Quiet Rainbow - A Low Volume and Colourful Quilt

Quiet Rainbow

34'' x 34''

To be honest, I've never made a rainbow quilt before. I know! (Rebecca Bryan would probably understand, probably.). To be really honest, I started this quilt 4 years ago. All of you can probably understand that. 

The top was made when A Month of Sundays was released. I used it as a promo piece and sample on using colour and low volume fabrics - it isn't just for backgrounds. It came around with me to events and classes. I'd planned on finishing it then, but new fabrics! New quilts! Summer!

Low volume is so much more than soft prints, black and whites in the background, and totally scrappy. You can have colour work, order, and control when using them as well. Just as you would for a deeply saturated rainbow of fabrics, you can with low volume. All of these fabrics have white backgrounds and a full range of colours. Let me tell you this, if you think it is hard to find good purples in general, try finding low volume purples that aren't just lilac.

Strips sewn together, sliced in half, flipped around, and back together again. Then the two shades of grey to show what can happen when you change the bordering colours. Super simple. Totally striking. 

In January I booked a few hours on the long arm to get some quilts closer to finishing. I had one to get done for sure but an additional hour of time meant I could put a little one on the frame too. This was the little one. I just went with the turquoise Wonderfil Konfetti 50w that was already in the machine with a wavy sort of stipple. Quick and easy and adds great texture. 

There is a little bit of sadness with this finish, however. I recently learned that A Month of Sundays will be discontinued. Simply put, that means it isn't selling well. I won't lie, that stings. This book, I am so intensely proud of it. It really is the resource on using low volume fabrics effectively, but I don't think people really got that the info was there. Not only that, it is really personal - with my family and friends modelling for me and all my writing. I'm sure that personal touch is what made it unattractive to some, but I stand by everything in this book. From the words to the projects to the lessons to the photography by my friend Kate Inglis. I am still thrilled that Stash Books, my publisher, took a chance on this format.

So this means that if you haven't got a copy of this book yet now is the time to get it! Now, before it is gone forever and you can only find it at the guild sale when someone else is cleaning out their library.

From A Judge's Perspective - QuiltCon 2016

QuiltCon is over, the winners announced, and I can finally talk about what it was like to judge the quilts. Phew. Keeping that secret was harder than waiting until the second trimester to announce a pregnancy.

Judging the quilts was an intense and overwhelming experience. Three days that were 10-11 hours long of doing nothing but looking at quilts. Not just looking at them, but touching them, examining stitches, evaluating colour and composition, and yes, comparing them. I've never been so absorbed in quilts before. Thank goodness I wasn't alone. As a team, I worked with Lisa Congdon and Scott Murkin.

The team aspect was fantastic. Lisa, Scott, and I got a long very well. Lisa is an artist and illustrator (and great teacher). Not a quilt expert, but with an amazing eye for colour and composition. Scott is a quilter in his own right and a certified quilt judge. He knows a lot about quilts. I've been quilting for 18 years now and I thought I knew a fair amount. I learned so much from both of them. I feel like, after our time together, we've bonded in a special way. We have private jokes and a shared experience. It was our time in the quilt trenches.

Except that it wasn't the trenches. The Modern Quilt Guild had show offices in this cool building in LA. A creative space full of concrete floors and minimalist design. The kind of space many of us dream about as a modern studio. There was nothing in our judging room other than paper wrapped tables, foam playmats to stand on, and a great window to hear the helicopters and sirens of the city. Not to mention the natural light. But we did spend long, long hours in there. Thankfully, as the judges we were engaged all the time and hardly noticed the passage of time. Towards the end of the day we would look up and boom! It was dark. 

So, what exactly did we do all day?

Simply put, we looked at each and every quilt submitted for judging at QuiltCon. It wasn't a free for all with a stack of quilts though, there was a very defined process that kept us on track and made it as fair as possible for the entrants. Here is the run down on the process, from my perspective. Keep in mind that we were judging quilts already juried in to the show and we did not have any role in the jury process.

- Each category was stacked on the tables, one category at a time. And we could only see the category we were working on, no others.

- The quilts for the entire category were fanned so we got a first look at each of them. This gave us an idea of the category as a whole and the quilts in comparison to the others.

- Each individual quilt was held up for viewing. We stood about 12 feet away. This way we got an idea of what it is like hung. You can see a lot in terms of design, composition, and colour when the quilt is hung and you view from a distance. (Not unlike how you would see it in a show.)

- As the quilt was held up the name of the quilt, and only the name, was said. We did not get descriptions or artists. This judging is blind so we had no idea who made what quilt. We could ask for descriptions, but we maybe asked about a dozen times over the 3 days - only if we were trying to determine whether the quilt was an original design or if the intent of the artist wasn't necessarily clear from the quilt alone.

- Then each quilt was laid down on the table for us to inspect it up close. We would look at everything - quilting stitches, construction techniques, edge finishing, pressing, whether the quilt edges were straight, fabric selection. Trust me, no one has ever looked at the quilts this closely!

- As we examined the quilts we were guided by category specifications that the MQG put together. These outlined the general and specific things to look at in the quilt - from overall design items to quality of the binding.

- Each quilt got at least 3 comments from the judges. We worked together to provide constructive criticism and compliments for each quilt. Scribes wrote down, by hand, our comments. Sometimes we would provide a little + next to one of the category specifications. This meant the work was done particularly well on that specification.

- As we went we would decide if a quilt should be held for an award or released. At the end of seeing all the quilts for a category the held ones would be placed back on the tables for us to see all together. Then began the process of determining winners. 

- Winners were determined by consensus among the judges. We would narrow down the field further, discuss a lot, and eventually get to the top ones in the category. Sometimes this took a lot of discussion and time, but it was always worth it to get to agreement.

(It should be noted that the winners for the Glitz challenge and EZ Triangle Challenge were chosen by Michael Miller and EZ Quilting, we only provided the top choices for them to pick from.)

- Best in Show was picked from the winners of each category.

Phew. Are you tired just reading that? It was both exhausting and exhilarating to do this. Overwhelming and inspiring. 

Judging is just that - judgement. It is subjective and critical. As I said, no one, even the maker, has likely looked at their quilts as close as we did. Call us the quilt police if you want - we did get nitpicky on things like quilting starts and stops and shadowing in seams - but that was our job! These quilts were there to be judged, so that's what we did. Our comments should be viewed as constructive because it was never our intent to make anyone feel bad about their quilt. We can all benefit from a critical eye and having aspects of our quiltmaking to improve upon.

The reason I went into detail about the room and the process is to remind everyone that those days were special. And the team was special. We worked really well together and I so enjoyed my time with Scott and Lisa. You could have put three different people together and likely had different outcomes. Judging, without a doubt, is still subjective. No matter what though, I am proud of the work we did and stand 100% behind the outcomes of our time together.

On a more personal note, I was quite surprised at my own reactions to this experience. I went in thinking I would be obsessive about the technical aspects more than anything, seeking perfection. Early on I realized that what I valued most - personally - was creativity and seeing the hand of the maker. These are, first and foremost, functional quilts, there aren't ever going to be perfect quilts. Once you realize that you start looking for the maker in the piece. You want to see that a person made it and the decisions they made had intent. Yes, you still want a technically proficient quilt that will wear well and not fall apart, but putting yourself in the quilt matters so much. 

It then became important to me to see the show itself hanging at QuiltCon. Because we judged blind and because I made a point of staying off of social media around QuiltCon deadlines I did not know who made the vast majority of the quilts. So I walked the show to see who made what quilts. One of the most exciting things was realizing how many quilters I did not know immediately or at all. (Of course, I can't know everyone.) What it really shows is the depth of the modern quilt world and the fantastic people out there making quilts. 

The Splendid Sampler Sew Along

Have you heard of The Splendid Sampler Sew Along yet? Don't worry if you haven't, I'm here to share all the details.

Pat Sloan and Jane Davidson put together a group of quilt designers to showcase their skills on some small blocks. Put all the blocks together and you have 100 blocks for a refreshing sampler! Every week for a year two block patterns will be released. You can make as few or as many as you want. Use any fabric you want.

Bonus - it is ALL FREE!

To the designers Pat and Jane asked us to design a block that reflected happiness in our quilting. Such sweet directions. And boy, does happiness in quilting mean different things to different people! For example, my block has some low volume, some improv, some appliqué. Other blocks have tiny piecing, some have paper piecing and embroidery. There is basically every technique under the sun in the sampler. I'm not sure the tiny piecing will make me happy, but I'll certainly try it!

Each block ends up at 6 1/2'' square. A manageable size to get two done a week, or a few in an afternoon. I've started making my blocks out of my scrap bins. So far I've stuck with yellows plus black and whites. We'll see if I stick with that. I'm totally open to seeing where this goes.

If you are interested in joining along, or even just following progress, the first block pattern releases this Sunday, on the 14th. And it is a perfect Valentine's Day block! You can get all the info on The Splendid Sampler website and join the fun on the Facebook page for the group. Loads of inspiration there!

I will keep you posted - like I do with all my quilts under construction - on my blocks as I go. I may not keep up, but I'm challenging myself to make all 100. This is definitely a year for working outside my comfort zone. Why not?!

Oh, and if you are wondering, my block is one of the last ones! So you are going to have to hang on for a while to see it.

Park Quilt Update

Up to 11 now. I want to make 25. I have a way to go...

The good thing is that these blocks don't actually take that long to make. I should time it, but I would say a few hours each from fabric selection, cutting, basting, and then stitching. So, not fast, but not really that slow either.

If I only made one more it would actually be a perfect lap quilt but I have this in mind as a potential wedding present down the line, for a couple that aren't even engaged yet! That's why I want it bigger, bed size.

Thankfully, I am not getting tired of appliqué at all.

Pattern: Park Quilt by Carolyn Friedlander