Sewing Machine Quilt

Well this was a fun finish!

It took 50 different fabrics. Some hours... One day I should actually track how long things take me. And a whole lot of fun. It has been a long time since I had this much fun sewing.

Making this quilt really just started with an idea. I wanted to simply see if it would work. One block led to another and another and then there were 25. I played around with different sizes of the final block. I started with 12.5'' squares but the sewing machine got lost in it. Now each block finishes at 10.5'' square. It is a great size now and makes a much easier cutting job.

Now I want to play with this concept a bit more. This includes working on some different sizes and a precision pieced option. And, I think a new pattern may emerge from this. What do you think?

It's amazing to be so excited again.

More Circles! This time for Lucky Spool's Essential Guide to Modern Quiltmaking

Do you know what these are? Just some of my favourite tools in an arsenal of circle making things. Front and centre is my compass and elementary school geometry set. School supply nerds take note! You can find out about these and how I use them in the new book from Lucky Spool,

The Essential Guide to Modern Quiltmaking

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This great book is like taking a workshop from each of your dream teachers - Jacquie Gering, Denyse Schmidt, Penny Layman, Angela Walters, and more. If you can't be in the classroom with us, this might be the next best thing! Each teacher has a chapter devoted to a specific concept or technique. You get the benefit of their experience and all their Quilter to Quilter tips. And then you get a pattern that uses those techniques.

At the end of the book is a phenomenal gallery of modern quilts. Some serious eye candy there.

My quilt in the book might be a new top favourite of mine. It comes with my chapter on Circles and Curves. You could probably call it a sampler of the techniques, but it is more than that. Inspired by two favourite fabrics it takes geometric block design to a really fun place. You could make the pattern as is or you could change up the layout to suit your own preference. Or maybe make repeats of your favourite blocks for a completely different look.

I debated long and hard about the colour selection for this quilt. It needs high contrast and I really wanted to keep it to two colours. But it is me and where one fabric will do I will pick 10! You could say this is a pretty masculine colour combo with just navy and gray, but I call it calming. Despite the bold geometry of the quilt, it has a very serene quality. Keeping the background fabric to a single choice really helps with that. 

To check out the other contributors and see what they are saying about the quilt, you can follow along with them.

Kari Vojtechovsky

teaches on The Principles of Color

Alissa Haight Carlton

teaches on Working with Solids

Dan Rouse

teaches on Working with Prints

Denyse Schmidt

teaches on Improvisational Patchwork

Jacquie Gering

teaches on The Alternate Grid

Penny Layman

, of course, teaches on Paper Piecing

Heather Jones

teaches Large Scale Piecing

Angela Walters

teaches Modern Machine Quilting

Heather Grant

then takes us on a Study of Modern Quilts.

Lucky Spool

is a new publisher on the book scene for quilting. Led by Susanne Woods (formerly of Stash Books and Craftsy) they are bringing a number of exciting books to the market. Their Essential Guide for Modern Quiltmaking looks like it is going to leave its mark for quilters everywhere.

Right now you can get the book on a great discount from Taunton Press (Lucky Spool's distributor). If you buy it from them get a 20% discount between now and July 21.

Click here. Use the discount code EGMQ20

UPDATE: the correct code is EGQM20. My apologies for the typo.

Oh Canada Quilt Pattern Sale!

Canada Day is coming up in a few weeks. It's great holiday and being a proud Canadian I feel there is so much to celebrate. Our country is not immune to stupid decisions and passivity, but we are also very socially progressive, inclusive, and so incredibly vast and beautiful.

The Oh Canada! quilt pattern celebrates all this in one fun quilt. It is, by far, my most favourite quilt that I've ever made. The pattern includes the maple leaf template at full size, instructions for piecing the fabric for the block, as well as layout options.

In honour of Canada Day I'm offering the pattern on sale in my Etsy shop. Free shipping for a printed pattern and $1 off for a PDF.

And remember, I am still donating a portion of all sales to Quilts of Valour.

Playground

Playground

78'' by 62.5''

Finally, I can share this quilt with you. A year ago one of our awesome preschool teachers retired. She is a quilter and I offered to make a quilt for her. Alas, the Preschool Board had other plans. But a few months later they took me up on my offer after the other preschool teacher announced her retirement. She was presented with the quilt at the end of year party last week.

This quilt contains 120 signature blocks from present and former students. A simple layout, reminiscent of Plain Spoken by Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr, is rounded out with Modern Solids II from Alissa Haight Carlton. The quilting is a very simple grid, 1/4'' from each seam line. I went with a white Aurifil thread so as not to take away from all the colourful signatures.

To get all the signatures we held two open houses at the preschool. Mailouts went to the local elementary, junior high, and high schools. Notices sent to the current preschool students. I spent some time cutting down Kona white into two sizes of rectangles. My girls helped me gather the fabric markers. Kids showed up, teenagers arrived, parents exclaimed.

To be honest, I'd seen previous teacher's gifts and wondered why people went to all that effort of making them a quilt. Sure, I've given many, many quilts as gifts and I know the value of the gift - to give and receive. But I couldn't fathom getting that excited by a signature quilt.

Was I ever wrong!

Let me tell you, it was actually pretty fun to do this! Seeing all the kids so excited to contribute, talking to the parents thrilled at being able to say thank-you for a good start to their kid's education, and getting pretty jazzed when putting the final quilt together. Not once did it feel like drudgery or did I ask myself what I got myself into. And I'm thrilled at the final result. I think our teacher is as well.

(And who could resist a buggy backing fabric? It was the perfect choice to remind us all of the mosquitoes keeping us company at the park after school everyday. Except these ones don't bite!)