that V three times.

The fabrics go all the way back - some 20 years, some last year. There are bits and pieces from other quilters in there, including leftover components already pieced. I did zero editing for style of fabric so everything is in here - batiks, civil war, 30s reproductions, modern, solids, linens, you name it!

The backing was a piece of yardage I picked up in Arizona last year, something random that reminded me of a painting in my childhood home.

As usual, I used Quilters' Dream 100% cotton Select weight batting.

It was quilted with a combination of Aurifil and Wonderfil threads in yellow, grey, green, and blue. Just things I had in my stash. I did wavy lines across the quilt and outlined the letters for a bit more emphasis.

When it came to binding I wasn't sure. Scrappy seemed to make sense, instead of suddenly adding one bit of order. Conveniently, I had a bowl full of binding scraps. I sewed them end to end and made my way around the quilt. 

The last stitches actually went in the binding on New Years Day. Felt great to start the year with a finish, symbolic as it is.